Lotions

Let’s try a few different preservatives in a hand & body lotion formula to see how we would adapt them to not lose viscosity – Jeecide CAP-5 formulas (part three)

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I thought I’d share some formulas to demonstrate what we covered in our short series on adding ingredients to the cool down phase of emulsions. In part one, we looked at why we added hydrolyzed proteins, mixed tocopherols, actives & cosmeceuticals, fragrance oils, and essential oils to the cool down phase along with some emulsion...

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Why are we adding some ingredients to the cool down phase? Why do my emulsions lose viscosity when I add some preservatives? How do I make it not lose viscosity? (Part two)

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A close up diagram of a micelle. The oil is in yellow, the emulsifier has a red head, and the OH is the hydroxyl group sticking out into the blue water.

Welcome back to part of two of this short series in which we’re looking at why we might add some ingredients to the cool down phase of a formula. In part one, we looked at why we added hydrolyzed proteins, mixed tocopherols, actives & cosmeceuticals, fragrance oils, and essential oils to the cool down phase...

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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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Tips & techniques: Why do we need to add water back to the water phase of an emulsion if it evaporates?

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I was on a Facebook group this weekend where this question was posed, “Do you need to add the evaporated water back to the lotion?”, referring to the water that was lost as we heated and held the heated water phase when making an emulsion. The short answer is heck, yes! The longer answer is...

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