I was wondering

[Arimara]

How bad of an idea is it to use a high butter recipe for a high water lotion? I'm a little apprehensive when it comes to using my resources like that but I'd also like to know if it would yield something nice. Has anyone made a high butter-high water lotion?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It would depend on how high is high, as well as which butter, how you find it generally on the skin and what, if anything, you use to combat greasiness in your lotions

 

[dixiedragon]

To me, it depends on what your goal is. I don't think a high water, high butter lotion would be disastrous.

I make 1 thin lotion so it squeezes from a bottle. That one is 80% and uses all liquid oils. I don't think butters are inherently more moisturizing than liquid oils, so to me it makes since to use them when I want both the healing/moisturizing properties AND the hard texture. I make a thicker cream that is scooped out of a jar and I use coconut oil and a small amount of shea.

 

[DeeAnna]

There's nothing wrong with your idea really, as long as you like the skin feel of the butter(s) you want to use. Butters add thickness to a lotion, pretty much like using stearic acid or cetyl alcohol, except butters melt at a lower temp than stearic and cetyl. In general, a lotion made with liquid oils will be thinner than the same lotion except made with butters or other fats that are solid at or above room temperature.

 

[Arimara]

It would depend on how high is high, as well as which butter, how you find it generally on the skin and what, if anything, you use to combat greasiness in your lotions

As long as I keep the shea low-ish and remember to use the mango butter, greasiness won't matter too much. I also tend to treat babassu like a butter sometimes but it will definitely be the "soft" oil I use.

To me, it depends on what your goal is. I don't think a high water, high butter lotion would be disastrous.

I make 1 thin lotion so it squeezes from a bottle. That one is 80% and uses all liquid oils. I don't think butters are inherently more moisturizing than liquid oils, so to me it makes since to use them when I want both the healing/moisturizing properties AND the hard texture. I make a thicker cream that is scooped out of a jar and I use coconut oil and a small amount of shea.

I'm not quite aiming for more moisturizing properties. I'm just curious about how it might feel. I'm already set to avoid the stearic acid, however. Be it cream or lotion, cetearyl alcohol has won me over... or was it cetyl. I'll confirm that later.

There's nothing wrong with your idea really, as long as you like the skin feel of the butter(s) you want to use. Butters add thickness to a lotion, pretty much like using stearic acid or cetyl alcohol, except butters melt at a lower temp than stearic and cetyl. In general, a lotion made with liquid oils will be thinner than the same lotion except made with butters or other fats that are solid at or above room temperature.

So I get three nods to sate my curiosity. :mrgreen: