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Triethanolamine Stearate single emulsifier in lotion
I have searched and not found anything. What would the typical range (usage rate) of Triethanolamine Stearate as the only emulsifier in a cream?
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5 Replies
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3.5% TEA to 8% stearic acid works for me but I didn’t do stability test.
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ngarayeva001 said:3.5% TEA to 8% stearic acid works for me but I didn’t do stability test.
Interesting, thanks! What was the consistency of your cream?
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It’s not very thick because there’s not much free stearic acid left. It’s all reacted with TEA. I just tested it out of curiosity because I noticed that lush use it in most of their lotions. I was rather surprised that their products don’t soap and waned to see whether I can repeat it. TEA stearate soaps less than many emulsifiers I tried.
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ngarayeva001 said:It’s not very thick because there’s not much free stearic acid left. It’s all reacted with TEA. I just tested it out of curiosity because I noticed that lush use it in most of their lotions. I was rather surprised that their products don’t soap and waned to see whether I can repeat it. TEA stearate soaps less than many emulsifiers I tried.
Thanks! This observation about the thickness or lack thereof helps to develop a vanishing style cream as well as for using Tea Stearate in shaving cream! Some books indicate that the excess Stearic Acid will thicken the formula while others say just the opposite and will make cream or shaving cream “creamier”. That also indicated that the superfatting of 10% in some formulas maybe beyond what it should be and something closer to 5% might be better for a shaving cream yet a vanishing cream might benefit more by raising the super fat slightly. In your formula, you have only 1% of free Stearic Acid. Also, knowing more about the “soaping” aspect of Tea Stearate helps! Thanks for sharing your observations!
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It’s very surprising that it doesn’t soap because it’s actually a soap. I compared it with a lotion made with glyceryl stearate/PEG100 stearate and thickened with Cetearyl Alcohol. The TEA stearate based soaps less. Try lush’s lotions to see the texture. It’s alkaline however.
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