In the Q&A thread for October on Patreon, Lisa asked: I?m trying to emulsify silicones and oils. They keep separating. No water phase. Just silicones and oils. 

Silicones and oils don't mix. Although we consider them both oil soluble in lotions - for instance, when we are thinking about emulsifying something in a hair conditioner or a facial moisturizer - they really aren't, so they'll separate when combined.

We generally think of our ingredients as being
a) hydrophobic, or water hating
b) hydrophilic, or water loving
c) lipophobic, or oil hating
d) lipophilic, or oil loving

But there's a third category of ingredients that are siliphilic - silicone loving - or siliphobic - silicone hating. Silicones are hydrophobic, lipophobic, and siliphilic. They prefer to hang out with other silicones away from water and oils.
As an aside, you've probably read that dimethicone is considered a barrier protectant ingredient. How does that work" "It is the lack of solubility in oils and water that makes dimethicone a barrier when applied to skin."

When we create an emulsion or get things to combine that don't want to combine, we need a surfactant with one end of the molecule that loves water and the other end of the molecule that loves oils. We call these emulsifiers.

What the heck is an emulsifier and why is it so necessary" An emulsifier is something that can make water and oil play nicely with each other. We know that oil and water don't mix, but we can...