Separated Lotion?

[Maxine]

Hey!

So, I just made my first two lotions (yay), and I don't think they worked at all (boo).

They are both still cooling, so perhaps they are salvageable, which I'll have to see about.

They are both recipes from Natural Beauty at Home by Janice Cox- the Mint Body Lotion and the Almond Oil Lotion is what I tried (I can post the recipes if you would like).

The issue I seemed to be having with both of them was separation. After I added the borax/water solution to the oil solution they seemed to not mix well at all.
Is this a temperature issue?

And, is this a solid book to be using, or are there some better ones out there I could try.

These lotions are just for me and some friends (perhaps mother's day!) for now, but I would like to try and commercialize them in the future.

Is separation simply a heat issue, or is my recipe off or what?

Any help would be super gratefully appreciated
Thanks!

 

[IrishLass]

(I can post the recipes if you would like).

Yes, that would be very helpful.

Lotions are emulsions that are basically made up of water, oil, an emulsifier (the component that binds the oil and water together into a single entity), a thickener, and a preservative.

If there are separation issues, the first thing I would suspect would be the emulsifying agent. What type of emulsifier did you use?


IrishLass

 

[Maxine]

Hey! Thanks for the response.

The recipe is one of the ones that uses borax, and from what I've read those never seem to work well- which might explain why it didn't work

I've actually ordered some polawax- so I can try again with that next time.

The recipe I used was:
1/2 cup mint water
1/8 tsp. Borax
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp beeswax
3-4 drops Spearmint E.O.

Oddly enough the other recipe I got from her book, the almond body lotion, did actually work- although it is very oily.

Cheers,
Maxine

 

[IrishLass]

I think you'll be much happier using Polawax as your emulsifier. That's the one I use and I get consistantly great results every time.

IrishLass

 

[Lindy]

I totally agree with IrishLass - you need a true emulsifier to get a lotion to really work..... You will be much happier with the result....

 

[Maxine]

Yep! I bought some polawax and some stearic acid as well, and so far the lotions I've made have turned out wonderfully!

Thanks for the help