First lotions and creams

So, I finally had my stuff, I basically had everything I needed to do some basic lotions (and some other things I have no idea how to use yet!). And I decided it was time to start producing little things!

Today's goodies

I had a few recipes I wanted to try, a hand cream adapted from this italian forum with so so so much information (I didn't have all the ingredients but most of what was important), I wanted to make another batch of conditioner to offer a friend and I wanted to try a body lotion and a face cream.

Of course none of what I made was the best version of itself, but it was a great educational experience since only trying and experimenting you can really understand what you may read in theory. This is what happened and what I learnt:

What happened?

The body lotion had a bit of white spread and the face cream came with a lot of it (I should say the face cream was my recipe from scratch, so obviously....).

What I learnt

Temperature is important when mixing the phases and emulsifying, as well as continuing to mix during the cool down process. Also certain ingredients may favor white spread so it would be important to use them in the right percentage.

What happened?

Bubbles, I got so many bubbles. I got rid of them (some!) by banging the pot on the table. But I knew it wasn't a good thing and was trying to avoid letting more air get into the mix when blending with the stick blender.

What I learnt

Bubbles are bad, they can damage a mixture, plus is not nice to pass a lotion full of bubbles on your skin. Moving the blender a bit once sit into the mixture could help reduce air bubbles. Putting the water phase into the oil phase with some delicacy and slowly could help too, and finally, working with more than 100gr helps too, since there are less chances of air getting in the mixture when blending.

A face cream I designed.... 2.0 coming soon!

What happened?

My face cream is too oily. Though this is not the right word. When you pass it on your skin (ignoring the white spread) there is a nice feeling, spreads well and absorbs quite quickly. But... after some time, specially if hot, it feel so oily and sweaty. Definitely not a day cream, maybe at night?

What I learnt

Oils are important. It's not only important to understand the qualities of the oils used (not necessary the properties in terms of what they are supossed to do for our skin), and what in the Italian forum is called the "grease fall". This is a combination of diverse oils (like light, medium, butter, etc) that will balance the cream and offer the best of each.

I also learnt from my trials to see how to improve the face cream (since I designed it!), that is important to add other things that could be helpful to my face (actives with anti-age properties, or those that help reduce the greasy look, etc).

Finally, I learnt that I need to work on how to give a complete different texture to the cream, cause I want them more "fluffy", for lack of a better word. I would like a cream that absorbs quickly and I would like a cream that offers something to the skin (relief, hydratation, etc). This also counts for my hand cream, maybe even more!

The recipes I have done so far are not developed or complete so I am not going to share this with you at the moment. Let me get something decent and worth it and you'll see it all!