How to Use Gels Vs. Cocoa Butter for Thickening

If you blend your own beauty oils, you probably enjoy customized fragrances that smell just right for you, as well as extra conditioning and protection for your skin and hair. What you probably don't like is that your oils can be messy to apply and easy to spill, and you probably don't want to carry them in your purse. Cocoa butter blended into oils thickens them into emollient balms. GelMaker, a thickening polymer known as sodium acrylate, binds water with oil and can be used to create creams or lotions.

Cocoa Butter

• 1

  Measure ingredients using a kitchen scale. To make a solid butter, use about 10 ounces of cocoa butter and 6 ounces of vegetable oil of your choice (examples, olive oil, grape seed oil or safflower oil). To make a softer butter, use about 5 ounces of cocoa butter and 5 ounces of oil.

• 2

  Melt the cocoa butter in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring occasionally with a heat-resistant spoon until the butter is completely liquid. Add the vegetable oil to the melted butter. Allow the mixture to cool and then pour it into a large, heat-resistant jar and allow it to cool for 12 hours.

• 3

  Check the consistency of the cooled butter in the large jar to ensure that it is of the desired thickness. If it is just right, then scoop the butter back into the sauce pan with the spoon, remelt it on low heat, then allow the liquid to cool. You will need the butter to be in a liquid state in order to pour it into plastic dome jars.

• 4

  Add more cocoa butter into your blend if it's too soft, or more oil for a blend that's too hard. Then repeat Steps 2 and 3.

• 5

  Sanitize dome topped jars by wiping the inside with alcohol wipes. Pour the mixture into jars leaving a small amount of space at the top to prevent spills and overflow. Use a narrow spatula and a funnel for neatness.

• 6

  Set the jarred butter aside in a cool place for 12 hours and allow it to solidify before using it.

GelMaker

• 1

  Measure the oil, distilled water and glycerin in a measuring pitcher and pour them into a heavy glass mixing bowl. Sample recipe proportions should be approximately 4 ounces vegetable oil of your choice (examples, olive oil, grape seed oil or safflower oil), 10 ounces distilled water and 1 ounce glycerin, and then you will also need to measure 1 ounce GelMaker for the next step.

• 2

  Stir in GelMaker EMU to emulsify the oil and water for two minutes. Blend the mixture using a hand-held electric mixer or a whisk for five to 10 minutes or until the mixture is completely smooth. The result should be the consistency of butter cream frosting.

• 3

  Sanitize dome topped jars by wiping the inside with alcohol wipes. Pour the cream into jars leaving a small amount of space at the top to prevent spills and overflow. Use a narrow spatula and a funnel for neatness as you pour. The jarred cream is ready for use right away.