Natural Shower Foam with Yucca Extract

OK guys. It's time to share another amazing foam project with you.

It is no secret that I love foams. These are so fun and easy to make. No hassle around adjusting the viscosity, optimizing the gum concentration, elaborate stability tests to check whether the gum separates or causes syneresis. Just blend all ingredients, adjust the pH and voila, you have an amazing product.

In this tutorial, I'm sharing an all natural formulation (remember that there are 50 shades of "natural") with you. The foam is quite nice and fluffy. I've applied this formulation both as a shampoo and as a shower foam. The skin feel is amazing. The foam volume is a too little for a hair shampoo but the cleansing power is quite all right. Yucca extract, which is actually rather a juice than an extract (because there is no solvent extraction involved in the process) is a natural saponin. You can apply it as a stand-alone surfactant or in blend with other natural surfactants. I really love the colour it imparts into product and its skin feel. Because of the high price, I recommend you to apply it in blend but of course you're completely free to apply it as a stand-alone surfactant (there are no limitations and cautions regarding the safety and sensitivity). In this recipe, I've blended yucca extract with other natural surfactants.

I usually do not apply hydrosols and high concentrations of extracts in rinse-off products. I find it too pity to rinse all those marvelous ingredients but again, you're free to apply your hydrosols or hydrophilic extracts in this recipe. I've prepared the foam however, with a calendula infusion instead of water.

Before we start I want to recommend you to read our older posts: hygienic manufacturing practice in cosmetic lab and introduction to Basic equipments and utensils for a cosmetic lab.

For this Foam you'll need:

Phase A:

Freshly boiled distilled water, a hydrosol or infusion Up to 100% (I've used a calendula infusion)

Di-Sodium/Sodium cocoyl glutamate 6.0%

Coco-glucoside  8.0%

Cocamidopropyl betaine   5.0%

Yucca extract   6.0%

Organic glycerine  4.0%

Panthenol  1.0%

Sodium lactate  1.0%

Phase B:

Euxyl K 903   1.0%

Phase C:

80% Lactic acid ca. 0.5-1.5%

Phase D:

Neroli essential oil 0.5%

Here we go:

In a beaker, blend the ingredients of phase A. You may first blend the surfactants with a spatula and then slowly add the water (or hydrosol or infusion) to this blend to avoid excessive foaming. A magnetic stirrer is an amazing tool for making surfactant blends and you can blend all ingredients together from the beginning without any foam.

After your phase A is completely homogeneous, add the preservative and measure the pH. You can either prepare a 10% dislution (if you're suing a pH-meter) or immerse a pH stripe directly into the foam. In my case, I have added about 1,0% lactic acid to bring the pH to 5.0. Depending on your ingredients, you may need to add more or less lactic acid. (Sdjust the pH according to the requirements of your preservative)

After adjusting the pH, add your essential oil and blend completely. Voila, your foam is ready. Fill in a foamer bottle and enjoy the skin feel and the rich foam.

Feel free to send me your questions and comments or posting your photos on SkinChakra® Facebook page.

BeHappy and have fun