Hazel said:
Oh oh Ian...I lied to you. I was just looking at a sample massage cream packet and it listed soybean oil as an ingredient. I haven't tried this oil.
Percentages were approximately
30.5% aloe juice
12.5% aloe vera gel
33% sweet almond oil
13% cocoa butter
3% beeswax
5% lecithin
1.5% glycerin
1% Optiphen
.5% T-50
My understanding was that it absorbed too quickly. I think part of the problem is that I used beeswax which also probably created drag. Also, I used aloe juice instead of distilled water. Another problem could have been the cocoa butter. Or the lecithin...I really don't know. People who weren't MTs loved it for massage which is why I asked a couple of students to try it out.
I've found a couple of other recipes that I will play around with and see if they work better. These recipes use stearic acid and ewax. I've bought some glyceryl monostearate which I'm going to substitute for the stearic acid. I've read that stearic acid can create too much drag.
I'm just going to have to keep experimenting.
30.5% aloe juice-------------->
12.5% aloe vera gel ---------> 43% "water"
33% sweet almond oil -------> 33% oils
13% cocoa butter -----------> 21% hard
3% beeswax ----------------->
5% lecithin -------------------->
1.5% glycerin
1% Optiphen
.5% T-50
I would say that you should def. nix the cb and beeswax,(maybe switch the cb for aloe butter...I LOOOOVE that stuff)... in my experience, theyre just too stiff for massage, while they may be nice for lotions you just rub on and are done with, for massage when you are really getting into palpating and such I think you will be using too much...
This Recipe is a newer version of my last recipe which needed a bit more heat before the oils and water were combined, as well as a little bit more oil.
I would split that 21% up between water (which I like around 65-75%) and the oils. I like the oils up around 17-20%)
I would say to switch the glycerine with lanolin too... Glycerine kinda gets sticky on skin, lanolin...which is a homologue for our skins' natural oil, sebum is very nutritive to the skin and will absorb pretty well...
I agree on the stearic, I tried it and dont like it... I found that when I used it it would "ball up" on clients skin, not sure if they realized it but I thought it was nasty so I stopped using it in my formulations
I tried this recipe recently for a swedish adaptation:
74% water
22% oils (grapeseed, because it has little possibility of allergic reactions)
4% ewax
although I think a better batch would be 5% ewax, and 23% oils... I think this one was juuuust a bit too loose, I was going for loose, but this is just a bit too loose. I wanted this to be able to be used in a pump-bottle without clogging it, or sucking up only a little bit where the intake is, and then the rest is too stiff to settle back down around it...leaving me pumping like a fiend while the client is wondering Kitten Love is going on here!?!? lol...
I was using potassium sorbate as a pressie at .1%, but I dont think I want to use Potassium Sorbate as a preservative any more, Im just nervous about the alternatives... Might start using optiphen or something once I get busier... recently I have just been making lotions per massage, so if I know I have 5 treatments the next day, I will make 5 units worth of lotion the night before, keep it in the fridge and its good to go. I hate using preservatives but it is neccessary if the lotion is kept more than 24-48 hrs. (and I keep mine in the frige too).... I like to have about 1.5 oz of lotion per client, at least... or 2, just cause you never know when people are rockin' the fur which everyone knows eats lotion up like a hungry sasquach...
Its a constant process though, I still want to improve my recipes as I dont think I have found "the one" yet... but I am so critical of everything I make, so that might be part of the problem...
I havent tried glyceryl monostearate so I might see what that is about, I guess it is used in food products too so that is cool (that is mostly one of my requirements for lotions, I want them to literally be okay to eat)
I am really trying to find a food-grade and skin safe preservative so I dont need to make batches of lotion every time I have clients etc.. although there is a good marketing effect I have found from me making my own lotions, I make it heavily known that I do so in practice .... so people find it cool that I make my own lotions the night before ... I always say theyre fresh from the cupboard to the fridge to the table... (massage table in this case!)
Hope that helps!
