Experiments in the workshop: Modifying the body wash with esters

I do love a good body wash, and I think I have versions for every skin type and every climate possibility. But my very favourite recipe is this one, the body wash with ester. If you don't have the ingredients for this recipe, use any one you want, but remember this - if you remove something like BSB that is very thick, you'll want to have a thickener at hand! And feel free to leave out the esters if you don't have them or don't like them - they are the important part of the moisturizing, but the body wash is mild enough without them that you won't feel you're stripping your skin! (Increase the water amount by the amount you've removed from the recipe. It will be thinner, but you won't have to find those ingredients!)

I get my esters at the Personal Formulator, but they are available at a lot of different suppliers. Look to your right and see the frequently asked questions section of the blog to find a supplier near you! 

This recipe is intended for normal to oily skin. If you have dry skin, this would probably be a good recipe for you as you will love the silky feeling of the ACI, but I would suggest replacing the C14-16 olefin sulfonate with something like SMC or SMO taurate. Polyglucose/lactylate blend would be a fantastic choice here! (Click here for a copy of the surfactant chart for some summaries!)


MOISTURIZING BODY WASH WITH ESTERS AND WHITE WILLOW BARK USING ACI
PHASE ONE
12% cocamidopropyl betaine
16% ACI
12% C14-16 olefin sulfonate
25% warm distilled water
10% aloe vera liquid

PHASE TWO
5% PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate
5% myristamine oxide
5% water soluble oils (1.2% PEG-7 olivate, 3.8% water soluble shea)
3% polyquat 7
3% glycerin
2% cromoist

PHASE THREE
2% panthenol
0.5% preservative (liquid Germall Plus)
0.5% white willow bark (or other powdered extract)
up to 2% Crothix

Put all of phase one and phase two ingredients into a heatproof container to heat and hold in your double boiler. While heating, mix them well with a fork or a spoon delicately - enough so they combine but not so much that you have tons of bubbles. Remove from the heat and stir until all the ingredients are combined. Let cool. Heat a little water (maybe a tablespoon) and add it to the white willow bark and mix that until dissolved. Add it to the container along with the panthenol, preservative, and fragrance oil. Do not add the thickener at this time!

Let it come to room temperature. If it's too liquid, add 0.5% of your favourite thickener. Mix well. Add a little more (0.5%) at a time until you get a viscosity you like. Crothix is a moisturizing ester that thickens our products and increases mildness, so it's not a bad thing if you get to 4% or so. It will reduce the lather and bubbles in your product, so you don't want to go overboard, but you can get up to 5% before you want to start worrying!

What do I think of this recipe? I love it! This is my favourite body wash of all time! It's not a pretty product - the white willow bark makes it a brown colour (picture above) that you really can't cover with colour (picture beside, and believe me you can see the brown tinges under the green in real life), but I love it. The ACI makes it a less thick product, but as you can see, it is a theoretically clear product as well. (The picture beside was taken shortly after pouring into the bottle and it hadn't settled, but it will go clear!)

I used 3% Crothix after scenting this with - yep, you guessed it - Clementine Cupcake fragrance oil. I think 3% liquid Crothix will be how much I generally use, unless I use a fragrance oil like lavender that generally thickens surfactant mixes.

If you want to make this at home, I consider the ingredients not to leave out in phase two to be the glycerin, cromoist, and polyquat 7. You can use any cationic polymer you want at the recommended levels and/or you could substitute the glycerin for propylene glycol, or you could use something like honeyquat at 3% in the cool down phase as both your humectant and moisturizer (so it's two great things in one!) You don't need to have all those fancy esters for this product to be nice, but it really does make a difference. I don't bother with moisturizer after a shower any more!

Join me tomorrow for more experiments in the workshop!