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.
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 figured now that you’ve seen the HLB system in action, it’s time for a summary. The HLB system is designed to make it easier to figure out what emulsifier goes with what lotion. Your oil phase will have a required HLB value, meaning this is the number you need to match with an emulsification...
We can, in theory, combine any low HLB and high HLB emulsifiers to create an emulsification system. But there are reasons you might not want to use certain combinations. Perhaps you’re avoiding certain emulsifiers because they contain elements of something you don’t like. Or you can’t get your ingredients reliably or locally. Or you might...
All right, so we did a kinda basic recipe yesterday, let’s look at something more complicated…a body butter filled with various oils and esters and silicones.OUR MODIFIED BODY BUTTER RECIPEWATER PHASE42% water10% aloe vera liquid10% lavender or rose hydrosol2% sodium lactate OIL PHASE10% oils – 5% macadamia nut and 5% safflower oil15% butter of choice...