Help with lotion recipe from DIY Bath & Body
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I haven't sold mine but @Misschief might have.
violets2217
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I do not sell but I did recently send some of this lotion & face cream to family up north from Central Florida a couple weeks ago, after TS Elsa came through. So it was a bit cooler, around mid 80's? They survived the trip & I was worried because it was a 9lb box with lots of bars of soap quickly packaged without bubble wrap and the lotion and shampoo/conditioner bars in ziploc bags thrown on top with some craft paper crumpled on top to keep it in place....
I would say it depends. We're in our full on summer heat right now and the containers I have the thick cream in are double walled with black lids. Outside, I did find that the lids get warm; the cream is fine but I did keep them out of the sun. I had three varieties of lotion, one of which did contain vanilla; they were never in full sunlight but the ones with vanilla did turn yellow. Over the ensuing weeks, I decided to only put the sample bottles on my table while the bottles were stored in a soft sided cooler with an ice pack.
Since then, I've been indoors where it hasn't been an issue.
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Thank you @Misschief! That is all very helpful. And I love your branding 
Thank youThank you @Misschief! That is all very helpful. And I love your branding
If you love the DIY Bath & Body Lotion Concentrate but aren't sure what to do with it, how to work with it, or questions in general, welcome. This is where you can ask your questions and look for inspiration. If you've made it, what's your favourite final product?
I'll start. I think I can honestly say that the DIY Lotion Concentrate recipe is my absolute favourite DIY Bath & Body recipe. I'm constantly experimenting with it, adding all sorts of interesting additives. I had a pop-up market at a yarn shop last weekend and made a knitter's hand cream that incorporated ingredients like Lanolin (knitters, after all), Aloe Vera Juice, Hyaluronic Acid, Silk Amino Acids, Argan oil, and Colloidal Oatmeal. It's absolutely amazing! After a week, I've already received positive comments about it.
I'll start. I think I can honestly say that the DIY Lotion Concentrate recipe is my absolute favourite DIY Bath & Body recipe. I'm constantly experimenting with it, adding all sorts of interesting additives. I had a pop-up market at a yarn shop last weekend and made a knitter's hand cream that incorporated ingredients like Lanolin (knitters, after all), Aloe Vera Juice, Hyaluronic Acid, Silk Amino Acids, Argan oil, and Colloidal Oatmeal. It's absolutely amazing! After a week, I've already received positive comments about it.
Thanks so much for this thread. I’m really excited to make my first finished product. I have my first batch of concentrate ready to go.
Silk: I have some threads someone gave me for soap. Can you use those, or is it a powder?
Hyaluronic Acid: I have some powder that makes a gel with water. Would I add that to a bit of the water?
Can I reserve some of the water to add once cooled?
And, is this suitable for face? Someone in the fb group said it was too heavy.
Also, did you say I need to wait for the final lotion to cool before I pour it into pump bottles? Is that correct, even if I leave the lid off? What about the thicker cream in a jar?
Silk: I have some threads someone gave me for soap. Can you use those, or is it a powder?
Hyaluronic Acid: I have some powder that makes a gel with water. Would I add that to a bit of the water?
Can I reserve some of the water to add once cooled?
And, is this suitable for face? Someone in the fb group said it was too heavy.
Also, did you say I need to wait for the final lotion to cool before I pour it into pump bottles? Is that correct, even if I leave the lid off? What about the thicker cream in a jar?
LOL... I love your excitement!
Ok... Silk - I use Silk Amino Acids, which is a water soluble powder. I don't think the silk threads would work; in soap, the lye will dissolve the threads but I doubt that boiling water will do the same.
Hyaluronic Acid: I make a 1% HA solution and use that as part of my water phase. That makes it very easy to incorporate into the cream. Your total percentage of HA is lower in the final cream but I do find that it still works well over time.
As for, reserving some of the water, I wouldn't. If you think that the final product is too thick, make up some preserved water (99% water + 1% preservative) and use that to thin down to your desired consistency.
It's absolutely suitable for facial use. I use it on a daily basis. I have dry, mature skin and I love it! I find that it soaks in quickly and leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturized. I don't find it heavy at all. And, the nice thing is, you can add whatever additives your skin loves.
ETA: Just a quick thought regarding the Hyaluronic Acid. The recipe allows for the addition of 5% additives of choice; when you make a 1% HA solution, it can be added as part of your water phase, which still allows the additional 5%. If you're adding the HA powder, it would count as part of your 5% additives.
You don't want to cap it while it's still warm because of condensation. I pour it while still warm but leave it uncapped until it's fully cooled to room temperature. That goes for both the lotion and the thicker cream.
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I am curious how you handle the preservative system if adding additives such as colloidal oatmeal and aloe juice is not necessarily easy to preserve, especially if you use a single preservative system and do not have your lotions challenge tested. Hopefully before selling you send these out for challenge testing, since you cannot always determine visually if a lotion is fine or not. Before anyone asks the lotions I made and sold for years were tested and retested every few years, admittedly not every batch. Of course, you would have to challenge test every batch you have tweaked, that is the problem with adding in new additives. This is also why I never purchased handmade lotions at markets.
The Aloe Juice I use has been treated and is shelf stable, as well as being a reputable brand; it is not cold pressed aloe vera. The Colloidal Oatmeal is used in very small quantities (less than 1%) and my preservative is a broad spectrum preservative. Even though I'm experimenting with ingredients, I do stay within the parameters of the recipe.
Ok, that was a fun day! This morning I made a thick face cream for myself and framily. I used all my best additives! And, then this afternoon I made some body lotion. As someone fully tattooed I use a LOT of lotion! That’s why I needed an emulsion. I just couldn’t deal with body butters any more.
The face cream had: oatmeal protein and colloidal, aloe powder 100X, hyaluronic acid, sea buckthorn oil (such a pretty color!), rosehip seed oil, evening primrose oil, essential oils of myrrh, sandalwood, rose geranium, and helichrysum.
The lotion I made the honey and oats lotion and scented it with EO of palo santo, geranium, orange, ylang ylang.
I put the face cream in a piping bag and it’s cooling and thickening up nice.
The lotion is still pretty warm and I’m not sure if I’ll pour it into the bottles tonight or tomorrow. I don’t want it to be so thick that it’s difficult to pour.
The face cream had: oatmeal protein and colloidal, aloe powder 100X, hyaluronic acid, sea buckthorn oil (such a pretty color!), rosehip seed oil, evening primrose oil, essential oils of myrrh, sandalwood, rose geranium, and helichrysum.
The lotion I made the honey and oats lotion and scented it with EO of palo santo, geranium, orange, ylang ylang.
I put the face cream in a piping bag and it’s cooling and thickening up nice.
The lotion is still pretty warm and I’m not sure if I’ll pour it into the bottles tonight or tomorrow. I don’t want it to be so thick that it’s difficult to pour.
That's the one I use though I've changed it a bit to suit my climate and tastes. This is a great recipe. And I like that you can make and keep the concentrate and just add the rest of the stuff later.
I made a micro-batch of this the other day, adding two clinically proven ingredients for reducing dark under-eye circles: soy-rice peptides and Ajurana Eye Contour. These were purchased from MakingCosmetics awhile back, but I hadn't purchased their recommended (very expensive) cold emulsifier. Sadly, by the time I realized that the inexpensive substitute didn't work very well, they no longer sold the recommended emulsifier, and I couldn't find something similar. As a result, those two expensive ingredients sat in my fridge for months.
Why on earth did it take me so long to realize that I could put them into my own lotion? Somehow my brain was thinking that I had to find a way to make it work with some version MC's recipe. Silly me! Thankfully, the light bulb finally went on. I added these two actives to the DIYB&B recipe, and I love it. It's too soon to say whether the dark circles are really reducing, but the skin around my eyes is looking better, for sure.
Why on earth did it take me so long to realize that I could put them into my own lotion? Somehow my brain was thinking that I had to find a way to make it work with some version MC's recipe. Silly me! Thankfully, the light bulb finally went on. I added these two actives to the DIYB&B recipe, and I love it. It's too soon to say whether the dark circles are really reducing, but the skin around my eyes is looking better, for sure.
A question. I poured the lotion into the pump bottles while warm, but not hot. I left the lids off and put a paper towel loosely over the top of the openings. There was the teensiest bit of condensation. Is there anything I should do? Allow it to dry before adding pump tops?
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The recipe calls for optiphen plus. Where do you have yours sent to for testing?
That actually is a lot of condensation, and is why you shouldn’t put any cover over it at all. That additional water has no preservative in it, and can quickly cause mold or bacterial growth. I would decant the whole thing and mix it well, and keep it for personal use only. Sorry
Ok. Thanks. If I’m keeping it for personal use can I just shake the bottles well?That actually is a lot of condensation, and is why you shouldn’t put any cover over it at all. That additional water has no preservative in it, and can quickly cause mold or bacterial growth. I would decant the whole thing and mix it well, and keep it for personal use only. Sorry
Also, if I’d waited until today when it’s really cool it would be too thick to pour. Did this happen just because of the paper towel?
I used about 50 bent a tips and got most of it out. I’ll leave completely uncovered today, then shake really well after capping. I’ll only use it myself and my daughter will try it. But we’ll toss it in a couple of weeks, or sooner if there’s anything noticeable.
That was a painful lesson!
Edit to add: I’ve been told by folks elsewhere that that amount of water is within the margin of error for my preservative and if I shake it good it should be ok. I figure I’ll take all the input and land somewhere in the middle.
Yes, that condensation is from the paper towel covering the top. I have decanted into narrow-necked containers like that and don’t have any condensation if I leave it open. I do let mine cool for a few hours first so that it was warm but not hot, and still pourable.
I have heard others say that you can be ok if you mix the condensation in well. Knowing how easily lotions can go off, I personally don’t feel comfortable with that if I were giving it away. But for personal use, it could be a good experiment.
I have heard others say that you can be ok if you mix the condensation in well. Knowing how easily lotions can go off, I personally don’t feel comfortable with that if I were giving it away. But for personal use, it could be a good experiment.
I understand you stay within the parameters of the recipe. If I were selling the lotion I would still have it challenge tested. But that is me, and with my skin problems, I am paranoid. I never depended on just one preservative and my preservative system was the most expensive part of my lotion recipe for most of my lotions. One preservative I used was strong in one area and the other strong in another area. Do remember if you happen to tweak emulsifiers or surfactants if can change what preservative you need to use. Aloe Juice is preserved to preserve the aloe not anything it is added to and it is hard to preserve so should be used in small percentages. As homemakers, we just do not have in-home labs and most of us do not have the knowledge to test ourselves.
