# My Lotion Is Too Watery



## Guest

Hello all,
This is my first post (hi, nice to meet you!  )

This most likely has been posted before, however the search function did not show up relevant results for me (apologies if you've seen this issue like7874983 times already)

I have not been doing the homemade bath and body thing very long.  tonight I tried lotion for the first time. It turned out SO WATERY  :shock: I thought that maybe after letting it sit for some time in the fridge and shaking it once in a while it would thicken up but no, it is still liquid~as~can~be  :? 

Is there any way to save it? Like something to add to make it not so watery? Or is it ruined and now must be thrown out?

It blended fine, it's just so watery.......

Thanks for your time


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## IanT

corn starch!

Add it slow a tsp at a time whilst stirring, 

In the future, you may want to try more stearic acid... Was there oil AND water...(like was it separated?)...In which case you may need more emulsifying wax

What does your recipe look like?


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## Guest

Hi IanT, thanks very much for your reply   

The recipe was 
1/4 cup oil (I used sweet almond and grape seed)

1 1/4 cup water (I used water that had been boiled with lavender buds then strained)

1/4 cup emulsifying wax (I used a vegetable based one)

around 3-5 drops essential oil of rosemary and around 3-5 drops essential oil of lavender

and a TBSP of shea butter

I melted the shea butter and wax together then poured it all into a Pyrex container with the hot herbal water then put in the essential oil drops and oils and stirred it for a looooooooooong time.

It didn't separate (well at first it did of course but after stirring it and shaking the bottles it all mixed fine) it's just REALLY watery.. but I'm going to add the cornstarch next and see what happens. Hopefully it works. I now when I made whipped body butter the first time the cornstarch thing worked like a miracle.

Thanks again!


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## IanT

No worries!

Im no expert in lotions, still tinkering but Ive found a few recipes that suit my needs (I am a Massage Therapist...and make my own lotion for my practice)... 

Its quite late right now, but PM me tomorrow... I have some info that might be useful for ya! I dont want to go dig it out right now as its pushing 3am lol.... late night get right  8)


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## Guest

The cornstarch worked. I also added more emuls. wax (around a teaspoon full). Had to reheat everything and blend all over again but it's perfect now. Thanks


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## Bigmoose

IanT said:
			
		

> Im no expert in lotions, still tinkering but Ive found a few recipes that suit my needs (I am a Massage Therapist...and make my own lotion for my practice)...



That is what my wife does for work as well.  It was because of her that I made unscented lotion.  She told me some of her customers have allergies to some scents so she could not take a chance and have any scent on her hands.

Bruce


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## IanT

Bigmoose said:
			
		

> IanT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im no expert in lotions, still tinkering but Ive found a few recipes that suit my needs (I am a Massage Therapist...and make my own lotion for my practice)...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That is what my wife does for work as well.  It was because of her that I made unscented lotion.  She told me some of her customers have allergies to some scents so she could not take a chance and have any scent on her hands.
> 
> Bruce
Click to expand...



Exactly! Plus ... it sets me apart from the other local therapists and is a selling point, plus I can sell them to my clients!  

You must have a smart cookie on your hands!  .



Welove- AWESOME! I am so happy it worked out for ya!!! Dont ever be discouraged, I tend to apply my cooking logic to lotionmakking... You can alway add more or less of something, just make sure you remember to write it down and give a ballpark of how much more you added to the recipe..this way you can improve apon the original... So lets say next time you wanted to make this recipe... You know youll need a little more e-wax... and a little bit of corn starch or stearic acid


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## Guest

Thanks 

Oh I wrote it down, believe me   Money is way too short for me to be screwing up what I do left and right.

That's an awesome business idea by the way, having message therapy with your own products. I personally couldn't do it, because I can't stand being really close to people I don't know, let alone touching them *cringe*.

Thanks again for the help


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## Deda

Are you using a preservative?  8oz of lotion is going to last a long time.  More than enough time for beasties to start growing.


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## IanT

Deda said:
			
		

> Are you using a preservative?  8oz of lotion is going to last a long time.  More than enough time for beasties to start growing.



Yes this is important too!!..

(Im using potassium sorbate...i figure its food grade so its alright and I use it at reaaaaaaaaaaaaal small amounts..., but i ve heard other stuff about eco certified alcohols being used...i dont really want to use those cause i figure alcoholls dry your skin out?...but not sure.. just my theory in my head lol)



			
				welovefelix said:
			
		

> Thanks
> 
> Oh I wrote it down, believe me   Money is way too short for me to be screwing up what I do left and right.
> 
> That's an awesome business idea by the way, having message therapy with your own products. I personally couldn't do it, because I can't stand being really close to people I don't know, let alone touching them *cringe*.
> 
> Thanks again for the help



lol thanks!! Yeah I love it...its amazing to be able to make someones lives.. you can seriously feel where people hold their stress, I love being able to identify the individual muscles as I am palpating them as well, kind of like a detective i go on a search and see what the root of their pain is...but like a mechanic.. you fix one thing, and 10 others start to arise (because your brain has that loudest screaming muscle out of its ears...the voices of others can be heard...)

My theory on using the lotions for my practice... Why use something that is only 25% "stuff".... all lotions for massage applications are basically 75% water, and 25% oil/emulsifiers etc... so why pay $30 or $40 for a gallon of something i can make for like $12 lol

thats saving some cash right there for reaaaaaaal... i even made my own through school, all my clinics gave me a chance to perfect a lotion that people loved... they were my guinea pigs muahahahha...


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## Guest

No I am not using any preservatives other than the few drops of rosemary essential oil in it (I was told the rosemary would help keep away bad bacteria for a few weeks). The lotion was put into 2, 4oz. bottles. One of them is in the fridge for later and the other I've already used about 20% of. I probably won't be adding any preservatives unless I plan on making this stuff in bulk and/or larger bottle sizes somewhere in the future.


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## IanT

ROE is good as an antioxidant, meaning it helps to eleminate free radicals which would lead to oxidation of your oils and make them rancid. It does not prevent bacteria, you would need to use something such as phenonip, optiphen or potassium sorbate to control yeast and fungi these are ususally used at about .1% of your recipe, but make sure you read the MSDS and all other info on what you are using before trying it...


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## Guest

SHEESH it's a good thing I found this forum because I am SO being told the WRONG things left and right  :evil: 

Ah potassium sorbate I totally forgot about that one. Is it true that also adding a little bit of vitamin E oil helps?


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## IanT

It does sort of the same thing as the ROE from what I have heard


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