Soy Wax/Aloe Shaving Cream

[Dean]

Just saw this post https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/my-homemade-shealoe-butter-whipped.2310/.

I don't have any shea but I have soy wax. Thought I try making some non-soap based shaving cream with it. Since the soy wax is higher in stearic acid than shea, do you think the proportions of 50/50 would work?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Does it matter? If it's not going to saponify, will the stearic do what we all talk about it doing when formulating an actual shave soap? In a soap it's potassium stearate (or sodium stearate, if you used NaOH) and not stearic acid any more. So do the usual thoughts about amount of stearic acid still apply?

 

[Dean]

Hi Craig,

I was thinking about stearic's effect on the the thickness or stiffness of the final product. That sounds unseemly but I hope you know what I mean.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I do, but I think you're thinking of the salt of the fatty acid rather than the fatty acid itself.

In a shaving SOAP, the stearic acid saponifies to give us potassium or sodium stearate, which helps keep a stable lather. If you're not saponifying it, does stearic acid still do that?

Think of coconut oil- as an oil, it's quite good for the skin. As a saponified oil, it's not.

We know that a shaving soap with stearic acid (saponified) at a good amount has a stable lather, but don't just assume that unsaponified stearic acid will do the same thing.

 

[DeeAnna]

This is basically a poorly formulated lotion. The rules for lotion apply, not the rules for soap.

I want to warn about the hazards of blending water based ingredients (the aloe) with fats or fatty acids (the shea or wax). You really need a preservative in there because the mix of water, carbs, and fat are a great buffet for microbes.

And an emulsifier would be a good idea too. All the shea (or wax) is doing is adding thickening to a mechanically blended mixture. There's no emulsification, which adds chemical stability to ensure the mixture stays mixed. If you don't also emulsify, the mixture is not stable and may separate.

Craig has a valid point. In this type of product, the properties of the wax or shea are the only properties to concern yourself with. What fatty acids are in the wax or the shea are meaningless. You aren't breaking these ingredients apart as you do in saponification.

Wax is sometimes used in lotion making, but it wouldn't normally be used in such a large percentage of the hydrophobic portion (the fats, oils, etc.) I suspect the texture would be really stiff and unworkable. You really need something with a softer texture and a melt point nearer normal skin temp -- like the shea or another butter.

 

[Dean]

Thanks DeeAnna.

I was planning on using the aloe very gel with thickeners and preservatives in it. Are the preservatives in the aloe vera gel insufficient to preserve the "lotion"?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Not DeeAnna, but they might not be up to it. They will be at an amount based on the aloe product itself, that it is itself preserved based on the ingredients. Adding that to more water and oils will put a load on to the preservative and it might well be over challenged.

 

[Dean]

This is basically a poorly formulated lotion. The rules for lotion apply, not the rules for soap.

I want to warn about the hazards of blending water based ingredients (the aloe) with fats or fatty acids (the shea or wax). You really need a preservative in there because the mix of water, carbs, and fat are a great buffet for microbes.

And an emulsifier would be a good idea too. All the shea (or wax) is doing is adding thickening to a mechanically blended mixture. There's no emulsification, which adds chemical stability to ensure the mixture stays mixed. If you don't also emulsify, the mixture is not stable and may separate.

Craig has a valid point. In this type of product, the properties of the wax or shea are the only properties to concern yourself with. What fatty acids are in the wax or the shea are meaningless. You aren't breaking these ingredients apart as you do in saponification.

Wax is sometimes used in lotion making, but it wouldn't normally be used in such a large percentage of the hydrophobic portion (the fats, oils, etc.) I suspect the texture would be really stiff and unworkable. You really need something with a softer texture and a melt point nearer normal skin temp -- like the shea or another butter.

Even with an emulsifier, the water and fat molecules never truly combine, correct? Does the emulsifier just "glue" the two different molecules together?

 

[DeeAnna]

The water and fat molecules don't chemically change, no. An emulsifier forms a chemical link between the water-based liquids and the fats. You could think of it as glue, I suppose.