I Made Lotion

[janzo]

Firstly, thank you to Lindy for her tutorial on Goat Milk Lotion and to DeeAnna for answering my queries before attempting it. I did not have any Goats Milk, (nothing like that around here!) , so used cows milk instead. For my oils I used AKO and Avocado Oil and opted for Mango butter for the butter percentage. It came out lovely, no greasy residue, I hate having an oil slick on my skin! I can't believe I actually did it, and yes I see another addiction coming on. Already thinking of other oils and butters to try, oh and perhaps a face cream..... I will never be rich......but at least I will be well moisturised!!!

The kindness of the people on this forum always amazes me, parting with their recipes and great advice, thank you.

 

[lizard1232]

Congratulations on your first lotion making experience. Isn't it awesome? I just started about 2 weeks ago and I love watching that milky white emulsification happen. Have fun planning lots of fulfilling recipes.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Congratulations! I'm also new to lotions but really enjoying it

 

[janzo]

If I wanted to make a face cream is it the same sort of formula, just choosing oils etc suitable for face, or is it more complex?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Depending on how thick you want it, you might look at the water to oil ratio

 

[janzo]

Thanks TEG, will do some research and try and formulate one.

 

[DeeAnna]

Making a cream can be as simple as reducing the amount of water in your lotion recipe to make a thicker product. If you like, you can substitute a different blend of fats that would feel nicer or work better on your face than what you used in your lotion. Or look at different emulsifiers and thickeners to modify the texture of the product and alter how the cream feels on the skin. And beyond that, there is an infinite combination of other ingredients that you can explore.

But don't get overwhelmed! Keep your recipes simple at first until you get a feel for what you like. It can be really easy to get enthused and spend a lot of money on ingredients that you may never use.

I don't recall if anyone has suggested this to you -- in case we haven't, I recommend Susan's "intro to lotion making thingy". It really helpful when I was getting started: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1020026/introductiontolotionmakingthingie.pdf

 

[janzo]

Thank you DeeAnna, that's a very thorough article, got lots of information from it.

 

[Lindy]

With a cream I would also recommend that you look at BMTS - 50 as it is a more conditioning emulsifier and also add 2% stearic acid to get a nice thick cream. I would reduce the water to 60% and up the Emulsifier to 7%. It really depends on thick you want your cream.

 

[janzo]

Thank you for those tips Lindy, will have a look here for BTMS, may be marketed under another name, basically a conditioning emulsifier?

 

[DeeAnna]

BTMS comes in several "flavors" -- I've seen BTMS-50, BTMS-25, and BTMS-225. From what I've seen, the brand name product BTMS-25 and generic "conditioning emulsifier" are roughly the same thing.

I have used generic conditioning emulsifier from Majestic Mountain Sage and have had very nice results with it. Susan (swiftcraftymonkey) cautions people that one company's generic emulsifier may be slightly different than anothers' generic product. For that reason, she prefers brand name versions for more consistency. I can appreciate that, but it's harder to find the brand name products so I've gone with the generics that are more widely sold.

FWIW, emulsifying wax (e-wax) is the generic version of the brand name Polawax. This is the other type of emulsifier I use -- again generic. I have to say I use more conditioning emulsifier than e-wax, but I like having both products because each offers a different skin feel.

 

[gholman38]

I am new at this whole soap and lotion making but allergies are forcing me to try different things. I have been reading a lot of things on lotions. Do you have any tips? Where did you find your recipe?
Thanks for your help

 

[snappyllama]

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/ has a wealth of information.

 

[DeeAnna]

Gholman -- read Susan's "lotion making tuturial thingy" I referenced in Post #7. That will get you going. And then read Susan's blog when you want more info -- see SnappyLlama's Post #13 for a link to Susan's blog. Another good book for beginners is this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0938497553/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I am new at this whole soap and lotion making but allergies are forcing me to try different things. I have been reading a lot of things on lotions. Do you have any tips? Where did you find your recipe?
Thanks for your help

After the research, start a new thread with questions that you still have - it's not the best posting in an existing thread for many reasons.