e-wax - conditioning vs regular

[dixiedragon]

I don't make a lot of lotion, and a little e-wax goes a long way! I've been using something labeled "conditioning e-wax" from Southern Garden Soaps that I got years ago. I think Southern Garden Soaps is gone, but maybe it's just changed names? That e-wax is finally gone, so I got some e-wax from Camden Grey b/c I happened to be ordering other stuff from them. My lotion now leaves a waxy feel that I don't care for. Any suggestions on changing that?

My recipe is:

Water 80%
Meadowfoam 1.3%
Rice bran 4%
Apricot Kernel 4
Avocado 4
ewax 2.8
stearic 2.8

 

[kumudini]

hi DD, I have only ever used the regular e-wax, and in the required 20% of oil phase, so generally in the 6-8% range. I don't get a waxy feel but a sticky feel from the glycerin I tend to use in my water phase. I also never use stearic acid, so I'm wondering if its the combination of the e-wax and stearic acid together that's giving the waxy feel. Also, Avocado oil gives a heavier feel to lotions from what I read. So, I would look to change the Stearic and avocado and may be add 1% IPM to aid with absorption.

 

[doriettefarm]

Do you have any cetyl alcohol? I've read it's supposed to be less waxy feeling than stearic so maybe you could swap that out and continue using the ewax from CG. I'm betting your old conditioning emulsifier contained BTMS which leaves more of a powdery feel than ewax NF. I really like the conditioning emulsifier from MMS if you're looking for a substitute. I've also got a huge bag of ewax NF from Soaper's Choice if you want a sample to compare to the CG version.

 

[dixiedragon]

What's IPM?

I admit I don't have a deep understanding of lotion making. I took the recipe from BB's tutorial and I've experimented and tweaked from that base to get what I want, which is a lotion that squeezes easily from a bottle and absorbs quickly and feels nice. I've been slowly learning more from swiftcraftymonkey, but I do feel like I've stepped into an intermediate/advanced lotion class and I need a beginning class first. I haven't yet found a good resource that's a bridge between basic tutorials and following recipes and swiftcraftymonkey's site.

 

[dixiedragon]

I do have some cetyl alcohol...somewhere. I will try some of that! I'd love to try a bit of SC's e-wax also.

 

[kumudini]

IPM is isopropyl myristate. I first started using it in body butters but saw on Susan's blog that it could be used in lotions too.

 

[kumudini]

I first learned that its easy to DIY lotion on SMF, found a free kindle book by Anne.L.Watson, read through the basic process and then jumped over to Susan's blog. I kinda created my own recipe, going by what my skin does best with. I still mostly use my body butter with added glycerin but at times that I'm extra lazy, I just slather myself with lotion. I prefer shea butter in lotion along with some light and easy spreading oils like sweet almond, sunflower and rice bran oils. I will post my lotion recipe once I find it
Smart Lotionmaking is a very good book for learning lotion making.