Where it all started

 

 

 

 

Where should I start?

 

Three boys, a husband who travels for business all the time (about 50%) and working on having my start up business grow.

 

Yep a start up business.

 

How the business came to be was more of an epiphany

 

Back in 2005 my oldest son was 1yr old. He had this rash on the back of his knees and inside of his elbows. I was on a mission to find a cream that would clear the rash. Of course it would go away for some time and then come back after the skin got used to the new baby cream or lotion. Yeah and the doctor also prescribed the steroids creams.

 

Fast-forward 3 yrs and 2 more kids. In 2008 the rash was still there.

 

Aaaaahhhhhh.

 

Then my little one at about 6 months started having the same rash. Was worse too.

 

I had to act fast.

 

On a mission to find anything that will work. Nothing. Urgh!!! they just took my money.

So what does a desperate mom do?

 

Aha!!

 

Make my own stuff. Seriously this is not me.

 

Took all the baby creams and lotions I had. Wrote down all the ingredients, and then researched all of them (will share them in futureJ).  Mom on a mission!

I cannot believe how ignorant and uneducated about what I was putting on my kids skin.

 

(Sigh)

 

Next step.

 

Started reading about the ingredients the “high end” products were telling us were good for us. You know shea butter, cacao butter, jojoba oil, Zinc Oxide for sun protection and a few others.

 

Yeah this can be done.  

 

Buy the stuff I needed and try to make something to get rid of the rash.

 

Hmmm

 

This mom made magic happen in the kitchen.

I was a cook on a mission. Melting, mixing and swirling.

 

Never ending.

 

Then something. Used on the boys. The rash just seemed to disappear.

 

I was on to something.

 

Gave it to friends (testers). They loved it. That was crazy wanting to test an unknown product. But I guess if I was using it on my kids it was okay. 

 

But it was not market ready.

 

Now the long road to the market begins.

 

 

Agnes Mwangi

www.bcpcreams.com

 

Kids dry skin

Cold dry season is here. 

Kids get bundled up and off they go to explore the world.

But most of the time they seem to always take off their gloves. Those small hands do so much and gloves just seem to get in their way. Playing on the slides, monkey bars, frees tag you name it, it does not seem to be fun with gloves on. All these fun in the cold dry weather causes the hands to dry and get chapped. It is very painful for kids

Recommendations:

Brenese Skin Creams

Self-Preserving Cosmetics?

Comsumers have been led to believe that preservatives are necessary ingredients in cosmetics to make them safe and to extend their shelf life. This paper presents an alternative to the use of preservatives by formulating self-preserving beauty products. What prompted this article is a discussion I had on how consumers do not like preservative free cosmetics because they are unpleasant to use, have fragrances and the fact that they have to be refrigerated. While that is true about a lot of preservative free cosmetics, better self-preserving cosmetics with a long shelf life are available. Consumers just need to know what to look for in the ingredients.                

First of all what is self-preserving? Simply put, it is a formulation free from traditional preservatives by creating a hostile environment for microorganisms without diminishing quality.  Consumers want more liquid cosmetics products. To achieve the desired emulsion, formulators commonly add water.  The water creates a favorable environment for microbes to grow, therefore the use of preservatives.

It is possible to formulate cosmetics that have the desired texture, contains less water and are self-preserving. If water is the first ingredient most likely the cosmetic product has preservatives to give it a long shelf life.  If water is listed as one of the first few ingredients you can identify right away it will be necessary to add preservatives. 

Ingredients like Cocoa butter and Shea butter have high levels of natural antioxidants that can self-preserve if they are left in their original state. Once cocoa butter is extracted from nuts, it is stored as a solid brick. Shea butter is thick and dense. So how do we get these great ingredients to a desirable cosmetic product? Using essential oils and extracts instead of water. Certain oils and extracts exhibit excellent antmicrobial properties making it possible to formulate self-preserving cosmetics.

Jojoba oil for example has a long shelf life and is an excellent selection for this application (USPTO Patent # 20110250293). Jojoba oil is actually a liquid wax that is derived from the jojoba plant, a wax-rich shrub that is native to desert areas of North America. Jojoba oil is a good carrier oil because of its similarity to the oil that our own skin produces, called sebum. This means that our skin knows exactly how to deal with it, absorbing it quickly and easily, using it to create a powerful barrier against moisture-loss, as well as against allergens and irritants. 

The patent also references Anhydrous Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salt) for among several reasons it will inhibit the growth of mold. Mold must have a moist environment to grow. The salt's dehydrating properties nicely inhibit this. Also studies show Magnesium and sulfate are both easily absorbed through the skin. So having it in skin creams makes the perfect sense. Sulfates play an important role in the formation of brain tissue, joint proteins and the proteins that line the walls of the digestive tract. They stimulate the pancreas to generate digestive enzymes and are thought to help detoxify the body of medicines and environmental contaminants.

It is not necessary to add preservatives in cosmetics to extend product shelf life or provide a desirable texture. It is important that consumers educate themselves about cosmetics and the ingredients used in general. Brenese has created cosmetic products that are self-preserving with no preservatives, colors and fragrances. Each ingredient plays a different role in protecting the skin. Put together superior creams are created. 

 

Resources

Self-preserving cosmetics: International Journal of Cosmetic Science

Agnes Mwangi is Managing director of Brenese Care products

She has written and published two patents (Self-Preserved products)