# Help with herbal lotion/watery and separated



## Kris74 (May 31, 2012)

Help please

Hi guys, I'm all new here and to making my own lotion. So bare with me lol.  I have horrible spider veins and came across this forum with a homemade recipe with yarrow extract, horsechestnut extract, witch hazel, plantain and calendula oil in it.  The directions said to mix the alcohol extracts first with witch hazel then add your oils.  So I gave it a shot and the end results arrrrre water texture with extracts settled on bottom and oil on top.  There is no way to apply this unless I use a squirt bottle.      So is there a way to get rid of separation and thicken it after it's already made?  I really don't know if I want to heat the mixture cause I don't know if it will take away the effectivness of the ingredients.

thanks, Kristy


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## lsg (Jun 1, 2012)

You might want to check out information on using polysorbate 80 or polysorbate 20.

http://www.camdengrey.com/essential-oil ... te-80.html


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2012)

that is a very nice combo for spider veins.  i would not heat it and i'd use borax and beeswax to emulsify this one.


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## judymoody (Jul 7, 2012)

If you are interested in the basic process of lotion making, this might be helpful to you.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... otion.html

Posting a complete recipe plus your methods for making the lotion would be helpful for us to troubleshoot for you.


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## Hazel (Jul 7, 2012)

Kris,

I'm sorry I didn't see this when it was first posted. Personally I prefer either ewax or glyceryl monostearate as emulsifiers. I recommend reading swiftcraftymonkey's blog. Below is a link to some info on emulsifiers and the second link is to one of her lotion tutorials.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/20 ... x-and.html

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1020026/introdu ... hingie.pdf

I see judymoody beat me to mentioning the blog. But you still might find the info helpful since we posted different links.


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## Lindy (Jul 15, 2012)

I would avoid the beeswax borax route as it is really, really unreliable.  Ewax is going to be your best bet.  You are going to want to cook off the alcohols in order to achieve a strong emulsification.  Make sure you are using a preservative.


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## maya (Jul 15, 2012)

i might skip the lotion making altogether and make an infusion with the witch hazel, yarrow extract, horse chestnut extract, witch hazel, plantain and calendula.


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