Member exclusive Q&A: How to thicken oils that won’t be greasy? Fatty alcohols, fatty acids, liquid esters, and solid esters, plus a formula for a whipped not-butter

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On February 11, we took a look at ways to thicken oils that won’t be greasy. Today, let’s look at a few other ways to thicken oils! A few years ago – holy cow, was that in 2010? – I did some experiments thickening oils with cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, cetearyl alcohol, and complicated with...

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It’s all about the surfactants!

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I’ve been having a blast playing with all kinds of surfactants and thickeners over the last 18 months, and I’m getting ready to share them with you shortly. In the meantime, check out these new posts on the new blog about surfactants! Using powdered surfactants like SCI or SLSa in liquid products Separation in surfactant...

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Mixing surfactants: Slowly and gently with a fork?

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I mentioned this on Facebook and the old blog in the digest for the week, but I want all my writing to be in one place, so I’m sharing it here, too.  When you’re making surfactant based products like shampoo, body wash, facial cleanser, bubble bath, and so on, mix very slowly in a zig...

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Separation in surfactant based products, like shampoo or body wash? Let’s troubleshoot it!

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I’ve also been receiving so many questions about surfactant based products, like shampoo, body wash, facial cleanser, and bubble bath, separating, and I don’t think I know what you mean by that term “separate”. I’ve only once had something that appeared to be separation in a body wash, and that was one that had glycol...

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Using powdered surfactants like SCI or SLSa in liquid products

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I’ve been receiving quite a number of questions over the last few months about adding solid surfactants like sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI) and sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (SLSa) to liquid products, like bubble baths or body washes. The short answer is that you can’t incorporate these powders well into liquid products as they will either re-solidify...

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