Teach Soap

I have some hair gel base and want to add some oils to it. Can anyone suggest what type of emulsifier I should use? It doesn't specify water as an ingredient, but I put a small amount of oil and base in a dish to see what would happen and it eventually separates.

Polysorbate 20, use equal amounts of PS 20 and oils.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

If the hair gel base is polymer based, you're going to have a hard time adding oils or butters without them separating. Some polymers and emulsifiers don't play well together.

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

Thanks for the info. It is polymer based. I have some polysorbate, I'll try it with a small amount and see what happens. If it won't mix that's ok, it works fine on it's own, I was just hoping to get some shine and fly-away control.

Dimethicone is usually used for shine and fly always, but I'm not sure it would work in this case.

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

Thanks. I don't have any of that on hand so I guess I'll just try what I have. I use a lot of hair gel and about a month ago I wondered why I'm spending so much at the store when I can order a plain base that will probably do the same thing for much cheaper. It works ok but I have another product I use with argan oil that I just put on my ends so I thought I could use the hair gel and oil to make something similar. It may be easier just to use straight argan oil for that purpose.