Lotion that became a Cream

[photoshadows]

I made a super tiny batch of "lotion" the other day (about 6oz total) and it poured into the bottle just fine, but now it's so thick that I can't get it out of the bottle So I guess my "lotion" recipe really made a cream. I'm wondering if I did something wrong and if anyone has any thoughts about how I can get most of it out of the bottle and into a jar so it's not a complete waste.

Here's the recipe I used:
15g Sweet Almond Oil
7g Avocado Oil
7g Stearic Acid
8g Shea Butter
8g Emulsifying Wax
127g Distilled Water
3mL Phenonip
2.8mL FO (Absinthe from NG)
a splash of diluted Green Apple LabColor

Thanks for any thoughts - recipe comments are welcome too

 

[rubyslippers]

I've only made a few batches of lotion so not real experienced here, but I believe that you had about twice as much emulsifier and stearic acid as what would be necessary. Keep in mind that the stearic acid will also thicken the suspension.

Check out the swiftcraftmonkey blog by Susan. It contains a wealth of information and she is extremely generous in sharing her knowledge of chemistry and how ingredients react with each other. She also has a lot of recipes, not just for lotions but for all kinds of B&B products. It is an amazing website!

This may sound goofy, but I'll suggest it anyway: Can you wrap a sandwich bag around the neck of the bottle and swing/shake the bottle violently using centrifugal force to get the lotion out? If not and all else fails, maybe you could set the bottle in some very warm water and possibly that would make it fluid enough that you could squeeze it out. If all else fails, I guess you could cut the bottle open. Good luck.

 

[Hazel]

That's what I thought. It's a bit high on the emulsifier and stearic acid. It looks like they're both about 7%. I haven't made lotion for a long time but when I made a light lotion, I used ewax at 5%-6% and stearic acid at 4%.

You could try to warm it a little in the microwave. You don't want to get it too hot. Just enough so it becomes a little more fluid and then pour it into a jar.

 

[AZ Soaper]

You could also add more water when you make the formula again. I mean if you like the formula that much I would just increase the water percentage.

 

[soapbuddy]

I wouldn't heat it up. You would compromise the preservative. How about if you leave the open bottle upside down over a small bowl and let gravity do its thing?

 

[photoshadows]

Thanks for all the advice. I tried it again with a much more balanced (%-wise) recipe and it was much better, but still a bit thick. So the 3rd try seems to have been the charm! I increased the percentage of water, greatly, reduced the % of Stearic Acid and I'm pretty sure I reduced the % of Emulsifying wax as well. It doesn't have the grestest slip, but it leaves skin smooth without any grease and, best of all, it comes out of the bottle :wink:

Thanks again everybody!

 

[photoshadows]

Just as another update, I tried a 4th time and added cyclomethicone for better "glide" and decreased the stearic acid to only 1% and it's even better. Just another example of the more you try, the more you learn and the better things become. Now I'm waiting on some BTMS and cetyl alcohol to screw the whole thing up again!

As an added question, is stearic acid or cetyl alcohol necessary in an emulsified lotion or cream? Looking at SwiftCraftyMonkey's blog, everything includes one or the other. I know it's used mainly as a thickener, but does it have any other functions?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[rubyslippers]

Now I'm waiting on some BTMS and cetyl alcohol to screw the whole thing up again!

You sound like me....why, oh why, can't I just change one ingredient or make one little tweak at a time!