Single Oil Lotions

I'm currently in the process of formulating lotion for my company, and although I have tried many different recipes with excellent results, I felt that it was important to get a better feel for the individual carrier oils and their properties.  The best way to do this in my opinion was to make one lotion for each carrier oil that I’m interested in.  So for testing purposes I made six different lotions with only one oil as the main moisturizing ingredient.  I'm hoping this will allow me to differentiate between the different moisturizing properties of the carrier oils being used and to decide which oils I want to use in my lotions in the future. Here is the recipe that I came up with for testing...
Single Oil Tester Lotion
Water 70 grams
Oil 20 grams
Emulsifying Wax 5 grams
Cetyl Alcohol 3 grams
Liquid Germall Plus .5 grams


Directions
Making lotion is a fairly simple process; you take your oil, emulsifying wax, and cetyl alcohol and place them in a heat proof container, then take your water and place that into a separate heat proof container. I always heat up extra water in this step because some will evaporate in the heat and hold process.  Place both of these containers into a double boiler then heat them up to 160F. Once they reach 160F, you hold them at that temperature for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes has passed, place the oil container on a scale and tare it out, then pour in the water required for your recipe from the heated water container.  This can then be mixed together using a stick blender or hand mixer, or if your me, I like to use my kitchen aid mixer.  You want to mix for a couple of minutes then let the lotion cool for a couple of minutes, then mix, cool, mix, cool, you get the idea.  Do this until the lotion reaches 110F, then add your preservative and mix some more.  At this point you want to let the lotion cool to room temperature and then you can bottle it into a clean dry container.

The oils that I chose to test are Sunflower, Apricot Kernel, Sweet Almond, Olive, Avocado, and Virgin Coconut. They each have different skin soothing properties; some are lighter and more easily absorbed while some are heavier.  I did some research on the properties of each of these oils, and here is what I came up with.

Sunflower Oil: Sunflower oil is composed of linoleic acid 48-74%, oleic acid 14-40%, stearic acid 1-7%, and palmitic acid 4-9% [1].  Oils high in linoleic acid have been shown in some studies to improve the barrier function of our skin and decrease transepidermal water loss [2]. Sunflower oil is also a light, fast absorbing, non comedogenic oil that is high in Vitamin E, which has wonderful skin softening and anti-oxidant properties. Unfortunately it also has a short shelf life of only 3-6 months [3]. 

Sweet Almond Oil: Sweet almond oil is composed of oleic acid 60-78%, linoleic acid 10-30%, palmitic acid 3-9%, stearic acid 3%, and palmitoleic acid 2%. The high oleic acid content of sweet almond oil offers anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, and regenerative properties, while the linoleic acid content aids in barrier repair. It is also said to contain a phytosterol called B-sitosterol, which may help reduce inflammation, itchiness, and redness in skin. It is a light oil that has a shelf life of around 12 months which makes it a more stable oil to use in formulations, and it can be used as a substitute for olive oil in many recipes due to the similar oleic acid/linoleic acid content [3].

Apricot Kernel Oil: Apricot kernel oil is composed of oleic acid 58-74%, linoleic acid 20-34%, palmitic acid 4-7%, and stearic acid 1%.  This means that this oil is very similar to sweet almond oil, and subsequently means that the two can be subbed for one another in recipes. Apricot kernel oil contains B-sitosterol like sweet almond oil which gives it anti-inflammatory properties. It also contains more vitamin E then sweet almond oil to give it added skin softening properties.  It is a light to medium weight oil that is easily absorbed by skin, and it has a shelf life of around 12 months [4]. 

Olive Oil: Olive oil is composed of oleic acid 55-83%, linoleic acid 4-21%, palmitic acid 10.5%, stearic acid 2.6%, and linolenic acid 1%.  This oil, like sweet almond oil has a high oleic acid content, which has excellent anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, and regenerative properties.  This oil also has linoleic acid which offers barrier repair.  Olive oil does have some extra goodies in it such as vitamin E, phytosterols, polyphenols, and squalene.  The phytosterols and polyphenols have been shown to help repair skin after sun exposure, making this an excellent oil to apply after a long day outside.  Squalene is a substance that mimics the sebum in our skin and for this reason absorbs very quickly and helps to soften skin.  Olive oil is a heavier oil with a shelf life of around 1 year.  The only thing that you need to be aware of is that the scent and taste of extra virgin olive oil can show up in your products, so you may want to use regular olive oil in a lip balm or a product where you don’t want the fragrance to be affected [3].

Avocado Oil: Avocado oil is composed of oleic acid 75-80%, linoleic acid 7-10%, palmitic acid 10% and stearic acid 1-4%. The high oleic acid content of avocado oil makes this oil good for sunburned or wind chapped skin.  It has vitamin E which helps with skin softening, and it also contains vitamin A, D, and phytosterols to sooth itchy and inflamed skin.  It is easily absorbed by our hair and scalp which makes it great for hair care products.  Avocado oil is a medium weight oil that tends to feel oily on the skin, and it has a shelf life of about a year [4].

Virgin Coconut Oil: Coconut oil contains lauric acid 47.5%, myristic acid 18.1%, palmitic acid 8.8%, and small amounts of stearic, oleic, linoleic, and arachidic acids. Virgin coconut oil contains around 5-7 times the amount of polyphenols then regular coconut oil, in the form of ferulic and p-coumaric acids. Ferulic acid is an anti-oxidant which can help to repair damaged and wrinkled skin, and P-coumaric acid is also an anti-oxidant which has anti-inflammatory properties. Coconut oil is a light oil that has a very long shelf life of 18-24 months [3].

Works Cited

[1]	"Sunflower Oil," Wikipedia, 02 March 2012 . [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_oil.
[2]	"Impact of topical oils on the skin barrier: possible implications for neonatal health in developing countries," PubMed, 2002. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12113324.
[3]	"Carrier Oil Profiles - Macamdamia nut to wheat germ oil," [Online]. Available: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1020026/carrieroilprofilesmacadamiatowheatgerm.pdf.
[4]	"Carrier Oil Profiles - Avocado to jojoba oils," [Online]. Available: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1020026/carrieroilprofilesavocadotojojoba.pdf.