Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Mixing several essential oils in one jar?

  • Mixing several essential oils in one jar?

    Posted by Nouf on December 9, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    hello all

    I question please?

    i have a blend of essential oils in my formula (lavender,cedar,myrtle and juniper)
    each with 20-30 drops only.
    my question is, can i mix those drops of each in one small jar (for efficient use ) ? and use them as one mix of essential oils? Will they still function the same as if i dropped them seperatly in my formula lotion? 
     (I hope i can )

    I would also like to do the same with my lactic acid (only 4 drops) i want to mix it in a tiny jar with my preservative (20 drops) that consists of (Benzyl Alcohol , Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid,Tocopherol).
     Will either will be affected if stored in one tiny jar for just few days?

    Thank you ?

    ngarayeva001 replied 6 years ago 6 Members · 14 Replies
  • 14 Replies
  • Microformulation

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    If you are creating this product for Commercial use, your number one biggest mistake is using drops as a measurement rather than wt./wt.%. Measuring by weight ALWAYS is the only way to ensure consistency. If you had used this process, it would be much easier to determine the accuracy of your processes.

  • Nouf

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 3:11 pm

    If you are creating this product for Commercial use, your number one biggest mistake is using drops as a measurement rather than wt./wt.%. Measuring by weight ALWAYS is the only way to ensure consistency. If you had used this process, it would be much easier to determine the accuracy of your processes.

    Hi,

    its a small home business, nothing major yet (hopfully soon) then i will learn more advanced techniques.

  • Doreen

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    @Nouf
    There is nothing advanced about using w/w%?

  • Nouf

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 6:05 pm

    Doreen said:

    @Nouf
    There is nothing advanced about using w/w%?

    Hello doreen,
    i dont sell a final product , thats why i dont  use this method.
    long explantion ?.

    anyway i have decided to mix the essential oils together in one jar, i dont think they will get affected..
    or will they ? ?

  • Microformulation

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 9:45 pm
    I don’t care if you make an ounce. Drops are not accurate. The language of Formulation is wt/wt. percentage measurements and weighing material. The size of the Business is irrelevant.
    Without knowing the percentages, it is problematic to weigh-in.
  • MarkBroussard

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 10:23 pm

    @Nouf:

    The answer is “Yes” you can make a pre-mix blend to save time.  If you are going to go commercial at some point in time, best if you weigh each component as opposed to using drops as a measure as noted above.

  • Nouf

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    @Nouf:

    The answer is “Yes” you can make a pre-mix blend to save time.  If you are going to go commercial at some point in time, best if you weigh each component as opposed to using drops as a measure as noted above.

    Thank you mark for your support and answers ♥️?

  • Doreen

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    @Nouf
    I don’t sell my products either, I’m a homecrafter, but I would never formulate with drops or volume. It’s best if you get at least two scales, for small quantities and larger quantities. The smaller the batch, the more accurate your weighing scale must be.
    It’s not a shame if you don’t know how it works, if that is the case! It’s just that in formulating you have to deal with this, or else you’ll end up with a product you’ll have no idea what exactly is in it.
    I see it a lot on mommy blogs and several DIY sites, using drops and volume (spoons etc), it’s highly inaccurate.

    w/w% or m/m% means percentages in weight (mass) of a your total (100%) in weight.
    There’s also volume in mass (v/m%= rarely used) or mass in volume (m/v%), but in formulating you’ll only use w/w%, not volumes. Volume measuring isn’t accurate enough and you’ll also need to know the relative density of substances in some situations (water for example is the same, 1 gram of water is 1 cc in volume, but oils are lighter than water (that’s why they float on water) and may be 0,9 gram for 1 cc for example.)

    I sometimes use volume measuring if I make calibration fluid for my pH meter, but the cilinders/flasks/beakers I use are calibrated.

  • Gunther

    Member
    December 9, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    Agree, drops ain’t accurate.
    At least get an insulin syringe to measure <1 ml amounts.

  • Microformulation

    Member
    December 10, 2018 at 3:27 am

    Gunther said:

    Agree, drops ain’t accurate.
    At least get an insulin syringe to measure <1 ml amounts.

    Or a Jeweler’s Scale. Insulin Syringes would add up fast in cost and shouldn’t be re-used under any circumstances. In the US at least they have the needle as part of the barrel and it can’t be removed. Recapping these syringes is a source of needle sticks. Being old enough to have seen some glass syringes still in use, I know that we moved away from them since even with autoclaving, they still had a significantly larger contamination rate.
    A jewelers scale (0.01×1000) would be much more accurate since you will avoid the error of parallax and as such your limit in accuracy is limited by the scale, not a less accurate volumetric measurement. 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    December 10, 2018 at 7:10 am

    You can get a precise scale for jewelry (200 gr) on Amazon for less than $10. Even if you are a home crafter and have no intention to sell you need a proper scale. Spoons, cups, drops aren’t serious.

  • Nouf

    Member
    December 10, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    Hi @Doreen @Microformulation @ngarayeva001
    thank you all for the advices, i appreciate them and shall learn more about them.
    And I do have a jeweler’s scale, very helpful.

  • Microformulation

    Member
    December 10, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @Nouf It really all falls upon the accuracy and good procedures. Volumetric measurements are visually read and due to various reasons can vary widely. This inaccuracy can be compounded in scale-up. Weight measurements are always as accurate as a calibrated scale. In many cases to a 0.01 accuracy. This can not be obtained accurately with drops.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    December 10, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    And try not to make batches smaller than 100gr. Because it’s difficult to achieve precise measurements.

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