Daniela~extracts in products~a bit of input~long

[Guest guest]

Morning Daniela:

 

Wellllll...since you asked.

 

A bit of info on extracts in products. Some folks don't like to use the full

alcohol extracts due to the evaporation and drying effect in products. When the

herbal extract is in small amounts, I see no problem, and you can always balance

it with a humectant such as glycerin. Which will draw moisture to the skin and

will tend to balance out the drying effect. Mixing with moisturizing carrier

oils helps too.

 

Pure Glycerin extract: I've never made one, but tend to blend with after an

extract is made. Why? It takes too long to extract the medicinal value out of

the herb and then the glycerin extract has a much shorter shelf life than an

alcohol base one as in years. The shelf life of glycerin runs about 1-2 years

and it can take up to a year to extract enough medicinal benefit from the herb

to make it worthwhile to hear tell. Glycerin is sweet and sticky so you do have

to play with it a bit but works well in some areas. This is where you just have

to play a lot to see what works for you and not. Glycerin extracts can be good

for those with alcohol sensitivities, but can be achieved by adding very warm to

hot water to an extract before dosing. Also, you have to be very careful to get

a pure food grade glycerin if an extract is to be used internally. Some folks

won't do them as they have to have a green? room to break down barrels due to

dust and particles getting in and

contaminating the glycerin. These rooms can cost thousands and not worth it to

them. We have to research every time we buy glycerin. We buy it by the 5 gal.

containers. Our old supplier isn't offering it any more except in small batches

thru their food ingredients products at a big increase in price and only in

smaller sizes. Hopefully, our current supplier will keep supplying it.

 

One massage therapist that I work with doesn't like alcohol based evaporation

problems. When I make a certain product for her, I made it with a large amount

of fractionated coconut and use a heavy dilution of menthol crystals in alcohol

to balance out the drying effect of the alcohol. It tends to work very well.

 

Tinctures are made with alcohol and distilled water. You are probably seeing

those on the shelf. Nothing wrong with those, but I prefer to do a 1:1 ratio of

herb & alcohol. Have always felt like the alcohol withdraws more of the

medicinal value out of the herb and no need to worry in case the water gets

nasties in it somewhere along the line.

 

Course I would love to have the Chinese recipe of Panax Ginseng in pure water.

It's been around hundreds/thousands of years and would be quite the feather to

get such a recipe.

 

When making a water,oils, and alcohol based product you are going to need to

look at emulsifiers to hold the whole thing together. With the oils and alcohol

you will probably need a Poly 20 or 80, etc. With water and oils, you will

probably need a vegetable wax of some type.

 

One other thing you will probably want to consider is an Infused herbal oil.

Some folks begin working with herbs by making infused oils. In the Summertime,

these can be made in as little as 3 short weeks in the sun. Some herbalists

steep them for years with great success. Others can hasten up the process by

using a very low~warm temp via the stove, double boiler, crock pot for a quick

recipe. I would not recommend doing many like this, but some things need to be

done in a light warming situation like some perfume infusions & what I call a

layering recipe. Be sure to check the herb for whether it needs to be wilted,

or fresh tho. Some herbs have such high water content they have to be wilted to

avoid mold & spoiling.

 

For example: Layering recipe: It's possible to take many days to make a

recipe that will include a slight warming of fresh and/or dried material, the

same herb in an extract, plus the essential oil of that herb at the end. It's a

layered recipe and nothing quick about it. Results can be wonderful and keep

your recipe from being duplicated by others.

 

There are many others out there that will have different ideas and input.

Read everything you can get your hands on, research, & ask questions. When

researching myself, I tend to read from every book in my library, notes,

websites, archives, etc. Try not to be too hasty with your recipes, and have

fun & enjoy making your own goodies!

 

Happy Fragrant Holidays to all,

deb

 

 

 

Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search.