Questions: Adding goat's milk and using BTMS in a lotion

I'm asked regularly about making goats' milk lotions, and all I can say is that I don't know. This is what I know about goats - they're cute, they're cuddly, they seem to enjoy eating tin cans, and this video about the baby goat stampede makes me smile. I hate anything to do with goat milk - cheese, ice cream, yogurt - even though as a lactard, I could actually eat it. I find it has a really gamy smell to me, so I don't go near it much. I have no idea how one would incorporate it into a lotion, except to say that you'd want to use it in the heated water stage...possibly. Sorry I can't be more helpful here.

Anonymous asked: I have a question that I hope is not too strange. Can BTMS or even Incroquat CR be used with another emulsifying wax such as Polawax or NatraMulse, for conditioning purposes in a lotion? Thanks in advance!

You can use BTMS and Incroquat CR with Polawax to get a more dry feeling or more conditioning lotion - I have many examples of combining these cationic ingredients with Polawax or e-wax on the blog, especially in sugar scrubs and scrub bars - but you can't use it with Natramulse (actual name: Ritamulse SCG also called Ecomulse) because you can't use cationic ingredients with that emulsifier. This means no polyquats or cationic quaternary compounds in those lotions!

Ritamulse SCG can be found as Ecomulse or Natramulse or by other names at our suppliers. Its INCI is Glyceryl Stearate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate and it's an anionic or negatively charged ingredient. For this reason, we can't use positively charged ingredients in lotions made with Ritamulse SCG or we'll see an epic lotion fail. It also doesn't use the HLB system as that's for non-ionic or neutrally charged ingredients. I'll be writing more about this emulsifier shortly. 

And this is the thing to look for when you're considering adding something to your lotions. Make sure the thing you want to add is compatible with the other ingredients. (For instance, if you were to use something like Tinosan as your preservative, remember that it doesn't work well with cationic ingredients.)

Click here for a post on what it means if something's anionic, cationic, or non-ionic! 

This isn't something we worry about a lot - most of our lotion ingredients are non-ionic or neutrally charged like oils, butters, emulsifiers (most), fatty alcohols, fatty acids, proteins, extracts, humectants, and so on. But it's always wise to check if you aren't sure. If you see something called a conditioner - conditioning emulsifier, conditioning agent, emulsifying conditioner - it's likely cationic. Most of our surfactants - the foamy kinds you might find in cleansing products (see the section on this topic here) - are anionic. Some aren't, so it's always best to check if you're in doubt! (Click here for the surfactant chart!)

Join me tomorrow for more formulating fun!