Body scrub shrinking???

[Ohsandraaa]

Hey guys! I am just encountering a little problem here. I am opening up an online body scrub business here in the PH (with a really hot weather) but somehow I am trying to come up with a formula that can stand the warm climate here. I think I am finally getting it.
I am trying to do a shipping test to see how my products are going to look like once I ship them to my customers and it shocks me that some of my scrubs tend to shrink once it undergoes the shipping process.
I am thinking it must be the agitation caused by the tossing of packages in the shipping facility that have caused the shrinkage of the sugar scrubs?
Or it could also be too much whipping - causing the air bubbles to pop when the package gets tossed?

I just aim to come up with a stable scrub formula - one that doesn't experience oil separation and is not too hard. I have been adjusting my formula to get the right formulation but I just can't seem to get it perfect.

The only additives that I have in my scrubs are: Stearic acid and Emulsifying wax. I don't want to add more additives unless it's going to make my scrub more stable, unless it's really needed. However, I have been looking at the ingredients of the body scrub brands here in my country and they have more chemical additives that I refuse to add to my products. I hope you can give me a tip when it comes to sugar scrub making and to make it more stable in hot places. If you'd also like to recommend an ingredient that will deifnitely help my products be more stable yet fluffy, then I'd be happy to give it a try.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[DeeAnna]

If you make a product firm enough to be shelf stable in hot weather, it's not going to be nice to use on the skin because the melt temperature will be too high for it to soften and spread easily at normal body temperatures or in water that's pleasantly warm to the skin.

You're kind of asking the product to "know" whether the warmth is from the environment or from a person's skin and then "decide" how it should perform in either situation. That's unrealistic.

If you add enough stearic and/or e-wax or other high-melt-temperature ingredients to make the product shelf-stable in hot weather, it's going to feel waxy and plastic-y on the skin. I don't live in a hot climate like yours, but I've tested enough blends for emulsifying scrubs to have realized the melting point of the scrub has to be close to body temp. People who do live in hot climates and make these products for sale don't ship them in hot weather, and they take care to keep the product cool while on the shelf and at the point of sale.

A whipped butter or scrub is going to deflate as it becomes less viscous due to the warmth. I'm sure the jostling during shipping doesn't help either, but I would expect a slow decrease in volume just sitting on the shelf if the temperature is warm enough.

Related threads --
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/emulsified-sugar-scrub-is-runny.58808/https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...-scrub-formulation-stability-fail-help.81110/

 

[Ohsandraaa]

Ho

If you make a product firm enough to be shelf stable in hot weather, it's not going to be nice to use on the skin because the melt temperature will be too high for it to soften and spread easily at normal body temperatures or in water that's pleasantly warm to the skin.

You're kind of asking the product to "know" whether the warmth is from the environment or from a person's skin and then "decide" how it should perform in either situation. That's unrealistic.

If you add enough stearic and/or e-wax or other high-melt-temperature ingredients to make the product shelf-stable in hot weather, it's going to feel waxy and plastic-y on the skin. I don't live in a hot climate like yours, but I've tested enough blends for emulsifying scrubs to have realized the melting point of the scrub has to be close to body temp. People who do live in hot climates and make these products for sale don't ship them in hot weather, and they take care to keep the product cool while on the shelf and at the point of sale.

A whipped butter or scrub is going to deflate as it becomes less viscous due to the warmth. I'm sure the jostling during shipping doesn't help either, but I would expect a slow decrease in volume just sitting on the shelf if the temperature is warm enough.

Related threads --
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/emulsified-sugar-scrub-is-runny.58808/https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...-scrub-formulation-stability-fail-help.81110/

I totally get your point, how do i make a scrub that wouldn’t experience oil separation?

ive been looking at scrub ingredients from my fave brands and they have incorporated Glyceryl stearate and Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride in their scrubs, do they play a huge role in keeping their scrubs stable? Iam planning to do some test batch with it but i don’t know the adequate usage rate of those two for body scrubs. If you have an idea that might help, please let me know.

also, would it be better to transfer the scrub mixture immediately to the jars or wait for 24 hours (for it to set) before transferring it? Thanks very much!