Want to add lanolin to body butter recipe
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Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:08 pm

I read a post from 2010 about finding a substitute for lanolin. I have the exact opposite situation. I have a body butter recipe that I like but I want to add or substitute lanolin into the recipe. I am not sure which ingredient to take out and put lanolin in place of it or if I can just add lanolin. The ingredients I have now are shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower oil, almond oil, olive oil, walnut oil, avocado oil and vitamin e oil. Would it be appropriate to replace the cocoa butter with the lanolin?

Thanks,
Lisa

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:23 am

BananaBeltFarm wrote:

I read a post from 2010 about finding a substitute for lanolin. I have the exact opposite situation. I have a body butter recipe that I like but I want to add or substitute lanolin into the recipe. I am not sure which ingredient to take out and put lanolin in place of it or if I can just add lanolin. The ingredients I have now are shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower oil, almond oil, olive oil, walnut oil, avocado oil and vitamin e oil. Would it be appropriate to replace the cocoa butter with the lanolin?

Thanks,
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

You can replace either butter with Lanolin but you will have a softer end product than with the butter you replace as those are much firmer.

free skin care · Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:34 am

I am posting a few online recipes with shea butter and lanolin, you can do what I do and "play" a bit with your ingredients.

Lanolin Body Butter

4 oz Lanolin
2 oz Shea Butter
2 oz Castor Bean Oil
1 oz Jojoba Oil
1/2 tsp Essential Oil or Fragrance Oil

Gently melt lanolin, shea butter, castor bean oil, and jojoba oil in double boiler, or for 20 second intervals in microwave, stirring each time. Be very careful not to over heat these oils, the lanolin will melt as you stir the mixture. Add essential oil or fragrance oil and pour into jar. Cool. This butter is great for dishpan hands, cracked feet, and rough cuticles.

http://www.alpinenaturals.com/recipeswp.html

Easy Lotion Bars

4 ounces mango or shea butter
4 ounces beesweax, yellow or white
5 ounces liquid oil (jojoba or grapeseed are both excellent)
2 teaspoons of essential oil or fragrance oil

This lotion bar does not use cocoa butter so you can use any fragrance or essential oil that your heart desires and not have a chocolate over-smell.

Melt the beeswax in a separate container and the butter/oil in another container. Add together, mix well, stir in FO/EO and pour into containers. Mixture will harden in approximately 1-2 hours. The cooler the mixture is upon pouring it, the less ‘divets’ you’ll get in the bar (that sunken spot at the top of the bar).

http://teachsoap.com/easy-soap-recipes/

Ingredients

112 grams Lanolin
56 grams Shea Butter, Refined
31 grams Colorless Jojoba Oil
5 grams Vitamin E Acetate
50 grams Liquid Glycerin (do not use soap here)
5 grams Conditioning Emulsifier
Instructions

Melt and stir together all ingredients. The Lanolin is the slowest to melt, but will melt upon stirring without causing the entire mixture to get too hot. Lanolin is an emulsifier so it will hold the glycerin into suspension. Stir until cooled. If you are putting this mixture into a Grand Oval Bottle that sits on the cap then pour into the bottle while still fluid. Shake well throughout the cooling period.

http://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipes.php?.State=Display&id=165

free skin care · Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:37 pm

It's worth noting also that lanolin does not have the slip of either Shea or Cocoa butter. The end result will be somewhat more tacky than if butter was used. The extremely soft wax esters of lanolin make it great for creams but less useful in non-aquaeous products. It tends to be sticky.

free skin care · Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:35 am

NotMeNotYou wrote:

It's worth noting also that lanolin does not have the slip of either Shea or Cocoa butter. The end result will be somewhat more tacky than if butter was used. The extremely soft wax esters of lanolin make it great for creams but less useful in non-aquaeous products. It tends to be sticky.

That does depend on how much butter you replace, and the oils you use as well.

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2012 10:00 am

Thanks for posting those recipes, DarkMoon.

AFAIK the density and stickiness lanolin imparts is partially related to the precise product you choose - I have medical grade lanolin plus various products including highly refined lanolin and none are sticky ... unless it comes into contact with a water-based substance. I assume this is down to lanolin's humectant properties? Whilst my lanolin is ointment-y at room temperature it imparts a lovely silky feel as it melts on the skin. Far nicer as a lip balm IMO than the few butters I have tried. I am however advised by a formulator - Snowkitty on SCT - that relatively unrefined lanolin is very sticky. For clarity the products I have include: Lansinoh (100%), Lanolips (70%), Flexitol Naturals (3rd ingredient), Guinot Masque Essentiel (2nd ingredient) and Weleda calendula creams (low %).

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2012 10:14 am

Firefox7275 wrote:

Thanks for posting those recipes, DarkMoon.

AFAIK the density and stickiness lanolin imparts is partially related to the precise product you choose - I have medical grade lanolin plus various products including highly refined lanolin and none are sticky ... unless it comes into contact with a water-based substance. I assume this is down to lanolin's humectant properties? Whilst my lanolin is ointment-y at room temperature it imparts a lovely silky feel as it melts on the skin. Far nicer as a lip balm IMO than the few butters I have tried. I am however advised by a formulator - Snowkitty on SCT - that relatively unrefined lanolin is very sticky. For clarity the products I have include: Lansinoh (100%), Lanolips (70%), Flexitol Naturals (3rd ingredient), Guinot Masque Essentiel (2nd ingredient) and Weleda calendula creams (low %).

I was given a readily available (in the US) medical grade pure Lanolin for breastfeeding but never used it there, however with babies nails growing faster than you could keep up with the clipping I used it on their little scratches, faces especially and it healed them amazingly fast! I always kept some in the house for kids boo boo's even after they were older!

I never found it sticky either, the one I had you had to ask for it behind the pharmacy counter, it comes in a yellow and white tube.

I also have pure lanolin oil (pour-able) but it is packed at the moment so I can't swear what the brand is! Smile

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2012 1:02 pm

Lanolin is magic stuff IMO - emollient, humectant and occlusive all in one, great source of cholesterol and certain saturates found in the skin barrier.

I want to get hold of some lanolin acids, apparently the only natural source of a fatty acid better than silicones for hair protection, waterproofing and slip. My abused mop could do with that sort of help but I don't fancy coating it in neat lanolin! Laughing

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