Goat Milk Lotion Tutorial

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Lindy

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When making a goat milk lotion it is very important that the goat milk is as fresh as you can get it and that you don't use more than 12% of the recipe volume.

INGREDIENTS:

3% butter
15% soft oils
12% Goat Milk
5% Emulsifying Wax
65% Water

On top of this you will need 1% (or whatever is the high end your preservative's recommended usage & 1% fragrance or essential oils.

Now let's make it. For the oils you need to create a Bain Marie or double boiler. To make a Bain Marie/double boiler put a smaller pot into a larger pot. These should be double handled so they will sit flat. Put water in the bottom pot which is what is going to melt your oils.

Oil Phase:

Butter, oil, emulsifying wax go into your Bain Marie. Bring the water to a medium boil and once everything is melted keep it that temperature for 20 minutes.

Water Phase:

Put your water and milk into a large pot and weigh this. Put onto a slow boil, we are looking to sterilize the milk and water. Just a note here, some people like to use bottled water, I personally am happy with my tap water, so this is a personal choice.

Once the oils have been tempered for the 20 minutes, weigh your water pot and add back in what you have lost through evaporation with boiling water. Now add the oils into the water and stickblend for a couple of minutes. Continue to check temperature and stickblend when you do. I like to fill the sink with icy cold water to drop the temperature a little quicker. Be careful that you don't make the pot float.

Once the lotion has cooled to less than 30* Celcius you will add your preservative and fragrance/essential oil. Give it a good stickblend for at least 2 minutes and then pour into your bottles. This does make a nice thick lotion.
 
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Lindy , do you make lotion for personal use or to sell ? is the preservative suppose to be added up into the total 100% or it stands on its own? // i never made lotion/cream and very much think its time that i do learn to make it , if even for personal use .
 
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nice ! @ Lindy , and what type of shelf life do you get ? [is the bottles 4 oz or more ? i ask because i think i read somewhere that smaller bottles better because the product gets used up in a timely fashion instead of sitting around for months]
 
I prefer 4 ounce but I also sell 8 ounce. I give a 3 month limitation after opening. I give it a 12 month lifetime sealed but in reality it will last longer because no air is getting and if you store it in a low light area you're not causing it to get hot and cause the product to get heated which will damage it. By using 12% or less of goat milk it doesn't spoil because of your preservative. It is also why I say to use the freshest goat milk you can get your hands on.

If you wanted to make a regular lotion then add the goat milk percentage back into the water.
 
Lindy, will powdered GM be okay to use too? that's what i was using so far for my gm body butter.
 
You won't have as much control on the actual percentage in the lotion which could lead to a lot of trouble because the preservative might have trouble holding it....
 
You won't have as much control on the actual percentage in the lotion which could lead to a lot of trouble because the preservative might have trouble holding it....


I don't understand. If I mix the powder by weight with water, why couldn't I be precise? I'm not trying to be difficult, I just don't have access to fresh goat milk and I would love to try this. I have loved the ones I have tried, but here my choices are powdered or canned evaporated.

Let's say I used canned, and diluted 1:1 with water per the instructions, then used that mixture as 12% of the recipe, would that work? Or the same with powdered, mixed carefully according to the package directions?
 
If you mix it carefully by the instructions then you are probably okay. The reason I don't recommend it is that too often people just put in how much they think should be in there rather than be absolutely precise when mixing it.
 
Thanks, Lindy!

I totally understand, it would NOT be okay for instance to use 12% of your recipe as either straight-up powder or undiluted canned.

The goatsmilk makes it harder to preserve, which is why you have to limit the amount and be very precise, but ohhhhhh it is so worth it!
 
Does this make a thinner lotion or thicker? I've been having a terrible time getting my lotion thin enough to easily be used in a flip top bottle lol.
 
Lindy -- I have made quite a few small batches of lotion for my personal use and have found a recipe I like really well. Now you've upset the apple cart! :) I plan to try your recipe -- and also to adapt my recipe to include milk and see how it compares to my non-milk version. Thank you for taking the time to share this recipe.

"...How long and what temp do you hold the water/milk at?..."

I was taught to heat-and-hold my water phase and oil phase liquids at a minimum of 160 F (70 C) for a minimum of 20 minutes. FWIW, my temps normally end up about 170-190. I was really fussy when I first started making lotions, but I've loosened up some over time. I agree with Lindy -- the temp and time aren't overly critical as long as you meet the minimum.
 
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Lindy,

thanks. so far i've been mixing as per instructions on the can, but i will try fresh gm next time.

you said this makes a thick lotion, do you think it will work on a pump bottle? or should i increase the water to make it thinner?
 
With the goat milk in there, the water phase in Lindy's lotion adds up to about 75%.

The lotion I make has about 78% in the water phase, and it goes through a lotion pump just fine. I like to use the "high viscosity" pumps from Majestic Mountain Sage with 4 and 8 ounce bottles. I have put this lotion into a little 2 oz bottle with a teeny tiny pump to keep at my workbench. That works okay as long as the bottle is 1/2 full or so. It gets a little harder when the bottle is only 1/4 full. A better solution for those little amounts is to use a squeezable "tottle" (Malibu bottle). Or increase the water phase a few more percent.
 
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