Bleah/misc
Feb. 3rd, 2021 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterI spent yesterday huddled under a blanket with a sinus headache that would not respond to ibuprofen or tea. Eventually my whining convinced S to set up the humidifier in the bedroom overnight, and as of this morning the headache is gone but my lymph nodes are slightly swollen.
On Monday night, I finally whipped up another batch of homemade lotion.
I've never been completely satisfied with the outcome when I make homemade lotion - I always wind up with some chunky business from the combination of oils and waxes I've added.
Interestingly, a skin cream that I got at the farmer's market here about a year ago contains almost identical ingredients as the lotion recipe I've been working with, although it definitely contains more waxes.
So I had to figure there must be a way to make things work. Based on watching a small handful of internet videos, it looks like it is possible to start with both the oil-based fraction and the aqueous fraction at warmer temperatures and still attain an emulsion.
Something to try for next time, and also something that is more likely to make me more enthusiastic about making lotion next time. The chunky business usually winds up sticking to the inside of the blender and is a chore to clean out.
And now you know, too.
Other than that I worked on rewriting the Discussion section for a manuscript. That's the last thing I can really hope to accomplish before the jaws of the spring semester snap closed around me.
On Monday night, I finally whipped up another batch of homemade lotion.
I've never been completely satisfied with the outcome when I make homemade lotion - I always wind up with some chunky business from the combination of oils and waxes I've added.
Interestingly, a skin cream that I got at the farmer's market here about a year ago contains almost identical ingredients as the lotion recipe I've been working with, although it definitely contains more waxes.
So I had to figure there must be a way to make things work. Based on watching a small handful of internet videos, it looks like it is possible to start with both the oil-based fraction and the aqueous fraction at warmer temperatures and still attain an emulsion.
Something to try for next time, and also something that is more likely to make me more enthusiastic about making lotion next time. The chunky business usually winds up sticking to the inside of the blender and is a chore to clean out.
And now you know, too.
Other than that I worked on rewriting the Discussion section for a manuscript. That's the last thing I can really hope to accomplish before the jaws of the spring semester snap closed around me.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 03:47 pm (UTC)(Very!) limited observation suggests you can get an emulsion at any temperature below whatever polymerizes first, you just need an hydraulic piston and a plate full of fine holes.
Not useful for homemade, but hopefully suggestive of possibilities in the way a semester having jaws is not!
no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 05:02 pm (UTC)I think one of the things that has bugged me about the lotion project is that I don't wind up getting to replicate it very frequently because I just don't go through all that much lotion (insert 500 raunchy jokes here). So I'm glad to at least have a good idea to test out the next time I have a chance to do so. But on that front, I need to make sure I add some notes to the existing recipe so I don't forget.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-04 03:55 am (UTC)That particular setup was making custom furniture polish in a high end cabinet shop, and the plate was rather robust. (Awhile ago, and I was part of a student tour, so I doubt I ever had actually useful levels of detail and I surely don't now, alas.)
Recipe notes are surely a thing. Accumulated a couple pages trying to get weird rice right in a pressure cooker recentish.
no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-02-03 11:47 pm (UTC)Laziness. :^)
no subject
Date: 2021-02-04 01:16 am (UTC)You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ;)