silvercb67
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I want to make a rosemary mint. Could I use mint extract?
Making lotion bars today
- Thread starter silvercb67
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Do you mean a mint flavoring extract? No, you can't. Solid lotion bars are made of oils, flavor extracts are alcohol based and are not soluble in oil, it would separate out. Sorry.
eta: they do make oil based candy flavors that might work. I am not sure how much scent you would get from them tho
eta: they do make oil based candy flavors that might work. I am not sure how much scent you would get from them tho
Lin
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And those oil based candy flavors are TINY, and EXPENSIVE. Would be much better to purchase a bottle of a mint EO.
silvercb67
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Oh... I just don't know what I'd do without this wonderful site. Thank you both so much! Also I can put in fridge to harden, correct?
My lotion bars just sat out at room temp and hardened - I usually left them overnight and unmolded the next day. You are using (mostly) solid oils or waxes or butters - they should revert to that fairly quickly after pouring. I'm not sure if hastening the hardening in the fridge is a good idea - I'd be worried about graininess, but that's just me and my tiny mind.
I put mine in the fridge to harden up. I've heard taht slow cooling can cause the grainess. I love lotion bars.
See? Mine arent grainy but I bet I been doing it wrong
There's really no right or wrong way with these. Just do what works best for you. I make make mine in tubes and I'm inpatient so I pour about 3/4 full put in the fridge to cool then top that off so I have an even top and back into the fridge.
Lin
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With most butters and oils (like coconut) cooling too slowly causes grainess, so yes using the fridge or freezer can help. The only odd bunch is cocoa butter which on its own needs to cool slowly after tempering for proper crystal structure. But in a recipe, it seems to get its crystalline structure just fine from the other butters and do well in the fridge (sort of like adding in unmelted chocolate so melted chocolate will form the correct crystalline structure).
AnnaMarie
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I use both coconut and Shea butter in my lotion bars, melt at low heat, and cool at room temp- they come out perfect! People love them and buy multiples at once. I think recipe and technique are both key. Just do what works for you to develop a good recipe
Cheers!
Anna Marie
Cheers!
Anna Marie
OK, I tempered both my cocoa butter and my shea butter when I got them. Followed the directions on both of them to the letter. Made one batch of body butter, and I cooled some at room temp, and stuck the ones in the tubes in the fridge. Both were grainy. Any ideas? Can I re-temper them? I want to make lip balm with both shea and cocoa butter, but I am afraid to now.
silvercb67
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Wish I could help. I did cool mine in the fridge and they came out perfect. I used shea,cocoa,mango & coconut oil
Lin
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You can try re-tempering. Did you test both the cocoa butter and shea butter for graininess before making the recipe? Since even the ones that cooled in the fridge are grainy, I wonder if your shea butter has been overworked prior to you getting it. Shea is super temperamental.
