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Unstable Magnesium ointment
Greetings,
Im Im Batya from Israel
I formulate a magnesium chloride ointment. After a month or two i can see some unstable signs like separation, colour and scent changing too. Im using a jar to serve it.. and another thing im having trouble with is the ph. I send it to a lab and the ph was very low… 3.13.
I cant manage to check the ph with regular mathoda, i think the ointment is too thick to separate for the mixture with purified water. Im a bit lost here..
Ratios are
Phase a:
Purified water : 25
Magnesium chloride usp : 30
Phase b:
Shea butter : 10
Soy lecithin :10
Grapeseed oil : 13
Beeswax : 3.
Phase c:
Vitamin e 1 and e oils 0.7
Presevetive am25 0.6%
Phase d :
Glycerine:5
Xantan gum:1.I hit the water and combine the magnesium at 70 Celsius degree.
Melting phase b in the meantime. When both reach 70 Celsius degree i pour phase a into phase b, slowly and mix with a wooden spoon. When its a bit cool (40 degree) i ad phase c and after the presevetive. Than i mix phase d together (glycerine with xantan gum until no little chunks anymore.
Thats it.
Where is my weaknesses please help me
To fix my problems.
Sincerely,
Batya -
1 Reply
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@Batya There are actually several issues here. The low pH is propbably causing your color and scent change. What’s the initial pH of your product? Maybe the product itself has a low pH from the start.
Also, even though I’m not familiar with Lecithin as emulsifier, I see few things that can cause separation:
1) xanthan gum might not be able to hold such a high level of electrolytes (from MgCl2)
2) preservative system might not be sufficient since you’re using quite some amount of soy lecithin which itself is a source of contammination, exposing also xanthan gum to attack
3) I read that lecithin alone doesn’t give stable emulsions, so maybe you could consider adding a co-emulsifier to the systems (in foods, usually whey or other related proteins are added for this purpose, but that will also increase your risk of contamination, so maybe a less “natural” co-emulsifier might help).
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