Stearic Acid
Stearic acid does what?
LOTION INGREDIENTS
The word acid is so scary! But let me put your mind to easy by telling you stearic acid is not scary, and in fact, can be very beneficial. Stearic acid is naturally occurring in nature and is found in products like coconut oil and shea butter, which are both big ingredients in my lotion recipe, as well as other products. But what does it do? Why did I choose it for my products?
Stearic acid has been shown to treat eczema symptoms, reduce inflammation and help skin to retain moisture. So the real question is why WOULDN'T I use stearic acid in my skin care products? Stearic acid is also a factor in the texture of your finished products. Much like emulsifying wax, it helps to give my lotion more of a buttery consistency. The more stearic acid you use, the stiffer/harder your final product becomes. It is also great to use in bath products, as it is easily rinsed off in water, unlike waxes. So adding stearic acid to sugar scrubs is a great way to get the perfect formula you are looking for without adding the weight of waxes.
Stearic acid is also great because it is super easy to work with! It comes in tiny white beads that are easy to pour and measure, as well as quickly dissolved in your heated oil phases of product production. There is not any reason I can find not to use stearic acid, and its super easy to experiment with!