Lotion making research phase

[milky]

I'm so overwhelmed! *breathe* Okay... I actually read a lot and then my brain shut off somewhere in the bio-chem-jargon in an article about different kinds of preservatives.

There's a wonderful milk lotion tutorial on this forum that I would very much like to try. It calls for emulsifying wax and, of course, a preservative. At this early point I'm still not sure what emulsifying wax options are out there and barely know what it is. I know what it does, but not how to choose between brands or types or what a good price is. Price is a huge factor for me but I don't want to get something that doesn't work well. Same with choosing a preservative. Do I have to use multiple or is there one that does it all? What is a good, economical preservative for a milk lotion that isn't likely to cause cancer? Can anyone point me towards an emulsifier to try?

I saw Optiphen mentioned in a number of places so I was thinking of giving it a go. Meant to buy it from NG when I got some FO's, but forgot amid reading all their yummy-sounding descriptions. Then I saw that it needs to be combined with other preservatives. Is that right?

I want to make my own lotion for a few reasons:
- a use for excess goat milk
- because my alligator skin could seriously benefit
- to play with scents
- and because most of the commercial lotions I see contain too much gunk that isn't justified. (What's with the aluminum everywhere? Isn't it linked to alzheimer's?) I don't require "all natural" but I don't want it to be that scary..

 

[dixiedragon]

For more info on lotions, I like Swift Crafty Monkey. For a gentler "primer" type intro, I like Brambleberry's Soap Queen.

I use Phenonip - it covers everything. But it's got parabens (I think) and some people don't like that.

Lotions seem scarier than soap to me too - no idea why! I think maybe I "get" soap more? But they aren't harder. With lotions, you can change any hard oil or butter for any other hard oil, and the same goes for liquid oils. You will get a lotion of (mostly) the same thinness or thickness. Obviously, other stuff will change. Me, I want my lotion to come easily out of a squeeze tube so I use no hard oils in my lotion. I make a thick cream in a jar and that uses some hard oils.

 

[cmzaha]

Just a thought, maybe it would be best if you practice making lotion without milk first. Problem with using milk it is very hard to preserve, and I have to admit I hate the thought of rubbing milk on my body. But that is me. Go to Swift Crafty Monkey's blog and you will find great tutorials for making lotion. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

LOL, Dixie Dragon beat me. DixieDragon I know why it is scarier, because lotions can fail much more often than soap does!! I have 4 small test batches of a sprayable milk lotion, no actual milk, just the weight of milk and 3 out of 4 failed. The only successful batch is the emulsifier that I cannot buy. It is a Hallstar brand. :-(

 

[snappyllama]

I also really recommend Swift Crafty Monkey's blog. Her site was great recipes and information, and she has an excellent ebook with proceeds donated to charity.

One note: Aluminum is not linked to Alzheimers. That's been debunked.

 

[Dahila]

I make lotions and use Germal liquid plus, and Phenonip. I have tinosan but use it for cleaning all purpose liquid, in dark bottle. It can not have contact with light.
I had used Optiphen plus on beginning of my adventure but, lotions looked a bit like cheese cream, it can destabilize lotion, it actually does if the temps are higher than 35 celcius. They put wrong info on suppliers sites. If you use Optiphen at 50 C it is going to separate . Milk lotions are very difficult to preserve, and I believe this kind of lotion does not have a long shelf life. Must be preserved well

 

[DeeAnna]

In addition to being difficult to preserve well, a milk lotion won't use up much goats milk. Lindy's recipe calls for a max of about 12% milk (if memory serves me right). That would only be 120 grams (about 1/2 cup) of milk in 1000 grams (about a quart) of lotion!

Not to say a milk lotion won't be nice stuff -- it can be a lovely product.

I've had consistent reliable results using liquid Germall Plus.

 

[cmzaha]

I use Liquid germall plus and Optiphen in some of my emulsified butters. With some emulsifiers you need to check what preservative systems work. The emulisfying waxes many use such as Polawax, ewax, Soft and Silky work fine with Liquid Germall Plus. Susan at Swift Crafty Monkey has some good recipes. Although I did recently have a failure with one of hers, so go figure. She has failure with an emulsifier and I have had consistently good luck with in thin lotions. So there is a learning curve for making lotions

 

[Arimara]

I just used phenonip for the first time, yesterday and hot dang, I smell it through my peppermint oil. I used Optiphen Plus and yesterday was the first time I had a little separation. I stirred my lotions a little bit and it looks like it corrected itself but I have no idea what happened. I actually blame it on the fact that I used the whisk attachment instead of my blender attachment. XD

 

[milky]

Edit: I got interrupted mid-writing this and missed the two replies above. Oops..

Thanks all!
I have read a few of Swift Crafty Monkey's posts and they are really neat and informative. I keep going down the rabbit hole there, never reading what I meant to search for. I'll look into Soap Queen's lotion articles, too.

Carolyn, what was wrong with your testers? Didn't get the right texture to spray? That's too bad you can't get the one you want.
Choosing the right emulsifier is the other thing that has me stuck. I don't know anything about them yet. Does it depend more on the thickness you want or the ingredients? Edit: Ah, so it's the relationship between the preservative and the emulsifier?

Snappyllama, I love your llama pic! Thanks for the heads-up about aluminum being okay. I'll definitely look into that (and wear deodorant more often, lol).

Good to know about Optiphen. I'll probably go with Germall Plus or Phenonip then.

DeeAnna, thanks for the volume/weight perspective. You're right. That's not much.

 

[cmzaha]

Edit: I got interrupted mid-writing this and missed the two replies above. Oops..

Thanks all!
I have read a few of Swift Crafty Monkey's posts and they are really neat and informative. I keep going down the rabbit hole there, never reading what I meant to search for. I'll look into Soap Queen's lotion articles, too.

Carolyn, what was wrong with your testers? Didn't get the right texture to spray? That's too bad you can't get the one you want.
Choosing the right emulsifier is the other thing that has me stuck. I don't know anything about them yet. Does it depend more on the thickness you want or the ingredients? Edit: Ah, so it's the relationship between the preservative and the emulsifier?

Snappyllama, I love your llama pic! Thanks for the heads-up about aluminum being okay. I'll definitely look into that (and wear deodorant more often, lol).

Good to know about Optiphen. I'll probably go with Germall Plus or Phenonip then.

DeeAnna, thanks for the volume/weight perspective. You're right. That's not much.

Dahila mentioned using Optiphen Plus which is different than Optiphen. I have not had any problems with Optiphen and as I mentioned above I use it in some of my butters along with Liquid Germall Plus.


Three of my testers separated. One I know needed a thickener and possible my Acacia Gum did not agree with it, not sure will try it again using Xanthum Gum. It actually sprayed perfectly. Another was a temp issue, so will also retry it. The other not sure other than the emulsifier just did not hold the amount of water. This is why I make 4oz test samples. It I could buy the emulsifier that I know works I would be a happy camper. I will also mention I let my lotions sit for at least 3 months to see what they are going to do.

 

[milky]

Thanks, Carolyn. I just checked out your website and Wowee! Beautiful! Your food soaps look super realistic, too <3!

 

[cmzaha]

Thanks, Carolyn. I just checked out your website and Wowee! Beautiful! Your food soaps look super realistic, too <3!

Thankyou, my daughter does the m&p. Due to health issues and extreme competition, I am sorry to say she has pretty much quit and only does her work as special orders.