In 1949, while working as a chemist at the Atlas Powder Company, William C. (Bill) Griffin developed the HLB System. HLB stands for `Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance` and is a measure of the relative proportions of water-soluble and oil soluble components in a surfactant. For any given surfactant function, such as detergency, emulsification or wetting, there is usually an optimum HLB value. Current emulsion technology dictates that the surfactants' HLB in a system must match the HLB requirement of the insoluble materials. The HLB Calculator is an Excel Worksheet based on that system that quickly and easily allows the formulator to calculate HLB requirements for cosmetic formulations.
The HLB system is a complicated formulary that helps you determine how much of certain oils and emulsifiers you need to create a stable and ph balanced emulsion, aka: lotion. The oil portion is called the lipophilic portion and the liquid portion is called the hydrophilic portion.
Each oil and butter had a very different makeup and requires a different percentage of emulsifier to break the surface tension that keeps an oil and liquid mixture apart and keep it combined. So you add the values of each ingredient and do some crazy math to determine what you need to do to combine everything into the consistency you want. You also need to take into consideration the ionic charge of your ingredients, either they are cationic (positive) or anionic (negative)!
You cannot just add some em wax to some oil and mix it in with some water and get a lotion! No! You need to break everything down into percentages and saturation levels so that it's a balanced solution.
I hate maths, I do, but this system has made it fun for me and I love experimenting with things to change up the emolliency and the feel of the finished product!
Later this week I'll talk more about actual emulsifiers and how they work and what they're made of.
With Glitter and Gratitude!
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