-
Oil and cream separating
i made body cream with this proportion
shea 9%
oil 12.5%
glyceral stearate Peg 100 3%
Stearic acid 3%
cetyl alcohol 2%
dimethicone: 2%
water 57%
glycerin 10% phase c 1.5%
The texture is great. I’ve been experimenting this in fall/windet - no issues
Now that the temp is increasing am seeing 2 issues
-
Oil/cream separation
-
Mouldy (light green) at the top of the cream
What can I do to prevent this. How do I make this cream stable?
-
-
9 Replies
-
Do you high shear?
You didn’t write the name of preservative (I assume phase C 1.5% was for it).
You have a decent lipid input, increase you emulsifier and add rheology modifier - e.g. Xanthan gum
-
@garima this will not be stable without an alkali agent to saponify the stearic acid, not with that oil load anyhow. Stearic acid is your primary emulsifier there when used with an alkali such as triethanolamine, AMP or tromethamine, otherwise it is only a weak builder since cetyl alcohol is already in there. As for “mouldy”…what @Paprik said: find and add a good preservative and do it soon!
-
And add 0.2% EDTA too
-
Thank you all. Sorry I didnt get back to this earlier.
I did use the immersion blender for high shear.
Updated the glyceryl stearate Peg 100 from 3-4%. Isn’t that considered my primary emulsifier. What if i replace this with BTMS 50 or emulsifying was NF? Will that help?
I will be adding disodium edta as well -This should be added in the water phase right
The preservative is used is liquid germall plus at 0.5%
-
-
Update: I added the disodium edta and increased emulsifier to 4%.. stop seeing the moulding :(.
I am not able to figure out why.. I cool the cream overnight before bottling.. I have a glass jar with plastic top and wooden cover.
I’m wondering if it’s the environment.. not sure what else to do.
Please help.
-
I would recommend removal of the Stearic Acid. You have no alkali to help saponify and you already have a good emulsifier in the GS/PEG100. Plus the Shea butter should have a high level of SA already. Also Liquid Germall is heat sensitive, it not is recommend to go above 50C. So make sure to add it as it is cooling down after emulsification or you would lose efficacy.
As for the temperature increase stuff, I don’t see how the seasons would play a role, unless you are formulating outside? It could play a role depending how you are storing the sample. Are you putting it in the heat and in direct sunlight? then sure, there could be issues from that. Temp and humidity certainly play a role but I don’t imagine natural seasonal change would be causing such a big difference formulation-wise, especially if you are in a climate-controlled room as I would hope. Did you switch to a new supplier? are these different lots of materials from those batches; or are the same and have expired/been contaminated? Did your method change? Did your workspace change or are there new possible contaminates? I would not question the ingredients first if the formula worked originally because they’re chemical properties have not changed since last fall.
-
Thank you so much for responding. I appreciate your thoughtful response.
I will remove the stearic acid and try it out. I add 0.5% germall plus below 50C so I dont think that is an issue.
So I think it is more to do with storage. My house is not temperature controlled. We have split AC but that is not on always. The container where i put this is a glass one (which i wipe with isopropyl alcohol, with plastic layer and wooden cap). It is not vacuum insulated. I do not put this in direct sunlight but the room gets warm sometimes when AC is not on. The temps here are >32C.
So I see this happening in all batches unfortunately. even the ones i made recently. takes 3-4 weeks for mold to appear. My workspace, supplier etc have not changed.
I wonder if I can store these in the Fridge but i dont feel confident that it will not spoil when taken out. I am simply at a loss of getting to the root cause of the issue.
-
-
What is your water source? Are you using tap, distilled, etc?
-
I use store bought distilled water.
-
Log in to reply.