Everything you need to know about baby products, ingredients & information
Baby products or baby preparations are mainly used for babies to protect their skin and hair and they are made under hygienic conditions. Check out this post to know the complete information about baby products like baby powder, baby shampoos and baby lotions.
Information on Baby Powders:
Adults use talcum powder in general and we use baby powder for babies and know what is the difference between talcum powder and baby powder.
Difference between Talcum Powder and Baby Powder
Baby Powder differs from Talcum Powder in having an antiseptic agent and low perfume. It does not contain colouring agents as well.
Ingredients of Baby Powders
The ingredients of Baby powders are:
- Talc
- Magnesium stearate
- Zinc stearate
- Lithium stearate
- Cetyl alcohol
- Stearyl alcohol
- Undecyclinates
- Starches
The main ingredient used in baby powders is Talc.
Talc has excellent slip and good adhering property. Size and shape of the particles have to be maintained by the Air Micronisation Technique while the small particles are removed by Air Clarification.
In baby powders, stearates of Magnesium and Zinc are included for ensuring water repellency, good adhesiveness and also to get the velvetty smoothness.
Lithium stearate is used in baby powders as it has oil and water repellancy and also that it is non-toxic.
For emollient (smoothness) properties, cetyl alcohol or stearyl alcohol is used in minute concentration.
Undecyclinates are used for their anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties and they also increase the water repellancy of the talc.
Starches may also be used instead of talc. But their absorptive property results in the tendency to form a sticky paste which in turn favours the growth of micro organisms. So the use of Starches instead of talc has not become that popular.
To avoid this disadvantage, modified starches are used which are having water repellent properties.
The main thing to be noted is that the products should be free of bacteria and they should not contain harmful substances and should not cause irritation on baby skin.
Information on Baby Shampoos:
The baby shampoos should be bland towards baby eyes, skin and hair.
For their formulation, non-irritating surfactants are to be selected.
Amphoteric imidazoline derivatives, fatty sulphosuccinic esters and amides are mostly used.
Information on Baby Oils:
Baby oils generally contain bland vegetable oils like ground nut oil, mineral oil, lanolin derivatives.
The mineral oils are of high purity without perfume . Anti-oxidants are also incorporated.
Information on Baby Lotions:
Baby lotions are generally formulated as oil in water emulsions.
Silicone oils for water repellancy are incorporated . An anionic emulsifier like triethanolamine stearate is used.
Crodestas, which is the trade name for di and triesters of sucrose is also used for baby lotions.
Antiseptic baby lotions contain cationic quarternary ammonium compounds like pyridinium chloride and are required in excess amounts. Along with these small amounts of fatty acids are also included in the lotions.