Problem making body lotion from shea butter and coconut oil - turns oily

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out. It sounds like you've made a mixture of shea butter and fractionated coconut oil and whipped it, but it turned out oily instead of a cream.

This is expected because you've mixed only oils and butters. To create a cream or lotion, which is an emulsion, you need three main components:

1. An oil phase: This includes your shea butter and fractionated coconut oil.
2. A water phase: This is usually distilled water or a hydrosol.
3. An emulsifier: This is a special ingredient that helps oil and water mix together and stay mixed, preventing separation.

What you have created is essentially a whipped body butter. Whipped butters are anhydrous (contain no water) and are made by whipping oils and butters together. They provide intense moisturization but will naturally feel oily on the skin compared to a lotion or cream.

How to fix it:

• Option 1 (Use as is): You can use your current mixture as a rich, whipped body butter. It's a great moisturizer, although it will feel oily.
• Option 2 (Make a lotion/cream - requires starting over): To make a true lotion or cream, you would need to formulate it from scratch using a proper recipe that includes a water phase and an emulsifier. It's generally not possible to easily turn a finished anhydrous butter mixture into a stable lotion by just adding water and emulsifier afterwards.

Ingredients needed for emulsification:

To make a lotion or cream, you need an emulsifier. There are many types, such as:

• Emulsifying Wax NF
• Polawax
• Olivem 1000
• Lecithin (can be used in some formulations, but might require co-emulsifiers)

These ingredients help bind the oil and water phases together. You would typically heat your oil phase (butters, oils, emulsifier) and water phase separately, then combine them while mixing vigorously until an emulsion forms.

Mixing with shampoo/soap base:

Mixing your oil mixture with shampoo or soap base will not create a body cream. Shampoo and soap bases are designed for cleansing and have a different chemical structure. Adding a large amount of oil will likely disrupt their formulation and won't result in a stable or effective body cream.

If you want to make a body cream, you will need to purchase an emulsifier and follow a lotion or cream recipe that includes water, oils/butters, and the emulsifier.

Hope this helps!