Lye in MP purpose?

[not_ally]

Inspired by @Mobjack Bay, I went into the local Lush store today. I was amazed at how strong (in a good way) the soaps smelled until I read the ingredients of one and realized they were MP soaps. I had assumed that Lush soaps were mainly CP, I think it is the other way around. When I looked at the ingredients they were pretty much what I would have expected, except that lye was listed towards the end, so I assume a very small amount. What purpose would that serve?

The soap was Karma, here's the ingredients (I've omitted the aroma chemicals that Lush listed because they are just elements of the essential oils and not relevant to the question): Water, Rapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Fragrance, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Patchouli Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Lavandin Oil, Pine Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Elemi Oil, Gardenia Extract, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, EDTA, Red 4

Also, I have never seen/held a jelly soap before, I admit that it was weirdly fascinating and that I came home and looked up how to make it.

Finally, @AliOop and @Zing, I saw that they had a lotion/massage bar that included magnesium, I thought of you guys because I know Ali makes a mg cream and Zing is the lotion bar king.

Lush annoys me sometimes but they really do have a great business model, you can see why they are so successful.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I had exactly the same reaction to the soaps being M&P! I wonder if the NaOH is being used to adjust pH.

 

[AliOop]

I had exactly the same reaction to the soaps being M&P! I wonder if the NaOH is being used to adjust pH.

That was my thought, as well.

@not_ally thats a great idea to make mag-infused lotion bars. To my understanding, mag salts don’t dissolve in oils; I dissolve mine in distilled water. But I could make en emulsified lotion bar with that!

 

[Nona'sFarm]

Inspired by @Mobjack Bay, I went into the local Lush store today. I was amazed at how strong (in a good way) the soaps smelled until I read the ingredients of one and realized they were MP soaps. I had assumed that Lush soaps were mainly CP, I think it is the other way around. When I looked at the ingredients they were pretty much what I would have expected, except that lye was listed towards the end, so I assume a very small amount. What purpose would that serve?

The soap was Karma, here's the ingredients (I've omitted the aroma chemicals that Lush listed because they are just elements of the essential oils and not relevant to the question): Water, Rapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Fragrance, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Patchouli Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Lavandin Oil, Pine Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Elemi Oil, Gardenia Extract, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, EDTA, Red 4

Also, I have never seen/held a jelly soap before, I admit that it was weirdly fascinating and that I came home and looked up how to make it.

Finally, @AliOop and @Zing, I saw that they had a lotion/massage bar that included magnesium, I thought of you guys because I know Ali makes a mg cream and Zing is the lotion bar king.

Lush annoys me sometimes but they really do have a great business model, you can see why they are so successful.

Hi, I started out with MP. Most of those ingredients are what is in any Melt and Pour Soap Base, less the particular fragrance(s). So when the soap base is made, lye is used to create the soap. I doubt they add any extra lye.

Here is an example of a MP base from Brambleberry:
Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Safflower Oil, Glycerin, Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Buttermilk, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Sorbitan Oleate, Oat Protein, Titanium Dioxide

So looking at the Lush ingredient list again, I question if they are truly listed by magnitude of weight as Water is listed first. It is possible that is the correct order by weight, just not probable, in my opinion; but I am no expert on making high glycerin soap from scratch.

 

[AliensrReal]

Lush makes their own melt and pour base from soap flakes. The soap flakes are made with coconut oil, rapeseed oil and lye. Then they mix the other ingredients to make it melt and pour. the owners showed off how they make their soaps when they stopped using palm oil.

 

[Zing]

Inspired by @Mobjack Bay, I went into the local Lush store today. I was amazed at how strong (in a good way) the soaps smelled until I read the ingredients of one and realized they were MP soaps. I had assumed that Lush soaps were mainly CP, I think it is the other way around. When I looked at the ingredients they were pretty much what I would have expected, except that lye was listed towards the end, so I assume a very small amount. What purpose would that serve?

The soap was Karma, here's the ingredients (I've omitted the aroma chemicals that Lush listed because they are just elements of the essential oils and not relevant to the question): Water, Rapeseed Oil, Coconut Oil, Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Fragrance, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Patchouli Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Lavandin Oil, Pine Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Elemi Oil, Gardenia Extract, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Bicarbonate, EDTA, Red 4

Also, I have never seen/held a jelly soap before, I admit that it was weirdly fascinating and that I came home and looked up how to make it.

Finally, @AliOop and @Zing, I saw that they had a lotion/massage bar that included magnesium, I thought of you guys because I know Ali makes a mg cream and Zing is the lotion bar king.

Lush annoys me sometimes but they really do have a great business model, you can see why they are so successful.

Thanks. Just wondering how the heck to add magnesium to lotion bars and how it affects the bar.

 

[not_ally]

I'm not sure how Lush does it, I know that people use it for all kinds of things, like cramps, muscle pain, stress, restless leg sydrome, mental fog. I don't know if it works or not, but some people swear by it. I've been taking elemental magnesium lately for focus and fatigue, I think it's been working to some degree but I've only been taking it for a couple of weeks, so not sure yet. But I'm not sure how I'd add it to a lotion bar, since Ali pointed out that it it's not oil soluble as flakes and I think the oil would be expensive if at an effective purity. Maybe a bad suggestion on my part.

 

[AliOop]

Magnesium "oil" is really easy to make, but doesn't actually contain any oil. The flakes are simply dissolved in distilled water, so easy-peasy. Some folks spray that right on their skin and rub it in, but it can feel irritating (kind of burning/tingling). I like using mag "oil" to as the water portion of my lotion. Putting it on my skin in lotion form completely eliminates the irritation, while still providing the benefits of skin-absorbed magnesium.

It is pretty easy to make an emulsified lotion bar, but not as easy as the anhydrous types, that is for sure.