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It seems like every other day, a new report gets shunted about online that lists all the horrible, harmful effects that ingredients in daily personal care products can wreak on our health. Parabens and phthalates are showing up in breast milk and body tissues; synthetic preservatives are polluting waterways… Just about everywhere we turn, the bad news bears peer around corners, admonishing us for the toxins we slather ourselves in. There is a way to absolutely ensure that the products we use are gentle on both our bodies and our environment, and that is to make our own.
Many naysayers will decry making products at home for a variety of reasons, from the possibility of homemade products going bad quickly to the negative stigma associated with being a bark-eating hippie slathering oneself with mashed avocado (which actually works amazingly well, fyi).
This recipe is a variation on the WildCraft Face Cream recipe from Mountain Rose Herbs. It’s a personal favorite, and very rich. As it’s such a thick, oil-based cream, it’s likely most effective for those of you who have dry skin that likes to suck up moisturizer as soon as it’s applied.
What You’ll Need:
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk(s)
- Various stirring implements
- Glass or stainless steel bowls
- Glass or stainless steel saucepans
- A double-boiler
- A blender or food processor
- The ingredients listed below
- A variety of clean lidded jars (sterilize these in a boiling water bath and then let them air-dry)
- A spatula
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup organic olive oil
- 1/4 cup organic sweet almond oil
- 1/4cup organic grapeseed oil
- 1/16 cup organic coconut oil
- 1/16 cup beeswax pastilles (for a vegan version, use carnauba wax)
- 1 cup organic hydrosol of your choice (I use rose hydrosol, and it smells gorgeous)
- 1/2 cup organic aloe vera gel
- 1/4 tsp vitamin E oil (a punctured capsule should be perfect)
- 8-15 drops of essential oil (lavender, rose, orange, neroli, or sandalwood all work well)
Prep:
STEP 1: Blend the oils together in a stainless steel or glass saucepan, and warm on very low heat; the oils should be warmed through, but not be allowed to really heat up.
STEP 2: In another saucepan or double boiler, also on low heat, heat the wax pastilles until they’ve melted completely.
STEP 3: Take your hydrosol and the aloe vera gel, and combine them gently in a bowl. I generally use a small whisk to blend these, but take care not to whip them up: just swish them together slowly.
STEP 4: If you have a double boiler, warm it on low heat to prepare it for the last step. If you don’t have one, you can place a pyrex measuring jug or a clean, thick glass jar in a heat-proof saucepan that’s filled with enough water to surround the glass to the halfway mark.
STEP 5: As this will make a fairly sizeable batch of cream, be sure to have several clean glass jars and lids ready to go. I find that I can fill 5 baby food jars (the ones that are around 4 oz/128 ml) 3/4 of the way full, but you can also use smaller lidded cosmetic tins (1 oz or 2 oz sizes) as well.
Making the Cream:
STEP 1: Take half of the warmed oil mixture and pour it into the double-boiler you’ve pre-heated. Add about 1/4 oz of the melted wax, and stir gently. This mixture should be wholly liquid, so if you find that the wax is starting to harden or congeal, the water in the lower part of the double-boiler isn’t warm enough: raise the heat a little bit and stir softly until everything’s liquid again.
STEP 2: In either an upright blender or food processor, combine about 6 oz (3/4 cup) of the hydrosol/aloe blend with the vitamin E oil and the essential oil* of your choice.
*Note that you don’t have to add essential oils if you’d prefer a fragrance-free cream, but if you do decide to add them, either just use one scent (such as rose, lavender, etc.) or a combination of two that complement one another well (like jasmine/neroli, or rose/sandalwood).
STEP 3: If you’re using an upright blender, remove the lid, turn the blender on low, and pour the warmed oil/wax mixture slowly into the very center of the spinning mixture below, taking very special care that you pour it in a steady, slow, thin stream. This is to ensure that the ingredients emulsify smoothly and don’t clump up. If you’re using a food processor, divide the warmed oil mixture in half and get a friend to stand across from you and pour slowly and steadily at the same time that you do: this will allow the mixture to be divided equally.
The cream will look a bit weird until it starts to thicken, but the sound the blender blades make will change to a lower pitch as the ingredients get thicker and creamier. Turn off the machine and use your spatula to scrape around the inside of the blender/food processor bowl and around the blades. This will scoop up any errant bits and moosh it all together well. Once you’ve done this, pulse the machine a couple of times to mix it well one last time.
STEP 4: Use your spatula and spoons to decant the cream into your jars. Use the spatula for getting every last bit out of nooks and crannies, but use the spoons to actually transfer the cream into the containers, as you’ll have greater control. Label these jars clearly with the date you created them and the scent that you used. If you keep the jars refrigerated, they’ll last for up to a year. Should you happen to notice that the contents smell a bit “off”, or if you see any mould on the cream, discard it immediately.
You’ll repeat this entire process for the second batch of your cream. Making your moisturizer in two batches like this is actually ideal, as you can create two different scents, if you’re so inclined. Feel free to experiment with different oil combinations, essential oil scents, etc. to see which work best for you. For example, the original recipe called for sesame oil instead of sweet almond, but that made me break out like crazy so I switched it out.
If you find that this cream is too rich and oily to use on your face, you can use it as a hand cream instead—for a hand salve, you’ll have far more options with regard to the EO scents that you choose, as the skin on your hands is much less sensitive than facial skin, and is less likely to break out or react negatively to oils like lemon, rose geranium, calendula, and such.
