Thanks. The smell disappears as soon as the lotion dries after rubbing it in, but while it's still wet it smells chemically to me. Maybe I'll try some hydrosol in the water phase.
Help me make my first lotion
- Thread starter Servant4Christ
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Great idea! Do you like the consistency now that it has thickened? I'm remembering that my first batch was thinner than I prefer, so I did reduce the water. I just don't remember the amount. Plus, I stick-blend a lot more now through the cooling process, which I believe helps to thicken it, as well.
This is definitely thinner than I prefer so I'll have to reduce the water phase in future batches.
Other than being too thin and shiny, and the temporary smell, how do you like the skin feel? I've definitely tinkered with the base and the final recipe to get what I prefer. My latest is replacing the FCO with jojoba oil in the base, and using meadowfoam seed oil or jojoba in the final product. My skin really likes jojoba, apparently!
I like it. I slathered it on after a nice relaxing hot bath tonight and my skin feels lovely. I did notice that it soaps a little when trying to apply to large areas (arms and legs) too quickly, but the white disappears in seconds so it's not a big deal, just something I noticed.
As for shiny: it's not crazy shiny, just not what I'm used to. Maybe it's just a healthy glow that I haven't experienced in ages.
I don't smell the Optiphen either. So maybe OK if you're gifting/selling and not using it yourself? But like AliOop I use FO to scent, usually at 2%. I've also used Germall and Phenonip in lotions/creams, both good broad spectrum preservatives, and don't remember smelling anything in them.
I'm thinking about ordering some Liquid Germall Plus since the usage rate is only half as much as Optiphen Plus to see if it also has a chemically smell. I am amazed by the multitude of info available (some that completely contradicts itself! Lol). I'm currently reading about the different e-waxes and preservatives available. I love what I'm reading about Ritamulse SCG/ECOmulse and am now highly skeptical about whether I want to try E-wax soft and silky (cetearyl alcohol and ceteareth-20) because of the ceteareth-20 info. On preservatives, as much as I prefer to find ecocert/cosmos compliant products, it seems they just aren't as reliable or effective long-term. Maybe I'm wrong in these thoughts, but I'm still reading.
Re fragrance: If I have a fragrance oil that is known to discolor in cp soap, will it also discolor lotion? (Nurture's Nightfall). I was considering making a micro batch of cream today (HB&M recipe) and adding a very small amount of this fragrance to see if I can still detect the Optiphen Plus.
Re fragrance: If I have a fragrance oil that is known to discolor in cp soap, will it also discolor lotion? (Nurture's Nightfall). I was considering making a micro batch of cream today (HB&M recipe) and adding a very small amount of this fragrance to see if I can still detect the Optiphen Plus.
The only time I've had a lotion discolor was with Oatmeal, Milk & Honey FO and sunlight. Sometimes, my stall ends up with sun on the lotion rack (they try but.... ). It went yellow.
I've had a lotion discolor to yellow/light tan using CC's Goat Milk and Shea. It didn't look bad - just not perfectly white, which was fine. My lotions with hemp are greenish, and some EOs can add a yellow or orange tint, as well.
Today, I made HB&M's Lavender Oat Dream Cream with many substitutions. Emulsifying wax NF, cetyl alcohol, jojoba, shea butter, and Optiphen Plus. Scented with a little bit of dragon's blood and all went well. It's a lovely cream, but unfortunately, It takes longer than I like to absorb/dry. Now, I guess I need to try DIY's cream recipe to compare.
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There should be a warning label for lotion making: Proceed at your own risk. This can be highly addictive. 
I made a batch of cream with my DIY B&B concentrate. It's still cooling and clocking in at 75°F right now. My extras were 2% jojoba, 2% colloidal oats, and 1% local raw honey. I scented with .25% nightfall FO from Nurture. This is the perfect amount to cover the smell of the preservative without being offensively floral to my nose.
I made a batch of cream with my DIY B&B concentrate. It's still cooling and clocking in at 75°F right now. My extras were 2% jojoba, 2% colloidal oats, and 1% local raw honey. I scented with .25% nightfall FO from Nurture. This is the perfect amount to cover the smell of the preservative without being offensively floral to my nose.
Normally, I don't share my lotion/cream recipes but here's one I really like (and shared in the DIY FB group). It's a thick cream, not the lotion. This would be a nice eye cream.
Oh wow, thanks! I don't know what any of those last 3 are and I had no idea walnut oil was a thing. More things to look up read about, YAY!
I posted it more to show that it's a very versatile recipe. As long as your additives add up to 5%, you can play.
What's funny is that based on our many many conversations, I've been trying to figure out how you were adding both HA and aloe distillate to your water phase without asking you. I couldn't figure out if you kept the two separate or if you were mixing the HA into your aloe. Now I'm super excited to play!
Something I still haven't figured out, though: if I leave mine unscented, am I supposed to add the 1% to my water or ignore it altogether which bumps up everything by a minute percentage?
Add it to the water phase.
As for Propylene Glycol and Xylitol as additives, I learned about them from a cosmetic scientist on FB. Doug Entz is a frequent contributor in one of the groups I'm in. Part of his explanation about Xylitol is as follows (quoted directly from one of his FB posts):
"In the interest of keeping this short.... I will mainly just bring your attention to xylitol...and let you do the research. I would suggest, as it is a very cheap ingredient, and readily available, simply adding 1 or 2% to your existing formula's water phase (sorry to you anhydrous people...not for you). It has numerous skin benefits, and especially if you are starting to take interest in skin microbiome. This is all the rage in skincare right now...and Xylitol checks all the right boxes on this topic. For those of you that like to talk about the 'forbidden' skin afflictions....you really need to dig into this topic.
(Please do not discuss in the comments!!!) In the name of being multi-functional, it will also contribute to freeze / thaw performance of your products, as is the case with most polyols.I often use Xylitol, betaine and trehalose... all in the same formula. (On top of my humectant package.) Trehalose also has microbiome activity...and will help keep your skin smelling nice...hehehe...especially for the elderly.
Topical exposure of the skin with xylitol has thus been shown to reduce skin moisture loss. The mechanism appears to relate to increased tight junction and barrier formation in the skin. Also, dietary exposure to xylitol has been found to improve skin thickness. "
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I stayed up late last night and made a cream with my DIY concentrate to compare with the dream cream recipe from HB&M. The DIY one wins, hands down. It absorbs quicker but is still very moisturizing.
I love it!
It really is such a customizable recipe. I have several versions for my face (different times of year), a version for my body, and a version for my feet in the summer when they get those callouses around the edges from wearing sandals all the time. Also, thank you for sharing the information about xylitol - I didn't know anything about it as a skincare ingredient. I do have some around for my toothpaste (powder) formula. But on the off chance... have you read anything about sorbitol as a skincare ingredient? I buy that in bulk as my "sugar" for soapmaking. It would be great to have another purpose for it.
