Can having too much wax in relation to liquid oil cause emulsion instability even if the HLB of the oil phase fits that of the emulsifiers? I just made an emulsion very high in wax, around 2/3 of the oil phase contained wax, and the other 1/3 oil. swapping in some of the wax for oil fixed the problem. Does anybody know why emulsions seperate if there is too much wax?
Comments
water
glycerin
oil phase:
rice bran wax
cetylalcohol
hydrogenated castor oil
castor oil
apricot kernel oil
essential oil
preservative 12
emulsifiers:
polysorabte 80 and glyceryl stearate
the hlb matches the oil phase, if I go above 16% rice bran wax my emulsion does weird things. Also consider that this is a o/w emulsion with the oil phase being around 25% of the whole formula. But I should also note that during mixing somehow it wouldnt mix either, I saw no even white color even some yellowing.
If you want to keep that high level of wax, you might try adding 0.2% Sodium Hydroxide to the water phase prior to emulsification. I don't know if this will work with Rice Bran Wax, but if you are using Organic Emulsifying Wax (beeswax, lecithin, carnauba wax) this is how you get it to emulsify.
Perhaps you could sub Rice Bran Oil for some of the Rice Bran Wax to enhance your emulsion stability.
See website for details www.desertinbloomcosmeticslab.com