Teach Soap

I just recently started making lotion. The base recipe I've used is water, coconut oil, rice bran oil, shea butter, stearic acid, BTMS-50, cyclomethicone and optiphen. I make an unscented lotion, but it smells like a bathroom cleaner I use. I'm assuming this is the optiphen; I've read online that it has a bit of a fishy smell. It seems to distort my FOs as well in lotion. What is a better preservative to use? I can't very well sell lotion that smells off, or smells like a cleaner!

Thanks!
Dana

I use Phenonip in my lotions. To me it has a slight medicinal/clinical odor, but I only notice it very faintly in unscented lotions. It hasn't changed any of the EO or FO scents.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Welcome!
Have you read my post on preservatives? viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5032
BTMS-50 can give you that "fishy" smell.

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

What would be the best emulsifier and preservative to use to get a scent-free lotion? Or as scent-free as possible.

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

FYI, I am just changing my product line to a new preservative and so far with excellent results. We were using a 0.4% parabens/urea system. We just changed to Spectrastat, at 0.85%
It has an aroma but when incorporated at the correct percentage it was just a faint 'fruity' smell. Hardly detectable. Once I added the fragrance you couldn't tell. It is also an emollient and it improved the application feel of the product. Better 'glide'. I like it.

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

Spectrastat has been around a while and is well proven. It has a faster and more complete suppression of both bacteria and fungi than parabens systems. I've got all the data on it including the tests against four other systems including parabens. I will of course test. Our original system is at 12 months shelf life so far, we expect this one to do at least as well.
Spectraguard is a good alternative too, but it has a limit of 40C and we sterilize at 70C of course, as per industry standard.

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

The challenge tests are why I haven't made lotions for sale. They're so expenseive!

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www.facebook.com/Semplice-Naturals

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Oh, that's GREAT info, Linda! All of the ones I'd been looking at were upwards of $250!!!! I can afford $31!!!

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www.facebook.com/Semplice-Naturals