Learning About Lotions Part 2- Preservatives Continued

While there are several preservatives available now, the most important thing is that the preservative used works. When I made lotion the first few times, I just followed a basic recipe and didn't give much thought to inhospitable conditions for the preservative. Looking into them more now, there are various factors to consider. I've listed a few of them below.

1. Temperature
This one is an easy one to adjust for. Find out the temperature at which it's safe to add, and then during cool down, check the temperature and add the preservative when it's low enough. A few can withstand higher temperatures, so you might be able to add those to the water phase (possibly oil phase, though I don't recall seeing one that's added to the oil phase).

2. pH
This is one of my favorite considerations. You get to play with pH test strips or a fancy pH tester, though for now I'm sticking with the test strips. Preservatives seem to prefer acidic environments, though some will work at higher pH levels.

3. Reactions & Compatibilities
 You need to make sure your preservative won't react with another ingredient, leading to something like benzene in your lotion. You need to make sure it works with all ingredients, such as cationic/non-ionic/anionic surfactants and your emulsifier.

4. Light exposure
I've only seen this so far in reference to Tinosan, but if you use that preservative, you should make sure to avoid exposing the preservative to light, and you will need to test the final product if you use anything other than opaque bottles. Tinosan actually sounds fairly interesting since it contains silver citrate. I think that sounds pretty cool.

5. Benefits
Some of the natural preservatives offer benefits on top of preserving your product. For example, willow bark extract is a natural source of salicylic acid-like ingredients, so it can improve your skin.

6. Broad Spectrum
If the preservative used kills only one type of nasty (bacteria (gram positive and negative), yeast, fungus, or mold), you'll need to add another to kill the others.

7. Solubility
Usually you add preservatives to products that contain water, but you might add one to an oil-based scrub that will be exposed to water. In this case you need to find a preservative that is soluble in anhydrous solutions.

4 Day Bath & Body Boot Camp at The Nova Studio

I attended the 4 Day Bath & Body Boot Camp at The Nova Studio back in October 2010, and this week I'm returning to volunteer as a teacher's assistant for the perfumes portion of the camp. It looks like it's changed a little, since they're now teaching lip tints and gloss, but for the most part the same classes are offered. You don't learn to make soap, but you learn to make a wide variety of bath and body products, plus information on packaging.

You can take individual days if you're not interested in everything, but if you're traveling, it's a great way to learn about a lot of products in a short time. Some are pretty easy, and you can probably make as soon as you return home, like bath salts and salt scrubs. Lotions are a little more complicated, but seeing them go through it step by step will hopefully give you the confidence to try it on your own.

I had shied away from making perfumes after first taking the class- many of the essential oils cost a lot, including those wonderful floral middle notes. When they needed a teacher's assistant for the class about a year later, I agreed to do it, since it is a fun class. After that, I pursued perfume whole-heartedly, first with Mandy Aftel's workbook, and then attending her classes. I recently took my fourth class with her, and I now have a Level 3 certificate- I was really excited to receive it. I'm working my way through her second set of workbooks now- quite the undertaking I must add.

The perfumes class at The Nova Studio introduces you to several top, middle, and base notes, and you walk away with three new perfumes. The stand alone class is a bit different now, but in the bootcamp you make one each of oil-based, alcohol-based, and solid perfumes. The perfumes class this Thursday can be taken alone, or as part of the boot camp. It's a great class for anyone interested in learning to make natural perfumes, or for aromatherapists who want to make their blends smell nicer. If you're creating naturally scented products, you can also apply your perfumery knowledge to creating unique scents for your products.

Perfume Class and Art

This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I spent my days taking classes at Mandy Aftel's studio in Berkeley along with seven other students. This was my third time attending this class, and it was amazing as always. If you're interested in studying natural perfumery, this is the place to be. Mandy has so many essences, one's that you'll never be able to smell any where else, and with the exception of the antique ones, you can use any of them in the blends you make.

Each day you make a blend, and then remake it based on Mandy's critique. The critiques are very helpful, and they're not at all mean or scary, for anyone reading this that might think of attending some day. You then remake your blend based on that. The first day we had to work with six essences voted on by the class, and needed to add a few more to complete the blend, working out how much of each to add. The second day was similar, but with three instead of six. The third day we got to choose three essences we wanted to work with, and then make our blends around that.

The first day was a bit of a disaster for me, since I became anosmic to a very strong scent that isn't so pleasant in high doses, and I put a whole lot in my blend. For my remake I added only a small amount, and tried to do my best knowing that I couldn't smell two of the things I needed to use. The other two days were easier, since I was able to smell everything I was putting in. Though I must admit adding black tea absolute to my blend on the third day was difficult, not due to the odor, but due to the fact that it took forever to dissolve in the alcohol. I left it out of my remake just because I didn't want to have to spend an hour shaking my bottle to get it thoroughly dissolved.

For me, one of the best parts of the class is spending three days with people who feel the same way I do about scent and perfume. For me, working on a blend is a form of art, with the various scents replacing paint and the alcohol or oil replacing the canvas. It might not seem like art to most people, and a lot of perfumes out there aren't really art. But for me, each drop is carefully thought out, and the final fragrance often started with an idea or feeling. I spent all of my life searching for an art form to express myself. But I can't act, I'm not musical, and I'm pretty bad with painting/drawing. Some crafts kind of help with that, but I could never take any of them to the level of art. I did want to be a writer, and I probably graduated high school with more English credits than anyone else, but even if I could learn to write well, the words would feel false. This doesn't apply to non-fiction and journalism, of course, but the only satisfaction I could get out of those was editing. I really did love my red pen.

I stumbled on natural perfumery a few years ago, and while I enjoyed it, the materials are expensive, and with a limited collection of essential oils, it was more frustrating than fun. After volunteering as a teacher's assistant for the same natural perfumes class at The Nova Studio a year later, something just clicked, and I knew that I wanted to study perfumery. I started collecting more essential oils and absolutes, worked my way through Mandy's Level 1 work book, and have now taken three of her in studio classes. I am working my way through the advanced work book, but have only done a little of it so far. I hope to continue studying, and I also hope to bring the beauty of natural fragrance to everyone, whether it be through a perfume or a lip balm.