Thank you so much !
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Thank you so much as well, I very much appreciate the both of you !
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Most people should probably just stick to oil-based salves for homemade topicals. Shortest answer is just dissolve your cannabinoids into a jar of coconut oil and call it a day. Honestly this is pretty much all a lot of the dispensaries are still doing. May add a few splinters of menthol or lavender EO for fragrance/marketability.
If you want to get technical. I like dipropylene glycol for water soluble lotions/serums. Nice and silky. Most lotions will use propylene glycol, glycerine, maybe some PEG100. There are various organic emulsifying wax blends— carnauba, soy, beeswax, lecithin. Whipping a ridiculous amount can often generate the texture you want with water/alcohol/emolient. The more it’s whipped, the less the chemicals in your formulation will butt heads (in this case hydrophilic heads). Texture (as in what you’re using for emollient(s), waxes, and moisturizers is ultimately going to be a “cosmetic” (superficial) thing so don’t obsess over it unless you’re trying to compete with Neutrogena or something.
For preservatives, if you’re trying to mimic the big name retail brands that you see in stores they do phenoxyethanol, propyl/ethyl/methyl/butyl paraben (any/all of the above), sodium benzoate,
Potassium sorbate, etc. If those chemical names scare you and you are not prepared to research how to handle them then forget everything I just said and go back to the beginning of this post and just make a salve. Salve yourself the trouble of trying to get oil and water to mix because it’s probably unnecessary for your intended application. There are “natural” alternatives to control bacteria growth but that’s a different story.
Lotions (water based) are better for cosmetics made for your face and areas that cannot absorb oil as well. Water based moisturizers are designed to “dry” so they are not as greasy which is appealing for consumers… If you’re using a topical on a muscle or joint then that doesn’t matter if it’s greasy. The “easy” oil-based way is probably going to suffice unless you’re going all out with nano/skin penetration enhancers/patches etc. You’ll definitely get more repeat customers with the rate people fly through an airy, water-based lotion compared to a heavy salve.
Why am I spending my Saturday night writing up paragraphs about making cosmetics
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Because you’re a gift from god and we appreciate your detailed input.
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Exactly what move weight said, You’re for the people and just know random me just tryna save myself from drugd with not so fun symptoms, and my parents+grandparents from getting on painkillers, genuinely appreciates your input a lot. Lots of good knowledge in there. Thank you guys. I really mean it and it’ll mean a lot to my family. Not looking for repeat customers so I’ll probably go the salve route! Want it to last as long as it can for them 
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Awesome info man! Thank you for all the knowledge.
I’m curious what makes you say that, I’d have assumed the opposite but I’m not versed in topical applications.
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Personally I throw the kitchen sink at things when there real medical issues. I would do thca, thc, cbda, and cbd and whatever else is laying around (cbg,cbn,etc)
Or make several, each high potency, but different cannabinoids and go from there
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I’ve tried a bunch of different combinations of cannibinoids and have gotten the best reports from thca and CBD 1:2. Nothing but anecdotal evidence.
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I’ve said it before but nerolidol is suggested to enhance transdermal absorption. It also has a pleasant and very subtle aroma. For cosmetics it’s recommended up to 1.15% max but that would be much more than you’d ever need in a salve and frankly I can’t think of a time you’d want anywhere close to that. I personally go for about 1/10th that. Some skin types can be irritated by fragrance ingredients like this and if you find you’re not one of the people who get itchy/redness etc then experiment with more if you want to test to see it absorption is enhanced.
It’s not as volatile as most terpenes so it will be a bit more oily and overall pretty mild by comparison. I would still treat it like most fragrance ingredients and keep it away from sensitive areas like your eyes/face/arm pits etc.
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I was thinking in mine doing either a 1:2 THC:CBD distillate/isolate ratio or a 1:1 for my arthritis, my mothers and my grandfathers. Then just hella cbd in my grandmother and fathers, since they are tested at work. Do those seem like values that would work ? I’m new to all this I (and most of my family) are pill averse. I have everything ordered and I’m ready to infuse besides that part 
thanks for all you’ve spoon fed me! (Ended up getting the hemp lotion over a balm/salve)
Hit me in a DM. I’ll tell you exactly how to infuse that paticular product.
But let this thread die.