Homemade cream - water separating from wax and oil?

[ella]

Hey everyone, i am just a beginner at diy body products so today i attempted to make homemade hand cream since i am allergic to a lot of store and even pharmacy bought stuff (allergy to salycilates, predominantly plant based stuff, essential oils, SLS, sulphites, mineral oils, parabens, preservatives, fragrances, nickel), i used only bees wax and sunflower oil (since i can only tolerate those) and spring water, but it turned out quite hard as it set and water started separating. I used 1 tablespoons wax, 6 tablespons oil, less than a cup of spring water. Is there something wrong with measurements. Any suggestions on what i could do differently, i hoped the cream would turn out more frothy?

 

[judymoody]

Beeswax by itself generally does not produce a stable emulsion.

If you can't tolerate reliable emulsifiers like ewax/polawax/BTMS (have you tried these? How do you know you can't tolerate them?), then you might consider a solid lotion bar of beeswax and oils or a salve with the same ingredients.

You could also try a whipped butter without any water - say 70-80% shea and the remainder a liquid oil.

We also need to know a lot more about your method to trouble shoot. Did you heat and hold your ingredients? Did you use a stick blender or some other method for mixing? Also ingredients should be by weight, not volume and even better if you can convert them to % form.

Just eyeballing it, your ratio of oil to water seems a bit high. I can't comment on the amount of beeswax because I don't use it in lotions.

If you're making a water based product you also really need to use a preservative. Even if you use it up in a week. Even if you keep it in the refrigerator. Just because it looks fine, doesn't mean it is fine. The most effective broad spectrum ones involve parabens which you said you can't/won't use. You might consider liquid germall + which does not include parabens. There are also some other more "natural" preservatives available to the home crafter that you might want to investigate.

A solid lotion bar or water-free salve would not require use of a preservative.

Good luck with your next formulation.

Edited to add this link. This blog has great information. Check it out!

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... otion.html

 

[maya]

i think the recipe your using calls for way too much water.

 

[carebear]

wax = oil
oil and water don't stay mixed, at least without the help of an emulsifier.
the most natural I know of is lecithin, but it's really not too good on its own.

unless you are making it daily, you DO need a preservative. there really is no way around this. I'm really sorry. but if you are so sensitive to these ingredients, think how your skin will react to being slathered in mold and bacteria that are growing in an unpreserved lotion.

DO read swift's blog. she has tons of information.

by the way, "preservatives" is such a broad range of items there is no way to have a generalized allergy to them all. heck, even salt is a preservative. you really owe it to yourself to find out what SPECIFICALLY you are allergic to. same with essential oils - the range is beyond comprehension - you cannot possibly be allergic to them all.

 

[Sunny]

yes... if you will not use a preservative, I would forget making a "real" lotion. and stick to a salve or massage bar.

+1 to what carebear said.

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto to what everyone has said.

To amplify the idea that judymoody and Sunny brough up, though,- if you can get your hands on a butter such as shea butter or cocoa butter or kokum butter, etc... (and if you are not allegic to any of them), you can make a nice and real simple anydrous body butter (whipped or not depending on your preference) with 70% butter of choice and 30% sunflower oil. As the others have said, since it will not contain water, you can forego the preservative (but just be careful to not stick wet/watery fingers in it- use a clean spoon or utensil to scop it out). I prefer non-whipped butters myself, so I just melt the butter, add the oil, stir, pour into a clean container with cover and place in the fridge to set up. You can then store at room temp or in the fridge.


IrishLass

 

[ToniD]

I started making my own products because of my allergies/sensitivities too. It is a bit of trail and error to find what I can use, which is a pain, but as you find ingredients you can tolerate, you can combine them in different ways to make your products. Thats If you even want to make lotions, hair conditioners, etc. as has been said, the oil only products are nice and may fill your needs.

But if you want to make emulsified products, you can read lotion crafters site as well as product descriptions at the herbarie to find helpful information on choosing you ingredients. And do read swiftcraftymonkey blog! Great stuff, sooooo helpful.

It is a frustrating to deal with allergies and trying to figure out what you can use and can't use, not to mention a slow process... But I think it is helpful to be able to make your own products, since you dont have to hope to find something in a store you can use, only to have the discontinue it! Hopefully you can enjoy the challenge of formulation and learning a new skill.

 

[carebear]

and yes, I do understand, somewhat, your frustrations. i started making my own soap due to my kids' allergies and it's helped enormously.

 

[Lindy]

Ella I've not tried the following method but I have heard some good things about it. I am going to try it as soon as I get some orders finished.

melt your oils and wax together, hold them at about 170* for 15 minutes. Pour into blender and put on high until they have started to cool. Add your heated water and blend again until they have emulsified. Add your preservative (and yes you really do need it) keep blending until there is absolutely no separation.

Again I have not tried this, but apparently the high sheer of the blender is what will get this to work and I know of one person who has done it successfully. 2 weeks in without separation.

I hope you have fun and please, be so careful about preservatives.