When making your own body lotions/face creams you have 2 options: you can either make your own or buy one. Below is a recipe for a basic cream/lotion base.
When making a cream from scratch there are two stages that must be considered – the oil phase and the water phase. They must be kept separate until each has reached a maximum heat of 70 degrees, after which they can be mixed together.
WATER PHASE
900ml distilled or purified water
25 g Unigerm g-2 ( synthetic preservative ) or 7g grapefruit seed extract
( natural preservative )
OIL PHASE
100ml carrier oil of your choice ( a good all rounder is almond oil
or jojoba oil
)
60g emulsifying wax
( reduce to 40 gram for lotion consistency )
STEP 1
Pour distilled/purified water in a saucepan. Apply low heat and slowly build to a maximum of 70 degrees. Keep checking to ensure you do not exceed the maximum temperature.
STEP 2
In a separate saucepan add the carrier oil and the emulsifying wax
, once again on low heat. As with the water, phase keeps on checking the temperature. You will generally find that once the emulsifying wax has fully melted you are close to the desired temperature.
STEP 3
Once you have reached 70 degrees in both the water and oil phase, remove from the stove and pour the water into the oil.
STEP 4
Stir until the mixture reaches 45 degrees, then add the preservative and other active ingredients such as essential oils, vitamins, or extracts. Continue to stir.
STEP 5
Once the mixture has reached around 35 – 36 degrees you will notice it starting to thicken. Let it cool completely.
And that is it. Now you have your very own base cream!
Over the coming weeks I will be posting many different types of creams & lotions for you to make using this base cream.
Are the temperature degrees in centigrade?
love the idea of making my own creams. I know what is an isn;t in them then.
Yes it is Jackie 🙂
Grapefruit Seed Extract is not a preservative! It is an anti-oxidant and a broad-spectrum antimicrobal but definately not a preservative. You’ll have germies growing if you don’t use a real preservative!
Hi Naomi,
I get lots of conflicting stories over grapefruit seed extract. . For Bath n Body readers maybe you could suggest a few alternatives to GSE my only other suggestion would be “Naticide”
how many grams of cream does this recipe make?
Hi,
This looks pretty straightforward and easy. Thanks fir the recipe. I noticed that you didn’t use a stick blender…is it not necessary for making a base cream?
Flora