Need Help With Lip Balm And Emuslification

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SoapMakingTommy

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Hey everyone its been a while.:wave: Im back with a question.
Ive made a few lipbalms but wanted to make a new kind using a resin i made from coffee and chocolate beans.
I melted my oils and beeswax and added my resin but my resin did not want to melt and incorportae into the base lip balm formula.
I wanted to add sugar but that did not melt either.

All the things i make are natural and vegan and i try to stay away from preservatives, but i do use vitamin e as one.
I wondering why my resin wont melt into the lip balm base and what i might be able to do to incorporate the resin and the sugar.

I was wondering if i added the resin to the oils first before adding to the beeswax if that would make any difference?

What natural thing can i use to help blend everything together, or procedure to make it workout?
 
If your resin is water based, it won't mix in without some sort of extra help, I'm afraid. Since lip balms are an oil/wax based product, anything you add to it will also need to be oil/wax-based. If you are adding anything water-based, you'll find that it either won't mix in at all, or it might mix in for a short time, but then it will eventually separate out (think vinegar and oil dressing).

What you need is an emulsifier to keep everything together, but I personally don't know of any natural ones that would also work well in a lip balm. Hopefully, someone who knows more about such an emulsifier will chime in soon.

IrishLass :)
 
You are right, Susie. Thanks for bringing that up. Anytime water-based ingredients are added to lotions or balms, a preservative will be needed. Vitamin E is a great anti-oxidant that helps to guard against rancidity in oils, but it's a very poor preservative in that it won't do much of anything to knock out or keep at bay the nasties that are attracted to water-based ingredients.


IrishLass :)
 
Very good, Thank you, I have read that before, i never used any preservatives as i dont really add any water to my lipbalms, is that ok?

A question: i read and seen infused oils, and was thinking of doing the same, but was wondering if you are able to make say a coffee infused oil then why would it not work with the beeswax?
Is it the beeswax that makes it a problem?
If i infuse some oil with coffee and then add it to the beeswax will i have to worry about separation?
If that will work then i could probably try and melt my resin into my oil prior to adding the beeswax?
 
How are you making your resin?

The others are trying to say that if your resin contains water, it will not mix with the oils at all unless you use an emulsifier (consider beeswax as an oil). An emulsifier is a type of surfactant that is both water loving and oil loving, it makes the oil and water blend into one mixture. To emulisfy properly you need the chemical element, the heat element and the mechanical element working harmoniously.
This starts to get a little complicated, so you can probably start to see that having water in a lip balm isn't an easy idea - and as the others suggested too, that you need a preservative if water is involved.

If you soak your coffee and chocolate beans in your chosen oil for a couple of days and them seem like they're infusing well, then use that infused oil with a butter and some beeswax for a lip balm and see how you go.

I don't think I've done a very good job explaining here, but I hope some of it makes sense to you.
 
Very good, Thank you, I have read that before, i never used any preservatives as i dont really add any water to my lipbalms, is that ok?

It's not the best if you add any water. I'm not sure what "I don't really add any water" means.

Infusing with oil might well work. I've only ever done oil infusions with herbs, but as people make coffee butter I imagine it could work.
 
To put it as basic as I can:

Place your coffee and chocolate beans in a jar and submerge with oil. Leave in a cool dark place for 24-48 hours until the oil looks well infused.

Measure out one part oil (two parts if you want a softer balm), one part butter and one part beeswax into a double boiler (pyrex jug in a saucepan of water, whatever you use).

Heat lightly until all oils and butters are melted together.

Remove from heat and add a small amount of vitamin E when the mix has cooled a little (not cool enough to solidify, obviously).

Pour into tubes, making sure the mix isn't too hot.

Once they have solidified and cooled off, use a hairdryer or heat gun to gently smooth off the tops of the balm.


I don't have any experience with infusing coffee and chocolate beans, so you'll have to figure out how that will work for you. I hope this works out for you anyway!
 
I was on your website and when you say "10x coffee extract" is that 10x strength coffee, made with water? In which case, you should have a preservative in there. Also to note, lip balms are cosmetics so you should also be in line with anything you need from the FDA.
 
Sugar won't melt in oil and anything with water just won't incorporate with an oil/wax mixture. Even if you use a powdered element (say powdered caffeine or aloe powder), those have to be mixed with water first and won't work in a balm. Honey doesn't like to be in balms, either.
 

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