Working with Oats

This is a sneak peek of something I have been playing around with for a while. It may or may not work, but at this moment in time, I am on a path of discovery and not so concerned about a specific result as I am about exploring a few possibilities oats may have to provide apart from their already well known fabulous skin-loving properties?

What if we can take advantage of some of avena sativa’s natural components to do additional things?

I know this may sound utterly boring to most people, but this kind of work really floats my boat, and may I draw your attention to the ‘moon-like’ shape in the bottle? I’m convinced that is a smile. I think these oats like working with me.

More to come.

PS: Oatmeal is a wonderful addition to many bath products. The book below has several formulas featuring oats.

Create Your Own Bath Products With Essential Oils

How to Know When to Use a Preservative

“If a product is anhydrous, surely a preservative isn't necessary?”

“An emulsion requires a preservative – no matter what, right?”

Preservatives are (understandably) a challenge for many artisan formulators. Knowing how (and when) to include them is among the most common type of questions I get from my readers, clients, and students.

I wish there was an easy one-size-fits-all answer.

There are so many different types of cosmetics (and methods of making) that it can be confusing to sort through all the ‘if’s, but’s, and maybes’ of cosmetic preservation.

This article is my attempt at an answer to the many of you who have asked. Please note this is a general guide and will not be able to answer every question you may have.

Rules and Exceptions

Also, as it is with many rules, there are going to be exceptions. For example: despite what you may have been taught/have heard about cosmetics with water content, it is indeed possible to make a safe, long-lasting emulsion without adding a preservative. It is also possible to make an anhydrous product that can result in mouldy growth. Sometimes, including a preservative is going to be a judgement call you will have to make depending on the ingredients you are using, your production method, how your product is packaged, stored, and even how it is used by your customer.

In the guide below, I’ve created categories for the types of formulations and included a few tips as well. I hope you find it useful !

Anhydrous Products

Anhydrous: Minimal Exposure to Moisture

This includes water-free products that have a minimal chance of the contents being exposed to moisture during storage and use.

Examples of ‘minimal moisture’ products are:

• Face oil

• Body oil

• Massage oil

• Balm

• Leave-on oleogels

• Lotion bars

• Ointments

• Hair wax

• Body butters (water-free)

PRESERVATIVE: Unnecessary

TIPS 

• Addition of an antioxidant can help retard rancidity

• Body butter is a term that is used to describe both completely water-free products as well as rich emulsions.

Anhydrous: Some Exposure to Moisture

These are products that have some chance of introduction of moisture during use such as:

• Cleansing balms

• Body scrubs

• Oil-to-milk cleansers

• Pressed powder makeup

PRESERVATIVE: Judgement Call

TIPS

1. Packaging can be a deciding factor (for example if the product is dispensed instead of dipped into).

2. Adding specific instructions can also be a deciding factor (‘keep contents free of moisture- use within 3 months’, etc)

3. Although pressed powder makeup is anhydrous, note that some people will wet their makeup brush before dipping into the product, thereby introducing moisture. If you are selling your products and risk customers (mis)using them in this manner, consider adding preservative or including a disclaimer on the label.

Anhydrous: Moisture Exposure Unavoidable

This includes products where introduction of moisture to the content during use product is a given and includes examples such as:

• Tooth powders

• Wet and apply color cosmetics

• Cleansing powders/grains

• Cleansing balms (packaged in jars where the product is dipped into)

• Exfoliating scrubs (packaged in jars where the product is dipped into)

PRESERVATIVE: Recommended / Judgement Call

TIPS

1. Products such as cleansing powders/grains can be preservative free if explicit instructions are included on the label that the contents must be kept free of moisture. Consider packaging that allows the product to be dispensed without introduction to moisture for optimal shelf life without added preservatives.

2. Some scrubs can be preservative free if sold with spoon/scoop to dispense the product along with clear instruction on the label to keep the contents moisture free.

Anhydrous After Production With High pH

These are products that use water/liquids during production but are cured/dried before use and also have a high pH (generally pH 9-10).

Examples include products such as

• Cold process soap

• Hot process soap

• Beldi soap

PRESERVATIVE: Unnecessary

Anhydrous After Production

These are products that use water/liquids during production but are cured/dried before they are used and include:

• Bath bombs

• Shower steamers

• Solid shampoo bars

• Solid (SYNDET) body wash bars

• Solid conditioner bars

PRESERVATIVE: Unnecessary (in most cases), Judgement Call

TIPS

1. Microbial testing may be the deciding factor.

2. Packaging could be an integral part of the formula. Storage and use could be with explicit instructions. Example: individually wrapped portions/bath bombs that are used immediately after unwrapping.

Products with Water Content

Very Low Water Content

These are products that are predominantly anhydrous but contain a small percentage of ingredients that contain water (such as extracts, tinctures, etc.)

Examples of this type of product includes:

• Cleansing balms (some types)

• Balms (some types)

• Stick deodorants

• Hair styling products (some types)

• Body butters (some)

PRESERVATIVE: Judgement Call

TIPS

1. Microbial testing may be the deciding factor.

2. Packaging could be an integral part of the formula to avoid additional introduction of moisture.

Some Water Content

These products have some content of water but it is not the dominant ingredient. Examples of products of this type can:

• Salves

• Oil-rich lotions

• Rich, thick creams

• Emulsified body butters

PRESERVATIVE: (Generally) Necessary

TIPS

1. Packaging can be a deciding factor as to how much and which type of preservative is required

High Water Content

Water is the predominant ingredient in these products and generally listed first in ingredients list. Examples include:

• Water-based serums

• Lotions

• Creams

• Skin tonics

• Cream Cleansers

• Liquid shampoos

• Liquid hair conditioners

• Ready to use face masks

• Water-based gels (hydrogels)

PRESERVATIVE: (Almost Always) Necessary

TIPS 

1. Packaging can be a deciding factor as to how much preservative is required. Examples: products that are dispensed (pump bottle, serum bottle) or packaged in airless containers may not require as much preservative as a product that is packaged in a wide-neck jar that is dipped into.

Find More (from LisaLise) About Preserving Cosmetics

Overpreserving - as Bad as Underpreserving.

Download a free Natural Preservatives e-book right here

Hurdle Technology - the new Norm for Cosmetics Preservation

Preservative Free Cleansers with Hurdle Technology

Do Tell

Do you work with preservatives in your products? Which kinds of products do you normally add preservative to?

PS: The products in the books below are all preservative free

Make Your Own Preservative Free Natural Cosmetics With 21 Ingredients

Haz tus propios productos cosméticos naturales sin conservantes con 21 ingredientes

Solid Skincare

Here’s a peek at something I have been working on since last Fall. This is a solid serum/stick/balm that contains a very short ingredients list.

One would think a short ingredients list is equal to easy peasy, but sometimes achieving perfection with very few ingredients is much harder than expected. I have been testing the limits of the chosen ingredients to try and make them all play nice together and stay that way.

The ‘stay that way’ part has been the biggest challenge, but it’s getting there.

Just a few more batches, and I think this will be good to go. When it’s ready, I plan to add the formula to an upcoming publication.

Book of Natural Balms - Volume 1

Plant Color Stability - It's Possible

Pictured: Foundation (in tube) and highlighter (stick) accompanied by a few splotches of handcrafted plant extracts that are the colorants used to make these products.

I wish I could say it has been a snap to figure this out, but it has taken me more years than I care to admit to crack this code. These products - made in 2019 and still color stable - are a clear indication to me that it is indeed possible to make color stable colorants using only plants.

Next step: more skin tones.

That shouldn’t take more than a mere moment….

(insert smile)

Meantime: there’s a self-preserving bundle offer in the shop you might want to take a peek at if you’re interested in making your own self-preserving skincare.

Self Preserving BUNDLE

Formulating on the Fly - Emulsion with DIY Emulsifier

In this previous post, the lovely and generous Heike Käser taught us how to make our own Sugar Ester emulsifier that can be used in much the same way as one normally uses Sucragel (read: it can be used for both cold-mix and heated emulsions).

After making my own first batch of the emulsifier, I was so excited about testing it out, I made an on-the-spot, ‘on the fly’ emulsion.

You: What, Lise?! You didn’t sit down first and calculate everything and then bring out scales and weigh everything properly and write everything down??

Me: Nope. I jumped straight into it with my freshly made emulsifier (but did bring out the scales and notebooks and weighed and wrote everything down as I was working).

Pictured above: my first emulsion using this handcrafted emulsifier.

Today, we’re going to take a look at how to formulate on the fly.

Warning (and TOP TIP)

Don’t skip any of the steps or you’ll never be able to recreate your formula (and wouldn’t that be annoying if your very first batch turns out to be the most pristine perfection you have ever made?)

Here’s How I Made This Emulsion

1. Have every ingredient at room temperature

2. Weigh up desired amount of emulsifier and note weight

3. Weigh up more oil than you think you may need and note weight

4. Add oil slowly and work in thoroughly until the texture is appealing (see notes on stirring method below)

5. Weigh container with remaining (unused) oil and note weight (math to be done later)

6. Weigh up water phase (using same procedure as oil)

7. Add water phase to mixture bit by bit and work in thoroughly until the texture is appealing

8. Note weight of remaining water

9. Check pH (this one was good to go)

10. Weigh emulsion

11. Calculate and add preservative

12. Transfer to final container ( the pot you see pictured above).

The Last (and Very Important) Step

After all the on-the-fly fun at the workbench, there is an important final step: grab a cup of your favorite beverage and sit down to do the math to determine the exact percentages of the ingredients used so you can finalize your formula.

Skipping this step can have dire consequences if you discover you have created perfection and want to make another batch but realize you didn’t take enough notes to do the necessary math. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you)

Stirring Method

Heike’s suggested method for using this DIY emulsifier includes using a high speed mixing tool after all ingredients have been mixed, but I decided to see what would happen if I simply did everything using my regular hand-stirring technique.

Spoiler alert: the texture is a winner.

Obviously, a few repeat performances are necessary before this can be pronounced a full success.

Ingredients in this Emulsion

• Handcrafted emulsifier (see how to make it here)

• Coriander seed oil

• Handcrafted goldenrod hydrosol

• Preservative (I used Naticide)

Emulsion Impressions

This is a very oil-rich emulsion where a little goes a long way. The cream feels super lightweight yet decadently rich and goes on smoothly with absolutely no soaping or tackiness.

It smells amazing too (but then again, I chose ingredients that smell amazing).

This wont be my last batch, but I will probably be combining a few oils for future batches. An emulsion this oil-rich can be quite greasy feeling on the skin if you use more than a small amount and because I am a hopeless slatherer, few drier feeling oils will need to be included.

Finally, let me share a couple of extra tips from Heike

• Be mindful of pH. Sucrose stearate is sensitive to acidic ingredients. To avoid separation, dilute any acids (such as lactic acid, etc) before adding them to your mixture.

• The emulsion may turn out thinner with the addition of alcohols, acids, or if you employ vigorous stirring.

Do Tell

Have you ever formulated on the fly? Did you remember to take notes?

An Introduction to Natural Cosmetic Emulsions - Hand-Stirred Lotions and Creams

Preservative Free Salve Batch Umpty-Dillion

See that bottle up there? It’s batch number umpty-dillion of a preservative-free salve that pretty much defies the normal rules of cosmetics making.

How does it defy the rules?

• It contains water, but no preservative, yet stays fresh for months

• It is an emulsion without a (standard) emulsifier, yet remains stable for months

• It contains handcrafted botanical infusions and tinctures, yet defies contamination and stays fresh for months

Cool, huh?

The (homegrown) botanicals in the pictured batch are rosemary (tincture) and helichrysum (infused oil).

Counting Batches

I’ve been using this salve formula for many years and have made so many variations of it (both with and without preservative) that I would probably have a hard time counting the actual batch size. It’s great for sensitive, dry and mature skin and I use it for everything from night cream to foot balm, so there is at any given time a bottle of it in my stock.

If you’re interested in making a version of it (that contains preservative) , there’s a how to in the book below.

Do Tell

Do you have a favorite formula that is easily tweakable just keeps on going? Please share in a comment below

An Introduction to Natural Cosmetic Emulsions - Hand-Stirred Lotions and Creams

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