Why Has My Balm Got A Grainy Texture?
If you have ever received a balm or salve that has what feels like little hard balls within it then this explains why that happens sometimes.
Everything I make is handmade using natural butters and oils. Each ingredient has its own melting and setting point, and they are all made up of different fatty acids, so they don’t always behave in exactly the same way.
A good comparison is chocolate and there is a lot of crossover between the products although one definitely tastes better than the other! You may recall occasionally seeing a white bloom on the surface of the chocolate? That is due to temperature fluctuations or high humidity, which cause either cause the fat crystals to separate or sugar to rise to the surface and crystallise. You’ll usually read on the packaging that it is perfectly safe to eat and nothing has gone wrong. It is just how temperature can affect it.
It is very similar with balms. The natural butters and oils, like shea or coconut are made up of different fatty acids. When they melt and cool at different rates, they can form tiny crystals. This can happen not long after being made or sometimes a few months later. It is completely normal.
I do my best to reduce the chances of this happening by tempering the butters. This means heating them to a specific temperature and holding them there for around 40 minutes. It helps keep everything as smooth and consistent as possible but it is not always foolproof.
Most of my balms, especially for wholesale, are made to order, so they will reach you in their best condition. Some of the retail ones will sit on a shelf in my stockroom. I always keep them away from heaters and radiators and out of direct sunlight, but with the kind of summers and winters we are getting now, temperatures can still fluctuate quite a lot and our buildings are not always designed to keep rooms at a steady temperature.
Because of that, the balm can sometimes soften slightly and then set again, and that is usually when those little grains can appear.
In a nutshell, I do my best to mitigate it, but I cannot guarantee it will never happen. What I can reassure you is that it is not a problem or a fault with the product. It is absolutely safe to use. It might feel slightly grainy at first, but as soon as it comes into contact with your dogs skin, it melts down and will do the same job. If you prefer a super smooth balm you can gently melt it down again and then leave to set and it will remove the grainy feel but that is not necessary for the product to be effective.