# Lotion help - cetyl or cetearyl alcohol emulsification



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 3, 2014)

After a bit of badgering from The Admirable Lady, I thought I'd finally try my hand at making a lotion (insert sound of excited audience) which turned out to be a bit of a dud (insert sound of unsurprised audience!) 

I used cetearyl alcohol which was listed in the emulsifiers section of the online shop. 

The delightful little crafty monkey, however, tells me it is not an emulsifier - which might explain why I ended up with a rather runny solution which doesn't really class as a lotion!

Can one use it as an emulsifier? If so, what would be a sensible amount?

Still, The Admirable Lady likes it, even though she has to give it a wee shake before using it - but in my eyes it is a failure.


----------



## Aline (Nov 3, 2014)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> Can one use it as an emulsifier? If so, what would be a sensible amount?



Cetearyl Alcohol is a stabilizer and thickener, not a stand-alone emulsifer. It is an ingredient in Emulsifying Wax and BTMS Conditioning Emulsifier. You could probably find formulas to use it in (Angie at the Herbarie is a good person to ask).

P.S. Cetearyl Alcohol contains Cetyl Alcohol.


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 3, 2014)

As I feared.  But thanks, Aline.

What I can choose from (ignoring the top one!) are:

Cetylalcohol
Dermofeel G 10 LW
Dermofeel® GSC palm oil free
Dermofeel® PP
Dermofeel® PR
Glyceryl Stearate SE - Glycerinstearat SE
Lanolin pflanzlich (from plants)
Lysolecithin flüssig NGM (solution)
Lysolecithin Pulver NGM (powder)
Montanov (TM) 68 O/W
Montanov (TM) L O/W
Olivem®-1000 Crystal Skin (TM) O/W
Olivem®-900 W/O
TEGO Amid S 18

Anything jump out to the lotioneers amoungst us as a good choice and what should I avoid)

It is not helped by the fact that I am over here!


----------



## Meganmischke (Nov 3, 2014)

Have you looked into the HLB values and method of emulsifying?


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 4, 2014)

Not yet - as these are all being sold as emulsifiers I would hope that they all could do the job. As I said, excluding the cetearyl alcohol. 

The shop does have them listed though, so I'll have a look. What HLB should I be aiming for or really avoiding? 3 to 6 and 8 to 16 are okay?

Thanks for helping out a soaping newbie.


----------



## Saponista (Nov 4, 2014)

I have used the Olivem 1000 pretty successfully.

If I want a thicker cream, I use 5% and a for a thinner lotion, I would lower it to 2%.

I have also used aromantic's emulsifying wax which is a mix of glycerol monstearate and Cetyl alcohol. (This made the best creams for me but I switched to the Olivem as I could get it cheaper).


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 4, 2014)

Thanks, Sapster. The price on that looked a little bit high on the website, until I worked out that it is less than 0.40€ per 100grams of lotion based on a small packet (larger packets are cheaper per gram) and use at 5%. Makes it seem not quite so bad.​​[FONT=Calibri,Century Gothic][FONT=Calibri,Century Gothic]Anyone have experience with Glycerin Stearate? Is that also more of a thickener rather than an emulsifier?​[/FONT]​[/FONT]​


----------



## Saponista (Nov 4, 2014)

If you want to give glyceryl steatate a go, have a gander at this.

http://curious-soapmaker.com/glyceryl-stearate-home-made-emulsifier.html

You can just make some from stearic acid which you may already have knocking around.


----------



## lenarenee (Nov 4, 2014)

Oh boy. It's too late to save you now. 

With the travel lately, I had plenty of time to answer the question....What would it be like to make a lotion? Wait...scratch the "plenty".  I thought  soaping provided an endless supply of combinations!  At least it took only one magic ingredient - lye - to get the job done. Lotions....dozens of emulsifying combinations. Plus hundreds of possible additions....botanicals, vitamins, humectants, silicones, anti-oxidants, etc.  The quest for the perfect lotion formula could take years, and thousands of dollars. You have to be crazy to start dabbling  in lotions!

(Too late to save me too, I placed a Lotioncrafter order last night )


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 4, 2014)

I really like the challenge, I must say.  No turning back now................


----------



## Saponista (Nov 4, 2014)

Let us know how it goes. I'm keen to know what you decide on


----------



## TheOneWhoSoaps (Nov 4, 2014)

I can't help in terms of what emulsifer you'd like to use (I've always used BTMS), but Polawax and BTMS seem to be the most popular around. 

Use emulsifier at 25% of the total weight of all oil based ingredients - oils, butters, essential oils, silicone based additives, vit E, ect...

As someone else mentioned, if you thought you could get creative with soaps, lotion making is opening up a whole other can of worms haha. From the huge varieties of different oils and butters and their separate properties, to the differences in emulsifiers, infused hydrosols, properties of thickeners, hydrolized proteins, botanical extracts, large varieties of humectants... the list goes on. A very fun way to express your creativity though!


----------



## Dahila (Nov 4, 2014)

the vegan option is Emulsimulse which is awesome emulsifier.  I use it for a year for a hand cream.  with Cetyl alcohol is is nice,  dry does not kill my keyboard ) 
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/2013/09/before-you-write-to-me-please-read-this.html
You will find all information here


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 5, 2014)

Thanks all. Also depends on what is available here in the EU.


----------

