Why is my body lotion lumpy?

[Alienne]

Hello all! Been reading through these forums for a long long time now! First time that I'm posting!

Can someone look over my body lotion/cream formula and let me know why my lotion (very thick lotion, feels sort of like a cream) gets lumpy when the temperature dips? Very very tiny lumps (see photo). Feel like maybe they are shea butter bits that have solidified in the cold (even when temp drops below 25-26 deg C, it happens). When I rub the lotion into the skin, the lumps disappear and it smoothens very well.

I suspect something might be wrong with my technique rather than the formula?

I mix the xanthan gum and glycerin together and leave them to sit for 20-30 mins. I heat the distilled water and the oil phase separately to around 75 deg C each and then mix them in. I add the glycerin xanthan gum mixture after mixing the 2 phases together. Thereafter I use a stick blender and then again stick blend every 30-45 mins (I'm from India. Gets quite warm here and takes forever for the mixture to cool down). When the mixture cools down to below 30 deg C, I mix in Vit E, oat protein, the preservative and the essential oils.

Am I doing something wrong with my technique? Or do i need more Emulsifier? Or should I heat and hold (even though I've read sooo many posts about how that's not necessary)? Any other thoughts? Much appreciated. Thanks guys!


59.94% Distilled Water
3.00% Glycerin
0.20% Xanthan gum
12.00% Shea Butter
10.00% Fractionated Coconut Oil
2.00% Olive Squalane
3.00% Sweet Almond Oil
7.00% Olivem 1000
1.00% Vit E
1.00% Geogard
0.75% Orange Essential Oil
0.10% Clove Essential Oil
0.01% Cinnamon Essential Oil

 

[Alienne]

Hello, just reviving this to see if anyone has any suggestions! Please do share your knowledge!

 

[lsg]

Did you use shea butter? Shea butter can become grainy when melted. Check out the following link for more info. https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.c...dUlh5SvPty3bEsU3T7n1U4t1zjbN1wucaAgMmEALw_wcB

 

[Alienne]

Did you use shea butter? Shea butter can become grainy when melted. Check out the following link for more info. https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.c...dUlh5SvPty3bEsU3T7n1U4t1zjbN1wucaAgMmEALw_wcB

Thanks for the response! Yes, I have used shea butter and I'm familiar with the "rapidly cool" process, but I thought this would apply only to anhydrous formulas. Till date I haven't seen a method for lotion making that involves rapid cooling. Usually, the water and oil phases are mixed and then stick blended every 15-20 mins as it cools.

So in this case, would you suggest that I stick blend initially and then stick the container in the freezer and keep taking it out for stick-blending every 5 mins or so?

 

[GGMA0317]

Thanks for the response! Yes, I have used shea butter and I'm familiar with the "rapidly cool" process, but I thought this would apply only to anhydrous formulas. Till date I haven't seen a method for lotion making that involves rapid cooling. Usually, the water and oil phases are mixed and then stick blended every 15-20 mins as it cools.

So in this case, would you suggest that I stick blend initially and then stick the container in the freezer and keep taking it out for

Hello all! Been reading through these forums for a long long time now! First time that I'm posting!

Can someone look over my body lotion/cream formula and let me know why my lotion (very thick lotion, feels sort of like a cream) gets lumpy when the temperature dips? Very very tiny lumps (see photo). Feel like maybe they are shea butter bits that have solidified in the cold (even when temp drops below 25-26 deg C, it happens). When I rub the lotion into the skin, the lumps disappear and it smoothens very well.

View attachment 73186

I suspect something might be wrong with my technique rather than the formula?

I mix the xanthan gum and glycerin together and leave them to sit for 20-30 mins. I heat the distilled water and the oil phase separately to around 75 deg C each and then mix them in. I add the glycerin xanthan gum mixture after mixing the 2 phases together. Thereafter I use a stick blender and then again stick blend every 30-45 mins (I'm from India. Gets quite warm here and takes forever for the mixture to cool down). When the mixture cools down to below 30 deg C, I mix in Vit E, oat protein, the preservative and the essential oils.

Am I doing something wrong with my technique? Or do i need more Emulsifier? Or should I heat and hold (even though I've read sooo many posts about how that's not necessary)? Any other thoughts? Much appreciated. Thanks guys!


59.94% Distilled Water
3.00% Glycerin
0.20% Xanthan gum
12.00% Shea Butter
10.00% Fractionated Coconut Oil
2.00% Olive Squalane
3.00% Sweet Almond Oil
7.00% Olivem 1000
1.00% Vit E
1.00% Geogard
0.75% Orange Essential Oil
0.10% Clove Essential Oil
0.01% Cinnamon Essential Oil

I'm kind of late responding-Did you find the problem?

 

[lsg]

Thanks for the response! Yes, I have used shea butter and I'm familiar with the "rapidly cool" process, but I thought this would apply only to anhydrous formulas. Till date I haven't seen a method for lotion making that involves rapid cooling. Usually, the water and oil phases are mixed and then stick blended every 15-20 mins as it cools.

So in this case, would you suggest that I stick blend initially and then stick the container in the freezer and keep taking it out for stick-blending every 5 mins or so?

You can either use the refrigerator or freezer to rapidly cool the lotion as mentioned in the link.

 

[cmzaha]

When I was making lotions in large amounts I was quite paranoid about rapid cooling due to the possibility of bacteria forming. I cooled my large mixing bowl in an ice batch while I stick blended my lotion. My other trick was to have a portion of my water that had been heated and held removed and chilled down so it would help rapidly cool down my lotion. Remember only a portion of the water chilled not all of your mixing water. Your shea may be the culprit although I have not used that high amount of shea I have a recipe I use 10% Coco Butter, 15%, 8% Emulsifier, and 3% Stearic Acid which makes a nice thick smooth cream with no graininess. Cocoa Butter can also be prone to going grainy, but I rapidly cool this down.

Also, I really never used gums as I found them tricky in lotions instead I opted for around 3% stearic acid as a thickener in lotions and my foot creams. I did find lotion making a real trial and error process. Also, I will note Olivem 1000 for me, at least, was a very tricky emulsifier, but it really does leave a nice feel if you get it to work.

 

[GGMA0317]

You can either use the refrigerator or freezer to rapidly cool

You can either use the

When I was making lotions in large amounts I was quite paranoid about rapid cooling due to the possibility of bacteria forming. I cooled my large mixing bowl in an ice batch while I stick blended my lotion. My other trick was to have a portion of my water that had been heated and held removed and chilled down so it would help rapidly cool down my lotion. Remember only a portion of the water chilled not all of your mixing water. Your shea may be the culprit although I have not used that high amount of shea I have a recipe I use 10% Coco Butter, 15%, 8% Emulsifier, and 3% Stearic Acid which makes a nice thick smooth cream with no graininess. Cocoa Butter can also be prone to going grainy, but I rapidly cool this down.

Also, I really never used gums as I found them tricky in lotions instead I opted for around 3% stearic acid as a thickener in lotions and my foot creams. I did find lotion making a real trial and error process. Also, I will note Olivem 1000 for me, at least, was a very tricky emulsifier, but it really does leave a nice feel if you get it to work.

I've done that many times without any issues. I don't see how that will help an already emulsified batch. I'm thinking the lack of heat and mixing as well as the xanthan gum might be the issue. Atp I'd rather give her a formula than to tweak this after the fact. Idk I'm just kind of lazy today
or freezer to rapidly cool the lotion as mentioned in the

 

[Alienne]

You can either use the refrigerator or freezer to rapidly cool the lotion as mentioned in the link.

Will try this out. I do end up making large batches coz I'm too lazy to make small batches often Is that also part of the issue, you think? Stick blenders cant handle large batches maybe?

 

[Alienne]

I have a recipe I use 10% Coco Butter, 15%, 8% Emulsifier, and 3% Stearic Acid which makes a nice thick smooth cream with no graininess. Cocoa Butter can also be prone to going grainy, but I rapidly cool this down.

Also, I really never used gums as I found them tricky in lotions instead I opted for around 3% stearic acid as a thickener in lotions and my foot creams. I did find lotion making a real trial and error process. Also, I will note Olivem 1000 for me, at least, was a very tricky emulsifier, but it really does leave a nice feel if you get it to work.

Was it 15% of some oil in your recipe? I was worried Stearic acid might make the cream too hard. Will try something of this sort though.

Olivem 1000 IS working well for this lotion atm other than the graininess.

 

[GGMA0317]

Was it 15% of some oil in your recipe? I was worried Stearic acid might make the cream too hard. Will try something of this sort though.

Olivem 1000 IS working well for this lotion atm other than the graininess.

Now I'm going to put olivem on my list of emulsifiers to play with. Did you take good notes for this batch and Have you considered a new batch? How is it working well if it's grainy?

 

[rainbowpopsicle]

Thanks for the response! Yes, I have used shea butter and I'm familiar with the "rapidly cool" process, but I thought this would apply only to anhydrous formulas. Till date I haven't seen a method for lotion making that involves rapid cooling. Usually, the water and oil phases are mixed and then stick blended every 15-20 mins as it cools.

So in this case, would you suggest that I stick blend initially and then stick the container in the freezer and keep taking it out for stick-blending every 5 mins or so?

Late here, but the process seems the culprit here. Add the gum to your water phase and stir to form a uniform gel before getting to the emulsification stage.