As I continue my journey of mastering the art and science of making my own skincare products, this week I am learning about xanthan gum.
Xanthan gum is a powder that is used in foods such as ice cream and salad dressing to name a few, to thicken or stabilize your product. It is also used in skincare products such as lotions, creams, and gels to do the same thing.
To prevent clumps, the powder is mixed in glycerin to turn it into a gel like solution, and then poured into the water phase of your formulation, stabilizing the emulsion to keep your product from separating. It has moisturizing and conditioning properties to help keep the skin hydrated.
This is my first time experimenting with xanthan gum. I wanted to start out with just a basic facial cream formulation to use at night and then build on it in future facial creams formulations for my mature aging skin.
It did not come out as expected. It was more of a lotion than a cream. Lotions have a thinner consistency than creams. Creams are supposed to be thicker and heavier than lotions.
Using too much xanthan gum can make your product sticky or slimy. I have noticed that it is a little slimy. I used xanthan gum at 1% for this nighttime cream. Going forward, I will experiment with a smaller percentage. Xanthan gum can be used at 0.1% to 2%. Checking with your supplier will detail the usage rate.
I don’t want to say that the percentage used for the xanthan gum was the reason why my cream turned into a lotion. There are many variables when formulating a product. Sometimes your formulation needs to be modified to create the best product. That is why you must continue to test with different percentages and different ingredients.
Oil Phase:
Baobab Oil 10%
Olivem 1000 7%
Shea Butter 2%
Water Phase:
Distilled Water 75%
Glycerin 4%
Xanthan Gum 1%
Cool Down Phase:
Preservative 1%
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