Any thoughts on this recipe??

[SudsyKat]

Hi, all! I was wondering if I could get some input on this recipe. I got it off Swiftcraftymonkey's site. It's for a facial lotion. My skin loves it in terms of moisturizing, but I'm noticing after a week of using this that my skin is threatening to break out a little bit. I was thinking perhaps i could choose a different oil, but sunflower oil is a "0" on the comedogenicity scale, so can I do any better, really? I thought maybe just try different oils to see if it helps. Or do you see any other possible culprits here? (By the way, i should mention that the emulsion is not totally stable. It started to separate slightly after a couple of days. It stays mostly emulsified, but I do shake it up really well before each use. Not sure what happened there, but I'll have to fix that on the next attempt). Here's the recipe:

WATER PHASE
48% water
15% aloe vera
15% hydrosol of choice (I'm using lavender hydrosol)
2% glycerin
0.1% EDTA

OIL PHASE
8% sunflower oil (or ½ jojoba and half olive oil)
4% emulsifier - Polawax, e-wax or BTMS (I used Polawax - first time I've used it)
2% thickener - cetyl alcohol for the glide

COOL DOWN PHASE
0.5% to 1% preservative (I used Germall Plus powder at .2%, which is the max for the powdered form)
2% hydrolyzed oat protein
2% panthenol
1% Vitamin E
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[soapbuddy]

You have 78% liquid in there. That could be why it's separating. I would adjust the liquid down and increase your oil up to at least 15%.

 

[Earthchild]

Fractionated Coconut Oil might be nice in place of the sunflower. It's very light. Or Hazelnut, which is dryer in feel. Also, the glycerin can contribute to breakouts; you can try sodium lactate in it's place and see if that helps. As for the emulsion stability, something might have gone wrong in the process, as this formula should be very stable. The water content isn't the problem; I make a lotion with 85% water, 6% oils and 2.5% e-wax/polawax and it holds together beautifully. 4% emulsifier is plenty for a 10% oil phase. Try it again with some tweaks and let us know what happens!

 

[SudsyKat]

Thanks for the input - I'll try again, maybe with some other oils. Although, I'm doing an experiment right now to see if it's the new face wash I made that's causing the problem (it may be that and not the moisturizer). I wonder if my face wash is too mild and not cleansing enough. We'll see. Anyhow, I definitely need to try again to get the emulsion right.

I've only made a couple of emulsified products this far - I'm a total newbie. I am good at following directions, though, and I can't figure what went wrong. I'm going to try a stick blender next time instead of a hand mixer. Also, It's possible I did the "heat and hold" at slightly less than the recommended temperature. I'll make sure and heat it to the full temperature for the hold.

Thanks again.

 

[Araseth]

I recently saw a topic on here by somebody with a separation problem. They'd used the hand mixer, then when they used the stick blender it was fine. Hope that helps some

 

[Earthchild]

Ah, it probably is the mixing method! High shear mixing lends the most stable emulsion. If you try again with your stick blender it will probably hold together.

 

[SudsyKat]

Thanks! I'm excited to try again. I really appreciate your help!