Soft spherical lumps in oil balm

Tagged: balms

Formulating

Soft spherical lumps in oil balm

Posted by billichemist on May 11, 2015 at 10:59 pm

Hello all!

does any one have any experience in preventing a balm/ointment from forming grains?

Ive tried rapid cooling, stirring whilst cooling, omission of candelilla/carnuba/shea etc

the one i am currently working has ingredients that are all oils (Coconut, castor, sunflower oils are the main ones) + vit e, though its happened to formulations that have beeswax, candelilla, cocoa butter, shea.. the harder the formula doesnt prevent the grains from coming either.

help!

billichemist replied 8 years, 7 months ago 5 Members · 9 Replies
- balms
9 Replies

ozgirl

Member
May 11, 2015 at 11:47 pm

You will probably need to add an ingredient that will help prevent grains forming.

You could consider ingredients such as
Cera bellina (INCI: Polyglycerol-3 Beeswax),
Lipidthix (INCI Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) or
Captex SBE (INCI Caprylic/capric/stearic triglyceries)
billichemist

Member
May 12, 2015 at 12:13 am

oooh… thank you for this…whats the chemistry behind this??
billichemist

Member
May 12, 2015 at 12:17 am

I’ve found this is my travels..

Cera Bellina has the unique ability to give stability by forming non-granular gels of liquid oils. Besides the consistency regulating properties of beeswax, Cera Bellina has the remarkable capability of inhibiting crystallization in the oil phase and therefore enhancing stability by preventing the formation of granules. This attribute can eliminate the graininess or rice granule effect that can occur when using shea and other natural butters in anhydrous formulations such as lip balms and lotion bars.

..but how?

are these ingredients considered solubilisers?
MakingSkincare

Member
May 12, 2015 at 7:41 pm

captex SBE used at 10% or more should prevent grains
billichemist

Member
September 29, 2015 at 2:31 am

ressurrecting this thread…. i still havent found the reason!
Bill_Toge

Member
September 29, 2015 at 9:52 am

the answer is in the text you’ve quoted: it forms a gel, which prevents the oil phase from moving at zero shear, hence it prevents anything from coalescing and forming crystals

they are not solubilisers, because a solution is by definition a liquid system, and this is a solid system
Bobzchemist

Member
September 29, 2015 at 1:48 pm

Also in the text - “Cera Bellina is a crystallization inhibitor”. There are ways crystallization inhibitors work that don’t involve gelation, but in this case, I think that Bill has nailed it.
billichemist

Member
September 29, 2015 at 10:54 pm

Ah hah! of course! thank you!!!!
billichemist

Member
April 6, 2016 at 10:13 pm

if a wax forms a gel at a lower temp will that mean it will be less likely to grain up because it would become a gel at a larger range of temps?