Oil Based Products

What do I need TO kNow?

Welcome to my part 6 of my Introduction to DIY Cosmetics series. In this post we are going to be talking about how to formulate oil-based products. Good news is that Oil-based products are easy to make! I am also including a formula at the end. :)
Let's get started!

First, we need to learn about the products that are oil-based.

Products that only contain lipids are called anhydrous. Anhydrous products are great for beginners as they are simple to make. Some examples of anhydrous products are Lip balms, Balms, Oil serums, Body Butters, Ointments, Salves, Body oils, and Oil cleansers. Just to name a few.:) All of these contain lipids! Well, what are lipids?
Lipids are a category of organic molecules. Typically, lipids are hydrophilic meaning water hating. So what does that mean. Well that means that oil, butters, waxes, oil-soluble vitamins are all lipids and can be blended together to create anhydrous products. Anything other than that need an emulsifier or solubilizer.

Second, we need to know about the ingredients. So let's talk about them.

Oils:
Examples: Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Sunflower Oil, and etc. . . .
Oils can be a liquid, soft oil or brittle. Each oil have a different viscosity. Viscosity is related to the level of thickness something has. Think of it like this; Like water to milk, to milk, to heavy cream. Water has the least viscosity whereas the heavy cream has the most compared to the others. A real life example would be fractionated coconut oil the castor oil. Castor oil has more viscosity compared to the fractionated coconut oil that is very light. Most of the time the thickness of an oil relates the absorption of an oil. 
It actually is a table when you view it on a computer sorry mobile users!

Here This chart was originally from Marie Rayma's Blog Humblebee & Me. (Link)
Liquid oils are great for spreadability as they carry the actives or the other ingredient on your skin as you spread it. They are also used to soften butters and waxes.
Butters:
Examples: Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Avocado butter, and etc.. .
Butters add creaminess and body to formulations. Typically, butters can be quite heavy and sometimes gressy. The prime example is shea butter. There are options such as mango butter that are fast absorbing, if you don't want greasiness in your formulation. Butters are great for dry and chapped skin. Most of the time butters are used on the body but, for dry skin they are used on the face. You need to be careful when formulating balms, salves and lip balms. The higher the percentage of butter it lowers the melting point of the formula. So limit it to 10% or keep it in the refrigerator. This is especially important with lip balms.
Here are examples of Soft butters and brittle butters

Soft Oils	Brittle Oils
Shea Butter	Cocoa Butter
Mango Butter	Tucuma Butter

Waxes:
Examples: Beeswax, Candelilla Wax,  Carnauba wax, and etc. . .
Waxes are used to build structure into a formulation. By building this structure it will thicken liquid oils and butters. Beeswax is used alot in pomade because it add tack that holds hair, eyebrows, and beards in place.
​Formulation:
Simple Nail Oil
I recommend making a 25 gram batch to fit a empty nail polish bottle.
(*I do NOT make any money off of you clicking the links and purchasing from them*)

% w/w	​Ingredient	Function
%99.25	Sweet Almond Oil	Emollient
%0.5	Vitamin E	Antioxidant
%0.20	Essential Oil or Fragrance Oil	Fragrance

This is super simple to make!
I weight all the ingredients into the final package to make it even simpler. If you don't feel comfortable with your measuring skill. You can weight each ingredient in a glass prep cup. (link) 
Once you have weighed out all the ingredient. Then you just add it to the nail polish bottle. For fragrance it is up to you! I have made it with Lemon Essential Oil, Cherry Fragrance Oil, and Lavender Essential Oil. So, those are i options i would recommend but, it is up to you. You are done! That simple. Enjoy your Simple Nail Oil. Make sure to tag me on instagram if your make it! i would Love to se!
I am absolutely, in love with this nail oil. It has a medium absorption and feels like it is really sealing in moisture. It does not take forever to absorb. I use it AT LEAST 2 times a day. Sometimes more and it has helped my dry cuticles and nails. If you wear nail polish a lot or fake nails this will really improve the wear and make you manicure or pedicure last. I have found that my nail do grow quicker when I use it. :)
Substitution:
Sweet Almond: Another medium absorbing oil
I really hope that you are enjoying this series as much as I am. I only have two more posts in this series. Nextpost is going to be about powder formulations.
Don't Forget To Comment Down Below! I would LOVE feedback!