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Lecithin as an emulsifier – part I, how to dissolve lecithin granules
I have been still searching for a 100% in nature occurring emulsifier for home made cosmetics.
If you read a bit online, you know there are three candidates:
- lecithin
- beeswax
- borax – sodium tetraborate Na2B4O7, not boric acid!
Borax is a mineral and it was shown that it can have carcinogenic effects, so it is out of question for me.
The problem is, that all these recipes call for combination of lecithin and borax or beeswax and borax…
…and that beeswax or lecithin alone are unable to emulsify or create stable emulsions.
This is however disputable, there are people swearing that they can emulsify with beeswax or lecithin only, but I didn’t find any real guidelines or experiment showing how much of both gives what result in what kind of emulsion (does it work in W/O, or only O/W emulsions?, what ratio…?)
In general, using beeswax alone works mainly for water in oil emulsions, creating very rich and oil creams – the protective type. To this category belong cold cream which is done using beeswax only.
Lecithin
Lecithin has some nice characteristics – it is easily absorbed into skin, being thus a perfect carrier for any actives you want to deliver. Moreover, we you eat it and that is what makes it an ideal candidate!
I did some experiments with lecithin and some of these went wrong. However, I am still searching and looking for ideal ratios, experimenting at home. As soon as I have results I will share them!
If you want to use lecithin in a cream, it must have the right consistence – and this post is about how to get it.
I believe you know that lecithin is found in egg yolks – that is why it is used for making mayonnaise – it acts as an emulsifier. Well, however, yolk in my face cream does not please me, so I refused this idea immediately.
Luckily, lecithin can be extracted from plants, for example soya beans. Such a lecithin can be found in drug stores or natural product stores. It is sold either as a liquid, or a cheaper and easier to find granules.
So I bought granules…
I would never think it can be such an issue to dissolve them… but it was! And here I give you the description of my three trials, the last one finally led to success….
How (not) to dissolve lecithin granules – part I – In water (and oil) by stirring
My first lecithin adventure was a disaster, because of – as usual – lack of information in the recipe I followed.
The statement was: dissolve granules in water, stirring will help. That was all.
So I put the granules in water and stirred well. Nothing. Granules don’t dissolve…. after 10 minutes of stirring I took my cappuccino mixer I use for my creams. Nothing… granules were dissolving too slowly. After 10 minutes of mixing with cappuccino mixer, I had to replace batteries.The speed of dissolving was so slow I started to be really nervous. So I told myself that maybe the recipe was wrong and I should have dissolved them in oil. I added to my water the oil from the recipe and mixed…. mixed bout 30 minutes, changing batteries twice.
Finally it seemed that everything dissolved, but the result was a very liquid and sticky kind of milk that was not worth the effort at all. That was the end of my friendship with lecithin… at least for a while.
How not to dissolve lecithin granules – part II – in oil
A week later I told myself that it was certainly my fault and I should have let granules sit in oil to dissolve on their own. Of course, it was logical, the liquid lecithin you buy has about 60% of oils. That must be it, there was a mistake in the recipe and lecithin should be dissolved in oil! I was not really keen on to stir it so I just left lecithin granules in oil for a while. After a week (OK, I forgot them) I went back to granules and…They did not dissolve! It took me several months to come back to lecithin….
How to dissolve lecithin granules – part III – in water, HEUREKA!
And then I found it… a recipe, similar to the first one… with one sentence that changed everything: Let the granules soak in the water phase of your recipe for an hour.
(By water phase I mean the watery part of your recipe, it can be water, it can be flower water, it can be herbal infusion…)
And that WORKED!
Here is what I got:
1) Put granules in the water phase of the recipe and let 1 hour to dissolve. (here 20g granules and 40g of distilled water).
2) After 1 hour the granules are dissolved
3) When you mix it after, it looks like this (without oils) – please, not, that you do not have to mix it prior to adding oils, if you are making a cream or a lotion.
Heureka, it worked… This will be my basic lecithin I am going to use in my experiments. I will try different ratios of oils, water and lecithin and will make a summary!
Here are my recipes made with beeswax and lecithing as the only emulsifiers :
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#2 written by Toni 4 years ago
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#3 written by admin 4 years ago
Hi Rosana – sorry for me not responding sooner – zes, I was not that friend with lecithin, so it slipped out of my mind immediately 🙂 Hope you were successful with your creams, let me know if you succeeded!
Hi Tony – happy to help you! Please, let me know if you make something interesting out of it (not sure what you wanted the granules for :))
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#4 written by Doris Hag 4 years ago
THANK’S A LOT!!!! Your story sounds a bit like mine, especially the try to dilute it in oil, i boiled it and boiled it….. And i also boiled it in water, for quiet some time and in the end it looked like a baby cream but i did not dear to use it in my face cream. 😉
So now i know what to do the next time!!
One more question: Do the granules after the are soaked in the floral water dissolve completely in the melted oil-butter-wax mixture when they are stirred in or do i have to stir them before separately until they are a smooth paste?
Thank’s again!!!! -
#6 written by Patricia Hamp 4 years ago
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#7 written by evik 4 years ago
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Carol’s Daughter has a hair butter and here is the reicpe: Water (Aqua), Glycine Soja ( Soybean) Oil, Zea Mays (Corn) Oil, Beeswax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Simmondsia Chinensis ( Jojoba) Seed Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), ( Rosemary) Oil, Cymbopogon Flexosus ( Lemongrass) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis ( Orange) Oil,Lavandula Augustfolia(Lavender) OilAm I over-looking something because I don’t see an emulsifier but I do see beeswax and this is her top seller. How does this work?
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#9 written by Wendybird 2 years ago
Beeswax alone is an excellent emulsifier, though it does require melting, it’s been used for that purpose in salves and ointments for thousands of years, and that is how it works. 😛 She probably blends it with the oils once melted for a more creamy appearance, otherwise the result would probably look like a balm.
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#10 written by evik 2 years ago
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#14 written by Aaron 3 years ago
I will also say EUREKA for your findings of how to dissolve lecithin granules!
I am a Private Chef for candy making. When I worked for a candy company they ordered the ‘liquid’ lecithin because it was used more than what I use now (and they could afford the minimum order amount of 50 pounds). I ordered some lecithin last week and the company sent granules instead of the liquid.
In talking with my nephew who makes caramels at home he told me how he tried to dissolve lecithin in water just mixing it by hand just before he added it to the cooking caramel “syrup”. I am glad I googled ‘how to dissolve lecithin granules’ because your site came up!! Bless you over and over. My next batch of caramel will be made and eaten in your honour.
I saw the letter about sunflower lecithin and that was news to me. I knew there was a different type of lecithin but didn’t know about sunflower.
I have subscribed to your newsletter because of your info; I am certain I will be using your expertise again.
Thanks again!! -
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#16 written by evik 3 years ago
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#19 written by msavi 3 years ago
I would like to know where you are getting your information about borax? It is not carcinogenic. Boric acid, perhaps, but they are chemically two different elements. Here is a link that I found very helpful when I was trying to solve the problem of how to emulsify lotions without resorting to NF wax:
http://www.crunchybetty.com/getting-to-the-bottom-of-borax-is-it-safe-or-not
Also, beeswax and lecithin are great additions to lotion, but they won’t *truly* emulsify on their own. You can get them to emulsify with the help of some trusty kitchen appliances, but that is called “mechanical emulsification.” True emulsification is a chemical process.
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#20 written by myreen 3 years ago
i used my nutrablast after combining soaked lecithin granules with oil mixture and it created a fantastic creamy lotion. my first try at making my own healthy and organic skin cream worked thanks to your post about the lecithin. i used beeswax but mixture was just like an oil, not creamy at all, then soaked 4 scoops lecithin added to oil combo and blended in the nutrablast and voila! perfect! thank you.
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#21 written by Monaya 2 years ago
Hi there!
I read all the posts and replies on here… and this is what I’m thinking: why go through all this trouble to make some skin cream? I just eat only healthy things, no dead animals, just fruit and veggies, and mostly raw, and if I want something on my skin, I just rub the fresh stuff on it, then rinse when done, like avocados, or coconut oil, just to name some.
My motto is this: if I do not want to put it in my mouth and eat it, I do not want it on my skin, either, because the skin will eat it just the same! Actually, one has to be even more careful when feeding it through the skin, because there is no digestion involved.
Bottom line: whatever I feed my body is 100% fresh, no preservatives needed, and I know I’ll get the right proportions on everything… no need to worry!
You guys should think about that and try it out for yourselves!
Namaste!-
#22 written by evik 2 years ago
Hi Monaya, well, I believe that this is because generally people find it easier to make a cream once a month than completely change their way of living and eating.
Also, you don’t carry fresh avocado everywhere you go, nor you can find it everywhere you go. Making cream gives you opportunity to combine different things together, so you have an all-in-one, easy to apply product.
And also – because it is fun!:) You know, like… cooking, crafting, arts, … the satisfaction of discovering things and making them work or look the way you wish.
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#25 written by David E 1 year ago
First, I would like to thank you for the invaluable info on how to properly incorporate the Lecithin. I’ve been unable to fing Emullsion Wax, or liquid Licithin locally.
I have been told that lotions will stay for up to 2 weeks without a preservative. I have researched and found a few natural preservatives, as follows:
Grapefruit Seed Extract (being the #1 and safest all natural)
Rosemary Oil
Tea Tree Oil
Vitamin E Oil
Lavender Oil
Cinnamon (Oil/Extract)
Green Tea
There are more, but these were the first I could come up with off the top of my head. -
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You just saved me a MASSIVE headache. I was planning to add lecithin to a huge batch cold process soap to get it to trace a bit slower in a tried and tested recipe that accelerates making it difficult to swirl and mold. I was planning to add it to the oils…. that would be a large batch of soap wasted. Thank you 😀
Lesson 1: Dissolve new ingredient separately before adding
Lesson 2: Make test batches even if there is a small change…
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#32 written by Nobody 6 months ago
Interesting experiments.
So when soaked in water then drained through a siv then blended to a paste. I’m wondering if you could add vegetable oil to the blending stage to preserve the paste in jars for future usage in cooking for emulsification???
Interesting if you could as you would be saving allot of money instead of buying the oil because you’re basically making your own in jars from granules. You would need to figure out the ratio of oil to granules for storing in jars but I could see it working pretty well. All that would be left if to test the shelf life when stored in jars.
🙂
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#33 written by Rebecca 6 months ago
I am thrilled that I found this website. I made a batch of cream yesterday and used lecithin granules for the first time, believe me I was some frustrated after an hour of them sitting in hot oil and stirring and stirring like crazy. I wasted time and money because the cream only came out so so like a thin lotion. I will dissolve them in water next time but I would appreciate someone letting me know what the water lecithin ratio would be.
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I lol-ed at the part you left it for 2 weeks coz you forgot about it 😀
Thank you! This info helps a lot. Now i can make my lotion without chemical emulsifier.