How to Color and Thicken Body Cream

Here are answers to your questions about coloring your body cream pastel pink and thickening a liquid cream.

Coloring Cream Pastel Pink

To color your body cream a pastel pink without staining the skin, you can use cosmetic-grade pigments. These pigments are dispersed within the cream base, giving the cream its color but not transferring significantly to the skin upon application.

Suitable options for achieving a pink color include Mica powders and Ultramarine Pink. Mica powders like Luster Pink Mica, Flower Pink Mica, Barbie Pink Mica, or Pretty Pink Mica can provide various shades of pink with different finishes (some with shimmer). Ultramarine Pink is another pigment option.

To get a pastel shade, start by adding a very small amount of the chosen pink pigment to your cream base and mix thoroughly. Gradually add more pigment until you achieve the desired pastel pink color. You can disperse the pigment in a small amount of oil or glycerin before adding it to the cream for easier mixing.

Thickening a Liquid Cream

If your cream is too liquid after mixing, you need to add a thickener. The specific thickener to use depends on the ingredients in your formula and the type of cream maker you used initially.

If you used a "light cream maker" as mentioned, increasing the concentration of your Light Cream Maker™ can help thicken the cream. Check the recommended usage rate for your specific cream maker and consider adding more within that range.

Other thickeners that can be added to the water phase of a cream formulation include CreamThick™ (Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate) or Sepimax Zen (Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6). CreamThick™ is resistant to electrolytes, which can sometimes cause creams to thin. Sepimax Zen is highly tolerant to salt and pH changes, making it very stable for thickening the water phase.

CreamMaker EG™ is another option that acts as both a thickener and stabilizer and can be added to the water or oil phase.

To thicken your existing cream, you would typically need to incorporate the chosen thickener into the water phase before emulsification, but some thickeners can be added post-emulsification. Refer to the specific instructions for the thickener you choose. If adding to an already made cream, you might need to mix vigorously to fully incorporate and activate the thickener.

Always start by adding a small amount of thickener, mix well, and check the consistency before adding more until you reach the desired thickness, similar to the texture of Nivea blue tin.