The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
I was fortunate to get a sample of Olivem 800 (INCI: Ceteareth-6 Olivate) so I’m trying it out! Lotioncrafter describes Olivem 800 as “natural source non-ionic emulsifying system developed from natural olive chemistry designed to provide optimum stability in low viscosity/super-fluid emulsions with a light silky feel. Created using olive oil in an esterification process...
From left to right: Emulsified with ceteareth-20 and glycol distearate, emulsified with Olivem 800, and emulsified with Polawax. Really no huge difference in appearance! It’s hard to know exactly which emulsification system you want to use in a lotion until you try it. There are so many considerations when choosing an emulsifier…cost, availability, ease of...
I thought I’d try the light lotion with ceteareth-20 and glycol distearate as the emulsifiers. (I’m using this recipe for my upcoming experiment with Olivem 800, so it made sense to stick with the same recipe!) When made with Polawax or BTMS, this is a very light lotion – almost sprayable – that feels cool...
I know I recently wrote a post on this topic, but I thought I’d add a little more to it here… What is phase inversion? We know we have two phases in our lotions – the oil phase and the water phase (if you want more technical terms or to learn more about emulsification, please...