Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Forming Emulsions (Dumb question)

  • Forming Emulsions (Dumb question)

    Posted by chickenskin on March 30, 2023 at 2:46 pm

    Hello squad,

    I was recently asked why we add oil into water at the same temperatures (~75C) when doing a hot O/W emulsion. And then was immediately challenged with….

    ”well since both are combined at the same temp why can’t you just combine them all at the same time and heat them to 75C”

    I didn’t have an exact reason why you get a different result by doing this. I was hoping that someone with a little more knowledge can explain why adding oil into water is more advantageous than just a one pot process.


    Thank you!

    ketchito replied 12 months ago 5 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • jemolian

    Member
    March 30, 2023 at 7:34 pm

    Some ingredients may not be able to be “one pot” as they may require longer processing in the specific phase, so always check and test if they can be one pot.

  • abdullah

    Member
    March 31, 2023 at 6:51 am

    I once added some EGDS in water and heated it to 80°c with mixing but it niver melted

  • ketchito

    Member
    March 31, 2023 at 7:38 am

    It’s best to have your oil phase completely melted separately, so you make sure everything is alteady in a liquid state. Also, you usually add the oil phase slowly to the water phase, to allow for better mixing. And in practice, it’s always best that your water phase is a little bit higher in temperature than your oil phase.

    • graillotion

      Member
      March 31, 2023 at 5:04 pm

      What is the thought process..behind having a slightly hotter water phase?

      • This reply was modified 12 months ago by  Graillotion.
  • ketchito

    Member
    March 31, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    Some high melting point material from your oil phase could solidify when in contact with water, especially if there’s not enough mixing, and if your water phase somehow cooled a bit. It’s just out of precaution.

Log in to reply.