The Great "Lotion" Bar Experiment
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I'm not seeing the other 33% - was that still going to be coconut oil, or are you switching to meadowfoam seed oil? Either recipe should be a good starting point. IPM at 1% should definitely help with cutting the greasy feeling! However, depending on your local weather (hot or cold), if you are using a soft oil instead of 76-degree coconut oil, you might need to up the beeswax or the butter just a bit to make them firm enough. I'd make a very small batch and see what you think.
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Yes, sorry, I would add 33% meadowfoam seed oil. Are you saying that I might need to up the beeswax with the mango butter and MFSO combo because MFSO is softer than CO? Is that others' experience?
How much beeswax do you add to your combo? Thanks!
Does anyone add Vitamin E?
Not answering for @AliOop (or anyone else, I think people's preferences vary widely in this respect), but 1/3 wax/butter/liquid oil is the classical jumping off point, so you're in good company on that. After that you just have to tinker to find out what *you* like. Personally I don't like oily bars or ones that are too hard, so I use drier oils and add IPM/powders (colloidal oatmeal, arrowroot) and sometimes change the mix or add something to make the bar a little softer. @Zing is the resident expert on lotion bars, you might want to do a search for their name and lotion bars here.
On a general note for the "favorite oils" vote, mine is lately for Abyssinian oil as well. I love meadowfoam as well, that was my go to for a long time, but it is so expensive! I buy Abyssinian at half the cost of meadowfoam at New Directions Aromatics. It is very similar in feel to meadowfoam (sinks in almost instantly), and has been great in lotions/cream/hair stuff (highly recommended as a sub for argan, which is even more expensive than meadowfoam.)
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/products/carrier-oils/abyssinian-carrier-oil.html
Thanks for the tip on Ayssinian Oil, @not_ally. I just reordered MSO but will keep the AbO in mind for next time.
ETA: looks like with the shipping costs, it would be slightly more per oz than what I just paid for MSO last week. Granted, it was a Black Friday deal, and the price of the MSO has increased almost 25% since then. So if I were to buy it now, it would be slightly more than the AbO. Both of them are much cheaper than my beloved Argan.
ETA: looks like with the shipping costs, it would be slightly more per oz than what I just paid for MSO last week. Granted, it was a Black Friday deal, and the price of the MSO has increased almost 25% since then. So if I were to buy it now, it would be slightly more than the AbO. Both of them are much cheaper than my beloved Argan.
I've just bought some mango butter to swap out with the shea butter - to see if that cuts greasiness. And I've got kokum butter too - its now the same price as coca butter here ( cocoa butter has gone up considerably)
This truly sounds like an awesomelicious recipe, except I don't know what IPM is. I like mango butter because it absorbs quicker than shea. And I would bathe in a tub of meadowfoam seed oil. I use vitamin E routinely at 1%. Glad to hear you like your beeswax scent.
And thanks, @not_ally for sharing, I really have never heard of abyssinian.
IPM = isopropyl myristate 
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Speaking of Isopropyl Myristate, what percentage do you all use in your LB recipe? I have used it at 1% and not noticed much of a difference in reducing greasiness. Someone here said you could even replace all soft oil with IPM, but I wouldn't go that far. What have others found? And is there a point to adding arrowroot powder AND IPM? I'd like to avoid too much greasiness, but I don't want a bar that is draggy on the skin, either.IPM = isopropyl myristate
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I just tried this recipe I saw online, which calls for the same three main ingredients (no IPM), using less beeswax and it was much less sticky/waxy/greasy. I like it:
40% meadowfoam oil (she used almond oil)
35% mango butter
24% beeswax
1% Vit E
40% meadowfoam oil (she used almond oil)
35% mango butter
24% beeswax
1% Vit E
@JillGat that recipe does sound very nice!
FWIW, I typically use IPM around 1% and do find that it cuts greasiness. However, I don't use CO or shea, both of which feel quite a bit more greasy than MFSO and mango, respectively. If you were using either of the former in your previous recipe, I would imagine that more IPM would be needed to cut the greasiness.
FWIW, I typically use IPM around 1% and do find that it cuts greasiness. However, I don't use CO or shea, both of which feel quite a bit more greasy than MFSO and mango, respectively. If you were using either of the former in your previous recipe, I would imagine that more IPM would be needed to cut the greasiness.
Feelin' Soapy
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This recipe does sound nice, though I wonder if it might be too soft in hot summer months?
Christa10
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I was adding 1% isopropyl myristate and recently looked it up in case someone asked me about it. I read that it can clog pores and is bad for people with acne. I will continue to use it, but I will tell people not to use it on their faces, and at least now I am aware in case I get a complaint. Other than that, I am using pumpkin seed oil, apricot kernel oil and mango butter in addition to bees wax. For a vegan product I have been using candalilla wax.
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Yes, actually my latest review is that this recipe is too soft. Will up the mango butter and beeswax and add IPM in the future.
I just made a batch with equal parts Mango Butter, Cacay oil and beeswax. It has decent sip and glide with enough workability to get it on my hands. Once it is on my hands it is lovely and not greasy at all. I think squalene would be a good alternative for Cacay also.
