Need help on my percentages (receipe)

[Desirae]

So let me start out by saying it's been a few years since I've made hand cream so your input would help. Also want to try some ingredients never used before but don't know what percentages I should use.

I want to make a very thick hand/body cream, I'm talking thick like the Cera/Ve jar cream, so I'm wanting way thicker then regular lotion but light weight not heavy. So I want to point that out,

Heres what i want to use but need help with my percentages: heres what i have so far, plz fix if you have a better idea of percent per ingredient..........
Distilled water-40-50%?
Colloidal oatmeal- 1%
Cocoa butter-7%?
Shea butter-7%?
Horsetail butter blend- 5%?
Babassu oil-5%?
Hemp seed oil-5%?
Soybean oil-5%?
Aloe vera oil-1%?
Vitamin e oil- 1%
Propylene glycol(i don't use glycerin)‐ but do I even need it in my recipe? 1%?
Isopropyl myristate- 3%
Optiphen- 1%
Can I use cetyl alcohol isn't of/or with stearic acid if so how much of each one, or 1 or the other?
Should I use BTMS-25 &/or E-wax &/or candililla wax, or combination of 2 or all 3, and what percentages of each?

I'm read more that cetyl alcohol works better than stearic acid for light weight but stearic acid makes creams thicker, can both be used together in equal portions?

BTMS 25 is equal to e-wax but has a more silky lighter weight feel, and candelilla Wax is plant base and be used fully in place of e-wax, true or no?

I just ordered cetyl alcohol & candelilla Wax so I'm hoping to make something that thick but absorbs well and is light weight.

Lastly my lotion bars, can I swap out all my beeswax for candelilla Wax & get the same result I want?

Thank You all.

 

[AliOop]

Hi there! I love making lotions and creams. I'm by no means an expert, but here are my thoughts.

1. I would skip the propylene glycol, soybean oil, and horsetail butter blend. Alternatively, use the butter blend in lieu of either the babassu or hemp, or both.

2. I've never heard of "aloe vera oil." Perhaps you meant aloe vera juice or powder? Do be aware that aloe vera products are chock full of electrolytes. These can cause your emulsion to break, and the preservative to fail. I'd skip any aloe vera products for now, until you have time to do some research on how to properly formulate it in a lotion or cream.

3. Candelilla wax is a thickener and hardener, not an emulsifier. I'm not a fan of it as a lotion thickener. In my opnion, cetyl alcohol gives a much nicer slip, and stearic is a nicer thickener. A good starting point is 2-3% each of cetyl and stearic.

4. I haven't worked much with BTMS 25, but my understanding is to use similar rates as e-wax, which is 3-5% in lotions and creams. Given your low amount of water, plus the thickness of the butters you are using, I would start at the lower end of the range. So the recipe would look something like this:

60% distilled water, heated to at least 200ºF
7% Cocoa butter
7% Shea butter
5% Babassu oil
5% Hemp seed oil
3% Isopropyl myristate
3% stearic acid
3% cetyl alcohol
3% e-wax or BTMS 25
1% Vitamin E mixed tocopherols
1% Colloidal oatmeal (I would pre-dissolve this in the heated water)
1% fragrance
1% Optiphen

Start with a small batch, like 100g, and give it a day or two to fully thicken after you make it. If it's still not thick enough for your liking, raise the stearic by 1% and deduct that from the hemp seed oil.

Good luck, and let us know how your lotion-making goes. We love pictures.

 

[Desirae]

Hi there! I love making lotions and creams. I'm by no means an expert, but here are my thoughts.

1. I would skip the propylene glycol, soybean oil, and horsetail butter blend. Alternatively, use the butter blend in lieu of either the babassu or hemp, or both.

2. I've never heard of "aloe vera oil." Perhaps you meant aloe vera juice or powder? Do be aware that aloe vera products are chock full of electrolytes. These can cause your emulsion to break, and the preservative to fail. I'd skip any aloe vera products for now, until you have time to do some research on how to properly formulate it in a lotion or cream.

3. Candelilla wax is a thickener and hardener, not an emulsifier. I'm not a fan of it as a lotion thickener. In my opnion, cetyl alcohol gives a much nicer slip, and stearic is a nicer thickener. A good starting point is 2-3% each of cetyl and stearic.

4. I haven't worked much with BTMS 25, but my understanding is to use similar rates as e-wax, which is 3-5% in lotions and creams. Given your low amount of water, plus the thickness of the butters you are using, I would start at the lower end of the range. So the recipe would look something like this:

60% distilled water, heated to at least 200ºF
7% Cocoa butter
7% Shea butter
5% Babassu oil
5% Hemp seed oil
3% Isopropyl myristate
3% stearic acid
3% cetyl alcohol
3% e-wax or BTMS 25
1% Vitamin E mixed tocopherols
1% Colloidal oatmeal (I would pre-dissolve this in the heated water)
1% fragrance
1% Optiphen

Start with a small batch, like 100g, and give it a day or two to fully thicken after you make it. If it's still not thick enough for your liking, raise the stearic by 1% and deduct that from the hemp seed oil.

Good luck, and let us know how your lotion-making goes. We love pictures.

Thanks for all your input and I'll change my recipe. Just a few things, I meant aloe vera oil not juice, the oil can be bought from wholesale supplies site and I include it in all my skin care products in the past and have never had an issue.

I'll leave out the Propylene glycol, and I purposely bought the horsetail butter blend and babassu oil because on wholesale supplies site specified those to ingredients help dealing with eczema and psoriasis, to help add moisture into the skin and help the cracking, my grandson has terrible eczema all over his tiny 8month old body and my hubby has a very severe case that starts as eczema then turns to cracking and bleeding that requires prescription strength ointment that works 50% of the time. I think he has psoriasis and not eczema. That horsetail butter blend wasn't cheap but said it helped with eczema.

Do you know if I can use the candililla wax instead of beeswax in my lotion bars? Never done it before and don't want to waste my ingredients only to test it to see if it works. I'm not a fan of beeswax, it leaves the skin feeling sticky afterward.

 

[AliOop]

I love that you are doing this to help your family! That's exactly why I got into making soap and lotions, too.

Definitely leave out the propylene glycol if you are making lotion for sensitive, irritated skin! As for the aloe vera oil, I never heard of that before, so I looked it up on WSP. Apparently it is aloe vera plant matter macerated in coconut oil and mineral oil. That means you still have the problem of the electrolytes in the aloe vera plant matter potentially causing problems with your emulsion and your preservative. So, it wouldn't be my first choice for a new-to-you recipe.

A few of my family members have eczema, psoriasis, or both. My best advice is to start with as few ingredients as possible, and make very small batches. It can take soooo many iterations before you find the one that works for your particular person. Some people with psoriasis (my husband) really do well with colloidal oats. Others (like @cmzaha) cannot use colloidal oats at all. Some do well with hemp oil, or coconut oil; unfortunately, neither my skin, nor my husband's does well with either of those.

Shea butter can cause an allergic reaction for those with latex allergies, so I'd sub in the horsetail butter instead of the shea. Finally, I'd leave out the fragrance altogether - don't even use essential oils at this point. You can put that extra 1% into the water.

Oh, if you decide to use BTMS 25 rather than e-wax, it can smell a little fishy, especially if you overheat it. Something to consider if you are not using any fragrance.

The last thing to consider is whether a thick cream is really what you want. If their skin is really sensitive to the touch, a super thick cream might be uncomfortable for them to apply since they will have to really work it in more than they would with a thin lotion. On the flip side, some folks with irritated skin do better with less water. Again, make small batches to see what works.

Regarding the candelilla wax, yes, it can be used in lotion bars. My recollection is that it is significantly harder than beeswax, so you would use less of it. Sorry that I can't remember the ratio at the moment.

 

[Desirae]

I love that you are doing this to help your family! That's exactly why I got into making soap and lotions, too.

Definitely leave out the propylene glycol if you are making lotion for sensitive, irritated skin! As for the aloe vera oil, I never heard of that before, so I looked it up on WSP. Apparently it is aloe vera plant matter macerated in coconut oil and mineral oil. That means you still have the problem of the electrolytes in the aloe vera plant matter potentially causing problems with your emulsion and your preservative. So, it wouldn't be my first choice for a new-to-you recipe.

A few of my family members have eczema, psoriasis, or both. My best advice is to start with as few ingredients as possible, and make very small batches. It can take soooo many iterations before you find the one that works for your particular person. Some people with psoriasis (my husband) really do well with colloidal oats. Others (like @cmzaha) cannot use colloidal oats at all. Some do well with hemp oil, or coconut oil; unfortunately, neither my skin, nor my husband's does well with either of those.

Shea butter can cause an allergic reaction for those with latex allergies, so I'd sub in the horsetail butter instead of the shea. Finally, I'd leave out the fragrance altogether - don't even use essential oils at this point. You can put that extra 1% into the water.

Oh, if you decide to use BTMS 25 rather than e-wax, it can smell a little fishy, especially if you overheat it.

The last thing to consider is whether a thick cream is really what you want. If their skin is really sensitive to the touch, a super thick cream might be uncomfortable for them to apply since they will have to really work it in more than they would with a thin lotion. On the flip side, some folks with irritated skin do better with less water. Again, make small batches to see what works.

Regarding the candelilla wax, yes, it can be used in lotion bars. My recollection is that it is significantly harder than beeswax, so you would use less of it. Sorry that I can't remember the ratio at the moment.

Thank You so much for all that info, I've never used BTMS before just know I have a small amount in my stash of stuff, but if it had even a slight fishy smell hubby won't use it, so I'll stick with my usual e-wax.

I'll start with 2 small batches, a regular lotion for my grandson bc having such thin skin at 8months old, and my hubby does well with thick creams, he currently uses the cerave thick cream, he's used there lotion before and it made no difference in aiding his skin to heal, the thick cream has helped in the starting stages of the blistered he gets when his skin 1st starts to break, & help aid in his skin thats already broke open. The chemicals at his work float in the air, even though he doesn't work directly with the chemical like other employees do, however it's an oily substance that floats in the air as well, which is how my husband developed the eczema, again I think it's psoriasis because it behaves like psoriasis not eczema (12yrs in the medical field I've learned the ins and out btwn the 2 skin conditions). And the colloidal oatmeal in past creams I've made him help, just wanting to switch to more skin healing oils.

I'll swap out the Shea for the horsetail and not do a fragrance at all. Hemp vs coconut oil, I'll have to make a batch of each to see what works best for the 2 of them.

My lotion bars, I followed a wsp site formula and it was 23% beeswax, using candililla should I start with half the amount I'd use of beeswax, is that a good guess?
Thx again for all your help.

 

[AliOop]

It sounds like you have a good medical understanding of the skin conditions, which is great. One thought is perhaps your grandson could try applying the aloe vera oil on its own, directly to his skin. If he tolerates it well, then you could try layering it over the top of your lotion. That way, he gets the potential healing benefits of the aloe and your lotion ingredients, with the occlusion of the mineral oil (from the aloe oil mix) as a final coating on the skin.

For your lotion bars, halving the wax to use candelilla instead of beeswax might be a little much. Per this article, their melt points aren't that different, although their chemical compositions have significant differences. Fortunately, it's easy to remelt and add more of any ingredient to adjust the final texture.

Please do report back as to what ends up working for each of your special people. Many of us here on SMF are always interested in learning more about what may help our special people, too.

 

[ClaudiaO]

Do you know if I can use the candililla wax instead of beeswax in my lotion bars? Never done it before and don't want to waste my ingredients only to test it to see if it works. I'm not a fan of beeswax, it leaves the skin feeling sticky afterward.

This might help.
https://www.humblebeeandme.com/faqs/different-wax/
https://www.humblebeeandme.com/quick-guide-candelilla-wax-liquid-oil-ratios/
https://www.humblebeeandme.com/a-quick-guide-to-beeswax-liquid-oil-ratios/