About Lotion Bases

[purplefan]

I only make lotion for myself, have no interest in selling.

A friend buys lotion bases from a reputable company here in Australia.

My understanding of lotion bases is you add fragrance mix well and package (taking care with handling and all other requirements of cleanliness)
that the emulsifier and preservative used is what is required for the oils, water and whatever else is in said formula of purchased base.

If you add extra oil and other ingredients you would require more emulsifier and preservative in the original formula.
If adding extras don't you risk the lotion becoming unstable or even unusable because of bacteria.

Any information you can share with me would be much appreciated

 

[savonierre]

You certainly would be making the formula unstable by adding ingredients. Most bases that I have seen are created to add fragrance and maybe color to, that is it. I would search for a base that had everything in it that I wanted or make my own, which I do.

 

[purplefan]

Thank you for confirming what I thought was right.
Now I have to try convince my friend this is not a good idea to sell what I call contaminated lotion:shock:

 

[new12soap]

Contact the manufacturer, some bases are meant only to be fragranced and bottled, others have enough emulsifier and preservative in them to handle "add-ins". Some suppliers sell bases that you can mix with distilled water to make a cream or lotion as thick or thin and you like. The supplier should be able to tell you what is and isn't safe to do with their base.

 

[Robert]

A lotion is an oil-in-water ("o/w") emulsion, meaning the water is the continuous phase (all connected) and the oil discontinuous (disconnected bits separated by the water). It's going to be easier to mix something into the continuous phase than into the discontinuous one. If you're adding something water soluble, that's fairly easy because it just dissolves right away into the water phase; of course if you're expanding that phase you'll be diluting whatever's already in the water, including the preservatives and other things like salts that might affect preservation, so that could require adjustment of the preservative system if the volume of what you're adding is relatively large.

If you're adding something oil soluble, that poses more of a challenge. It can't mix immediately with the discontinuous oil droplets that are already in there, so the mixture in effect has to re-emulsify. In some cases the emulsifier(s) already in there won't be able to handle this change.

 

[purplefan]

Thank you for the answers to my questions, they help a little but
I'm just thinking
1. Wouldn't you need to heat the lotion base to add any extra oils and wouldn't heating this spoil the preservative?

2. What about the heat and hold thingy, to make sure there are no nasty things in water based additives.

This has me very confused because if there is extra emulsifiers and preservatives to allow for additives, if you didn't include these then your ingredients would be out of balance.

 

[Robert]

1. Wouldn't you need to heat the lotion base to add any extra oils

Not necessarily.

and wouldn't heating this spoil the preservative?

Depends what the preservative is.

2. What about the heat and hold thingy, to make sure there are no nasty things in water based additives.

You could always do that separately on whatever you're adding if it's a problem.

This has me very confused because if there is extra emulsifiers and preservatives to allow for additives, if you didn't include these then your ingredients would be out of balance.

Yes, it could be for large enough additions, but how is that confusing?

Is the "confusion" just that there's no one-size-fits-all answer? Or is there a concept problem?

 

[new12soap]

purplefan, again I would say if you have any questions about a particular base, contact the supplier. they will tell you what you can and cannot safely do with their product and how to accomplish it.

 

[purplefan]

new12soap: This is not for me I make my own lotion and have no intentions of selling. A friend does this to sell and it has me confused how adding things after the lotion is already made with no checking of the formula or preservative is safe.

Robert: Thank you for explaining this, what has me confused is this being done and not tested for anything, as to see if it is a stable emulsion, preservative is working remembering people are applying this to their skin a leave on product, and would insurance cover you if something were to go wrong
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/member.php?u=7170

 

[Robert]

A friend does this to sell and it has me confused how adding things after the lotion is already made with no checking of the formula or preservative is safe.

Robert: Thank you for explaining this, what has me confused is this being done and not tested for anything, as to see if it is a stable emulsion, preservative is working remembering people are applying this to their skin a leave on product, and would insurance cover you if something were to go wrong
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/member.php?u=7170

Whose insurance? Surely not the supplier of the lotion base, unless they wound up paying out because of some defect on their part.

If a restaurant makes a customer sick, it might be the fault of the supplier of an ingredient they use, but it's not as if their supplier's insurance is going to cover the restaurant for their own fault.

 

[Mandarin]

I have never heated lotion base to incorporate anything. Mixing extremely well is perfectly fine. Also, adding a bit of extra oils does not require any additional preservatives. (I would never put a water-based additive into a ready made base.) Keep in mind that your base will change consistency and become thinner once extra oils are added. This is not necessarily a bad thing as some bases are too thick to begin with. However, keep this in mind. Since you have no interest in selling, you do not need to be concerned with the correct ingredients being listed on the label. I suggest taking a small amount of base and fidgeting with it if you want to add more oils. This way you do not waste a bunch of base from experimentation that does not turn out the way that you had hoped.