1st time lotion recipie help

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dillsandwitch

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While trying to get the last bits out of my current bottle of lotion it got me thinking "Hey you can make this stuff" so I figured I'd give it a try.

I still need to do a bunch of research and watch youtube videos before I delve into this project but I need a bit of help to formulate a recipe. I work outside and even though I use a lot of sunscreen I do sometimes still get burnt, also it is very windy a lot of the time here so wind burn happens too. So basically I want to make something that will be really mosturising and good for my skin. Also a think lotion is preferable.

I'm thinking I will use aloe juice as the liquid part. I can get Liquid Germall Plus or Optiphen Plus as preservative but I dunno which would be better. I can also get e-wax and steric acid all from Aussie soap supplies.

What oils would I use or do you need to use butters? and if so if you use coco butter does the smell come through? I dont like the smell of coco butter.

TIA :D
 
I second swift's blog, that is THE best resource for beginning lotion-makers IMO.

As for which preservative to use, I would (and do) use Liquid Germall Plus. It isn't as fussy as a lot of others and it is a great broad-spectrum perservative. It's inexpensive, and you use it in very small amounts so a little goes a long way.

As for the aloe for your liquid, my advice is "don't". Sorry, but the more botanicals you add the harder it is to properly preserve and the greater the likelihood that it will go "off". For your first try I would say stick with distilled water only. Can you use aloe (or another liquid)? Sure. Again, I would recommend getting a little more experience first, and then keep it under 10%.

I never used commercial lotion, I hate how it feels. When I finally made my own, I LOVED it, I couldn't believe the difference.
 
Another resource is Making Skin Care, especially Jane's review of preservatives here: http://www.makingskincare.com/preservatives/

I second New12soap's suggestion to stick with distilled water for the water phase, versus using aloe. As a beginner, stick with the KISS method. Here's a quote from the article linked above:

"...If you are making a product with lots of actives, botanicals etc (which are notoriously difficult to preserve) then you need a preservative that can cope so that will limit your choices. So do, where possible, reduce any components that may be nutritive to the bacteria and fungi e.g. specifically, clay, goat’s milk, aloe vera, hydrosols, floral waters, extracts, hyaluronic acid and more generally: carbohydrates, proteins, organic acids, inorganic salts and vitamins. I would suggest either Germaben together with a couple of chelators or consider combining two preservatives like liquid Germall Plus and Germaben II together with chelators, but do check that the ingredients which make up the preservatives are not the same as together they might exceed the legal limit...."
 
Awesome thanks for the links guys. It has made all this a bit less confusing. Im getting excited to give it a go. I will have to go oder some supplies tonight. :-D
 
Hello DillsandWitch : when i first started creating my Lotion I use this sites.. and my cosmetic and toiletries book.

www.happi.com

http://cosmetics.specialchem.com/ to find alternate ingredients

what i do is look at the base formulation that a manufacturer has provided. then i look for more healthy substitutes.
Depends on what you want your lotion to feel like. silk oily etc.. O/w or W/O

https://personal-care.evonik.com/pr...ds/publications/Documents/sofw-isolan-gps.pdf

Here a Sample from my Books


Insredients/Function: Wt%
Deionized Water/Diluent 73.53
Disodium EDTA/Chelating agent 0.02
Butylene Glycol/Humectant 3.00
Panthenol/Moisturizer/Provitarnin B 0.40
Phenoxyethanol (and) Methylparaben (and) Ethylparaben
(and) Propylparaben (and) Butylparaben (l)/Preservative 0.80
Part B:
Cyclopentasiloxane (SF1202)(2)/Emollient 5.00
Cetearyl Methicone (SF1632)(2)/0cclusive/TEWL reduction/
Emoll ient 10.00
Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG-100 Stearate/Emulsifier 1.00
Tocopherol (and) Cococaprylate/Caprate/Vitamin E/
Antioxidant 0.50
Part C:
Polyacrylamide (and) C13-14 Isoparaffin (and)
Part D:
Fragrance (4)
Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate/Slip/Feel
Laureth-7(3)/Ernulsifier 1.40
0.35
4.00

you can go on Special CHem 4 cosmetic and find Subs for these. that work well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
While trying to get the last bits out of my current bottle of lotion it got me thinking "Hey you can make this stuff" so I figured I'd give it a try.

I still need to do a bunch of research and watch youtube videos before I delve into this project but I need a bit of help to formulate a recipe. I work outside and even though I use a lot of sunscreen I do sometimes still get burnt, also it is very windy a lot of the time here so wind burn happens too. So basically I want to make something that will be really mosturising and good for my skin. Also a think lotion is preferable.

I'm thinking I will use aloe juice as the liquid part. I can get Liquid Germall Plus or Optiphen Plus as preservative but I dunno which would be better. I can also get e-wax and steric acid all from Aussie soap supplies.

What oils would I use or do you need to use butters? and if so if you use coco butter does the smell come through? I dont like the smell of coco butter.

TIA :D
While trying to get the last bits out of my current bottle of lotion it got me thinking "Hey you can make this stuff" so I figured I'd give it a try.

I still need to do a bunch of research and watch youtube videos before I delve into this project but I need a bit of help to formulate a recipe. I work outside and even though I use a lot of sunscreen I do sometimes still get burnt, also it is very windy a lot of the time here so wind burn happens too. So basically I want to make something that will be really mosturising and good for my skin. Also a think lotion is preferable.

I'm thinking I will use aloe juice as the liquid part. I can get Liquid Germall Plus or Optiphen Plus as preservative but I dunno which would be better. I can also get e-wax and steric acid all from Aussie soap supplies.

What oils would I use or do you need to use butters? and if so if you use coco butter does the smell come through? I dont like the smell of coco butter.

TIA :D
Seems to me more of a hand balm would be more effective for you with some lanolin in it. Lanolin is excellent for protecting against the wind plus you don't have to put a preservative in it. Maybe some vitamin e to help against rancitity. or a nice lotion bar. It would be portable and you wouldn't need a preservative either plus the beeswax would be a wonderful seal to hel moisture loss.
 
Seems to me more of a hand balm would be more effective for you with some lanolin in it. Lanolin is excellent for protecting against the wind plus you don't have to put a preservative in it. Maybe some vitamin e to help against rancitity. or a nice lotion bar. It would be portable and you wouldn't need a preservative either plus the beeswax would be a wonderful seal to hel moisture loss.

This post is over 3 years old. Not likely to get a response
 
Was just trying. To help didn't realise it was that old of a post.maybe my response will help some else etc. After all that what this forum is for.

But it’s also considered necroposting and isn’t encouraged. It’s in the forum stickies. You can crest a new post and link to an old one.
 
But it’s also considered necroposting and isn’t encouraged. It’s in the forum stickies. You can crest a new post and link to an old one.
Ok sometimes I dont realise how old a post is maybe I will.pay more attention to the age of a post before considering to post on it. My apologies
 
You can get free recipes from Lotioncrafters, The Herbarie, Makingcosmetics.com and The Original Dish. You have to go through Patreon to access and pay to see the Swiftcraftymonkey blog.
 
You can get free recipes from Lotioncrafters, The Herbarie, Makingcosmetics.com and The Original Dish. You have to go through Patreon to access and pay to see the Swiftcraftymonkey blog.

It's not actually through Patreon anymore. She had problems with Patreon system and got fed up with their "help" fixing them. So now you create count directly at the blog and pay to her. It's actually little bit cheaper as she doesn't charge VAT separately like Patreon does. =P
 
Swift's blog is now behind paywall. The old blog is gone, the new one is here: https://swiftcraftymonkey.blog . You can access all the post, new and old by paying 1 dollar a month so it's still really cheap.

Actually there are levels of access based on levels of payment, so no, $1 per month does not give you access to all posts.
 
It's not actually through Patreon anymore. She had problems with Patreon system and got fed up with their "help" fixing them. So now you create count directly at the blog and pay to her. It's actually little bit cheaper as she doesn't charge VAT separately like Patreon does. =P
Ok, thanks for the update.:)
 
Ok sometimes I dont realise how old a post is maybe I will.pay more attention to the age of a post before considering to post on it. My apologies

I did the same thing 10 minutes ago (necroposted unbeknownst, in an attempt to help)!!

Maybe we could set up a 'bot' that turns old posts a different color... ? :D
 
I did the same thing 10 minutes ago (necroposted unbeknownst, in an attempt to help)!!

Maybe we could set up a 'bot' that turns old posts a different color... ? :D

It's easy to see the date on old posts, the date is above the name on the original post, not that hard to do.
 
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