Teach Soap

After making soap for 2yrs and swearing up and down I have no interest in making lotion...

I am now the proud owner of a lotion making kit that was gifted to me; here it is:

http://www.growandmake.com/complete-bod ... making-kit

I am mystified by the inclusion of the colorants. Not sure I understand why one would color lotion. The bottles are not clear so it doesn't enhance the visuals of the stuff sitting on your dresser. You certainly don't want to make yourself blue, orange or pink with lotion - or DO YOU? No judgement at all if that's your thing.

So..what point is the colorant for lotion? Just an extra bit of flair?

It does seem to have a little bit of shine/glitter (I am assured it is natural colorant) so maybe it just give the skin a sheen?

Is this a complete ingredient list?
Potassium Sorbate is not enough to preserve a lotion. You need an actual preservative. There is also no need to have citric acid.

• Potassium sorbate
• Stearic acid
• Almond oil
• Citric acid

Where is the emulsifier to keep the oil based and water based ingredients mixed like E-Wax NF or Polawax? Stearic acid needs an emulsifier.
Is there something else in the kit that's not included in the listing on the web site?

To answer your question, I don't use colorants in my lotion at all.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

ETA: there is an emulsifying wax included. Their website doesn't do a good job of reflecting the entire contents of the box; I should email them about that!

I thought the citric acid was to lower the pH so the potassium sorbate can work. The weights of the bags of substance are:

Potassium Sorbate: 9 grams (there are two bags so this is half)
Citric Acid: 18 grams (same as above)

So it looks like citric acid is used at 2x the amount of the potassium sorbate by weight.

I did read up on preservatives and realize that potassium sorbate (at the right pH) may help with some fungus and mold, but not bacteria, and this method of "preserving" is "very natural but probably doesn't work very well" territory. I am going to keep these lotions in the fridge and consider them perishable with a max shelf life of 6 months. Hey, summer is coming anyway - why not keep lotion in the fridge?

And going forward, will probably use a better preservative, I have no qualms about using a proven synthetic for that.

But to my original question: WHY color in a lotion?

Coloring a lotion is a matter of personal preference.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Soapbuddy: ok, after some thought I am going to ditch the "preservatives" potassium sorbate + citric acid in favor of Optiphen. No sense churning out a bunch of lotion that won't last!

What is really interesting is that I have found a few websites making natural body products that have extensive information on synthetic preservatives, making the case that they are crucial, necessary, and not harmful - including links to credible studies showing this fact. AND, after all that, they end up stating (I am paraphrasing a bit): "But we don't use synthetic preservatives because you won't buy our stuff no matter how many logical arguments we make"!

Instead of Optiphen, I would go with Germall Plus. Optiphen can be finicky with some formulas and can make them curdle.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.