# Lotion too thick



## kerzuke (Jan 18, 2012)

Hi there!

i have been making some lotions and i dont know if i mix too much or something but my lotions come out more like a cream - if they cool down completely the are not pourable.

My recipe in %:
70% water
15 % oils
5% butters
3% cetyl alcohol
5% polawax
1% FO
0,5% E vitamin
0,5% preservative

There is a lot of water but why my lotions become so thick? Should i remove cetyl alcohol or butters? I want a good lotion that is suitable for bottles with pump.

Can someone please help me? (A)

Thank you!


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## kerzuke (Jan 18, 2012)

kerzuke said:
			
		

> Hi there!
> 
> i have been making some lotions and i dont know if i mix too much or something but my lotions come out more like a cream - if they cool down completely the are not pourable.
> 
> ...



One mistake, in body lotion i use stearic acid, not cetyl alcohol. In facial lotions i use cetyl alcohol but they also come too thick.


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## kharmon320 (Jan 18, 2012)

Only help I can give is to add more water and change the oil phase percentages to make sure it's still 100%.  I also have made a recipe almost identical and it is really, really thick.  I plan to up my water to 75% and see what difference it makes in the end product.  The one with stearic acid was slightly thicker than the cetyl alcohol, but they were both thick.  

HTH


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## judymoody (Jan 20, 2012)

Are you losing water through evaporation when you heat and hold?


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## Sunny (Jan 20, 2012)

More water, no butter, and no cetyl or stearic. All liquid oils (less viscous, the better).

The temperature in your home might effect it also, even my more runny lotions are getting stiff since we are keeping the house so cold. It's around 65 F indoors.


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## kerzuke (Jan 24, 2012)

judymoody said:
			
		

> Are you losing water through evaporation when you heat and hold?



Yes, but i always measure my water again and compensate that 

Im gonna try to change the recipe a bit, maybe leave out butters and use 75% of water. Next week i have time to do that and let you all know


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## dlb2008 (Jan 29, 2012)

My advice would be to cut out the stearic first. I always use stearic when I'm making a cream, never a lotion.

If that isn't enough, then cut out the cetyl alcohol next, and lastly, the butters.  
Or, you could try just cutting back on the butters after cutting out the stearic and cetyl alcohol, if you still want a lotion that is a bit richer.


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## adelej (Feb 6, 2012)

Different butters will do different things- I find cocoa butter, and kokum butter are firmer than shea for example.  

You could decrease the amount of butters and cetyl alcohol or lose them altogether.  Cetyl alcohol does lend a nice glidey feeling though.

To make a thinner lotion, try a 80% water formulation and see if that helps.  Also ensure that you top up the water after you heat and hold cause that can make a big difference.  I usually just boil my water separately from my other water phase ingredients, then when everything is ready I put the water phase container back on the scale, set it to zero, and add the exact amount of water.  Then pour into oil phase and blend as normal.


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## kerzuke (Feb 6, 2012)

thank you all for your advices.

I made lotion for summer time or smth with carrot tissue oil ans some gold mica in lotion. I used 64% of water and 10% of aloe vera juice and 2% of glycerin as water phase, in butters i added aloe butter, and for the oils i used avocado, soy and carrot tissue oils. I have made lotions with stearic acid but this time i used cetyl alcohol. The lotion became really great, its not so thick as my prior lotions and its good to put in bottle with pump. Happyhappy with it 

Thank you, thank you all


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## LauraHoosier (Feb 7, 2012)

The lotions I've made have Shea and cetyl alcohol and everyone loves that they are not thin or runny.  This way you can close the bottle up and drop it back in your purse without it running out of your hand and going everywhere.


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## kerzuke (Feb 8, 2012)

LauraHoosier said:
			
		

> The lotions I've made have Shea and cetyl alcohol and everyone loves that they are not thin or runny.  This way you can close the bottle up and drop it back in your purse without it running out of your hand and going everywhere.



My lotion isnt too runny also, it doesnt flow or smth like some of the lotions i have seen. Its just right consistency. My last ones were tooo thick, because of stearic acid i think so it was hard to pump from the bottle 

Have anyone else tried to make lotion with mica pulber? If yes, then how much you have added and does it leave skin a little sparkly?


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## Sunny (Feb 9, 2012)

LauraHoosier said:
			
		

> The lotions I've made have Shea and cetyl alcohol and everyone loves that they are not thin or runny.  This way you can close the bottle up and drop it back in your purse without it running out of your hand and going everywhere.



ha! I would love to make a lotion like this, I keep trying and it's too thick. I've given up for now since it's winter anyway and a thick lotion is better, plus it's cold and even the thinner lotions have gotten too stiff to come out of the bottle. I will try again this summer and go way high on the water!


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## LauraHoosier (Feb 9, 2012)

Hubby sold a bottle of my unscented lotion to one of the construction guys where he works after he was complaining about how chewed up his hands get after he scrubs the paint of his hands each day.  3-4 days later the same guy came up to him "Feel my hands!  Man they're so soft and feel so good!"  My hubby and I chuckled.  Just glad it helped him.


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## kerzuke (Feb 9, 2012)

A question - how much water you youse in your recipes wich go in a buttle with pump?  Is it 70, 75, 80 or smth else?


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## IrishLass (Feb 9, 2012)

Here is an excellent tutorial (in PDF form) from Susan Barclay, aka Swiftcraftymonkey (the lotion queen in my book) on the differences between lotions, creams and the amount of water and types of thickeners she likes to use for each, etc...

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

For a thin lotion (like a facial lotion), she likes to use 80% water.

70% water is thicker but should still be pourable.

60% water is almost like a cream.

She reccommends using stearic for things like heavy creams to use on feet and elbows, or places where you want the cream to stay on. And for a more glidy feel, she reccommends using cetyl.

I _love_ Swiftcraftymonkey!

IrishLass


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## kerzuke (Feb 10, 2012)

IrishLass said:
			
		

> Here is an excellent tutorial (in PDF form) from Susan Barclay, aka Swiftcraftymonkey (the lotion queen in my book) on the differences between lotions, creams and the amount of water and types of thickeners she likes to use for each, etc...
> 
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1020026/introdu ... hingie.pdf
> 
> ...



Thanks,

I have read a lot her blog and learned a lot also. This is the place where i learned how to do lotions. And i have made some lotins, using her recipes and she frequentky uses stearic acid in her 70 percent water lotios. But for me they turn out to be too thick so its a little hard to pump from a bottle. But She is soo smart. Lately i have been reading about surfacants, because i want to Make shampoo. I already tried to Make shampoo bar and it is awsome. I want to find sci needles somwhere, because now i only have SLS needles and this is not so mild surfacant.


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