Emulsifying Lotion/Food Processors

[Sunshine Dust]

Hi Everyone!

I've been making my own bath and body products on and off for almost ten years now (but mostly off, I'm not very good still). I've always had a really hard time getting my lotions to emulsify. Does anyone else have this problem? Can you give me tips? Also, what food processor do you use? I've noticed that most people use food processors. I don't have one, and I'm in the market to buy one, so please tell me the best food processor for emulsifying lotions! Has anyone tried using the Magic Bullet? This is very frustrating for me, because I really want to make a successful batch of lotion. Hopefully someone here can help me!

Also, can anyone link me to some good resources for using natural preservatives and keeping products pH balanced?

Thank you!!

 

[Smee]

I use a stick blender and emulsifying wax.
It would be helpful for diagnosis if you could post the recipe you're
having problems with.

 

[DeeAnna]

I use a stick blender, not a food processor. But if you are having trouble getting your lotions to emulsify, why not share a recipe you had trouble with so we can see how you do it? It isn't just about using a stick blender or food processor or whatever -- the recipe you are using and your method of work are important too. --DeeAnna

PS -- The best information on the net for the science of lotion making is Susan at http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca Loads of good info on her website, including preservatives, pH balancing, emulsifiers, recipes, and methods of work. I highly recommend checking her out.

 

[new12soap]

I don't use a food processor or a stick blender, I use a hand mixer.

I second swiftcraftmonkey.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, I agree -- a hand mixer works too! It doesn't create as much shear as a stick blender, but it works. I tend to make small batches and my stick blender fits nicely into the small cups I use for lotion making -- a mixer wouldn't work so well. But Susan (swiftcraftymonkey) makes larger batches and she uses a hand mixer too. --DeeAnna

 

[lsg]

When I started making lotions I used a plain old blender. That seemed to work pretty well. I usually use my designated stick blender now.

 

[Sunshine Dust]

Recipe

This is the basic recipe I had been using. I've tried some variations of it as well.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup liquid oil [I usually used jojoba]
1 cup distilled water
3 T solid oil [I usually used cocoa or shea butter]
1/2 oz grated beeswax
10 - 50 drops essential oil

Directions:
Proportions should be equal parts oil to water. Heat the oil mixture just to melt the solid oils and beeswax (stir to melt). Pour oil mixture into a glass measuring cup. Place water in blender or food processor and turn on. Slowly add a thin drizzle of the oil mixture into the center vortex. Listen and watch -- when blender coughs and chokes [this never happened for me], and cream looks thick and white, turn off blender. Do not overbeat. It will thicken a bit as it sets up after it's been poured into jars or bottles. Use more beeswax for a cream, less for a lotion.

 

[new12soap]

well, beeswax is really not an emulsifier.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

I would suggest e-wax or btms, and as for preservatives, she has a very good section on that as well. take some time and peruse, it is a wealth of information.

 

[DeeAnna]

3/4 cup liquid oil [I usually used jojoba]
1 cup distilled water
3 T solid oil [I usually used cocoa or shea butter]
1/2 oz grated beeswax

I can see why you are having trouble with your recipe. It is the equivalent of a simple vinaigrette, and you are wanting to make a lotion that has some reasonable stability, more like mayonnaise.

New12soap is correct -- your recipe has a problem in that there is no chemical emulsifier to stabilize your lotion. Many people mistakenly assume that beeswax is an emulsifier, but it is not. It can thicken a lotion but it cannot truly emulsify, meaning it cannot chemically bind the oil phase and water phase ingredients into a stable mixture.

Sure, you can blend a vinaigrette hard enough to create a temporary emulsion, but there is nothing in a simple vinaigrette to help the mixture stay emulsified once the blending stops. Mayo has a chemical emulsifier -- the lecithin in the egg yolks -- that helps it remain much more stable than a vinaigrette.

You need to add the same to your lotion recipe for a lasting emulsion. If you don't, your results will always be unpredictable -- one time the lotion will "break" quickly, the next time it will last a little longer.

There are 3 things that create a stable emulsion -- heat, mechanical mixing, and a chemical emulsifier. Without all three, your lotion will unpredictably separate sooner or later, as you are finding out.

You have the mechanical mixing by using a blender, so that's okay.

Beeswax melts about 150-160 degrees F or thereabouts, so your oils will initially be somewhat in the realm of warm enough, but the cool water will quickly make the mixture too cool for proper emulsification.

Susan at Swiftcraftymonkey recommends the "heat and hold" technique where you heat your water and oil-based ingredients to 160 degrees F and hold it for 20 minutes. This not only sanitizes your ingredients (an absolute MUST if you are not going to use preservatives), but the heating step also prepares your ingredients to emulsify quickly and easily.

There are many chemical emulsifiers that will give an emulsion some lasting stability. New12soap recommended the two most common, inexpensive, and reliable emulsifiers for home lotion makers -- emulsifying wax (aka e-wax, and it is not just wax, by the way) and BTMS. Either one would be a good choice for your lotion. Susan recommends the emulsifier be about 25% of the oil-phase ingredients.

I hope this gives you some ideas to work on!

--DeeAnna

 

[lsg]

Hey, if it works, it works.

 

[Divadoll]

Gelmaker makes a really great permanent emulsion. I make a styling wax using ewax as an emulsifier, I just use a whisk to blend. A blender or mixer is not necessary when you are mixing them at the right temperature.

 

[Sunshine Dust]

...Mayo has a chemical emulsifier -- the lecithin in the egg yolks -- that helps it remain much more stable than a vinaigrette.

...

Beeswax melts about 150-160 degrees F or thereabouts, so your oils will initially be somewhat in the realm of warm enough, but the cool water will quickly make the mixture too cool for proper emulsification.

Susan at Swiftcraftymonkey recommends the "heat and hold" technique where you heat your water and oil-based ingredients to 160 degrees F and hold it for 20 minutes. This not only sanitizes your ingredients (an absolute MUST if you are not going to use preservatives), but the heating step also prepares your ingredients to emulsify quickly and easily.

...

--DeeAnna

Thank you! So many good tips. I'm not really interested in using e-wax if I can get along without it. I want to use natural, minimally processed ingredients as much as possible. Would it be a good idea to add lecithin to the lotion to help it emulsify? I've seen it sold as liquid by the bottle, so it would be great if it's useable in lotion! Also, I really have to try that "heat and hold" technique.

The frustrating part about the recipe I posted is that I've seen the lady I got it from demonstrate it numerous times, and hers always comes out consistently beautiful. I tried doing exactly the same steps, but it never came out right. ...Except for the one time that it did when I used the Magic Bullet to mix, but then grew mold shortly after...

Sorry it took me so long to respond; I was super busy with school.

 

[DeeAnna]

Lecithin on its own is not a stable emulsifier for the type of high-water lotion you want to make. The use of lecithin in lotions is way outside the scope of my knowledge and personal experience. You really need to spend some time reading Susan's blog. Info about lecithin as an emulsifier: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/search?q=lecithin

 

[bodhi]

Where's the borax? If you are trying to emulsify with beeswax, you need to use borax too.