The Talk Soap Forum

 I have been making my own lotions for a couple of years now but only recently have been having separation issues. it all looks good and cooled going into the bottle but then the water separates from the mixed oils/butters. what am i doing wrong? my last batch i ended up stirring through a sieve to get all the water out so it didnt go to waste, it was thick but worked ok. i know there must be a simple answer i just cant figure it out, i have made dozens of batches and never had this problem until now.

I had that problem myself at the beginning of my lotion adventure. I was only using my hand held mixer and its mixing capacity was not sufficient to emulsify.
After some more reading and experimenting, I was able to get a lotion containing 70% water, 20% oils, 5% Ewax (WSP) and 5% other additives.
Both water (tea) and oils+ewax are hot when mixing with my hand held mixer, then I take small portions and put in blender at liquefy setting for 2 minutes, until all is done. It becomes very milky looking, white, and creamy. Usually I take a sample from first blender treated lotion and place in the fridge. That quickly gives me and idea about final setting. After all is done and a bit cooler, I add the EOs, preservative, etc.

Since you have experience in making lotions, maybe your emulsifier is a different brand, maybe there is more of some ingredient, probably is one of those things that inadvertently interfered with this particular batch. Go over your recipe again and try to remember everything you did.

 I use beeswax and this is the first problem i have had. my temps for pouring were a little warm maybe to warm. i ended up with a butter after draining the water out, it actually works really well for a flop. But still the question of what really happened I have used the same ingredients for a long time now so am having the conclusion it must be the temperature creating the problem.