making a cream/lotion without water....

Is this even plausible? I'm thinking there might be a non-water substitute for the water portion of a recipe. Any ideas?

Well, the only recipe I've tried that actually worked called for aloe vera juice. I subbed aloe vera gel that I get from Essential Wholesale, it's very thin like water but is aloe. That's a common sub, from what I've seen.

You can also make a body butter regular or whipped, without water or any kind of liquid, just oils and butters, but they tend to be much heavier and greasier than a lotion.

Hmm, I don't think the aloe would work for what I'm going for since its prone to growing nasties. I'm trying to create a more lotion/cream like moisturizer without using water so that I won't have to use preservative. I'm working on whipped body butters and I love them - its just sometimes, like you said, you want something a little less heavy.

It's pretty hard to do - either you're doing butters w/ just oils or you've got an emulsion with water to lighten it up.

There are recipes that are 1/2 lotions - scrubs that have ewax in them. They're basically a lotion without water - they self emulsify when you use them. Maybe something like that would work for you. If you're a member of the Dish, there's a recipe over there called Bohunks #14 that's a self emulsifying scrub.

Ok, I've been brainstorming...

Maybe I could make a cream base and sell it as a "make your own natural lotion" kit...the customer could add as much distilled water as needed for the consistency they want. Natures Garden has something like this.They would ideally make it up in very small batches and store extra in the fridge if necessary.

Now I'm off to research emulsifying ingredients...I've never used any lol If anyone has any sites to share with me that might be helpful, I'd appreciate it Or just suggestions on making a base that will later emulsify in water...