Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Shave Cream- maintaining moisture level

  • Shave Cream- maintaining moisture level

    Posted by markemark2 on September 2, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    I am making another batch of shave cream and have noticed over the last few years I have an inconsistent moisture content both over time as well as after making the batches. At times the bottles I have in storage becomes thicker and not as creamy. I re-read this thread and it offers good advice: 

    https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/comment/21070#Comment_21070

    I bottle my final product after adding the final water to the batch and it solidifies in the bottles. This seems to have been OK for the batches so far. I am not selling this but use it for my family and friends. But, I want the result to be more creamy. I have found that I have to add water after a while and it gets absorbed into the mixture well and returns it to a better consistency.

    My formula is: 70% palmetic Acid, 30% steric acid, KOA 83.33%, NaOH 16.67% (total acid 20.64% of total initial acid weight) and glycerin 10% of total final weight of the soap after saponification.

    My question is:

    Would the addition of more glycerin help keep the final product more creamy? Since I am using bottles and not jars for the final product, I’d like it to be creamier when finished. 

    My palmetic acid is old - I bought it in 2017-ish but had to buy 50 pounds of it and I tend to make small batches, so I don’t know if that will affect the moisture content.

    Thanks for the advice. I appreciate the group that has offered me help in the past!

    Mark

    markemark2 replied 1 year, 6 months ago 1 Member · 1 Reply
  • 1 Reply
  • markemark2

    Member
    September 7, 2022 at 11:03 pm

    Any thoughts? 

    My question is:

    Would the addition of more glycerin help keep the final product more creamy? Since I am using bottles and not jars for the final product, I’d like it to be creamier when finished. 

    My palmetic acid is old - I bought it in 2017-ish but had to buy 50 pounds of it and I tend to make small batches, so I don’t know if that will affect the moisture content.

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