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Do NATURAL emulsifiers exist?

 
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Hello

I always use either beeswax, cocoa butter or shea butter to create ointments, tho i never have managed to create a more creamy substance (cream...) because it takes chemical emlusifyiers.

is there any NATURAL alternative?
 
pollinator
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Sure they do. Carrageenan is a natural emulsifier. Probably more "natural" if you just boil the seaweed it comes from and not put it through a lot of chemical processing steps. Guar gum is natural, it comes from beans; lecithin is natural, it comes from egg yolks.

If you look around your environment, there are probably many plant products that can be used as emulsifiers, you just aren't going to find much emulsifying potential in the pure waxes and fats that you mentioned. Many beans contain natural emulsifiers. A good chunk of the soybean crop is converted into soya lecithin that is used as an emulsifier. I'm personally familiar with the emulsifiers in palo verde beans. When beans have too much natural emulsifier in them, some people find them objectionable and they think less of them as a food source. The same is true of okra.

Here is a page from an herbalist claiming to make creams "without emulsifiers", but then they use aloe -- which is another natural emulsifier.
 
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Egg yolk! But it doesn't keep. Glycerin is more processed but it lasts.

I have made good lotion by shaking up aloe vera gel and nice skin oils like sweet almond or sesame. It emulsifies well enough to spread like lotion.

Concentrated herbal ointments need to last a while, I wonder which emulsifiers keep the best.
 
John Elliott
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Matu Collins wrote:I wonder which emulsifiers keep the best.



The emulsifiers that are cold keep the best. That's why you keep mayonnaise in the refrigerator -- leave it at room temperature long enough and it will begin to separate and the oil will float to the top.
 
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Would chia gel work?
My brother in law makes a creamy drink with "Irish Moss", he is from the Caribbean.
Cocoa Butter and Apricot Kernal Oil makes a creamy melt in your hands mixture that doesn't go bad.
 
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What about Coconut oil, comfrey or mallow. Any of the plants that make a lot of "plant snot" should help keep things together, right?

James Green says that beeswax, lanolin (hydrous), glycerin and lecithin are natural emulsifiers. He highly recommends beeswax. Just have to experiment with the ratio to get the result you are looking for.

Personally, I would stay away from ANYTHING soy. Too much bad happening with GMO's.
 
Matu Collins
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That is my perennial problem with homemade body care products, to help them last I keep them in the fridge and then they're cold! Only nice in the middle of summer. I end up just not using much of any kind of "product"

I find a blend of saturated and unsaturated fats works for herbal extractions. I've used beeswax with olive oil and coconut with almond.
 
John Elliott
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Steven Feil wrote: Any of the plants that make a lot of "plant snot" should help keep things together, right?



You see right through us chemists with our fancy terminology. Yes, "plant snot" is what we are talking about.
 
Steven Feil
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Well, I can't take credit for the "plant snot" comment. My herb mentor, Patrick Jones, coined that. He is new here on permies.
 
Esteban Garat
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Hello!

Thanks for all of your answers, im gonna start trying all of them
Im trying to create any sort of cream/ointment that works for dry hands without leaving the skin oily, thats why i wanna emulsify my inventions since they always end up being rather oily!

Cheers!!!
 
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