How Do I Reduce Viscosity of Body Butter?

[MissE]

I want to make body butter that spreads better so I don't dread using it as much as I do now. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[shunt2011]

What kind of body butter are you making? Emulsified body butter or just whipped butters and oil?

 

[lsg]

Here is a link with info.
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/search?q=lighter+body+butter

 

[dixiedragon]

Assuming you are making oils only body butter - you need more soft oils. I love coconut oil in leave on products. It's a bit greasy at first but it absorbs very quickly. But any soft oil would work.

 

[cmzaha]

Castor oil and IPM work very well to help cut the oily feel

 

[IrishLass]

From your description, it sounds like you are making the anhydrous type of body butter (i.e., just butters + oil)? If so, the only way to make that type of body butter more spreadable is to add more oil in proportion to the butter.....but that will only serve make it feel overly greasy......which you can remedy by subbing in drier-feeling oils like castor or adding things like IPM as Carolyn mentioned, or adding things like Natrasorb or some kind of starch such as cornstarch or arrowroot powder or tapioca starch. For what it's worth, I've personally never used any of those in my anhydrous body butter, so I can't say how much they will affect spread-ability. Hopefully someone else will chime in on that.

My personal favorite body butter to make is the emulsified type, like what lsg linked to in her post. It's more work, but makes for an incredibly lovely, moisturizing but non-greasy, thick, but very spreadable body butter. I use LotionCrafter's 'Body Butter Bliss' recipe posted in their formulary on their website.


IrishLass

 

[MissE]

What kind of body butter are you making? Emulsified body butter or just whipped butters and oil?

Whipped, shunt2011.

 

[MissE]

Here is a link with info.
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/search?q=lighter+body+butter

Thanks, lsg, but I've not yet tried my hands at lotions (with water) and mine is an anhydrous BB.

 

[MissE]

Assuming you are making oils only body butter - you need more soft oils. I love coconut oil in leave on products. It's a bit greasy at first but it absorbs very quickly. But any soft oil would work.

I have high temperatures almost all year and when I add too much soft oils, my BB tends to streak. Thanks anyway, and let me know if you think of anything else, dixiedragon.

 

[MissE]

Castor oil and IPM work very well to help cut the oily feel

Second time today I'm coming across castor oil in relation to this research. I would have thought castor oil will rather contribute viscosity to the BB? I will have to study it more carefully. Thank you, cmzaha.

 

[Saranac]

First, I agree with Dixie about coconut oil. I use coconut 92 in lotion and love the feel. It's a little greasy at first, but it absorbs relatively quickly.

Second, I have found that Sunflower Wax, added at about 2-4% of the liquid oil amount, makes for a less-greasy feeling product. When I first started playing around with the wax, I found that a mix of 4% SFW and 96% sunflower oil made a sightly thickened oil that I actually liked on my skin; normally, I don't care for anhydrous products, but this oil lacked the greasiness. I went on a search for information and found a website from the UK that mentioned this characteristic of SFW. I love it so much that I have incorporated it into my lotions and am working on an emulsified body butter that includes it.

The only warning I have is that the SFW that I bought from NG smells strongly of crayons. The odor is so overwhelming that I double-bagged my first order and relegated it to its own plastic container in the back of my closet. It's not noticeable at the 2-4% level in scented products, so that's a plus!

 

[MissE]

First, I agree with Dixie about coconut oil. I use coconut 92 in lotion and love the feel. It's a little greasy at first, but it absorbs relatively quickly.

Second, I have found that Sunflower Wax, added at about 2-4% of the liquid oil amount, makes for a less-greasy feeling product. When I first started playing around with the wax, I found that a mix of 4% SFW and 96% sunflower oil made a sightly thickened oil that I actually liked on my skin; normally, I don't care for anhydrous products, but this oil lacked the greasiness. I went on a search for information and found a website from the UK that mentioned this characteristic of SFW. I love it so much that I have incorporated it into my lotions and am working on an emulsified body butter that includes it.

The only warning I have is that the SFW that I bought from NG smells strongly of crayons. The odor is so overwhelming that I double-bagged my first order and relegated it to its own plastic container in the back of my closet. It's not noticeable at the 2-4% level in scented products, so that's a plus!

Never heard of sunflower wax. Will look into it. Thanks, Saranac.

I've come across propylene glycol in my search for an answer to this question, can anyone tell me if it can be used in anhydrous products like my whipped body butter and if there is experiential reason to believe it will work to reduce viscosity and keep the BB stable (no melting, no hardening) throughout its life span?

 

[shunt2011]

I would just add more oils. Meadowfoam is nice, I also use Argan in mine. However, the more oils added can add to the greasiness. I use IPM or Tapioca or Arrowroot starch. It's all about tweaking until it's how you want it.