Practical Tips on How to Make Your First Facial Cream

As I’m planning to update you with some homemade skin cream recipes, I decided to post some general rules on how to whip up a homemade cream. Just follow the rules, and I’m sure you will become a great cream-maker.

Background:

Creams are semi-solid emulsions, which is a mixture of oil and water. They are categorized into two types: oil-in-water (O/W) creams composed of small droplets of oil dispersed in a continuous aqueous phase, or water-in-oil (W/O) creams composed of small droplets of water dispersed in a continuous oily phase.

To make a homemade skin cream, you need three components:

Water Phase: water, hydrosol, juice, milk, etc.
Oily Phase: vegetable oil, animal fats, lanolin, silicones, waxes, etc.
Emulsifier: special emulsifier for creams or wax, lanolin, lethicin, etc. The cream with a special emulsifier is easier to make, has a better texture, and creates a more stable emulsion so that oils do not separate from the water.
Additionally, the cream may also contain: preservatives (which I never use in my creams), active ingredients, extracts, essential oils, etc. In order to stabilize the emulsion (so the cream will not break), you can use less emulsifiers and instead use gel formers, alike xanthan, guar, or thickeners. More about beauty ingredients in green ingredients section.

Keeping Homemade Facial Creams:

It is highly important to make sure the product is protected from bacteria, so check that the container is thoroughly closed.
After making a product, immediately place it into the refrigerator.
Label the container with the date. This will help you to remember when the product was made so that it does not spoil.
Remove the cream from the product container with a spatula and not your fingers. Dipping your hands into the homemade cream will cause it to spoil faster because of the spread of bacteria.
When you do create a homemade facial cream, you can freeze it by placing small bottles in the freezer. When you are ready to use it, you can simply defrost for a wonderful beauty treat!

Advice Before Getting Started:

It is easier to create water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion. On your first try, it is better to create fatty creams where the amount of oil used is more than the water content.
Start with only 3 to 4 ingredients. It will be easier to understand and prevent mistakes.
It is important not to be lazy. Wait to mix until the product has cooled completely, which you can do with very short breaks.
Mix water and oils of the same temperature.
Instead of hydrosols, you can use brewed teas, chamomile, calendula, green tea, etc.
Almost all additional components should be added at the last after the cream has cooled.

Practice Makes Perfect!

IMPORTANT: Before you begin making a homemade product, make sure that you thoroughly clean the area that you are working in. Wash your hands completely. Make sure to also wash any dishes, mixing utensils, spoons, or other tools that you may use. This should be done when you begin creating the product, as well as afterward.

So now we will make a test recipe, so you could better understand the technique of creating homemade skin creams. I took the easiest recipe i could imagine, so here we go. You will need:

Tools:

Container – I always choose glass containers over plastic, because plastic containers are not completely safe and can bring many harmful germs and bacteria to your skin.
Double boiler
Mini mixer – i recently purchased great mini mixer from Amazon, you can check it here
Spoons – 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon
Mixing utensils – spoons, chopsticks etc.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of beeswax
3 tablespoons of almond oil
3 tablespoons of mineral water

Instructions:

Step 1. Melt beeswax in a double boiler.