I am VERY allergic to coconut and its derivatives which makes it impossible to buy most skincare products in the stores, and also very tricky to make my own. Borage seed oil contains an omega-6 fatty acid that may lower inflammation in people with RA. Massaging borage oil into the scalp can help, thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties. Mango and cupuacu butters would be my top recommendations as a replacement for shea butter . This is Perfect!! Thanks for reading, Tasha! I would like your input on the carrier oils you think would make a great moisturizing lip balm. Its used like an essential oil for a vanilla-y scent as vanilla essential oil is water soluble (and more expensive), so it doesnt work in oil-based products. I was especially interested in know how Shea butter absorbed compared to other carrier oils. Happy new year and stay safe Marie. You are rad! Could you tell me what it is & what it does? I have shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax here at home. Good to know, thank you! However, my cousin is allergic to shea butter. Hi! If Im reading your charts properly, youre saying it would be worth a try using babassu oil instead? As I explain in the article, shea butter and coconut oil arent generally a good swap as they have drastically different melting points and textures. Beeswax, coconut oil and palm oil is produced here, while other carrier is imported. Some sink in quickly, some slowly, and some very, very slowly. Hi Reya! 10. I want to mix Apricot seed oil, Jojoba oil, Rosehip oil, grapeseed oil, calendula oil and hemp seed oil as a face serum. No. Sorry! well suited for use on dry, mature and sun damaged skin. Coconut oil and shea butter are really very different, as I discuss in this entry. Its very similar to jojoba oil, but there are also a lot of other options here if you go through the questions at the end . Can you help me to reduce the oiliness? Borage oil's benefits for skin health include helping to seal skin moisture, maintain skin suppleness and fight skin inflammation. I want to make an under eye cream using carrot seed oil, green tea extract and as much of good ingredients ive learned from your recipe as possible (allantoin,hydrolyzed silk,Panthenol, Vit E oil, evening primrose oil and even maybe sodium lactate! Ive shared many over the years . Honestly, that swap should not have caused a massive consistency changeit is much more likely to be something else. OH Great! Is it ok to substitute apricot oil for the coconut? Its a pretty good alternative to shea unless you want the heavy, sticky feel . Plz help. Carrier oils as you rightly said made of different types of oils and come with different properties and characteristics. I love your blog! A recipe for PP that I want to follow calls for the use of Canola Oil. Any tips on what would be the best ingredients to make this cream/lotion? I am still an amateur at DIY but I am slowly learning more about these things. I will definitely need to try some smaller tester batches before splurging on large quantities. THANK YOU, Hi Fallon! I LOVE the smell of it and want to know more about the speed of absorption. Carrier oil substitution list for DIY beauty products! Thanks again! I wrote up some observations on different shea butters, but I havent found any that actually absorb quickly. While allergic reactions to coconut have been documented, most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut. You can definitely make a product containing aloe vera and essential oils, but the concoction you have described is not the way to do itit is unlikely to be safe to use. For example, things like Germall Liquid Plus, according to my limited research is not vegan and I have a hard time finding a vegan preservative. Try going down to ~20g of coconut oil instead of a cup. I enjoyed this article so much! Ive learned soooo much. The recipe calls for coconut oil and shea butter. I have learned so much! Thanks, Sarah! The butter is perfect. I was reading through your post and kind of thought that maybe cocoa butter would be better but I just wanted to double-check. Refined would be a good find . Thank you for the very informative post with all the proper substitutions! Borage plant parts contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are toxic to the liver and lungs and possibly carcinogenic. I am very new at this. SInce tumeric is supposed to be so good for arthritis, it makes sense to make a balm with this new butter as the star. This website participates in the Formula Botanica, Baraka Shea Butter, TKB Trading, and Amazon affiliate programs; as an Amazon Associate, Humblebee & Me earns from qualifying purchases. . If you are allergic to tree nuts, talk to your allergist before adding coconut to your diet. (source). Ive been working on the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia; check there to see if the thing youre curious about is listed , Also, Id recommend giving this, this, and this a read , Hi Marie, For non-soap applications, babassu is the best substitute Ive ever worked with. I am not confident Ive ever found a completely coconut and sulphate free surfactant, especially if the derivatives of coconut oil (lauric acid, etc.) I find it very soothing for itchy skin . Ive done a bunch of experimenting with different oils, and Ive found thats what really works best for my face, and that is what I would encourage you to do as well. I was wondering if I could replace coconut oil with sweet almond oil / jojoba oil / avocado oil / macadamia nut oil? Im sorry for all the questions! A carrier oil pressed from the seeds of the borage flower. Thank you for sharing. Thanks! Refer to the second chart and the guide at the end for many options and how to think through this . The closest youd be able to get to this would be a gram to gram swap, but thats still not going to be very accurate. Cocoa butter is MUCH harder than shea butter as you can see in the liquid/soft/brittle chart . Your posts are beautifully photographed and inspiring, so thank you! Another brilliant thing about working in weight is the accuracy of scalingyou can easily test a 30g batch and then multiply it up to a 300g batch and itll work! This is one of the most beneficial posts I have read about the different oils. Thank you so much for your answer in advance. If you have a lotion recipe or deodorant one especially, please post it! That is to say, old-fashioned soap and beeswax/borax emulsions. It would not be a good substitution oil. That would give you more freedom to formulate with . My project is for feeding the bees Pollen Patties at the end of the month. Chances are the neem oil is the magic ingredient in that eczema salve; if you want to ditch it I would choose a different recipe entirely , I have been making tinted lip balm in a pushup tube with virgin coconut oil (22%), unrefined shea butter (23%), grapeseed oil (32%), candelilla wax (15%) and natural mineral (9%). Thanks for writing this article. Great blog you have! Texture and melting point-wise, yes, but keep in mind that mango butter absorbs into the skin very quickly whilst shea butter is heavy and greasy, so if a recipe relies on mango butter for its fast absorption speed, using shea butter will ruin that aspect of the recipe . Think about baking, and swapping olive oil for butter in a cookie recipethere would be ramifications ;P, I usually use coconut oil and kokum butter in my skin cream and when being in the sun. When it comes to lotion, oil phase size ends up being a lot more important than the oils you choose. It is a white, odorless semi-solid. LOVE your post. That way you can start to understand how things work and make easy and successful substitutions! Common carrier oils include olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, canola oil, sweet almond oil, walnut oil, and more. Can I easily add honey to this without any difficulty? When a formula calls for an oil and makes a big deal out of its special features or scent, that generally means swapping it for something else is a no-go. Hey Jamie! But still wondering what oil is best to use to thin the tacky RSO out but also have the best absortion rate. I have linsk to a carrier called Salvo but it is not cheap at all, 1 per ml!! Thanks again!!! Thats just your ingredientsyou arent missing anything. That was a relief to know that I can use shea butter in place of coconut oil. Argan is wonderful, as is evening primrose oil and borage oil . If I put castor oil on my face, it seems to do better. Thanks, Claire! I understand that you use cold process. , Just a tip: if you keep your lotion in the refrigerator, its nice and cool when you put it on. On my second attempt I used Olive oil, Sweet Almond oil and a little Castor oil. if you could make something and share the recipe would save me from some potential disaster, otherwise if you could help me regarding the carrot seed oil would be great, also, i noticed that in your Encyclopedia under allantoin you say Blend it thoroughly it in the cool-down phase but in some recipes you have added it to water phase, which one is correct? If you purchase refined shea butter and refined mango butter they are fairly indistinguishable; I doubt I could tell them apart if they were set out in unlabelled dishes! Are used light sesame oil, 70% isopropyl alcohol. If a recipe calls for vitamin E oil as an antioxidant, can it be substituted with evening primrose oil or anything else? However, after thats been said, I realized that the salve takes an incredibly long time to absorb. So, theres still a chance of the end consistency to be different than my test run. Some types of carrot oil should never be applied directly to the skin and should be diluted first. Thank you for the work you put into this. I read through the comments and read about someone who doesnt like the coconut oil but my skin actually cant handle it. If you wish to use it in cooking, put the oil just before serving to keep the fatty acids intact. It worked a dream, but still was wondering if this is the best carrier oil to use. I am curious, do you have any experience with Shea Nut Oil & how it can be used to reduce the bumpy feeling from shea butter? Hey Jess! (aka goopy/ slidy messy on my mat or clothes..). ill probably get some mango butter eventually for making fragrance-free products for pregnant/nursing friends or their kids. I make amazing bath bombs with shea butter, coconut oil and cocoa butter but Ill need to change my recipe as I need to speed up the process somehow and melting the butters is quite time consuming. A small 2014 study looked at the effectiveness of coconut oil for treating eczema in patients between the ages of 1 and 13. I am keen to use castor oil for the amazing properties for the hair but she just told me she is pregnant so I need to avoid castor oil. This is so helpful!!! Some are obvious, but some are not. Any recommendations for the almond oil substitute would be appreciated! Also you didnt mention about mineral oil, I love your post, thank you very much. There are carrier oils that are said to help with pretty much every ailment: acne, psoriasis, warts, dry skin, oily skin, sore muscles, soft tissue injuries, sprains, sunburns, eczema, burns, cuts, sprains, rosacea and the list goes on. Then you have a carrot oil (from the plant) that contains oodles of Vitamin A! First off, LOVE this article. Jojoba oil gives very nice thickness to my cream but I want to substitute it by oil which gives similar thickness ( having reduced cost). Hi Selene! Happy making! Im looking for a good substitute for jojoba oil. On the whole, I wouldnt recommend this , At home vitamin C serums are really tricky to make because vitamin C is super prone to oxidization, and once it oxidizes, it doesnt work anymore. The propylene glycol is definitely vegan (though I suppose arguments could be made re: the possibility of dinosaurs being involved in the petro-source though that would open up a whole new can of worms!). Does itfeel heavy or slow absorbing to you? Hi Ayse! Hmmm. From my reading it seems each oil has a different droplet size in the emulsion and avo oil must have huge droplets because the Polawax did nothing to it. Hopefully you can help me with this! The ingredients you mention in particular are some of my favourites for body buttersbecause they melt into thin liquids and absorb quickly. I tried looking througn your encyclopedia of oils to see if you had worked with it or if it can be substituted with another carrier, but I have had not luck. You can use virgin cooking oil, but Id probably look for something cheaperno need for the lovely stuff that tastes great if youre putting it on your skin. Hi! Carrier oils are loaded with great fats that make your skin happy. Hi Alexa! The combination works really well during our hot summer which is between 30 to 39 degree. Thank you so much for all the info. That way, if you dont like it, you dont have three years worth of it sitting around . Hi Lisa! Hello, What a great idea and so very helpful! However, theres a big difference between oils in how quickly they absorb into the skin. If theyre the same state, whats the absorption speed like? Oopsie! So, when swapping out oils in a formulation where absorbency is important, ensure the replacement oil is pretty similar to the original in terms of absorption speed. Sometimes the answer is a quick yes, and sometimes its a complicated no. Can I add hazelnut oil to it, so it would be absorbed better? My skin is not always happy with jojoba oil so I rarely if ever use it and prefer oils like apricot, rice bran, moringa, sea buckthorn, argan, wheat germ the list goes on! Ive been making lip balms and body butters for about a year, and want to learn more about the differences between the lovely oils and butters Im using! Borage seed is a rich source of GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), an omega-6 fatty acid with anti-inflammatory properties. Honestly, that recipe sounds bad. Thanks, Erica! Butters - Most butters are interchangeable. I completely understand, and agree with, the gluten free analogy as I also happen to have Celiacs. Itll make for a thicker final product, but wont effect it as drastically. and Im switching out the beeswax for candelilla for it to be vegan friendly and i know that using half the amount of candelilla when replacing the beeswax. For hemp, I got unrefined, but you do have to be gentle with it. Now I realize I will probably have to alter the amounts of my other ingredients when I make this swap in certain recipes like my stretch mark salve. That said, many people positively love using handmade soap and swear by it, so if it works for you that may be a good option. Hey Janie! As to your question please dont do that if you want to make lip balm You will end up with a liquid (coconut oil melts at 24C and when combined with another liquid oil the final product is liquid unless your house is about 5C), with gritty bits of cocoa powder sunk to the bottom, and a blob of honey floating on top (honey is water soluble and will not easily emulsify with oils, especially without a thickened to stabilize the emulsion). I am very fair and acne prone. Interactions. Hi KD! can i use it instead of z camellia seed oil? How It Works Chives. I want to make your lemongrass & seaweed shampoo bar and was wondering what I could replace the lard with. Could you give me your opinion, please? Thank you for posting and I cant wait to see the other ones you mentioned. 1 tablespoon Fullers Earth Because i want to make a lotion which is thin, light and fast absorb, not greasy. What can I substitute coconut oil with in a shaving cream recipe thats non-comedogenic? Holy cow, youre making COLOSSAL amounts of body butter for something you might not even like o_O. Your site is a great source. They do also tend to be basic, but Ive got one that I adjusted down to an acidic pH about a year ago that still seems to be stable, so I think you can lower the pH of an old fashioned cold cream and still have a stable product . Camelina Oil High in Omega-3 fatty acids, more commonly found in fish, this is a very nourishing and emollient oil for soap making. Gamma-linolenic acid is known to slow blood clotting and may amplify the effects of blood thinners such as Coumadin (warfarin) and Plavix (clopidogrel), causing easy bruising and bleeding. please answer and thanks . Really, after this, its all gravy. Im afraid vodka is not a preservative in any way when added to this many different ingredientsyoull need a proper broad spectrum preservative. You must replace eliminated carrier oils with something similar, or you will very drastically alter the final product (imagine cookies made without flour). I want to make a concoction for excema on my cousins feet. Do you have some sort of guideline for ratio polawax to different oils? I have just the article for you here It is worth noting, though, that cocoa butter does have a fairly high comedogenic (pore clogging) rating, so you might prefer to purchase a bit of cocoa absolute and add that to you liquid oil instead! Borage oil is a wonderful source of fatty acids, and is the highest natural source of linoleic acid. If you want to make a lotion, an emulsifying wax would be a good choice Since it sounds like youre relatively new to this Id really recommend following a simple recipe first to see what youre aiming for before venturing off on your own . If you and your skin dont like it that is totally ok and normal I recommend checking out this section of my website. I am trying to create for my friend a simple body oil that she can use in her face and hair as well. Thank you. 6 drops frankincense oil Like corn oil, soybean oil is best suited for pan-sauts and baking. I have developed an allergy to beeswax. For soap/shampoo bar making, can I substitute with shea butter since it seems to be non comodegenic? However, it is so prevalent in most recipes. Your final product will likely not be exactly the same, but it should be just fine. Almond oil is a liquid oil with an average absorption speed, so anything in the table above under average absorption (like jojoba) will work . Ive written an article on using lard & tallow in soap that should help you out here . I am just wondering if it is possible to swap the sweet almond oil in your lip balm recipes with hempseed oil or a mix of maybe hempseed and jojoba? high in linoleic and gamma linolenic acids (also known as vitamin F). In addition to the benefits of an oil, sometimes a formula will call for an oil because of its individual scent, the three most obvious ones being cocoa butter (smells like chocolate), coconut oil (smells like coconuts), and beeswax (smells like honey). Thanks! Can I use that instead of coconut oil? Thanks, Ana! You really do have a gift:). Invaluable knowledge ~ thank you for sharing. Check out my different wax quick guides to learn how different waxes perform in comparison to beeswax . Will switching some of the coconut oil out be a good swap? Example: I love to use coconut oil on my skin, but it doesnt seem to absorb well. Sweet almond oil is a liquid oil with an average absorption speed, so any other liquid oil with an average absorption speed will work. If you dont have it, just make something else you basically would be anyways if you swapped out the star ingredient of a formula for something different. Coconut oil is an emollient, which means it has a moisturizing effect when applied directly to the skin. said to give relief to eczema and atopic dermatitis. Someone gave me a recipe for spider veins but it called for 1/2 cup carrier oil (2 part shea butter 1 part coconut oil) Because I was thinking carrier oil I got shea oil instead. The inner measurements of my mold are 15 long, 3.5 across, and 3.5 deep. 1 Tablespoon Jojoba Oil Argan Oil - Hemp Seed Oil, Sunflower Oil Avocado Oil - Olive Oil, Castor Oil Castor Oil - Wheat Germ Oil, Sesame Oil, Avocado Oil Coconut Oil - Grapeseed Oil, Jojoba Oil, Argan Oil Evening Primrose Oil - Black Currant Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Borage Seed Oil, Vitamin . I love this!! Kokum butter is more than 50% stearic acid, which is very hard/solid. Carmine, silk, beeswax, tallow, lard, lanolin, emu oil thats about all I can think of for ones that arent. And also the way you steer us clear from the marketing loopholes Thanks! Hi! 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