Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide?

Hi everyone,
So, I’ve always wanted to dive into the world of lotions/butters/creams and have been doing some research, and looking around at some products I love to get an idea of how I might want to formulate my own products. I have always really like the body butters from The Body Shop so I decided to check out their ingredients. I was shocked (and confused) when I found that their some of their body butters contain potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide! Immediately I thought of cream soap, which I play with from time-to-time, and it seems that there is some kind of melding between the cream soap and body butter formulation, but I just can’t wrap my brain around what it is, exactly. Maybe my brain is just dead tonight and it’ll come to me nut, just in case, does anyone have any insight?

Here is the ingredient list for the Mango Body Butter from The Body Shop

Water, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Glycerin, Cyclomethicone, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Lanolin Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Xanthan Gum, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Citral, Eugenol, Farnesol, Geraniol, Citronellol, Annatto.

Thank you!

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

Usually sodium hydroxide in a leave-on product is there as a ph adjuster/stabilizer. I don't know if they serve any other purpose. The whippy texture of the Body Shop Butter comes from the combo of the cyclo, glycerine, and specifically the emulsification system they use (glyceral stearate and peg-100 stearate). Good stuff, though strong on the fragrance for my taste.

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

It's probably to adjust the pH. Sodium hydroxide is also found in many brand name toothpastes for that reason.

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

Thanks for the reply y'all I suspected it was pH related, but I guess what is throwing me is the use of both NaOH AND KOH simultaneously...I'm wondering what added benefits using both has over just one or the other...maybe it is adding to that unique texture and opalescent look (kind of like cream soap) that their butters have? My mind keeps going back to it being almost a hybrid between and body butter and a cream soap..hmmm...I'll have to ponder this one some more

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

I love body shop body butters too, in fact that's what got me started making my own. Lotioncrafter.com have a really good recipe for one which comes v close to the body shop's. On their site, click on formulary and then under Skincare you will see Body butter bliss. I think the combination of xanthan, behenyl, cetyl and lotionpro makes it v similar to body shops. I wish I had seen lotioncrafters recipe before I started my attempts. I got to attempt number twenty something and was finally satisfied and only then saw lotioncrafters recipe. Mine wasnt too far off theirs in the end so at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I managed to do it myself and learnt about tons of different ingredients along the way. Still, I can't stop experimenting more. Lotion making and CP soap is just too addictive!

Good luck with your Lotion. Let us know how you get on. Not sure if you know about swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot but she has fantastic tutorials and info which will really help you.

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

I must second swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot!! I just tried her recipe for a basic body butter and I love it! Although I cannot compare it to Body Shop's body butter sorry...

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

I did see lotioncrafter's Body Butter Bliss recipe and thought about giving it a go. Now that I know it is similar to the Body Shop, I'm all over it And I LOVE swiftcraftymonkey's blog, too!! Such an awesome resource.

Re: Body Butters with potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxi

I've never tried The Body Shop's body butter, but I have made Lotioncrafter's Body Butter Bliss recipe and it is absolutely wonderful and amazing. So wonderful and amazing, in fact, that I have ditched my own favorite formula that I developed and have been making for over a year and a half, in favor of Lotioncrafter's. If you don't want to shell out the bucks to buy everything listed in the Lotioncrafter recipe, you can buy their Body Butter Bliss kit which contains enough pre-measured ingredients to make 33 oz of it or so. That's how I got myself hooked on it. After making the kit and experiencing how lovely it was, I later went and bought all the ingredients so I could make more whenever I wanted to.


IrishLass