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Why Is My Lotion Too Runny?
Hello, I am a newbie in making lotion and this is my first time posting here. Three days ago, I made a lotion with 10% E-Wax (Cetearly Alcohol & Ceteareth-20) and Optiphen. This is my very first time using this emulsifier and preservative. I have used Olivem1000 and Liquid Germall Plus in the past. I was expecting this to be a thick a cream but it’s quite thin.There is no separation but two things I have noticed:1. Too Runny (still see tiny bubbles in side of the bottle)2. White streaks when applying
Water Phase: heated to 75 C and held for 20 mins30% Distilled Water20% Aloe Vera juice10% 1% Hyaluronic Acid Solution.
3% Glycerin.5% Allantoin PowderOil Phase: heated to 75 C and held for 20 mins5% Organic Shea Butter4% Organic Pumpkin Oil6% Olive (infused with organic flowers)7% Organic Jojoba Oil (infused with organic flowers)10% E-Wax(Cetearly Alcohol ( and) Ceteareth-20)Cool Down Phase1.5% Optiphen1% Hydrolyzed Oats.5% Vitamin E1% Silk amino Acid.5% Lavender EOCould you please let me know if there is something wrong with my formula or any other error on my part? I would appreciate your suggestions and advice. Thank you in advance! -
7 Replies
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Hi there. White streaks are unavoidable when you work with conventional fatty alcohols (cetearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol etc). You can get rid of it easily by adding silicones (dimethicone, cyclomethicone). Regading problem #1, I suspect that your emulsifier can’t handle your oil phase. Think about it, your oil phase is 22% plus some of your ewax is cetearyl alcohol and you have one emulsifier (ceteareth 20). Assuming that half of that ewax is cetearyl, you are trying to stabilize 27% of oils with 5% of ceteareth 20. You need stronger emulsification system. Calculate HLB of the oil phase to understand what emulsifier you need (probably not one) Other than that your formula looks fine. I would reduce that silk. I bet it doesn’t have a nice smell.
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@ngarayeva001
It makes sense!! Thank you so much!!! ^^Since seller’s website recommended it for Creams: 10-15% and Lotions: 3-5%, I thought I added an ingredient that wasn’t comparable with an emulsifier or preservative such as aloe vera juice.
I briefly read about HLB but don’t know how to use it. Can you please let me know where I can learn about calculating HLB? Thank you again!
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Aloe does break viscosity of products based on polymers. You don’t have any polymers in your formula, so aloe shouldn’t cause decrease of viscosity for you. Regarding HLB, it would not tell you how much emulsifier to use (you can rely on supplier information for it) but what type of emulsifier. Regarding the calculation, google for a HLB table for oils and emulsifiers. Calculate your total oil phase. That would include oils, butters, tocopherols, fatty alcohols. Your oil phase here is 27.5%. Calculate weigted average of every oil to total oil phase and multiply to the HLB value from the table. You would know what should be hlb of your emulsifier. You need both high and low HLB emulsifiers to mix then to achieve the value u need.
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@Ellacho7 about the level of emulsifier it can be from 5% reaching 15% or more generally 10% is able to give stable emulsion .
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@Fekher thank you for your suggestion!
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you are welcome @Ellacho7
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