Whipped Body Butter

[sheabutterbabe233]

Hi Friends!! I was hoping to posst in this thread and tell you all about the new formula I tried for a rich whipped body butter, however, my formulation failed sigh.

I think I flew far too close to the sun with this one. I bought a few specialty ingredients that I was very excited to use in emulsified body butter. I have spent the past week researching each ingredient and figuring out how to use it in my formulation. Today was the big day, I went to make the body butter and my emulsion broke! It was really quite sad, all my work went down the drain, and my excitement got the best of me and I made a bigger trial batch than what I normally make so I could share with my friends and family. Anyway, I say all this to say, if someone could please weigh in on why they think my emulsion broke. I am posting my formula here and really hoping someone can help because I was so excited about these ingredients. I didn't include the cool-down phase because I didn't even make it there loool.

My speculation is that the issue is in the heated oil phase, I kinda threw everything in there because I made a previous successful emulsified bb and I found it a little thin, so I wanted it to be firmer and also wanted it to leave a little bit of shine on the skin. Whenever I make emulsified bb though, I find they dry down too much, I want something in between an anhydrous body butter and a lotion, something like Bath and Body Works' whipped body butter. Conversely, a formula that's like the body shop's body butter, but more rich. If anyone knows of a formula like that can you please point me in the right direction? My final grievance is that I tested a bit of my sad, broken emulsion, and I found that it went on my skin as if I put real oatmeal on my skin, which I didn't like at all, when I rubbed my skin it started to ball up like I was playing with my food. Any tips on that? Thank you all!!

Heated Water Phase
Distilled H2O	7.5g
Aloe Vera Extract	7.5g
Carob Liquid Extract	2.5g
Caffeine Liquid Extract	2.5g
Heated Oil Phase
BTMS 50	3.55g
Ritamulse	3.55g
Colloidal Oatmeal	1.25g
Cetyl Alcohol	1g
Stearic Acid	1g
Cacay Oil	3.5g
Apricot Kernel Oil	1.25g
Squalene	1.25g
Mango Butter	3g
Shea Butter	3g
Cocoa Butter	3.25g

 

[AliOop]

@sheabutterbabe233 this kind of question is better posted as a new thread, either in the Recipe Feedback forum, or in the Bath and Body forum. Since you are fairly new (welcome!), probably one of the mods will move it for you.

Colloidal oats are meant to be dissolved in water, so they should have gone into your water phase. I don't know if that would cause the emulsion to break, but it is probably why you felt it balling up on your skin.

I've never used Ritamulse, but it is apparently a bit fussier than some other emulsifiers. It can have a narrow pH range, which means it doesn't work with some preservatives. However, you did not list any preservative, which is mandatory for a product containing water, not to mention organic matter such as colloidal oats. Hopefully that was just a typo?

As to why your emulsion broke, there are a couple of possibilities that are just guesses since you didn't share your process:

1. Your ingredients weren't warm enough. I find that 170ºF is needed for most emulsions to come together.
2. You may not have blended long enough, or enough times throughout the cooling process.

If you can provide more information about your temps and actual process, we can probably help.

 

[bookworm42]

You might have too much emulsifying waxes in there. I remember reading somewhere that too much emulsifying waxes could cause it to separate. Here's an article I found talking about how different emulsifiers require different percentages due to the amount of oil/additives.
https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/concentration-of-emulsifier/

Edit to add: looks like the recommendation for BTMS is 3-6% and ritamulse is 2-10% according to my math you have them both at about 8%

 

[sheabutterbabe233]

@sheabutterbabe233 this kind of question is better posted as a new thread, either in the Recipe Feedback forum, or in the Bath and Body forum. Since you are fairly new (welcome!), probably one of the mods will move it for you.

Colloidal oats are meant to be dissolved in water, so they should have gone into your water phase. I don't know if that would cause the emulsion to break, but it is probably why you felt it balling up on your skin.

I've never used Ritamulse, but it is apparently a bit fussier than some other emulsifiers. It can have a narrow pH range, which means it doesn't work with some preservatives. However, you did not list any preservative, which is mandatory for a product containing water, not to mention organic matter such as colloidal oats. Hopefully that was just a typo?

As to why your emulsion broke, there are a couple of possibilities that are just guesses since you didn't share your process:

1. Your ingredients weren't warm enough. I find that 170ºF is needed for most emulsions to come together.
2. You may not have blended long enough, or enough times throughout the cooling process.

If you can provide more information about your temps and actual process, we can probably help.

Hi! Thanks for letting me know, I wasn’t too sure if this was the right place to post. Thank you for the welcome!! Okay, I see with the colloidal oatmeal, I wasn’t sure which phase to put it in, I saw a few conflicting things, I went on Humble Bee and Me’s website and she stated she typically puts it in the heated oil phase to avoid it turning gloopy and cooking into oatmeal. But it feels like it did that anyway.

I’ve used ritamulse before and I really liked it, it created a thick emulsified bb and I didn’t have trouble using it, but maybe it was something in one of the a million ingredients I used this time that didn’t work well with its ph. I weighed out my cool down phase and had my preservative ready to go however, because the formulation didn’t emulsify I didn’t bother adding my cool down phase.

You’re right, it would probably be helpful to include my process. Here it is:

• Weigh out the heated water phase
• Weigh out heater oil phase
• Heat both in a water bath over medium to low heat (I heated both to about 77 degrees F - at that point my heated oil phase appeared to have melted through) but you’re saying this may be too low, I’ll definitely take note of that
• Remove heated water phase from double boiler and top up lost water
• I typically add my oil phase to my water phase, but this time I decided to add my water phase to my oil phase bc I feel like the water is easier to pour without leaving as much in my beaker than the oil phase is (I hope this makes sense). Could this have contributed to the unsuccessful emulsion?
• I used an emulsion blender and thoroughly emulsified - to no success

The moment I started emulsifying it wasn’t coming together, it was thick, clumpy and separated. Typically when I pour my oil phase into my water phase right when I hit it with the emulsifier, it started to turn white and thick and come together. Thanks a lot for your reply!

 

[sheabutterbabe233]

You might have too much emulsifying waxes in there. I remember reading somewhere that too much emulsifying waxes could cause it to separate. Here's an article I found talking about how different emulsifiers require different percentages due to the amount of oil/additives.
https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/concentration-of-emulsifier/

Edit to add: looks like the recommendation for BTMS is 3-6% and ritamulse is 2-10% according to my math you have them both at about 8%

Hello! Thanks for replying!! That’s very helpful to know, I usually use BTMS 50 at 10 % without other emulsifiers, I’ll try lowering both of them, or taking one out entirely. Thanks so much for the article!

 

[AliOop]

Good point, @bookworm42. That reminds me of another thing that had come to mind, but that I forgot to mention.

Ritamulse is noted as being best for oil-in-water emulsions. That means the oil phase would be smaller than the water phase. But the recipe listed has more oil than water. So that could be part of the problem, as well.

 

[sheabutterbabe233]

Good point, @bookworm42. That reminds me of another thing that had come to mind, but that I forgot to mention.

Ritamulse is noted as being best for oil-in-water emulsions. That means the oil phase would be smaller than the water phase. But the recipe listed has more oil than water. So that could be part of the problem, as well.

Omg you’re so right! I remember reading that when I first started researching about ritamulse. I completely forgot! Do you think though that if I have the BTMS 50 as another emulsifier in the recipe it would essentially do its job and “save” the emulsion?

Btw I’ve replied to the other comments to my question but both replies are pending approval!

 

[AliOop]

Omg you’re so right! I remember reading that when I first started researching about ritamulse. I completely forgot! Do you think though that if I have the BTMS 50 as another emulsifier in the recipe it would essentially do its job and “save” the emulsion?

For the reasons mentioned above by @bookworm42, I don’t think so. I would try reheating the mix to 170F , adding more water (also heated to 170F), and trying another round of blending.

 

[bookworm42]

I will add that when I do my recipe I heat it to at least 160F. So I agree with @AliOop.
If you haven't thrown your mixture away you could try heating it up and seeing if it comes together at a higher temp.

 

[AliOop]

^^^ what bookworm 42 said. Reheat it to 160 or 170 with some additional water, and I bet you can save it.

 

[justjacqui]

The BTMS is cationic and is not compatible with the Ritamulse which is anionic. Remove one of these emulsifiers. One should be more than sufficient. If you want it thicker increase the cetyl alcohol.

Increase your water phase to about 60% by adding extra water to ensure you are creating a oil in water emulsion. It is best to work in percentages rather than grams. It makes it much easier to scale up and down.

I am assuming there is a preservative in your cool down phase. If not ensure that you add one.

Hope this helps

 

[sheabutterbabe233]

^^^ what bookworm 42 said. Reheat it to 160 or 170 with some additional water, and I bet you can save it.

Thank you both! I was so discouraged and wanted it out of my sight lool, so I threw it out, I wish I hadn't though. I'm tempted to try the exact same formula at a higher temperature and incorporating the tips you all provided me with. I'll let you know if I do!

 

[sheabutterbabe233]

The BTMS is cationic and is not compatible with the Ritamulse which is anionic. Remove one of these emulsifiers. One should be more than sufficient. If you want it thicker increase the cetyl alcohol.

Increase your water phase to about 60% by adding extra water to ensure you are creating a oil in water emulsion. It is best to work in percentages rather than grams. It makes it much easier to scale up and down.

I am assuming there is a preservative in your cool down phase. If not ensure that you add one.

Hope this helps

You're all so knowledgeable! Thank you so much!! I'm going to try this too! I did have a cool-down phase and preservative, but since it didn't emulsify, I tossed it before I got to the cool-down phase.

What if I wanted to make a water-in-oil emulsion? I want elements that the water brings - such as being fast absorbing, however, I still want the end product to have a little bit of shine to it. In that case, should I just decrease the water and increase the oil?

 

[AliOop]

Thank you both! I was so discouraged and wanted it out of my sight lool, so I threw it out, I wish I hadn't though. I'm tempted to try the exact same formula at a higher temperature and incorporating the tips you all provided me with. I'll let you know if I do!

It's probably good that you tossed it... I hadn't even noticed the cationic/anionic incompatibility, which @justjacqui was so smart to point out. For that reason, I would not make this same formula again - those two emulsifiers simply cannot be used together.

What if I wanted to make a water-in-oil emulsion? I want elements that the water brings - such as being fast absorbing, however, I still want the end product to have a little bit of shine to it. In that case, should I just decrease the water and increase the oil?

If you want to make a W/O emulsion, then Ritamulse is not the right emulsifier for you, as it is for O/W emulsions. But if all you are wanting is a very thick cream, you can do that with an O/W emulsion by using some fatty thickeners or guar gum, or both.

If you are new to lotion-making, I recommend watching HumbleBee & Me's Natural Lotion playlist. One video in that series specifically discusses how to adjust the viscosity of your lotion, and she does use Ritamulse to make quite a thick cream. The rest of the videos cover important topics, too.