Basic instructions for lotion making (updated September 2025)

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These are what I consider to be the basic instructions for making lotions for most types of emulsifiers, including Polawax, emulsifying wax, Incroquat BTMS-50, Simulsol 165/Lotionpro™ 165, and more. Always check how the emulsifier you’re using needs to be used as this method won’t work for other emulsifiers, like Olivem 1000, Montanov 68 MB, Varisoft...

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Why are we adding some ingredients, like hydrolyzed proteins or preservatives, to the cool down phase? (Part one)

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Three bottles with brown, clear liquid sit on a counter top. These are hydrolyzed proteins.

This is a super great question and one that I don’t think I’ve ever answered all in one post, so let’s look at this now!  Sometimes adding ingredients to the “cool down phase” isn’t just about the temperature! Some of our ingredients are heat sensitive – those that are volatile, like isododecane, fragrance oils, or essential...

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Part 33, Chemistry Thursday: Some more esters we use as emulsifiers – sorbitan and ethoxylated sorbitan esters (polysorbates) – solubilizers, and some more emulsion chemistry (part 33)

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An illustration of oil-filled micelles floating in a sea of water. They are all the same size.

Part 33, Chemistry Thursday: Some more esters we use as emulsifiers – sorbitan and ethoxylated sorbitan esters (polysorbates) – solubilizers, and some more emulsion chemistry (part 33) Welcome back to this introduction to cosmetic chemistry course! Let’s continue our look at esters by investigating those that work as emulsifiers. We’ll get into some emulsion theory,...

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Tips & techniques: Why it’s ill-advised to make batches below 100 grams or batches with non-multiples of 100!

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A beaker with clear liquid on a digital scale. We added SIMULGEL™️ EG emulsifier to the beaker. It hasn't been mixed yet.

I just went into this in the shopping list post for the new introduction to cold process emulsifiers series running from October 2025 to March 2026 here every Formulating Friday starting October 3, 2025, that’ll be available to Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation subscribers to the site here, but I thought it so important, it should...

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Super quick, super easy products for gift giving: Emulsified foot scrub bars!

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Three foot scrub bars - oval bars made with various butters and pumice - sit under a pink violet.

I thought I’d share some of my favourite, easy-to-make, quick, inexpensive formulas you might want to sell or give as gifts this year. You can find the original formula in this post – One ingredient, five products: Stearic acid in foot scrub bars! I’ve modified it quite a bit since I shared it then.  My...

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