Alright folks, buckle up. I’m no fancy scientist in a white coat, but I spent a full day trying to get into the head of someone who makes our shampoo and lotion. Wanted to see what the fuss was about. Grabbed my lab coat – felt weird – and dove in.
Getting My Head Straight (and Gear On)
First things first. I wasn’t just gonna start pouring stuff together. Nope. Figured I needed a plan, like a recipe. Found some super basic formulas online for a simple shampoo and a hand lotion. Looked simple on paper, at least. Pulled out all my tools: little beakers (felt like a kid’s chemistry set, honestly), a cheap magnetic stirrer I borrowed (spins things around automatically – kinda magic), a scale that measures tiny amounts, and a bunch of droppers.
The Shampoo Shuffle
Alright, shampoo first! Looked easy enough.
- Weighing the Water: Biggest part is water. Measured out a decent amount into a beaker. Tap water? Nope. Had to use special water that was boiled and cooled to kill off any bugs. Didn’t want nasty stuff growing in my pretend shampoo!
- Adding the ‘Slippy’ Stuff: Shampoo needs to clean and make bubbles. That’s where surfactants come in. This is the stuff that grabs dirt and oil. Measured out a specific amount of this thick, gooey liquid – had to be careful, slippery! Slowly dripped it into the water while the stirrer was running. Watched it mix in, kinda cloudy at first.
- Feeling Thick: It was looking thin. Real shampoo’s thicker. Added a tiny, tiny pinch of salt (yep, table salt!). Weird tip I learned: Salt thickens it! Stirred it more, and sure enough, it got slightly thicker. Science! Felt good.
- pH Check: Here’s where I got kinda nervous. Skin and hair don’t like harsh stuff. Need the mixture not too acidic, not too alkaline. Pulled out some pH strips (like litmus paper you used in school). Dipped one in. Color showed slightly too alkaline. Uh-oh. Carefully added drops of citric acid (super weak stuff) solution while stirring, tested again… and again… until it hit that sweet spot, almost neutral. Phew.
- Last Touches: Wanted a little smell? Added just a drop or two of lemongrass fragrance oil. Stirred gently. Voila! It looked… kinda like shampoo. Cleared up nicely after sitting a bit too.
Lotion Lotion Action
Lotion time! This one seemed trickier. Mixing oil and water? They hate each other.
- The Oily Phase: Measured out my oils into a glass beaker – a little sweet almond oil, a drop of something heavier. Also weighed out a wax (beeswax, smelled nice) and this stuff called an emulsifier. Emulsifier is KEY, that’s the thing that forces oil and water to play nice together. Gently heated this whole oily mix in a warm water bath until the wax melted.
- The Water Phase: Different beaker. Measured out more boiled/cooled water. Needed to heat this too, around the same temperature as the oil phase. Grabbed a thermometer for this one – temperature matters here. Took forever waiting for both sides to hit the sweet spot.
- The Big Merge (This Got Scary): Okay, deep breath. While my stirrer was on fast in the water beaker, I slowly, slowly poured the warm oily mix in. Tiny stream. Super slow. Never skip this. Splashing it in wouldn’t work. Watched it like a hawk. At first it looked like ugly, chunky milk. Heart sank a bit. Kept the stirrer whipping it hard.
- Stirring and Cooling: Left the stirrer running as it slowly cooled down. Magic started happening! That ugly milk turned into a beautiful, thick, white cream! Huge relief. Kept stirring until it was pretty cool.
- Add-ins: While it was still warm but not hot, squeezed in a drop of skin-friendly preservative. Super important – didn’t want mold growing in my lotion jar! Then, just like the shampoo, a tiny bit of nice fragrance.
Looking at My Creations
And there they were! A little beaker of slightly lemony shampoo and a jar of creamy, faintly honey-scented lotion. Testing time? Washed my hands with the shampoo – foamed decently, felt clean, rinsed okay. Rubbed some lotion on – absorbed nicely, not greasy.
Honestly? It wasn’t perfectly smooth like store-bought. The lotion felt slightly grainy the next day (overheated? maybe). But the point wasn’t perfection. BIG takeaway: Making this stuff is a LOT of measuring carefully, paying attention to tiny details like temperature and pH, and understanding how completely different things (oil and water!) can be forced to combine. It’s methodical, messy, needs patience, and requires respect for the chemicals you’re using. Way more involved than I thought before I grabbed that lab coat! Feeling serious respect for cosmetic chemists now.
