Teach Soap

Hi, I'm new to lotion making and am having a hard time finding a recipe I like the sounds of. Currently I am using BTMS-50, Stearic Acid, Coconut Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Shea Butter, Water, Optiphen and Cyclomethicone.

What is the best emulsifier to use? E-wax, Polawax, Polysorbate 20, BTMS-50? Also, which is better, Phenonip or Germaben II ?

I'm trying to make just a basic lotion, nothing too thick, but Definitely not too thin and runny. I'm putting the lotion in bottles with pump tops, so I need it to be just thin enough to be able to pump it out.

Also, I've seen sweet almond oil used ALOT in lotion making. Why is this?

Thanks!!

I prefer E-wax NF as it's a complete emulsifier. You can use stearic acid with it, but it's not really needed. As far as a preservative, you would use what works the best for you. My customers prefer paraben free preservatives, so my choice is more limited. I use mango butter instead of shea, as shea now makes me itch. Could be because I've used it so long and my skin became reactive to it.

A lot of people use almond oil as it's a lighter weight oil and gives a nice skin feel on the skin.

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

I don't think BB offers e-wax. I don't remember seeing it. I get mine from lotioncrafter.com

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

That's good to know that BB carries it. I prefer Polawax as it differs in ingredients from E-wax NF. Polawax seems to work better in my formula. Polawax ingredients are proprietary, so I guess I'll never know what's actually in it.

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

Would coconut oil, rice bran oil, sweet almond oil, shea butter, dulce extract, polawax, water and optiphen make for a good lotion? I thought I had this all figured out when I bought my first ingredients, now I have no clue what I'm doing! Sigh. Also, with the polawax, I don't necessarily need stearic acid, right?

Thank you soapbuddy for helping us along!

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

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

Thank you so much!

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

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

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

I use liquid Germall Plus for most of my formulas.

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