What do chocolate makers know that cosmetic chemists do not know?

If there is one section of the industry that solopreneurs and artisanal formulators have a much better chance than the big, fat industry it's making waterless products, specially balms and lotion bars.

This is the section that according to my humble opinion and experience every artisanal manufacturer shall start because:

• You can start making awesome products with next to no investment. You literally can start right today in your kitchen
• You need no investment in machinery
• The process of safety assessment and the whole process of bringing your product to the market is much faster and less pricey compared to lotions and hydrogels
• There is no hassle (time, instruments) of pH measurement and adjustment (what a relief)
• Usually there is no need for microbial challenge testing unless you are using loads of plant extracts and other tricky ingredients
• The whole process of stability testing is much faster, easier and less pricey compared to water containing products

You still need to have a meticulous GMP and a thorough knowledge about the safety and properties of the raw material but still you can start creating and selling product after product and THEN and only then after you have collected a reasonable capital you can venture to the world of emulsion making or expanding your portfolio,

The big fat industry is still struggling with making waterless products. Neither their conventional formulators nor their facilities are suitable for this huge trend. This is why the big names are purchasing (you can call it swallowing) INDIE brand after INDIE brand just to have a share of this fat and growing section of the market. So before spending all of your time being sad why you can not afford that fanciful homogenizer or overhead stirrer start creating amazing balms and bars and then purchase those fanciful instruments with the money you earn selling your balms.

Now we come to the main challenge of making balms: The dreaded graininess

There is something that every hobby chocolate maker knows yet they don't teach it to us even at a university level in cosmetic formulation and that's the crystalline phase of cocoa butter (and other butters for that matter)

So most novice and even experienced formulators make a balm and then hope and pray it doesn't get grainy. Most often the product becomes grainy and sometimes not and since they do not exactly document the process they just don't know what's the magic spell that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't work.

Some blame the poor shea butter and try to ban it from their formulations, some fall in the trap of certain suppliers who claim their shea butter is specifically processed and will not get grainy. But it is not the shea butter or any other butter that causes graininess in balms, dull and ugly appearance in lotion bars or the blooming in waxes.

When graininess happens (unless you control the process), in best case the product is ugly and unpleasant to touch. In most cases they appear like contamination to the consumer (and even to the formulator) and freak both the consumer and the formulator out and force them to discard all of that goodness.

@SkinChakra we have been working with hundreds of artisanal formulators from over 100 countries during the last 12 years. Have been making and shipping samples around the world, to customers, trade fairs and exhibitions and we know the secret to creating shiny bars (in chocolate making they call it SNAP) and non-grainy balms. Join our 3 weeks formulation challenge in which we will share our secret with you, take your hand and move you step by step to creating amazing, stable and beautiful balms, bars and sticks

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