Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating My formula so close but not quite there! Help!

  • My formula so close but not quite there! Help!

    Posted by jesshall28 on April 21, 2020 at 12:14 pm

    Hi all, 

    I’m making a body butter of sorts but one that can be used on the face with less oily effect and sinks in a little better (Acne healing type cream). Last one I tried sunk in really well and has left no residue, but just doesn’t feel 100% right. Also, hardened very fast, batch before that didn’t.

    4th time trying a batch and I feel close but not sure if the Lecithin amount to low, glycerin too high, zinc oxide too high, butter and oils higher with very small amounts of the rest… 

    Could you take a look? 
    Shea Butter Organic Refined 83.33%,
    Sweet almond oil 8.33%
    Glycerine 4.17%,
    Lecithin Powder 0.83 %
    Zinc Oxide (White) Powder 0.83%
    Hempseed Oil 1.67%
    Neem Oil 0.42%,
    Orange (Sweet) Essential Oil 0.42%,
    Tocopherol Vitamin E (natural) 0.01%

    All advice appreciated!

    alan123 replied 4 years, 6 months ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Pharma

    Member
    April 21, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    With that much shea butter, cool down speed/time and mixing speed during cool down will greatly influence how pronounced post-production hardening (may take up to 2 days) will be and also if you get ‘grittiness’.

    You could add starch (the finer the better) to reduce oiliness.
  • jesshall28

    Member
    April 22, 2020 at 11:39 am

    I’m not sure if I am doing the right thing post heating on the Shea Butter. Melting to 70c, taking off heat, stirring in oils and lecithin. In a cold water bath. Trying to avoid fridge time to be able to scale this to larger batches in the future. Is this correct?

  • EVchem

    Member
    April 22, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    It’s not necessarily incorrect, you will probably have to do a couple studies and just observe how your cooldown process affects the final  product hardness. Do you get to a certain temperature before you stop mixing, how long, what kind of mixing (high shear, just a spatula, etc). Those factors are some of the variables you can adjust and see how your results change

  • Pharma

    Member
    April 22, 2020 at 6:23 pm

    …In a cold water bath….

    That’s good! You could measure temperature of the finished product. Well possible that it’s still towards 30°C when you think it’s already fully cooled down. 30°C would likely be too hot and chances are that there’s going to be more pronounced hardening.

  • alan123

    Member
    April 22, 2020 at 11:40 pm

    Why would anyone want to use a body lotion with 80% oil?

Log in to reply.

Chemists Corner