Need Help With Cocoa Butter in Lip Balms

[BLSoaps]

I normally avoid a lot of the different butters (especially shea butter) in lip balms because of the graininess issues. However, I had a custom request come through to include Cocoa Butter. So I played with my recipe, subbing out Coconut Oil equally qith Cocoa Butter. Silly me thought subbing a harder oil would result in a slightly harder lip balm base.

I was wrong.

It was soupy. It was firm enough to hold it's shape until you touched it, then it was like a really thick soup.

I remelted the base (16 oz), and added another another ounce of Cocoa Butter. I let this batch cool till slightly sludgey (just when it turns opaque), thinking it somehow was fractionating while pouring, and the more solid parts were settling at the bottom, with the softer parts sifting to the top.

Logically, it was the only thing that made sense. I've made thousands of pounds of lip balms in my time, and this is the only one that's totally confused me. But before this, I'd never used cocoa butter in my lip balms. So if there's some weird trick or quirk I don't know about it, I'd love to know!

Trying to answer a few questions before the inevitably come up.

1. I cannot share the recipe on the forum. If you are experienced with making cocoa butter lip balms, then I have permission to share the recipe privately with a couple people, but it will not be made public. This was a custom recipe that we came up with together, and it is proprietary to her and me.

2. My scale is working very accurately, so mismeasurement is not where I've gone wrong.

3. The normal/original recipe with coconut oil was a nice hard lip balm base. I use the filling trays when I make lip balms, and with the lip they leave around the top, I've found I need a harder lip balm, or I mess up this lip.

Any help will be very appreciated, as I'm completely stumped on this one.

[RobinInOR]

Sounds pretty weird. Was it natural cocoa butter or refined?

I use 15% cocoa butter and 25% palm (similar to your coconut texture/hardness wise), and have never had much of a problem. I also leave a large lip on top. In fact, the cocoa butter is the "brittle" butter in my formula - that and beeswax are what gives it the hardness I like. Does get a wee bit soft in the summer, but I up the cocoa butter/beeswax then.

[BLSoaps]

First, let me say that I'm here asking for help at my customer's request. Knowing the recipe was proprietary between me and her, I promised not to publish the recipe publicly, and only to a select few who expressed to me their experience with cocoa butter in lip balms. I received a PM expressing concern about my asking for help regarding a proprietary recipe, and it potentially damaging my reputation as a supplier.

When I originally took on this request for cocoa butter in a lip balm, I explained to my client that I'd never used cocoa butter in them. After my experiences with other butters, primarily shea, my main concern at that time was grittiness in the final product. I explained this to her, but she still wanted to proceed.

So I took my tried and true lip balm recipe, and subbed the Cocoa butter in the place of one of the other solid oils, and figured I'd be fine. I always pour one test tube when trying something new, and I was floored that when I tried to apply it, it smooshed all over my lips, leaving gunks in its path. It was WAY too soft.

So I reheated the mixture, and upped the cocoa butter. Still the same. Then I upped the beeswax. A little better, but not where it should have been, IMO. By this point, my client wanted to know why I hadn't shipped. I explained my problems, and what I'd done to over come it, and the results of my final test, which was to wait to pour until it had cooled enough that it was just turning opaque and sludgy. It was difficult to get into the tubes with it this thick, but it did set up better than any of my prior test results. She said go ahead and ship it. She's having the same issues, not that I'm surprised, and has asked me to help figure out how to fix it. I did send an extra ounce of beeswax with the base, just in case. But logically, the ratios shouldn't need it.

I asked her permission to ask around for help, promising not to post the recipe publicly, and that if needed, the recipe would only be shared with a very select few that I felt would be able to help me get to the bottom of this.

I just wanted to make that very clear. Normally, I would NEVER share a proprietary recipe with anyone. However, with this case, I got permission from my client to share with a select few in hopes of overcoming an issue that I'm just not familiar enough with, since I've never used cocoa butter in lip balms before.

It was asked if I was using natural or deodorized. I picked up natural for her, because she wanted the cocoa scent, but she's admitting it's a very strong chocolate scent, and may switch to deodorized next time (if we get this fixed). Would the type make a difference?

Thanks again. I've had many people respond privately, and I trust we'll get down to the bottom of this!

[sockmonkey]

I think without even knowing it, you may have stumbled upon a good idea. I don't use solid lipbalms. I only like the ones that glide on like petroleum jelly. Qosmedix recently advertised a special squeeze tube for lipbalms. Maybe you could sell this (or have your customer sell it) as the first glide-on cocoa butter lipbalm base.

[BLSoaps]

I think without even knowing it, you may have stumbled upon a good idea. I don't use solid lipbalms. I only like the ones that glide on like petroleum jelly. Qosmedix recently advertised a special squeeze tube for lipbalms. Maybe you could sell this (or have your customer sell it) as the first glide-on cocoa butter lipbalm base.

I've actually been eyeballing those squeeze tubes for a while now! LOL!

[mystical_angel1219]

I would suggest trying some Carnauba wax in your formulation. It is the hardest natural wax you can find, and it is available in cosmetic grade. Non animal derived and has a very long shelf life. Twice the hardening properties of beeswax. Good for accounts who want "Vegan" appeal.

http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html

Cocoa butter in lip balm, IMO- is a tall order, especially the natural, chocolate variety.

It has a tendency to "bloom" and make the balm gritty over time.

Lotioncrafter has those squeezable lip tubes as well.

[TexasBrat]

I can't help you with your ccb issue but wanted to mention that if you temper your shea butter it should prevent the grainy feel to it.

[mystical_angel1219]

I normally avoid a lot of the different butters (especially shea butter) in lip balms because of the graininess issues. However, I had a custom request come through to include Cocoa Butter. So I played with my recipe, subbing out Coconut Oil equally qith Cocoa Butter. Silly me thought subbing a harder oil would result in a slightly harder lip balm base.

I was wrong.

It was soupy. It was firm enough to hold it's shape until you touched it, then it was like a really thick soup.

I remelted the base (16 oz), and added another another ounce of Cocoa Butter. I let this batch cool till slightly sludgey (just when it turns opaque), thinking it somehow was fractionating while pouring, and the more solid parts were settling at the bottom, with the softer parts sifting to the top.

Logically, it was the only thing that made sense. I've made thousands of pounds of lip balms in my time, and this is the only one that's totally confused me. But before this, I'd never used cocoa butter in my lip balms. So if there's some weird trick or quirk I don't know about it, I'd love to know!

Trying to answer a few questions before the inevitably come up.

1. I cannot share the recipe on the forum. If you are experienced with making cocoa butter lip balms, then I have permission to share the recipe privately with a couple people, but it will not be made public. This was a custom recipe that we came up with together, and it is proprietary to her and me.

2. My scale is working very accurately, so mismeasurement is not where I've gone wrong.

3. The normal/original recipe with coconut oil was a nice hard lip balm base. I use the filling trays when I make lip balms, and with the lip they leave around the top, I've found I need a harder lip balm, or I mess up this lip.

Any help will be very appreciated, as I'm completely stumped on this one.

Did you get the formulation perfected?