Oil Properties for Body Butter

[adoptapitbull]

I've done well so far with soaps and lotions, and want to expand to emulsified body butters. Presently I use the same soap recipe, and 2 lotion recipes that I like very much. For a BB, though, I'm overwhelmed with the possibilities and want to get it "right" without wasting too much product. Out of the oils I have, which do you think I should not use for reasons of product (short shelf life, too oily, etc) or reason of price (expensive oils are Emu, Argan, Tamanu)...

I have:

Shea Butter
Mango Butter
Cocoa Butter
Kokum Butter
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil
Avocado Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Emu Oil
Argan Oil
Tamanu Oil
Pumpkin Seed Oil

I was thinking of doing mostly a Shea/Mango/Cocoa/Kokum base with 1-2% of each of the other oils. I'm going to do goat milk at 5-10% (with my e-wax and phenonip, of course!)

Do you think it'd be overwhelming to have all of those oils in one BB?

 

[innerdiva73]

Yes i think it would be too much in one. You can do a triple butter like Shea/Mango/Cocoa. The Kokum butter has properties like Cocoa so you could swap them out with each other ( use one or the other) with the others in combo. You could also add a hint of the Argan or Tamanu at 1%. People know more about Argan than Tamanu. When a person reads ingredients, certain ones pop out like Shea/Mango/Cocoa. Adding "all" the oils would be like an overload to a person reading the ingredients and it can get pretty expensive if you did decide to add all the oils in one. If you do decide to add them all in one, that would be a pretty expensive butter.

I do a large amount of butters and lotions.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I think I may try it, just for the heck of it. I mean, there's nothing bad about using all, except for the cost. I do love those more expensive oils....

 

[lsg]

I would probably just use shea or mango with a little sweet almond oil.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I made it....let's see how it turns out over the next few days. Will report back with findings!

 

[innerdiva73]

No theres nothing bad about it. I was just referencing cost and how people read ingredients. I bet that it is going to turn out very nicely!:razz:

 

[adoptapitbull]

No theres nothing bad about it. I was just referencing cost and how people read ingredients. I bet that it is going to turn out very nicely!:razz:

Meh. It's actually very greasy and needed a lot more e-wax than normal. I did just 15% milk/water, 15% (to start) of e-wax, phenonip, cyclo, SA and fragrance combined, and 70% butters & oils with 50% of that being hard butters.

I think for someone who had serious cracking or flaking, it'd be divine. But for every day use, not so much.

Though I am applying it to my fresh tattoo to keep it moist and it feels nice on it. Too bad I won't need 12 jars for one tattoo :/

Has anyone ever tried rebatching lotions? I do it every now and again for ugly soaps, but lotions...?

 

[judymoody]

I don't think it's possible to rebatch - the emulsion would probably break. And depending on the preservative, it would probably lose effectiveness if reheated.

I am trying to remember swiftcraftymonkey's recommendations for body butters. Based on my experience, using 30% oils/butters will make a very thick cream. 70% seems really high to me.

Maybe you need to get more tattoos!

 

[adoptapitbull]

Judy, don't tempt me!

I just used it today, roughly 24 hours after it was first made. BIG DIFFERENCE in a good way!

I have no idea why it looks the way it does, though. My lotion is made with about 12% butter/oil, same amount of stearic, and it looks so white and creamy and always has. This stuff, well, kinda reminds me of beeswax. Any clue why?

I haven't broken down the cost yet, but so far I think I kinda like it

 

[adoptapitbull]

It has firmed up quite a bit since the temps here fell. It is now much more like a balm. It's hard at room temp, but melts nicely into the skin.

Win?

 

[Lindy]

Did you whip this or stick blend or ???? What ingredients did you use? It definitely looks strange. I've never seen that.

I do want to touch on Kokum Butter. The properties of Kokum are significantly different than Cocoa Butter, and I do mean significantly. Kokum is a much dryer oil and has some pretty impressive healing qualities that even outdoes Shea Butter.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I stick blended. Next time I'll use the hand mixer.

I used all the oils I had minus the Pumpkin Seed. The color is so dark that I didn't want to make a brown butter. I also added Stearic (about 1%), cyclomethicone (I think 2%), E-wax, goat milk, water, and phenonip.

Also, I realized just how hot it was in my house on day 1. It was likely in the 80s inside. Today it is much nicer, and definitely below the 76 degree mark, which is good for the coconut oil.

It almost reminds me of a solid lotion bar. I'd love to test it out if I had a push up tube. It is so firm!

ETA: A chunk just fell on the floor. One of my dogs is a fan

 

[innerdiva73]

Using Kokum and Cocoa in a butter would not be necessary as they are both very hard butters. If you were using just one then the properties of the other oils that you mentioned would balance out the dryness of the Kokum and it also depends on the percentage that was used. But Yes as Lindy stated Kokum has better healing properties.

 

[adoptapitbull]

This stuff is driving me nuts!

I opened the jars to check their consistency and they all have these little round circles in them. I know it's not mold because the product is only 3 days old, and they melt right into your skin. I don't think it's the grainy texture from Shea because I've used the same Shea in all my lotions and have never had this problem. Do you think it's the e-wax? What's strange is that my little shot glass, my personal sample of it, does not have these. I was also thinking it was water droplets from the heat of the lotion, but then again I waited till it was cool to put the lids on.

Any thoughts?

First pic is the dots. Second is after I stuck my finger in it. Told you it was thick! Third is it compared to my regular lotion

 

[Lindy]

I think you need to remelt it and hold it for 20 minutes then whip it. I think those spots are stearic spots which tells me you didn't heat and hold it long enough for the shea to temper. This is going to destroy your preservative so you will need to add it again once it has cooled enough to allow for it.

I am assuming this is just for your own use not for sale, yes? If you are planning on selling then the one that you stuck your finger in won't be able to be added back in with the rest...... Mind you I don't recommend selling any product until you have perfected it anyway. You need to know how it is going to behave even once you have achieved the look you are wanting...

 

[adoptapitbull]

Darn! I've never had this issue before with my Shea. Then again, I've also never used such a high percentage.

This is one of several test recipes, so no, it's not for sale. I need to figure out the best recipe and hold onto it for a few weeks before I'll be ready to sell it.

The one with my finger in it is my "tattoo goo". It works very well on it!

I'm curious, though, why did the spheres just appear in the jars and not in the shot glass? It's all from the same batch.

 

[Lindy]

Different cooling times I would expect. Do you want to run the recipe past us with your process to see if we can help you figure it out? We'll understand if you would rather not on the recipe since it will end being somewhat proprietary...

ETA If you would like to PM the recipe to me and brainstorm I would be happy to help with that as well.

 

[adoptapitbull]

Different cooling times I would expect. Do you want to run the recipe past us with your process to see if we can help you figure it out? We'll understand if you would rather not on the recipe since it will end being somewhat proprietary...

ETA If you would like to PM the recipe to me and brainstorm I would be happy to help with that as well.

Sure, I will do that. Granted I'm going to be trying several batches but I think the ingredients will stay pretty much the same; just the quantities will change.

I'm just so bummed! I have never had that problem with my Shea, which is why it caught me so off guard!

 

[dcornett]

I know this is a fairly old post, but I was just wondering how it finally turned out. Did you remelt and whip? It just seems kind of odd to me that it resembles a slave instead of a body creme.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I didn't remelt and whip yet. Had a big market last weekend so this took a backseat.

We figured out that it was my stearic that was my problem. When I tried to add more e-wax at the end, I grabbed the stearic by mistake and poured a few grams before I realized it was not e-wax. I didn't think it would hurt, so I didn't freak and dump it out.

And given my recipe, I'm actually not surprised. I added SOOO much butter and oil that only 15% is my water phase.