What % Of Carrier Oils Is Actually Beneficial?

[Nienna]

Hi,
So I see a lot of these ready made bases that you can '"customize" but only allow for the addition of 5% extra ingredients, so after you add fragrance you aren't left with that much you can really do. So if you were to add say 2% of something like avocado oil or whatever, would that even make a difference to the feel and quality of the product? Who that low a % even have a "theraputic" benefit? Or would doing so just be a marketing tactic to make it seem better than it is?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

All good questions! However, it's best to ask the supplier of the base you are interested in for answers. They know their product better than anyone here does.

Also, in the past, I purchased sample sizes from different suppliers and tested them myself. In other words, it's anyone's best guest as to what you are looking for in a lotion. Pleasing yourself is half the battle. The other half is "will it do the same for others?" At least, that's been my experience.

 

[Misschief]

Hi,
So I see a lot of these ready made bases that you can '"customize" but only allow for the addition of 5% extra ingredients, so after you add fragrance you aren't left with that much you can really do. So if you were to add say 2% of something like avocado oil or whatever, would that even make a difference to the feel and quality of the product? Who that low a % even have a "theraputic" benefit? Or would doing so just be a marketing tactic to make it seem better than it is?

I make a lotion base (DIY Bath & Body recipe) to which you can add 5% additives of choice. You'd be surprised at just what you can do. For instance, there are plenty of botanical extracts with a recommended usage rate of .5 - 1%. I make a Knitter's Hand Cream to which I add .5% lanolin, among other ingredients. It's a lovely rich hand cream that feels totally different than a cream that doesn't have the lanolin.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I make a lotion base (DIY Bath & Body recipe) to which you can add 5% additives of choice.

Omigosh! I thought you were recommending a ready-made lotion base, but, if I understand correctly, you just get a digital tutorial for making the base. Yes? That means you have to buy all the ingredients and challenge test on your own if selling.

INGREDIENTS NECESSARY TO COMPLETE "LOTION/CREAM SUPER CONCENTRATE:

EMULSIFYING WAX
CETYL ALCOHOL
COCONUT OIL
SHEA OR MANGO BUTTER
VEGETABLE GLYCERIN
T-50 ANTIOXIDANT TOCOPHEROL BLEND
XANTHAN GUM POWDER (Necessary for this recipe)
OPTIPHEN PLUS OR EUXYL PE 9010 - preservatives
=================================================

OPTIONAL EXTRAS
Herbal Extracts such as Aloe Vera 100X or 200X.
Special oils such as Argan or Rosehip.
COLLOIDAL OATMEAL
skin-safe FRAGRANCE OIL
COSMETIC COLOURANTS.
**Essential Oils

While it seems to be a great tutorial for learning to make lotion, it's not the same thing as buying an existing base -- which makes more sense in terms of time, storage space, $$$ and safety -- and tweaking from there. Plus, if done correctly, there's no need for challenge testing.

ETA: I look forward to recommending your recipe to members who want to learn to make lotion from scratch.

It's too bad they don't offer a kit along with the instructions -- including enough ingredients needed to make a small batch and containers. That's the way I made lotion the first time at just the cost of supplies.

 

[Misschief]

Yes, it is a make your own base but the premise is the same. The recipe allows for an additional 5% of ingredients. That's the point I was trying to make. The OP was asking if that additional 5% would make any noticeable difference in the final product. It certainly does.

In my case, I already had all the ingredients needed to make the base so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[AliOop]

I much prefer making my own base, so I can avoid some the ingredients that are in the premade bases.

 

[Misschief]

I much prefer making my own base, so I can avoid some the ingredients that are in the premade bases.

As do I.

As well, when you purchase a base (which I have done), it's usually a pre-made cream to which you can add up to 5% additives of choice. The DIY base is an anhydrous base that you can make into a lotion or thick cream. The preservative is based on the final weight of your batch (I won't get into a discussion about the preservation system). I much prefer the freedom that the DIY recipe gives me over using a pre-made cream.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I look forward to recommending your recipe to members who want to learn to make lotion from scratch.

@Misschief @AliOop It looked so good to me, and it has been mentioned frequently in other threads, I just added the link to the Recommendations Forum. Since I have no experience with the tutorial, I'm hoping other members who have will comment.


@Nienna I sincerely apologize for the hijack. Sometimes these things just can't be helped.

Now back to the topic at hand...

Bases I have tested in the past:
https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/bath-body-supplies/ready-to-use-base/lotion-body-butter.aspx
https://essentialsbycatalina.com/wholesale-bulk-bases
https://www.naturesgardencandles.com/candlemaking-soap-supplies/category/608/unscented-bases.html
https://www.thesage.com/collections/all?product_type=Bases+and+Kits+/+Moisturizers
All of the above can help you with the max amount of additives you can add to their bases.

Oopsie! I just noticed you are in NZ. Of all the bases mentioned above, I like this one the best! Leave it to the Kiwis to offer a base as close to "all natural" as it gets!

https://lotusoils.co.nz/product/body-lotion-base/Cheers! and Good Luck!

 

[Nienna]

Thanks guys. I actually have a place where I can get quite a few bases and there seem to be plenty of other places around who sell them to. I was just wondering if there was any point to adding any extra oil to a base since once you add fragrance you are only left with a couple % to play around with and it seem like such a small amount that adding an extra oil at only 2% sounded like it wouldn't make any difference, you wouldn't have enough of the oil to get a benefit. But as someone mentioned I might just need to look for oil that only need a little, instead of oil that are often used in high amounts.

 

[AliOop]

Sorry @Nienna , I didn't make to take the conversation off track! I think that adding small amounts of expensive oils can still be beneficial. Assuming you are talking about lotions, even 2% of meadowfoam or argan makes a lotion extra nice. For shampoo bars, even 1% of hydrolized silk is very nice, too.

 

[Nienna]

Sorry @Nienna , I didn't make to take the conversation off track! I think that adding small amounts of expensive oils can still be beneficial. Assuming you are talking about lotions, even 2% of meadowfoam or argan makes a lotion extra nice. For shampoo bars, even 1% of hydrolized silk is very nice, too.

Oh no don't apologize, it was all very useful information for a newbie. I got the answers I needed plus a slew of other useful info!

 

[justjacqui]

The reason that they suggest only adding a small percentage of additional ingredients is to stop the cream base separating or becoming contaminated.

These cream bases only have a certain amount of preservative and adding to much "bug food" in terms of extracts etc can cause the preservative system to be overwhelmed and lead to microbial contamination.

Adding too many oil based ingredients to a base can also overwhelm the emulsification system causing lotion instability and separation. Remember most of the emulsification generally happens at high temperature during manufacture.

In commercial creams and lotions most of the extracts are added at low levels for marketing purposes as they don't really have any skin benefit. I often see them referred to as "fairy dust" ingredients. Please be aware that I am not saying that some extracts/oils etc don't have some skin benefits just that usually they are added for marketing purposes only.

These cream bases are really aimed at people who want to sell a cream or lotion that matches their other products (eg. same fragrance) but don't want to spend time developing the product, hence the limited ability to add additional ingredients. If you want to incorporate lots of other ingredients it is better to formulate it yourself.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nienna]

The reason that they suggest only adding a small percentage of additional ingredients is to stop the cream base separating or becoming contaminated.

These cream bases only have a certain amount of preservative and adding to much "bug food" in terms of extracts etc can cause the preservative system to be overwhelmed and lead to microbial contamination.

Adding too many oil based ingredients to a base can also overwhelm the emulsification system causing lotion instability and separation. Remember most of the emulsification generally happens at high temperature during manufacture.

In commercial creams and lotions most of the extracts are added at low levels for marketing purposes as they don't really have any skin benefit. I often see them referred to as "fairy dust" ingredients. Please be aware that I am not saying that some extracts/oils etc don't have some skin benefits just that usually they are added for marketing purposes only.

These cream bases are really aimed at people who want to sell a cream or lotion that matches their other products (eg. same fragrance) but don't want to spend time developing the product, hence the limited ability to add additional ingredients. If you want to incorporate lots of other ingredients it is better to formulate it yourself.

Hope this helps.

Hi, thank for the response. But I understand why they are made the way they are and why you can't add very much more. What I'm asking is what I was asking was is only 3% of an added oil even effective. I was trying trying to work out weather adding a tiny percent of oil was beneficial or just a sales gimmick.

I have since learnt about extracts and that it would be more beneficial to try add extracts since they only need a tiny percent to be effective, over oils that can require much larger percents to be effective.

 

[justjacqui]

Hi, thank for the response. But I understand why they are made the way they are and why you can't add very much more. What I'm asking is what I was asking was is only 3% of an added oil even effective. I was trying trying to work out weather adding a tiny percent of oil was beneficial or just a sales gimmick.

The only way to determine this is by testing it. Make two samples with the oil (or extract) - One with a low percentage (e.g. 0.1%) and one with a higher percentage (e.g. 3% ) and then test it out and see if there is any noticeable difference (e.g. skin feel, spreadability on the skin, rub in time or whatever else you think it will do). If you (or others) can't tell the difference then go with the lower percentage but only if you like having that ingredient in your product for marketing purposes otherwise leave it out.