Disappointed with oily lotion!

[Tracy von Elling]

Hello everyone,

I finally made lotion!! I did a class months ago and used the same recipe as in the class. The one I made in the class was light and not oily, more of a cream. I love it! I used the same recipe yesterday and it has a gritty and oily feel to it. Can someone please help me troubleshoot? I asked the teacher and she isn't sure. She said maybe if my temps were not the same it would make it oily?
My recipe is: Ewax, cetyl alcohol, polysorbate mixed with the FO and germall, Almond oil and soy butter and of course water. I made it in the microwave and added the ingredients when they were at 170 degrees F. I don't know if I maybe added them when a little cold or not EXACTLY the same. Could that make it greasy? I am disappointed. I have limited resources and the first one in the class was amazing. I just used the two yesterday to see the difference and there is a big difference. I would so appreciate any help. Thank you so much!

 

[DeeAnna]

You might not have gotten the e-wax completely melted, which would explain the grittiness. Small unmelted bits aren't always obvious to the eye.

I hold the fats and e-wax at temp (170 F) for about 20 minutes to ensure everything is completely melted and mixed together. There's some chemistry happening in this "heat and hold" stage that isn't obvious to the human eye. I don't know that 20 minutes is a magic number, but I do think it's best to not rush this step.

Some reasons why the skin feel is greasy --
-- You're trying the lotion right after it's made. Always give bath and body products a day or two to stabilize before evaluating the skin feel. In my experience that really makes a difference -- my lotions ALWAYS feel too greasy right after making.
-- E-wax didn't fully melt so maybe that will affect the skin feel. Not sure this is valid -- just a guess.
-- Your choice of fats. If the fats feel heavy and greasy if you try a little bit on your skin, they might also feel heavy/greasy in a lotion. You said you used the same recipe as you used in the class, so if you did use the exact same fats, this idea doesn't apply.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

Thank you so very much for your input. It's been hard to troubleshoot on my own when I know so little about this. I am thinking of doing Lovin soap's Eclass on lotion making because for sure this is harder than learning to make soap. So many more variables with the recipe too. I will wait a few days and then try. This is helpful to know, I had no idea. I do wonder if I melted the E-wax enough. It was a little under 170 F I think but it didn't seem hot enough. My question is can this ever be TOO hot. Wouldn't it be better for me to have it too hot than too cold to make sure it melts? And at the end when I add the preservative can it be too cold? Yes I used the same fats/oils as I did in the class. Maybe I didn't measure something correctly. It's also a lot more watery than when I made it in class. Thank you again for your help.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

You might not have gotten the e-wax completely melted, which would explain the grittiness. Small unmelted bits aren't always obvious to the eye.

I hold the fats and e-wax at temp (170 F) for about 20 minutes to ensure everything is completely melted and mixed together. There's some chemistry happening in this "heat and hold" stage that isn't obvious to the human eye. I don't know that 20 minutes is a magic number, but I do think it's best to not rush this step.

Some reasons why the skin feel is greasy --
-- You're trying the lotion right after it's made. Always give bath and body products a day or two to stabilize before evaluating the skin feel. In my experience that really makes a difference -- my lotions ALWAYS feel too greasy right after making.
-- E-wax didn't fully melt so maybe that will affect the skin feel. Not sure this is valid -- just a guess.
-- Your choice of fats. If the fats feel heavy and greasy if you try a little bit on your skin, they might also feel heavy/greasy in a lotion. You said you used the same recipe as you used in the class, so if you did use the exact same fats, this idea doesn't apply.

Sorry one last question if that is okay?
How do you keep the temp at 170? Do you have it on the stove? I didn't use the heat and hold method when I made the soap but the microwave quick method so this could be the problem, although in class we did the microwave method and it worked. When you hold it on the stove do you just keep checking temps and keep the water at boiling?

 

[cmzaha]

It is best to heat and hold so everything melts completely. The problem with microwaves is they do not heat evenly and it takes the proper temps for the emulsion to happen and be stable. You do not boil the water, use a candy thermometer for checking temps. Depending on how much you are making you may be able to heat your water and oils in separate containers in a pan of hot water bringing them up to temp. It is advisable to tare your water container, add in your needed water, now weight your container and mark down the total weight of your filled container, also heat and hold an extra cup or so of water which you will need to compensate for evaporation. Now you can hold your temps in the pan of hot water monitoring with the candy thermometer turning back on the heat if necessary. After 20 minutes weigh your water container add in extra water if necessary to bring up the weight since you most likely lost some due to condensation now mix to an emulsion, watch the temp and add in your preservative as soon as possible. I like to mix mine in an ice bath but I also make large batches that I want to cool down quickly. I hope this was not hard to understand, sorry it was so long.

 

[Tracy von Elling]

It is best to heat and hold so everything melts completely. The problem with microwaves is they do not heat evenly and it takes the proper temps for the emulsion to happen and be stable. You do not boil the water, use a candy thermometer for checking temps. Depending on how much you are making you may be able to heat your water and oils in separate containers in a pan of hot water bringing them up to temp. It is advisable to tare your water container, add in your needed water, now weight your container and mark down the total weight of your filled container, also heat and hold an extra cup or so of water which you will need to compensate for evaporation. Now you can hold your temps in the pan of hot water monitoring with the candy thermometer turning back on the heat if necessary. After 20 minutes weigh your water container add in extra water if necessary to bring up the weight since you most likely lost some due to condensation now mix to an emulsion, watch the temp and add in your preservative as soon as possible. I like to mix mine in an ice bath but I also make large batches that I want to cool down quickly. I hope this was not hard to understand, sorry it was so long.

I am a little confused as to the method too that I was taught, and am thinking I want to ask on this forum about if a certain Eclass is good since there is one good review and one bad. I wonder if I'm allowed to do that?

 

[DeeAnna]

I use a warm water bath to heat my fats and emulsifier phase and hold that phase at the 170 F mark. Anywhere from 160 to 180 F is good enough for me. I never let the ingredients get hot enough to boil.

I've tried the microwave, but I normally only use it to warm the water to the 170 range. It's too hard to control the temp of the fat/emulsifier phase when using a microwave. I check the temp after a good stir.

I can't make a recommendation for online courses -- never tried any. I recommend the book Simple Lotionmaking by Anne L. Watson as a good but inexpensive book for getting started. Anne L. Watson ~ Smart Lotionmaking (Lotion Making, Make Lotions)

I don't think the lotion can be too cold for adding a preservative like Liquid Germall Plus. Because I would rather pour my lotion into bottles, I do try to add my heat-sensitive ingredients as close to their max safe temp as is reasonable -- I think that's 120 F for L.G.P. I want to keep the lotion as warm as is reasonable so (fingers crossed) it will stay fluid enough to pour.

You say the lotion is "a lot more watery" in your last post. I can't quite reconcile that with the lotion also being too oily as you said in your first post. ???

Regardless, the too watery comment now makes me wonder if you might have forgotten the thickener (cetyl alcohol). Or maybe that you didn't mix the lotion well enough so it is not at a stable emulsion. I'm kind of guessing here....