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Lotion Stability Issues
Hi Everyone,
I’ve been formulating and selling anhydrous topical products for a couple years, and have been interested in finally trying my hand at some water based creations.
I really like the sensorials and general experience of the formula I have stated below, but have run into some stability issues and am looking for some guidance.
1) I am putting the lotion in amber color glass bottles, and when I left a bottle outside in direct sunlight on a cool day, it developed a small amount of condensed water on the inside of the container.
2) After 2 cycles of freeze/thaw, I achieved slight separation of water in a couple spots on the bottom edge of the container.
Here’s the recipe:
70% distilled water
8% kelp (asconodosum phyllum) juice
3% glycerin
0.2% sodium gluconate3% E-wax NF
2% GSC
2% cetyl alcohol3% sunflower oil
3% MCT oil
1.3% Cannabis (CBD) oil
1% cocoa butter
1% olive oil
0.5% vitamin e oil
1% essential oil1% phenoxyethanol (optiphen)
1/4 tsp titanium dioxide (per 10 units)
q.s Citric Acid (achieving pH 5.0-5.5 in water phase before emulsion)A few questions:
1) Why is this emulsion too weak to hold the water?
2) would condensed water inside the container be considered preserved?
3) what can i remove/add/amend to strengthen this recipe?Thank you in advance!
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7 Replies
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ascophyllum nodosum* -oops! But, do I need to add more emulsifier to keep the water phase from separating? What are the usual culprits that lead to phase separation?
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I think you should raise a bit E-wax NF to 3,5 - 4% and combine with 1 polymer like xanthan gum or carbomer (0,2 - 0,5%) for improving stability of water phase.
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Thanks! I’ll give that a shot
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@MapX steers you well there @SlingerD in suggesting a rheology stabilizer, not only for stability but suspending that TiO2 otherwise it will eventually find its way to the bottom of your bottle. I’ll add though that what you observed is not so bad. The condensate was bound to happen inside a closed system heated by the sun and a little water exit post-freezing is not unusual. Add a little glycol either BG or PG and you may see that disappear.
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chemicalmatt said:The condensate was bound to happen inside a closed system heated by the sun and a little water exit post-freezing is not unusual. Add a little glycol either BG or PG and you may see that disappear.
Will glycerin help with this situation?
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Thank you @chemicalmatt for the reassurance. Was definitely a little nervous about this… I would like to bring this product to market soon, but will hold off until i have some more confidence in its shelf life and stability. After seeing improvements with at home challenge testing, planning to send to a 3rd party lab for confirmation.
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@chemicalmatt can you please further explain howPG or BG help wioth this water exit?
Also, will glycerin do the same job.
Thanks
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