Upon arrival, the basket with our mixtures and solutions were prepared for us. We were working with microemulsions, a combination of thermodynamically stable and isotropic mixtures of oil, water, surfactants and cosurfactants to improve the safety profile for cosmetic use. By manipulating PEG-20 glyceryl triisostearate in 3 distinct ratios of 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 with 96% ethanol we had our base. Later we combined this with 30% water and 5% of our capsaicin oil for the first two dilutions and 20% and 5% capsaicin oil for the last dilution. The vials were then mixed for a few minutes in the vortex. The vials were clear and had a bright darkish orange color to it with one having a cloudy appearance. They were allowed to sit for 24 hours and tomorrow we head to the manufacturing lab. The clear vials were the controls, containing triglyceride instead of the oil.
