HELP! Greasy sheep's milk lotion!

[soapinintx]

I tried making my first batch of lotion last night. I love the feel and texture as is comes out of the bottle and onto my hands. I love my hands, too.... like 10 minutes later! At first, for about 10 minutes or so, it leaves my hands very greasy with super shiny fingernails. =(

Here's the recipe I used. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

52% distilled water
16.5% pasteurized sheep's milk
8.5% sweet almond oil
8% safflower oil
2.5% cocoa butter
1% arrowroot powder
6% emulsifying wax (Milliard's)
3% stearic acid
1% Phenonip (preservative)
0.5% fragrance

I heated the oils, arrowroot, emulsifying wax, and stearic acid in one double boiler and the water/milk in another. I heated the oils until they were completely melted, at which time both mixtures were about 177°F.

I slowly poured the oil mixture into the milk/water mixture and blended with a stick blender about 4 minutes or so.

I then added my preservative and fragrance.

Like I said, I'm very pleased with texture and viscosity, as well as the beautiful bright white color and fragrance, but is far too greasy at first. (I certainly wouldn't want this as a gift!)

Can it be fixed?? And what can I do differently next time??

Thank you SO much for sharing your experienced wisdom with a newbie!! =)

 

[lsg]

Here are some guidelines for creating lotion--Source-- https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/how-to-create-homemade-lotion-recipes/

70 – 80% – Distilled Water
3 – 5% – Stearic Acid
3 – 6% – Emulsifying Wax
Add the rest in of your choice of oils and butters

To this add:
.5 – 1% – Preservative
.5% – Fragrance

Sheep milk contains a high percent of fat. Sweet almond oil is considered a medium base oil. You might want to replace it with a lighter oil such as safflower, meadowfoam, fractionated coconut, or grapeseed. I would probably choose shea butter over cocoa butter. An emulsifying wax that is made up of cetearyl alcohol and ceteareth-20 and is thought to produce a drier feel to the skin might be another consideration.

 

[DeeAnna]

I suggest you wait at least 24 hours after making lotion before deciding whether you like the skin feel or not. Lotion needs some time to stabilize and until that happens, it will feel greasy.

That said, have you tried each of the fats directly on your skin? Do any of them feel especially heavy or greasy to you? Make a tiny blend of just those fats that mimics the blend you want to use in the lotion. How does the blend feel?

If the fats don't feel right when used directly on the skin, they might not be good candidates for use in a lotion. That's not to say fats that feel heavy or greasy will always result in a heavy greasy lotion, but you have to start somewhere when deciding what to use and this method generally works well for me.

Also the use of milk and the arrowroot powder in a lotion is a red flag. Adding a source of carbohydrates to a lotion puts your lotion at high risk for microbial growth. This is true even though you've used a preservative. Cosmetic chemists recommend using very low amounts of additives like milk -- like in the 1% range (speaking from memory here but I know it's a very small percentage.)

I'd guess you would also need to use a couple of preservatives and possibly a chelator like EDTA to give the lotion half a chance to stay sanitary. Carolyn (cmzaha) can speak about multiple preservatives better than I can. Ask Irish Lass about using EDTA in her lotions for better preservation.

 

[soapinintx]

Sheep milk contains a high percent of fat. Sweet almond oil is considered a medium base oil. You might want to replace it with a lighter oil such as safflower, meadowfoam, fractionated coconut, or grapeseed. I would probably choose shea butter over cocoa butter. An emulsifying wax that is made up of cetearyl alcohol and ceteareth-20 and is thought to produce a drier feel to the skin might be another consideration.

lsg, thank you for your wisdom and the link to Soap Queen.

 

[soapinintx]

DeeAnna, WOW!! Lot's of great insight! Thank you!