Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Shea butter to Softisan 378 ratio

  • Shea butter to Softisan 378 ratio

    Posted by PVP on June 29, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    My Shea butter based balm becomes grainy in summer. To prevent this from happening, I am considering Softisan 378. Let’s say, the formulation contains 100g of Shea butter. How much Softisan 378 would I need to offer oxidative stability to Shea butter. Thanks in advance 🙂

    pharma replied 3 years, 9 months ago 4 Members · 17 Replies
  • 17 Replies
  • pharma

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 5:40 pm
    If your balm becomes grainy, it has nothing to do with oxidation. Softisan 378 doesn’t protect anything from oxidation, anyway.
    Store your balm at a cooler place or rework its composition. To prevent it from oxidising, add an antioxidant.
  • PVP

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @Pharma
    Let me rephrase my question/problem. What can I do to prevent shea butter from going grainy when the finished product softens and solidifies in summer? I have reformulated the recipe with different amounts of shea butter and even at the lowest quantity, it gets grainy. 

  • belassi

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 6:19 pm

    Not possible. “Softens and solidifies in summer.” Stop it doing that and you’ll be OK.

  • pharma

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 6:22 pm
    Reformulate so it doesn’t get too soft, make a cream instead of a balm, or buy an A/C ;) .
    Allegedly, mango butter instead of shea butter helps too because mango butter is said to not ‘grain’.
  • PVP

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    @Belassi
    Thank you. It makes sense.  I will reduce shea butter and increase the wax and see how it turns out.

    Please check this link https://www.formulatorsampleshop.com/Softisan-378-p/fssb30044.htm

    It says “prevents graininess with butters”. What’s your take on that?

  • PVP

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    @Pharma
    It remains soft and creamy at home :). The moment I take it on a trip in summer, things stop being rosy. I tried mango butter and it went grainy as well. I will reformate and prevent it from melting. 

  • pharma

    Member
    June 29, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    Or cool it fast once you come back from your trip in the sun. It requires slow cooling for grains to form and simply placing your tube/pot in the freezer might do the trick for your personal pleasure (not so much for customers, should you sell your balm).

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 6:43 am

    Although softisan is a nice material it alone won’t stop a balm from getting  grainy. It’s much more complex than adding just one ingredient. You probably have too much of shea butter. And it has nothing to do with summer. 

  • PVP

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    @ngarayeva001 I use 6.5g shea, 5.6g castor wax, 10.6g almond oil, 2.9g zinc oxide and 2.9g of arrowroot. The total weight is 28.5g. Should I reduce Shea butter to half or quarter of what I use at present?

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 3:56 pm

    In this case, it’s zinc oxide clustering, not even shea butter. What is the purpose of this product?

  • PVP

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    @ngarayeva001, I tried it without the zinc oxide and it still went grainy. The purpose of this product is to ease diaper rash.

  • belassi

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    In that case use about 25% aloe vera.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    In this case, cut shea butter to 15% max and add 5% of softisan. There’s no advised ratio but it might be a good starting point.

  • PVP

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    @Belassi, anything else as a substitute besides aloe vera? The product has to remain vegan and free of coconut and its derivatives.

  • PVP

    Member
    June 30, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @ngarayeva001, 15% of the whole recipe should be shea butter right?

  • belassi

    Member
    July 1, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    aloe vera is vegan

  • pharma

    Member
    July 1, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Belassi said:

    aloe vera is vegan

    Not necessarily Mexican aloe… that one might come with gusano de acíbar :smiley: !

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