Lecithin Moisturizer question

[aprice522]

I have been dabbling in the make your own body care stuff now and today made whipped shea butter--went well, lipgloss/chap stick for my little gal and tried a lotion ---all but the lotion went well---I got this recipie from a beauty book in the LIB and want to know if you can see any problems with it.

1T liquid lecithin
2Toil (used evoo)
1t coconut oil
1t mineral oil (or a veg of your choice--I used almond)
1/8t borax
1/2c distilled water
1-2d eo

mix first 4 and heat 45s in microwave
mix last 2 and heat 45 s in microwave
pour borax water mix sowly into a and dir well and blender till smooth

So I did as above and while it is a nice feeling liquid, it is not any thicker then a creamy tomato soup

should it have been more of a lotion thickness? It doesn't seem like it should be--I mean, it is oil and water--how could 2 liquids make something solid.

But if anyone knows anything I don't--please let me know as I really like the feeling of this.

 

[carebear]

cannot speak to the thickness but
1) I don't think it'll stay emulsified - lecithin isn't a great emulsifier and neither is borax (in my limited experience)
2) lecithin is kinda a scary product as it can really help stuff get absorbed through your skin so I avoid it unless I'm looking for that particular action. some EOs are not good for that.
3) YOU NEED A PRESERVATIVE
4) working in tablespoons and such isn't a very accurate way to measure. You might want to get a scale
5) heating by time and not by temp isn't a good way to go either -
6) YOU NEED A PRESERVATIVE
7) YOU NEED A PRESERVATIVE

But it's a great place to start!

 

[flowerpower]

Two very important notes:

1) Always use percentages/weights to figure out your recipes. One person's 1/2 cup measurement is different from another person's, but 1 oz of coconut oil is the same as another person's 1 oz of coconut oil.

2) If you plan on keeping it longer than a week, use a preservative. Vitamin E and Grapefruit Seed Extract are not effective broad spectrum preservatives, but are useful in delaying rancidity in oils.

Borax is not an effective emulsifier, and neither is lecithin (however, you can use lecithin if you use it with another "single" emulsifier using the HLB system, but that's rather complicated).

To make your life easier (and to have the lotion stay emulsified), buy emulsifying wax or polawax. Both are complete emulsifying systems in that they will keep a lotion emulsified without having to figure out HLB values etc. Once you're comfortable with using e-wax, you can pair together different emulsifiers and experiment with them.

To adjust the viscosity of the lotion, cetyl alcohol and/or stearic acid can be used to thicken a lotion. Both will increase the thickness, but will give different feel (stearic can leave a bit of a drag, whereas cetyl is more glide-y). Experiment with the percentages and see what you like.

 

[flowerpower]

Thanks your detailed information.

You're welcome!