Why are cosmetics homogenised?

Most people are familiar with the term ‘homogenised’ milk, which basically means the milk has been mixed so that the fat is evenly dispersed through the bottle. When I was a child and the milk was delivered in glass bottles to our gates, there was only ever 1 type of milk- silver top. This had the cream settling on the top 1/6 of the bottle and it was always a battle as to who would get the ‘top of the milk’. In quality skin care the same process is used where by the fats /oils are mixed at high speeds with the water phase. Combined with a surfactant or emulsifier (which helps water and oil combine), the end product is a cream.  A homogeniser is more than just a mixer- think of your kitchen stick blender which whizzes things up and makes nice soups or puddings.
Homogenisers do way more than just blend everything together- they break down the individual particles into microscopic sizes and force them to mix and very high speeds (upwards of 30,000 RPM). The end results from a cosmetic cream point of view is a very smooth, fine cream or lotion which is completely homogenised. This is especially important if there are special active ingredients in the cream which need to be dispersed fully and evenly through the cream. Some products are vacuum homogenised which extracts out any surplus water, giving thicker more stable creams.

Here at From nature all the creams are homogenized at speeds varying from 10,000-3000 RPM depending on the type of product. This latest experiment involves just using a hard fat (illipe butter) and 2 softer oils (macadamia and hemp seed). the fats and oils are homogenised while still hot to give a consistent mix. The sample batch is left to cool to around 40 degrees and further high speed  homogenisation occurs. the idea is to create a whipped butter product which is entirely preservative and water free, but has a creamy melt on the skin texture. Other ingredients include a small amount of organic lavender oil to take away the oily smell (hempseed has a nutty aroma), coconut oil and olive ester to further aid in the smoothness.

Illipe butter, also called Beurre d’illpe is produced from the nuts of the Shorea stenoptera tree. It is a very hard butter, similar to cocoa butter and is used in lipsticks and rich cream products. it is in several of the products I make at From Nature. The fatty acid profile is palmitic acid 16.4%, stearic acid 43.5%, oleic acid 31%, linoleic acid 1.5%.

How to use a whipped body butter- many commercial body butters also contain water so they are a very thick cream. This whipped butter is slightly different in that it doesn't have water. It will sit on the surface of the skin first and then soak in over time so has a very protective and hydrating effect. The illipe butter also gives a barrier action so perfect for babies bottoms or where you need to protect the skin. In cold weather the butter will be quite firm. Best applied to the skin after showering when the skin is warm. it can also be used as a massage balm. 

From Nature Outlet Store now live!!!

NZ customers can now purchase on line from Wendy's outlet store on Trade Me- short runs, production over runs, samples etc all at reduced prices. All stock strictly limited.

NZ customers only.

"Borrowing Ideas' to make your own products

Visit From Naturewww.fromnature.nz for base products
If you love creating your own products, then it always good to have a look around and see what other companies are making, their aromas and ingredients. Of course I am not suggesting you copy them and try to claim them being the same and selling them. However if you read ingredients you can get some ideas for your creations. Always check for allergies and if you are using pure essential oils please note any possible allergies or cautions.

One company which often as some intriguing combinations of products is LUSH.  I used to use quite  a lot of their products but sadly as many of them do contain synthetic fragrances which I am allergic to I just can't tolerate them too much. I made a giant bath bomb for my honey moon many years ago- a 500 gm bomb filled with expensive jasmine absolute, rose petals and glitter which my ex husband and I enjoyed in an outdoor bath over a gas fire under the stars, drinking champagne. I gave the female members of my new family smaller versions of the same bathbomb as a small wedding favour, along with greenstone jewellery.

Bath bombs can be quite drying on the skin unless some sort or moisturiser is added. Also the colours used can leave a mark on the bath.

I have just recently replaced my small 1.5 person bath with a large deep tub with comfortably holds 2 people stretched out. The plumber moved the taps so there is no awkward moment of 'who gets the taps' and I had a handy little shelf inset into the wall, big enough for scented candles and 2 champagne glasses.

I love making bath melts, with have the same effect of diffusing aromas, but also contain luscious butters so your skin is beautifully moisturised afterwards. No glitter -nothing kills romance more quickly than a glittery pink stain around the bath tub!

Bath Melt Recipe

Cocoa butter 25%

Coconut oil 10%

Shea butter 20% 

Carrier oil (e.g almond, jojoba, macademia) up to 45%

Essential oils/aromatics up to 2%

Rock salt, Raw can sugar, petals up to 3%

Melt fats and oil together and when starting to coll (around 40 degrees Celsius add the essential oil.  Add petals to the bottom of your moulds and pour liquid on top. if using salts or sugars then pour oil mix first and when almost set add the salts, sugars to the top so they don't melt.  When set hard pop out the mould and store in an air tight jar by your bath.

use as desired!

Here are my inspirations. I use my massage bar recipe and pour into small chocolate moulds and pop 1 or 2 in the bath as it is running. My bubbles fix comes with the champagne!

If you like Lush Lord of Misrule try this combination : black pepper*, patchouli, vanilla and ylang ylang (lush use gardenia but this is synthetic- ylang ylang is more amorous!). Make up a 1.5% blend with your bath melt blend. Note black pepper is a dermal irritant and dose dependent so maximum 0.25% of your total essential oil mix as the warmth of the bath will increase its action. No one wants a night of romance looking like a cooked lobster!

If you like Lush Sex Bomb try this combination-jasmine, ylang ylang, clary sage and myrhh essential oils. The original sex bomb uses synthetic musk which can smell a bit cloying at times. Clary sage essential oil is not recommended during pregnancy. If you can get cassie absolute then this can replace the myrhh.

My personal favourite is the Frozen Bath Bomb which has neroli oil, rose oil and grapefruit oil. A euphoric combination!

If you wish to make your own bath bombs there are numerous you tubes and blogs with details on how to do this. I just never have the time to make them now and prefer my little bath melts which takes just moments to put together!

Aromatic Adventures: Heavenly Scents from the garden-various versions!

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Aromatic Adventures: Heavenly Scents from the garden

Aromatic Adventures: Heavenly Scents from the garden: I often co distil where I use a commercially produced hydrosol as a base (usually lemon geranium or lavender) and redistil with fragrant ...

Home Made Soap

It has been a very long time since I made soap for commercial sale, however I do still make my own batches for personal uses when the mood takes me. I often use it as way to use up random carrier oils, oils which may be starting to turn (and can't be used in the skin care products I make), or with hydrosols which are starting to bloom. I filter and boil these. this bog isn't a detailed 'how to' of home made soap making. If you have not done it before there are a number of careful considerations to take with regards the handling of caustic soda (which can dissolve skin if you mishandle it, or cause blindness if you splash it in your eyes!). My mum had a nasty accident with caustic soda where it had been put in an unmarked container and somehow she was cleaning out the laundry cupboard and water got into the caustic soda (which makes it highly volatile). It splashed in her eyes and she had to have her eyes painfully irrigated for over an hour in the ED with a very painful contraption fitted under the eyelids. She is fine now but it was a very scary reminder of basic home chemical safety. This blog here identifies the steps you need to take with photos. There are numerous other blogs and you tube channels as well.
This is my 'fail safe recipe' from the wonderful book by Carolynn Stubbin ' Do it yourself pure plant skincare'. It's now out of print and seems to be highly desirable as suggested by this outlandish price on Amazon. I treasure my autographed copy. So keep an eye out in second hand book stores!. What I like about this recipe is it gives the basics but I have used many variations of it, using different oils etc and they all seems to come out fine for home use.

Her basic recipe is: 

• 500 gm hydrogenated coconut oil or olive oil, 
• 200 ml purified water
• 70 gm caustic soda
• emollients up to 20 gm
• exfoliants up to 20 gm
• colourants up to 20 gm
• pure essential ils 7-20 mls

For this recipe I used the following

Organic coconut oil and organic hempseed oil weighted

My own calendula infused sunflower oil added after the saponification

A small amount of moisturising base cream left over from a commercial batch

The caustic soda added TO the hydrosol- sometimes it goes clear

Caustic soda mix added slowly to the melted fats (avoid spalshes!)

Mixing after adding the caustic mix

Calendula oil approx 80 ml

Argan face exfoliant added last

And some spare

• 400 gm coconut oil
• 100gm organic hemp seed oil
• 200ml lemon verbena hydrosol
• 70 gm caustic soda
• pre made moisturising cream 100 gm*
• argan face exfoliant 50 gm*
• lavandin essential oil 15 ml
• 50 ml calendula infused sunflower oil* 



Mixing again

•  

Cream added after mixing then mixed again

One little trick I have always done is add some additional fat after the saponification stage - this makes the soap highly moisturising as the fats are 'outside' of the chemical bond of the caustic soda and other fat. I also like to add an exfoliant to my body soaps.

Final result

As you can see from the photos once I added the argan exfoliant the mixture became a reddish brown and had the look of a chocolate mousse! I poured it into the moulds as it went thick very quickly. I then leave on top of the hot water cylinder for a few weeks and then take out the container and leave for another few weeks until quite hard. Enjoy! Wendy

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Ingredient Spotlight- What is glycerine?

Hot Topic

Glycerine- a common and age old ingredient on many cosmetic products (and also some food products). One of the most well known use for glycerin is in clear soaps. So what is it, where does it come from, why is it used and do we need it in our skin care????

I am writing this from a skin care formulators/consumers perspective rather than a detailed chemical treatise on it.  We started using  a vegetarian source of glycerin in micro amounts in some of our products to act as a carrier for a couple of water insoluble ingredients. The previous coconut oils based liquid emulsifier we used was found wanting, and contained too many synthetics for our philosophy. Glycerine seemed the most acceptable and cost effective replacement as it had the characteristics of being odourless, colourless and easy to work with. However time has moved on and more details have emerged which has left this ingredient wanting, in my opinion. Time for some more digging....
 

 

The main way glycerine is produced is through the process of soap making as part of saponification. Soaps can be made from either animal or vegetable fats, thus the glycerine produced may not be vegetarian. In addition to this, many soaps are made from palm oil, so again if a consumer is trying to avoid palm oil derived products this furtehr raises the question about the source of glycerine.
 

As a product glycerin (glycerol) is a odorless, colourless viscous liquid. It has been assigned the E number E422. It can also be added to propylene glycol (anti freeze) and used as a humectant for the skin. Within the food industry glycerol is widely used as an emulsifier and used in margarine, shortenings, ice creams. Sometimes it is approved for use as  a sweetener in low carb diets due to its low glycaemic index.
In herbal medicine it is widely used as a solvent for raw herbal material, especially where it is desirable to avoid alcohol.

As an aside glycerin is also a key part of the manufacturing of gunpowder and other explosive materials as well as some cardiac (heart) medication.Wikipedia has a great page full of all the technical specs relating to glycerine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol).
 

It seems as if the commercial production of glycerol was around the 1880’s and initially was part of the candle (tallow) industry) and then production increased along with the need for gunpowder.

The technical properties of glycerine are that  it has 3 alcoholic hydroxyl groups which accounts for its solubility in water. It is also considered ‘hydroscopic’, meaning that it absorbs water from the air. There is now added concern of the apparent glut of glycerine produced as a waste product of the bio diesel industry. It seems that since 2005 there has been a decreasing price and increasing stock piles of this ingredient due to the bio diesel industry.

Are there any risks to using glycerine in skin care? Whilst there is some concern around the ingestion of large amounts of glycerine, these risks do not appear to be the same for applying through the skin. Due to the size of the glycerine molecule it is not absorbed through the skin. However, there are some considerations oif you are desiring a natural skin care product. Glycerine listed by itself on a label, with out any qualifier could be from any source (animal, vegetable, synthetic). Also it is a cheap ingredient and could be used to pad out a product. Whilst it does have some moisturizing and protecting qualities, the converse is sometimes true if too much is used in a product. generally formulators will not use more than 2% for facial skin products.

Vegetarians/Vegans and those with environmental concerns will want to know whether the glycerine is from plant sources, and whether it is from palm oil (Orangutan friendly) or from non GMO crops. Suppliers may not be able to guarantee this. This is not to say that glycerin is a 'bad' ingredient as it has some positive attributes, however skin care purests may wish to dig deeper as to the source of the ingredient. It does has its use in herbal medicien in the creation of non alcohol herbal tinctures as it can be ingested. At From Nature we use an olive based ester where we need solubility, smoothness and hydration in products.

Time to give away some incredible base products

Closing soon! Check out the great review organised by Oh Natural! All you need to do is then pop over to the From Nature Face Book page, like it (if you haven't already) and add 3 words to describe what natural skin care means to you! Prize will be drawn at random on Friday 9th October!

Doing good counts much more than just stories and labels says Weleda

Doing good counts much more than just stories and labels says Weleda

Ready Made bases- post 2 How to use gel bases

                                            How to Use Gel Bases

Gel bases are usually a water based ingredient mixed with a gelling agent such as xanthum, carrageen or a sucrose based agent. These expand and make the water thicker, thus forming a gel. Gels can be used  as an after shave, a soothing balm, or added to skin creams or lotions such as cleansers to give extra volume without adding oiliness. Most gels can take a small amount of extra additives - perhaps up to 2-3% depending on how thick they are to start with. too much liquid. Remember any water based additive must have extra preservative added, -microbes love water! Try the Gel bases  at From Nature or our temporary site.

After Shave Gel:

this can be used on the face or on the body after shaving. It is both moisturizing as well as containing ingredients which soothe the skin and reduces the chance of bacterial skin infections. Use an aloe vera gel and add 1-1.5% essential oils- choose from lavandin, tea tree, spearmint, lemon (0.25% maximum), sandalwood, cedar wood or frankincense. Add 2% jojoba oil 9soothing, moisturizing without being greasy). Other herbal additives of befit include infused calendula oil, tea tree or lavender hydrosol

Tightening Face Mask
mix 1 teaspoon of fine clay with a teaspoon of gel base. Apply to face (avoid the eye area) and leave for about 5-10 minutes.

Muscle Rub Gel

had 10% infused arnica oil to the gel base. Add up to 2% pure essential oils of lavender (pain relieving), ginger, warming, rosemary (warming), peppermint (increases blood supply), lavandin (pain relieving)

Alcohol Free Toner

use 20% of a gel base and add aromatic hydrosols such as lavender, rose or tea tree depending on the skin type. Remember to add additional preservative to any water based ingredients.

How to uses base products- Balm bases

So you are interested in putting together some cute cosmetics and skin creams and not sure where to start? Buying ingredients can be costly, working out formula can be costly and when you may be making small volumes (less than 1 litre), there can be a number of errors where only a ml or 2 either way can affect you. So what is the solution?- Buy pre made bases and customize. There are lots of different types of bases on the market and of course the ones Wendy makes for sale the best!
What ever bases you are using there are a number of general rules though to consider. This is if are only making products for yourself and friends and family to give away. If you are putting product together for selling then there are very specific rules around labeling and claims and packing - even if it is just going on a market stall. For professional advice Wendy can help with this (email wendy@doctorwendy.net).

Firstly check all of the ingredients of your chosen base (especially important if you have allergies or what to avoid chemicals or particular ingredients for other reasons). Find out what sort of ‘load’ of additional ingredients the base can hold-depending on what you are going add this can be up to 10-20% extra weight.
Secondly make sure you have the right ‘type’ of base for your needs- for example From Nature offers balms (fat based), gels (water based), lotions (oil and water based) and creams (thicker oil, water and fat based).

What to do with  Balm Base

A balm base is perfect for lip balms, body butters and massage bars. the From Nature organic balm base is a smooth me of hard and soft fats. As it does not contain any water based ingredients it does not need a preservative. here are some ideas:
Make a nappy rash or baby balm by melting and mixing in 10% infused calendula oil
Make a sports relief balm by melting and adding 5% infused arnica oil, 1% lavender essential oil, 1% peppermint essential oil and 0.5% black pepper or ginger essential oil. Arnica cannot be applied on broken skin. this mix would also be nice as a arthritis relief blend
Make a massage bar- add 20% extra cocoa butter as a hard fat and pour into small chocolate moulds. They will melt on contact with your hands. Mix up to 1% of favourite essential oils or fragrances such as lavender, sweet orange, ylang ylang or even chocolate or vanilla
Lip balm- use base as it is and add 0.55 food safe fragrance or essential oils. If you are using pure essential oils suggested ones are lemon, grapefruit or rose geranium.

Cosmetic Ingredients demystified and more!

The skin care industry is a global powerhouse with markets which are highly controlled and regulated to markets which have no restrictions on what can claimed. Here in skincare products must conform to various legislations as no medical ingredients or claims can be made unless the product is a licensed medicine. There are also requirements that all ingredients must be included (believe it or not it was only a few years ago this was not the case!), and ingredients must be listed in decreasing order of volume using INCI terms.

Basically all creams are a mix of water type ingredients and oil based ingredients mixed with an emulsifier to form a cream (rather like mayonnaise. Within that base is any number of 'active' additives  as well as inert fillers (to give bulk but no function) as well as a preservative or two, stabilisers and pH adjusters.

Here are some common terms and what they mean:

• Active ingredient (s)- means it has a beneficial function for the skin, however a medical claim can't be made unless it is a medicine. Sometimes more a marketing term implying the product has something extra special in it.
• Anti-oxidant- means the ingredient or product can slow down or stop oxidation by free radical activity. Things that increase free radical activity include UV damage and smoking
• Astringent- means the tissues will tighten and large pores will shrink. May make the skin feel tight and dry
• Botanical- derived from plants-may be whole plant, fraction  or a constituent which has been extracted)
• Comedogenic- will increase keratinocytes clumping together in the follicles so blocking them
• Emollient- a fatty product which softens the skin- they will also hydrate the skin be minimising water evaporation
• Essential Fatty Acids -building blocks of cellular membranes- loss of EFAs increases skin roughness
• Ester- an organic acid and alcohol--help give smoothing and emollient action to the skin
• Fragrance- can be natural or synthetic (on labels word can be either according to INCI)
• Humectant- bind water and increase the moisture content (e.g. glycerine, squalene)
• Skin Conditioner- a generic terms which helps keep skin it its optimal state and improving overall tone and texture. 

How to use bases to create your own products.
At www.fromnature.biz there is a number of wholesale bases to start creating your own products. As all bases are fresh made you are secure in knowing you will have at least 18 months to use them. here are some tips

•  All bases carry a preservative however if you are adding more water based ingredients then you will need extra preservative
• Limit handing of your bases with fingers- ALWAYS wash hands and use hand sanitiser. Wipe around the lid or top with a peper towle and some meths or alcohol after using to reduce contamination
• use a sterile spoon to remove product. Store product in a cool dark place away from dust and light

 RECIPES

Purple Pesto With Hempseed oil-feed your face from within!

Healthy skin starts from a healthy diet. Here I explain our an every day food item, pesto, can be supercharged to maximise the health benefits without compromising flavour. this is a vegan version, however if you wanted to use parmesan cheese then that is your choice.

Ingredients:

 

Purple basil leaves (why purple?) Well scientists recommend we eat a ‘rainbow’ of foods and those in the purple and blue spectrum are full of constituents  called Anthocyanins and ellagic acid which have a number of health befits such as reducing cholesterol, reducing risk of urinary track infections and maybe even preventing cancer cellular growth. Adding something blue or purple to your daily diet is a good place to start. Also purple is much more exciting than green. Nutritionally basil packs a good punch as well which it is so widely used in many global cuisines. From a vegetarian and vegan point of view it contains calcium, iron, thiamine, niacin and folate along with at least 14 other micro-nutrients and minerals. The full analysis can be found here
Hempseed Oil-I used a organic NZ grown one which is a rich dark green. Hemp seed oil is one of the most valuable nutritional oils as well as giving a pleasant nutty taste. And no-it does not contain THC so this pesto will keep you firmly on the ground! Hemp seed is another plant power house with a perfect profile of omega 3,6,9 which are essential fatty acids our body needs. Leave the poor salmon and krill alone- grow more hemp I say! this site here compares the profile of hemp seed with other common sources of EFA's. A quality NZ hemp seed oil can be obtained from New Hemisphere  (I am not affiliated in any way with this company)
Toasted sunflower seeds (yes pine nuts are usually used but here in NZ you need have bag of gold to buy a decent amount!). Sunflowers are another nutritional friend of vegans and vegetarians and also contain valuable minerals to improve skin health. Toasting them releases more zinc and selenium which is important here in NZ as our soils are naturally depleted of selenium. I usually sprinkle a handful of toasted seeds on whatever I can. A detailed analysis is here
Garlic- slightly fried to soften and take away the bitterness. Garlic helps boost immunity, reduces the risk of an attack by vampires (always a concern for us veg*ns)
I used some olive oil and a slight amount of lemon juice to make it smooth.
for my ‘pesto’ flavour I used vegan parmesan (non dairy) made by Angel Foods in NZ. this is optional as you can still have a perfectly nice pesto with the cheese flavour. I like it as if gives a nice ‘bite’

Pop them all in your blender and blitz away to your hearts content- time depends on whether you like it chunky or smooth! No rules with pesto.
use anywhere! Wendy

Natural Sourcing Launches Strawberry Seed Oil - SpecialChem

Natural Sourcing Launches Strawberry Seed Oil - SpecialChem



will have to get some strawberry seed oil and have a play-sounds wonderful!

Aromatic Adventures: Co Distillations with lemon Geranium parts 1 and 2...

Aromatic Adventures: Co Distillations with lemon Geranium parts 1 and 2...: I use lemon geranium hydrosol, commercially produced by Lavender Impressions in a lot of my skin care products. For a few very special pro...

Coconut oil- the travel essential

This time last year I wrote about how you can create lots of beauty products using hotel amenities to help you out if you are caught short when travelling. Pretty much every little sachet has an alternative use as a face or body treat. The 10 top tips are detailed here.
I would like to add a small pot of organic virgin coconut oil as the travel 'must have'. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature but of course if you are travelling in the tropics it will be liquid so a container with a tight seal is essential.
What can coconut oil do for you....

• Body Moisturiser- a small amount applied after showering is the perfect all over body mosituriser especially if you have been out in the sun. You don't need to use too much as it can feel quite greasy. Adding a small amout to a hotel Moisturiser plumps up that product and makes it more hydrating
• Face Moisturiser- maybe you forgot yours so a a small dab applied to the face and rubbed in will be a perfect replacement. If you don't want a greasy face gently apply a tissue to the face to  remove any excess
• Facial cleanser- soften in your hands first and rub liberally over the face and remove with a warm facecloth or tissue to remove make up.
• Hair conditioner- massage into your dry hair and leave for a few minutes and shampoo out.
• Mix with sugar to make a body or foot scrub
• Make an emergency toothpaste with a little salt and coconut oil. For a more permanent option there are some great ideas Here

So next time you are travelling and space is at a premium then pop in some coconut oil!