New project- Shower Gels and Body Washes with Natural Detergents

These last few weeks I have been working on some shower cleansers.  I really like Liz Earles body washes - they are really thick and smell quite nice, not strong enough in scent for me but overall their body washes are of a high standard in my opinion.

My favourite is  Neals Yards Rose shower gel.  Its of a thick but pourable consistency and again the high percent of essential oils in their product makes them smell gorgeous.  

I have been thinking about making one for MBotanicals but also to  sell on Botanical Formulations or to have in my database of formulations.  I have made some with a combination of the glucosides, ones with Plantapon SF which has an inci of different surfactants (Sodium Cocoamphoacetate (and) Glycerin (and) Lauryl Glucoside (and) Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate (and) Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate - to be exact).  I really like Plantapon SF as it is extremely easy to use as potentially you just need to dilute with water.  It also thickens up easily when you reduce the pH to around 4.5-5.5 with 50% citric acid solution.  

I have successfully completed two formulations with  Plantapon SF - one for kids which is unfragranced and very mild and one for adults. But today I have been using a combination of sodium coco sulphate (SCS) which comes in tiny pearl form and Cocamidopropyl Betaine which is a liquid.

It’s a bit more complicated than using Plantapon SF or any of the glucosides as it requires heating to dissolve the SCS.

I had to heat my water until it reached 70c. Then added the sodium coco sulphate and stirred until fully dissolved.  I added the Coco Betaine. But when I added citric acid solution to drop the pH and I had a big head of foam. So, I had to spritz it with denatured alcohol.  I then added salt solution.  In the first batch I recorded the QS and it appeared I needed approximately 3g to the 250g batch. On the second batch I included 1.25% salt (25% solution).

 I also noticed that the floral essential oils and nature identical rose oil I used thickened up the solution so that it was more or less the right viscosity I was after - a thick runny honey consistency.  I also included QS salt solution in my second formula just in case I needed a few drops extra. Today I made 3 batches and I think the final batch is just about right.  I will make one more time but a 400g batch and then do some testing.

I used Sea Buckthorn at 0.08% to make it a delightful golden colour. I really want to have a rosy colour but not sure what to use. As you can see from the above video, it is a really nice thick yet pourable liquid.  It is quite luxurious feeling, just what I was after.