Cold Process Cream and Pilling

I understand you're experiencing pilling or "rolling off" with your cold-process creams made using ingredients like Satin Smooth, Luxury Cream, Oil Cream Maker™, and Triethanolamine. This is a common issue and can be frustrating.

Pilling often happens in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, which is likely what you are creating with Oil Cream Maker™ and Triethanolamine. Oil Cream Maker™ is an O/W thickener/emulsifier that requires Triethanolamine for activation and specific high-shear blending. Pilling can occur if the ingredients, particularly polymers or thickeners, don't fully hydrate or disperse properly, or if there's an incompatibility between different components in your formula. When you rub the cream, these unhydrated or incompatible parts can clump together and roll off the skin.

You asked for a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsifier to solve this. Changing to a W/O system can indeed result in a different texture and skin feel, and may help avoid the pilling issue you're facing with O/W systems.

Based on the available ingredients suitable for cold process, OccluSoft™ (Water-in-Oil Cationic Emulsifier) appears to be a suitable option for creating a cold-process water-in-oil cream.

Here's why OccluSoft™ might help and how it works:

• Water-in-Oil Emulsifier: Unlike the O/W systems you've been using, OccluSoft™ creates a W/O emulsion, where tiny water droplets are dispersed within an oil phase. This structure typically provides a more occlusive or protective barrier on the skin, which can feel different from a light O/W cream.
• Cold Process: OccluSoft™ is designed for cold mixing. You mix it into the oil phase and then gradually add the water phase while blending at low speed.
• Cationic Nature: It contains a cationic component (Polyquaternium-37) which can contribute to a soft, smooth feel on the skin after drying, potentially reducing the sticky or residue-like feeling that can sometimes be associated with pilling.

By switching to a W/O emulsifier like OccluSoft™, you are fundamentally changing the structure of your cream, which should help prevent the pilling issue caused by the O/W ingredients you were previously using.

Remember that the final texture and feel will be different from an O/W cream. If you decide to try OccluSoft™, follow the recommended mixing instructions carefully, particularly the method of adding the water phase slowly to the oil phase while blending.