What you need to know about self-emulsifying oleogels (part II)

I truely enjoyed your comments on our FB page after publishing the first part of this post and I know you're curious to know more about the emulsifier I've introduced to you in the first part.

Dermofeel ® G5 O is a polyglyceryl ester with the INCI name: Polyglyceryl-5 oleate, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil.

It is delivered as a thick, colourless paste which is easily manageable. The ingredient is obviously lipophilic but because of the polyglyceryl-group it shows some water solubility and emulsifies the end product in water.

The amazing fact about thsi ingredient is the possibility of adjusting the viscosity of your end product. You can create from low viscosity oils (bath oil or shower oil) to medium viscosity oils (cleansing oils) to high viscosity gels (cleansing gels or bath gels) that simply emulsify by contact with water. This is a very popular trend in "natural & organic" cosmetics and just by varying your plant oil or your extracts you can create countless products to enrich your product portfolio.

Dermofeel® G5O is ECOCERT, BDIH, NaTrue, Cosmos approved, completely friendly to skin and mucous membrane, making it even suitable for eye makeup remover.

When working with Dermofeel® G5O to prepare oleogels, the first step is always blending the emulsifier in a polar medium. Glycerine is usually the best medium for this purpose. We've applied low water content glycerine in our formulations but you're free to use anything from 85% upwards. Most important part of the procedure is the blending so that you don't incorporate air bubbles into the product (to achieve a nice clear oleogel at the end). This is best done by a propeller mixer but we've made tens of samples by applying a spatula (for batches up to 100 gr) just to find a way for those of you without access to any overhead mixer.

Here are the basics of formulation. The procedure is very simple and eco-firendly because you're blending everything at room temperature.

1- Blend Dermofeel® G5O with glycerine. If your lab is very cold and the emulsifier does not easily blend with glycerin, heat the glycerine-emulsifier blend gently in a water bath by 50 degrees but usually you don't need that. a 5-6% Dermofeel® G5O is enough.

Here is the interesting part: you can vary the glycerine concentration between 5-50%. The higher the glycerine concentration the lower the final viscosity. It is absolutely up to you and your concept, how much glycerine to add. Play with your ingredients to get the heck out of it. Look at the following photo for example

They have all the same ingredients and we've only varied the glycerine concentration. They contain, from highest to lowest viscosity:

• 6% Dermofeel® G5O , 10% glycerine
• 6% Dermofeel® G5O, 30% glycerine
• 6% Dermofeel® G5O, 50% glycerine

2- blend all of the other ingredients (these are only lipophilic components: your plant oils, lipophilic extracts, anti-oxidants, lipophilic vitamins, essential oils etc.) in another beaker

3- Slowly and step-by-step add the oil phase to the emulsifier- glycerine phase. It is very important to add the oil very slowly and blend after each addition for the formation of the oleogel system, otherwise the gel would not be stable and would separate after a few hours to few days. The viscosity would be low at the beginning and increases gradually by addition of the oil.

4- After the addition is completed, you'll have a transluscent to transparent oil-gel consistency.

5- You can improve the transparency by adding a few drops of water at the end and gently blending it without forcing any agitation. (we've prepared all our samples without any additional water)

Isn't that amazing? We've created different colours and consistencies by just varying the oil or glycerine concentration. The red gel contains annatto seeds infused in jojoba oil. The orange gels contain poppy seed oil and the yellow gel below contains camelina seed oil and 5% glycerine.

If you're interested to try this amazing ingredient, gather your supplies and get ready for upcoming tutorials and formulations I'm going to share with you.

Don't forget to share your comments and photos on our facebook page. We love your contributions.

BeHappy and have fun