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Sweetening an oil/bees wax/plant butters lip balm
Hi All,
I’m looking for a way to add some sweetness without separation to an (only) oil-and-wax lip balm. Are there any truly oil-compatible sweeteners that you would suggest?Very grateful!Amanda -
21 Replies
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depending on how waxy it is, I would probably finely mill some high intensity sweeteners - Sucralose, Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium (Ace-K), Stevia Thalin/Thaumatin etc and disperse throughout the lip-balm.
I have done flavoured fish oil softgels this way.
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Thanks, herbnerd! Yeah, I think I’ll do that-go with stevia. I’m not a huge fan of the bitter aftertaste, but perhaps just a touch.
Appreciate your help! -
Ultra-fine milling in a viscous base is important, or the lip feel will be gritty.
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Robert,
What kind of mill do you suggest to get ultra fine particles? Any idea of idea of the particle size needed to avoid a gritty feel.
Thank you
Ruben -
@Ruben maybe particle size equivalent to micronized ZnO or Titanium Dioxide.
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Regarding Stevia - you can source Rebaudoside A, which is much sweeter than Stevia alone and allows you to use less of it. Most of the stuff I have found is very fine - almost talc-like
in the USA, contact Cargil, if elsewhere in the world, contact Layn in China. They do some very nice product - and perhaps look at their Monk fruit/Reb A blends
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@milliachemist. I checked the specs. of a TiO2 supplier and they guarantee a particle size less than 20 nm. I wonder if you really need particles that small to avoid the gritty feel. Herbnerd mentioned talk. I found the finest talc is about 10 microns.
I’ve been trying to grind a compound to a very fine powder to suspend it in a an anhydrous system. The best I did so far is 150 microns (100 mesh) using a mortar and pestle. I still haven’t tested it in my formula, but I have the feeling it will be too coarse. I probably need to get a ball mill. Thanks
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@Ruben maybe you are right and as I remember fine talc as a filler in color emulsions doesnt give a gritty feel, try to match the micron size of something similar. Try your ground powder too and you will know where you stsnd re the particle size.
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Use a muller(cheapest) a ball mill, or a 3-roll mill(most expensive) Mortar and pestle will not work.
use this to judge fineness: http://www.gardco.com/pages/dispersion/fg/SSgrindgage.cfm 4 Hegman or higher, 2 mil/50 micron particle size or lower = no gritty feeltalc/mica are exceptions due to platy particles. -
@Bobzchemist. Thank you taking the time to answer my question so comprehensively. This is exactly what I need. I am going to start with a Muller and then probably get a ball mill grinder. What size of grinding media do you think I need to achieve 50 microns? Thanks again.
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Hi again and thanks to everyone who commented on this. Just wanted to update that the Spectra 11 stone melanger from Santha has turned out to be a really great microdispersion tool for getting botanical materials into very smooth buttery pastes for stick applications. I recommend!
Cheers,
Amanda -
Thanks, Amanda.
Sorry for getting back to this so late, but I have no idea what media size will work best - check with the mill companies or the companies that sell media. -
I just looked at the melanger online - really great idea for lab equipment! If/when anyone uses this for grinding pigment dispersions, please let us all know how it works.
@makingskincare, you should definitely take a look at this for foundations and lip products. -
Thanks so much Bobzchemist.
I live in the UK so it’s a bit hard to get hold of. For something automated and cheap and cheerful, how about a coffee grinder ?? -
Unfortunately, coffee grinders and/or kitchen blenders don’t generate enough shear. Going cheaper than this mixer, but with larger capacity than a muller would require an improvised ball mill. Start with a good quality rock tumbler…like the Lortone 3A or 33B Rock Tumbling Kits
Media:
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