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Clay seperation
Hello guys, I’ve recently had a problem; when I add my preservatives and essential oil to my hairclay, it looks seperates, but when it hardens and when I scoop it out, it doesnt feel seperated. How can I prevent this seperated look? Also when I stop mixing with my milk forther and start stirring gently the seperated look suddenly dissappears(on top layer) but when I pour, I can still see the sepetation though.
Here is what I was doing:
First I melted the oils, emulsifiers and waxes, then I added the clay (kaolin and bentonite), then I added my heated water to the mix and use my milk frother to emulsify. It all looked good until I added my essential oil and preservative. It began to look seperated, but when I pour it and let it cool down, it doesnt feel seperated. Anyway, how do I prevent this?
Ingredients: water,kaolin,carnauba wax,rapeseed wax,apricot kernel oil, glycerin, durosoft pk sg (emulsifier), bentonite, grapeseed oil, durosoft sf (emulsifier), castor wax, orange essential oil, spectrastat.
This is a o/w emulsion btw.
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6 Replies
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orange essential oil is a powerful solvent. Try a different EO
spectrastat may be causing the problem, try a different preservative. Parabens is very compatible so I woul try that first. -
I have often used those ingredients without any seperation, but I will try that out and do you have other suggestions?
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I usually pre-wet my clay first. Add the clay to the water phase. Then add this to the oil phase once both are up to temp. Emulsify/blend together.
I have had separation issues doing it the way you are in the past myself. -
the problem is that those two emulsifiers are liquids at room temperature, so the emulsion interface is weak, leading to separation (unless you stabilise it some way, and physically prevent the continuous phase from flowing at rest) - try using emulsifiers that are solids or pastes at room temperature
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I tried the same formula and I noticed that it started seperating when adding the spectrastat, I will give parabens a shot. They are also way cheaper.
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Is Phenoxyethanol and Ethylhexylglycerin also another good option instead of Parabens?
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