A Word About Lotion Ingredients

I try to keep my products as natural as I can; however, there are things that require chemicals and liquid lotion is one of those things. Still, I try to choose the best options and keep it to a minimum. So, let’s look at a label.

Ingredients: Fresh Goat Milk, Sweet Almond Oil (Prunus amygdalus dulcis), Coconut Oil (Cocos Nucifera), Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus Armeniaca), Coco Butter (Theobroma Cacao), Emulsifying Wax (Cetylstearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 90), Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetyl Alcohol (and) Butylene Glycol, Vitamin E Acetate USP, Optiphen (Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol), Bergamot Essential Oil, Ginger Root Essential Oil

This is my Bergamot Ginger lotion. First, let’s note the items in parentheses. These are not additional ingredients. These are the scientific names of the ingredient listed right before. There are very specific rules on what is required on lotion labels, and one of them is that you must list these names. I also list the common names because to most people “Coconut oil” makes a whole lot more sense than “Cocos Nucifera”

Now, to the actual chemicals. Let’s look at this one. Emulsifying Wax (Cetylstearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 90)
At it’s core, lotion is an emulsion, like mayonnaise or a thick salad dressing. For those not familiar with the term emulsion it means you have water based elements and oils based elements brought together to make one substance. Now we all know oil and water don’t mix, so you must have an emulsifying agent to bring them together. In mayo it is egg. That won’t work in lotion so we use what is commonly called emulsifying wax. Without an emulsifying agent we just have oils and water. Whoopsie.

Next.  Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetyl Alcohol (and) Butylene Glycol
This is commonly called BTMS in the industry. It is basically a helper to the first e-wax and adds some conditioning properties.

And last, Optiphen (Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol)
This is a preservative. I know Ahhhhhhh….preservatives. We hate preservatives!!!!! But WAIT. This lotion contains goat milk. Quite a lot of goat milk. And you might remember that if you stick milk at room temperature it doesn’t exactly stay nice. Actually it quickly gets really gross. Without a preservative this lotion would have to be refrigerated and it would last about 10 days. And I wouldn’t be allowed to sell it. Remember, things have their places. I have chosen this particular preservative because it is formaldehyde and paraben free.

Everything else in the lotion is a simple, natural product. Some lotions include chemicals that help the oils sink into your skin faster. None in here. Some add a number of other things. But we’re trying to keep it as simple as we can.

Don’t forget to follow the natural lotion rules: “Just use a little, and wait a few minutes!”

A little goes a long way, and without those extra chemicals, yes, it does take a little longer to sink into your skin. But I think it is worth the wait.