Soapy Gurl
Well-Known Member
Can glycerin by added to items like lip balm or lotion bars? I assume it is water soluble, but I really don't know.
Is glycerin oil soluble?
- Thread starter Soapy Gurl
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Glycerin is water soluble, so, unfortunately, it won't do well in anydrous formulations such as lip balms or lotion bars without an emulsifier.
IrishLass
IrishLass
Soapy Gurl
Well-Known Member
That is what I expected! Thanks!
judymoody
Well-Known Member
Glycerin isn't an oil.
When you purchase ingredients, your supplier should provide a data sheet or basic information about its category, solubility, maximum usage rates, etc. I have found these data sheets very helpful when formulating.
When you purchase ingredients, your supplier should provide a data sheet or basic information about its category, solubility, maximum usage rates, etc. I have found these data sheets very helpful when formulating.
bluethegrappler
New Member
Using glycerin in lip balms, etc
I see this is an old thread, but it came up pretty high in a related Google search, so maybe someone else will find this additional information helpful.
It is true that glycerin is water soluble and does not work well in oil-based applications without an emulsifier. But it can be used quite effectively with lanolin as an emulsifier. I used this technique to make my lip balms with a combination of glycerin and honey.
https://apothecarialarts.blogspot.com/2017/02/making-lip-balm-with-honey.html
Perhaps a similar technique would work to incorporate it into lotion bars as well.
I see this is an old thread, but it came up pretty high in a related Google search, so maybe someone else will find this additional information helpful.
It is true that glycerin is water soluble and does not work well in oil-based applications without an emulsifier. But it can be used quite effectively with lanolin as an emulsifier. I used this technique to make my lip balms with a combination of glycerin and honey.
https://apothecarialarts.blogspot.com/2017/02/making-lip-balm-with-honey.html
Perhaps a similar technique would work to incorporate it into lotion bars as well.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Interesting. Thank you for sharing that link.
The problem with using water based products is that now you need a preservative, where with strictly oils/butters/wax you did not.
bluethegrappler
New Member
Glycerin and honey are self-preserving
As a general rule that would be true, but not in this case. Glycerin itself is a preservative, in sufficient concentration (think of herbal glycerites, like tinctures but extracted and preserved with glycerin instead of alcohol). Similarly, sufficient concentrations of honey also serve as a preservative. So our entire “aqueous” phase is composed of self-preserving ingredients!
This should be true for anything that only uses honey, glycerin, or a combination of the two. However, caution must be exercised if adding other aqueous ingredients as both glycerin and honey only function as preservatives at high concentrations. If they are sufficiently diluted, a preservative may be necessary.
(Technically, of course, glycerin itself would be polar, but not aqueous.)
As a general rule that would be true, but not in this case. Glycerin itself is a preservative, in sufficient concentration (think of herbal glycerites, like tinctures but extracted and preserved with glycerin instead of alcohol). Similarly, sufficient concentrations of honey also serve as a preservative. So our entire “aqueous” phase is composed of self-preserving ingredients!
This should be true for anything that only uses honey, glycerin, or a combination of the two. However, caution must be exercised if adding other aqueous ingredients as both glycerin and honey only function as preservatives at high concentrations. If they are sufficiently diluted, a preservative may be necessary.
(Technically, of course, glycerin itself would be polar, but not aqueous.)
But are you not adding in something which in itself will attract moisture which can then introduce beasties which would love to feast on those oils? While the aqueous phase itself may be "self-preserving", it could allow the introduction of liquids which are not.
bluethegrappler
New Member
While these ingredients are hygroscopic, they will never absorb enough water from the atmosphere to lose effectiveness as a preservative, especially once the lip balm is hardened in a tube, tin, etc, where air exposure is limited. Not unless you intentionally introduced other aqueous ingredients would you need to worry about additional preservatives.
