Addressing Cloudiness in Your Gel Formula with Sweet Lemon

It appears the cloudiness in your formula occurs after adding the Sweet Lemon ingredient. This is a common issue when incorporating oil-based substances, such as fragrance oils like Sweet Lemon, into a water-based gel system thickened with ingredients like AnyGel (Dehydroxanthan Gum).

The Sweet Lemon is not fully dissolving in the water phase, causing it to disperse and create a cloudy or milky appearance instead of a clear gel.

To achieve a clear formula, you need to use a solubilizer. A solubilizer is designed to help small amounts of oil-soluble ingredients, like fragrance oils, become clearly dispersed or dissolved in water-based systems.

How to Fix the Cloudiness

1. Select a Solubilizer: Choose a suitable solubilizer for fragrances or oils. Based on available products, options like Flora Solve™ Clear (Fragrance Solubilizer) or Ultra Solve™ are designed for this purpose.
2. Mix Solubilizer and Sweet Lemon: Before adding the Sweet Lemon to your main formula, mix the Sweet Lemon thoroughly with the chosen solubilizer. The ratio of solubilizer to Sweet Lemon will need to be determined by testing, but a common starting point is a ratio of 1:1 up to 5:1 or higher (solubilizer : Sweet Lemon) until the mixture is clear.
3. Add to Formula: Slowly add the clear mixture of Sweet Lemon and solubilizer to your main water/gel phase (containing ingredients like DI Water, AnyGel, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Vitamin E, Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, and Laurocapram) while stirring gently until the entire formula becomes clear.

By using an appropriate solubilizer and mixing it correctly with the Sweet Lemon before adding it to the rest of the formula, you should be able to resolve the cloudiness and achieve a clear gel.