Chemicals for Personal Care | Lab Alley
Lab Alley supplies chemicals used in personal care and cosmetic manufacturing. Solvents, acids, oils, actives. Materials used in formulation and production. USP, FCC, cosmetic grades where it makes sense.
What matters is how the material behaves. What it mixes with. What it doesn’t. Whether it stays stable or causes problems later.
How our chemicals are used in Personal Care & Cosmetics
- Formulation bases and carriers: Used to dissolve or move other ingredients. Ethanol, IPA, propylene glycol, glycerin, PEGs. These control thickness, dry time, how it spreads. If this part is off, the whole formula feels wrong.
- Active ingredients: This is where the function comes from. Glycolic, salicylic, lactic, ascorbic acid. Used for exfoliation, treatment, whatever the product is supposed to do. Stability matters. A lot.
- Emollients and conditioning agents: These change the feel. Oils, fatty acids. Mineral oil, MCT, castor oil, stearic, oleic. This is what makes it smooth or greasy or somewhere in between.
- pH adjusters and neutralizers: Used to get the formula where it needs to be. Citric acid, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, TEA. Small amounts, big impact.
- Stabilizers and chelating agents: Keep things from breaking down. EDTA, sodium gluconate. Helps avoid discoloration, separation, drift over time.
Shop by Application
- Skin Care (Creams, Serums, Peels): Mix of solvents, oils, actives. Texture and stability tend to be the issues. Especially with stronger acids.
- Hair Care (Shampoos, Conditioners): Built around surfactants. Needs to stay stable in water. Needs to rinse clean. If it separates or feels off, it shows immediately.
- Fragrance & Perfume: Mostly alcohol. Ethanol, SDA. Needs to be clean. No odor, no contamination. Otherwise it messes with the scent.
- Personal Hygiene (Sanitizers, Cleansers): Driven by active level. Ethanol, IPA, benzalkonium chloride. Too low doesn’t work. Too high causes other issues.
- Soap & Detergent Products: Reactive systems. Sodium hydroxide, fatty acids. This is where structure comes from. Small changes shift the whole product.