another newbie ?? re: emulsifiers

[Ruthie]

A recipe I'm working with uses both an e wax and cetyl alcohol. I was thinking they do much the same thing in a recipe: namely emulsify and soften. If that is true, however, I'm guessing we would not need both. Please clarify, as with all I've read, I don't see the difference, at least as far as outcome. Thanks!

 

[lsg]

Cetyl alcohol is a thickener and emollient. E Wax or emulsifying wax, is an emulsifier. You can use stearic acid instead of cetyl alcohol for a thicker and less gliding feel in the lotion, but you need the E Wax also. Emulsifiers allow you to make an oil-in-water or a water-in-oil product that stays homogenized.

 

[Ruthie]

Thanks for clearing that up. When I read that e wax would make scrubs feel like lotion when rinsed, I mistakenly assumed that the e wax itself was doing that, not acting on the other ingredients. I appreciate you making sense of this for me. Can the stearic acid be used in a scrub? I have that but do not have any cetyl alcohol on hand, and this is a snow day so I'd like to "play" today.

 

[DeeAnna]

Ruthie .... You're making an emulsified scrub without any water based ingredients? Just wanting to get it straight in my head. If so...

Yes, stearic would work, but what I'm finding is I don't need any thickener, beeswax, etc in this type of product. I started out with a recipe like that but have been playing with it.

At the moment, I'm using 1/3 to 1/2 fat that is solid at room temp (lard to be exact) and the balance is any liquid oil. With the lard, I've been using an oil that is lighter in feel, but that's just me.

The emulsifier (ewax) is about 22% to 25% of the fat weight. More emulsifier rinses cleaner, a tiny bit less leaves a lotiony residue behind. Too little will leave a fatty scum, especially if washing in cool water.

Add a percent or two of fragrance if desired, same amount of clay for color, appropriate amount of preservative if you want.

I've been adding about 150% sugar by weight to the scrub base.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

 

[lsg]

Another easy way to make an emulsified-type scrub is with a little almond oil, Epsom salts, a little melt & pour soap, fragrance and color.
You also might want to check out the following for some ideas:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/search?q=emulsified+scrub

 

[Ruthie]

DeeAnna, yes I am making (or trying to make) a scrub w/o water. Thanks for all the good info. I'm also trying to use a bit of the coffee left from making coffee oil, so it is infused with sweet almond oil. Not sure but what fresh grounds would have been better (except for my "use it up" mentality.)

lsg, thanks also. I tried scrub with my own homemade soap and wasn't impressed. I do have some M&P and must try that instead. Thanks so much for the link, too. I've spent a lot of time reading there, but had not seen these recipes. There is so much there!