I’ve witnessed this with face creams, coconut oil, and lip balm – anything solid at room temp. if you dig a finger into the product, or run your nail against it, what comes away is soft and spreadable, rather than a hard chunk. I imagine the cell structure is changing in some way, but – what way? why does this happen?
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> …if you dig a finger into the product, or run your nail against it, what comes away is soft and spreadable…
Try an experiment.
Take a plastic knife/spoon/spork/whatever and put it in the fridge/freezer for a couple minutes. Take another and put it in some warm water for a little bit.
Now take the cold spork and dig a little bit into the oil/cream/balm. Does it become soft or stay as more of a hard chunk?
Now take the warm spork (and dry it off with a towel or something) and dig a little bit into the oil/cream/balm. Does it become soft or stay as more of a hard chunk?
(SPOILERS BELOW)
If you do the little experiment above, you’ll probably “discover” that the warm spork makes the oil/cream/balm melty and smooth while the cold spork leaves it more clumpy and solid.
This is because the chunkyness/oilyness changes due to temperature! The ingredients in the oil/cream/balm have a melting point that is lower than your body temperature. Therefore, when your warm fingers (or even the somewhat-warm back of a fingernail) touch the stuff it warms up the substance and causes it to melt and become less chunky.
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