This nourishing face cream is so easy to make and uses essential oils and other healthy ingredients to nourish your skin.
You might also like these homemade lip balms using essential oils!
For about six months I had a little growth on my face that never would go away. I bit the bullet and went to a dermatologist and he took care of it but when it was biopsied, it came back as cancerous. I was truly shocked! It’s nothing to worry about but I’m vowing to take better care of my skin.
For me it’s about using natural products, eating nutrient dense foods and of course now always wearing sun screen. I’m starting with making my own nourishing face cream. I had all the necessary ingredients and two of my favorite essential oil books so I thought I’d give it a try. It was so easy to make and I really like the feel of it on my face, so I had to share it with you.
Nourishing Face Cream Ingredients
The main ingredients are my calendula infused oil that I made previously, pure essential oils, water and beeswax. I know you are thinking eww beeswax, but you don’t use much and it helps emulsify the oil and water. The result is a thick, creamy lotion that I use on my face every night and sometimes during the day.
Calendula Infused Body Oil
Essential Oils For This Homemade Face Cream
The essential oils I picked were specifically for their excellent healthy skin properties in this nourishing face cream:
- Lavender: Anti-inflammatory, soothing, used for skin care, prevents aging
- Frankincense: Anti-inflammatory, well suited for skin conditions from wrinkles to scars, good for dry skin
- Helichrysum: Anti-inflammatory, used for skin irritations, sagging skins
- Carrot Seed: Skin rejuvenating oil, good for mature skin
- Geranium: Soothes inflammation and irritated skin, good for both dry and oil skin, aids in poor circulation, prevents aging
- Please note you can find all of these ingredients on my Amazon Store if you are interested.
Notes About This Face Cream Recipe
I have been using essential oils for almost 20 years. My sister and I used to have a lovely herbal gift shop in which we sold good, pure essential oils, and she used to teach classes in which we made balms, salves and various crafts with them.
I am by no means an expert but I have long been enamored with essential oils. During that time I came across 2 books that I would really recommend if you are a book person. These are Amazon affiliate links but you can buy them where ever you want if you are interested in learning more about essential oils.
Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art is where I got this lotion recipe from and seems to no longer be in print but the second edition is and I own both of them. The oils that I used were my contribution to the recipe.
The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy has over 600 recipes and covers just about anything your can think of regarding essential oils and aromatherapy. I’m sure there are other great essential oil books out there. If you have one you love, please drop me a comment and let me know what it is. I am definitely a book person and a huge library of books at my house.
Above you can see the calendula petals that I used. I have a big bag that my sister gave me but you can buy some on Amazon.com You don’t even need to have the infused oils to make this. You can use another carrier oil like jojoba, almond, fractionated coconut or apricot kernel. The calendula just adds more healthy skin properties to the lotion.
Nourishing Face Cream
I made a huge jar of this cream and it will last for a long time. You only need about a dime size of lotion for your face. Note that since this is an all natural product there are no preservatives. You therefore might want to store it in the refrigerator or add some vitamin E (from a capsule) which is a natural preservative.
This was a lot of fun for me and I plan on making this all year round. If making your own natural bath and body products appeals to you, I urge you to try this because it’s pretty easy and a lot of fun. Not to mention it’s good for your body compared to the chemicals and preservatives of commercial products. Enjoy!
Update: Please note: This face cream is rather thick would be better suited to a cream jar. I originally used this glass mason jar when I made this lotion months ago intending to pump a bit out but it was a bit too thick. I ended up unscrewing the top and dipping my hand in the top. Next time I make it I would put it in a small wide mouth jar or maybe recycle a similar type container. I still use it everyday and love it. Especially in the winter. I tend to drier skin so it has been perfect for me.
Nourishing Face Cream Using Essential Oils
Ingredients
- ¾ cup calendula infused oil or carrier oil of your choice
- 1 cup water
- ½ ounce beeswax beads about 2 Tablespoons
- 30 drops essential oil I used 6 drops each Frankincense, Lavender, Helichrysum, Carrot Seed, Geranium
Instructions
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Add beeswax to the oil in a pyrex glass measuring cup and microwave for 30 second intervals until the beeswax has melted. Stir between intervals and the beeswax will melt quickly. Should only take a minute or two.
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Place your water in a blender and add the top but take out the center ring.
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Turn the blender on high and slowly pour the oil and beeswax mixture into the blender.
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As you are adding the oil the mixture should start to harden about ¾ the way through.
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Pour in all the oil slowly and then turn your blender down to low and add your essential oils.
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Just blend enough so the oils are mixed.
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Scrape out the cream with a rubber spatula into a wide mouth jar or container of your choice. I used a pump but it’s a bit hard to pump because it is thick so I would recommend a small jar that you can get it out easier in.
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Store in the refrigerator to extend the shelf life. Can also add some vitamin E which is a natural preservative.
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A little bit goes a long way. I use just a dime size amount on my face every night and most days.
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There is no exact science to making this lotion. With practice you can get the consistency you want. It’s like making mayonnaise; emulsion and consistency depend on the temperature of the oil mixture and how quickly or slowly your pour it. I was satisfied with my lotion on the first try but you might want to play around with yours.
If you like this post, you might like these too!
- Make Your Own Neti Pot Salt
- Muscle Soak Bath Salts
- Make Your Own Lip Balm with Essential Oils
- Anti Age Serum with Essential Oils
B.
Tip- If you flip the order, and pour the oil mixture into the blender, let it get semi-solid and THEN slowly add the water in, you’ll never get the separation issue!
Denise
Hi B, Thanks for sharing your tip with other readers!
Betty
What kind of cup do I use in measuring my oil, is my first time please help, I don’t mind if I can get picture.
Denise
Hi Betty, I just use a regular measuring cup that you would use for cooking. Mine looks like this. Hope that helps!
https://mylifecookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-17-at-2.13.50-PM.png
RC Gold
the infused oil you referenced that can have marigold flowers in;you are not speaking of essential oils like lavender, right? Rather almond, etc? I grow and distill lavender here so it is plentiful but 6 oz. is a lot to follow your recipe. How is the oil chosen, ” infused” with the flowers exactly?
Denise
Hi RC, the infused oil was something that I made with calendula petals. Here is the post that I made it for. https://mylifecookbook.com/calendula-infused-bath-body-oil-free-printable-labels/
You don’t need to make that infused oil, you can just use a carrier oil like almond oil, jojoba oil etc. Here is an article about carrier oils if you are interested. https://helloglow.co/11-carrier-oils-for-skin/
Hope that helps a bit!
Bim
Ive read that adding water any mixture would be prone for molds and bacteria to grow. Can i skip the water? Thank you.
Denise
Hi Bim, lotion technically is a combination of water and oil with a emulsifier to bind them together so I think you need the water. You could try to store it in the refrigerator so that it would keep longer or use vitamin E which is a natural preservative. That being said you can try to make it without the water. I just don’t know how that will come out. Sorry I’m not more help. Here is a good post about homemade lotions and maybe it will help. Good luck! https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/how-to-create-homemade-lotion-recipes/
Malavika
Hello!
thanks for sharing your recipe!
For the vegans, could we use another emulsifier instead of beeswax? like Emulsifier O?
Thanks!
Denise
I am not familiar with that so I’m sorry to say I don’t know. Maybe someone else will pipe in with an answer. Sorry I’m not much help.
Shay
I just tried this – seemed to work well. I did make a few tweaks. Instead of the calendula oil I used some of the last of some lavender infused oil (so it smells really good), and I used a couple other EO’s since I obviously didn’t need the lavender! I added my oils in multiples of six – frankincense, geranium, sweet orange and lemongrass (had a blend), immortelle and bergamot. I did add 1/4 tsp of vitamin E for preservative. It emulsified pretty well, but I think if my water had been just a bit warmer (I used distilled water that was in a cabinet near an AC vent) and I had let the oil cool just a bit so the two were a bit closer in temp it would have happened sooner.
All in all, I’m very happy with the result, So happy I found this recipe!
Denise
Hi Shay, thanks so much for sharing your tips and experience. I have not made this for awhile but I’m glad you reminded me of it. Have a great weekend!
Ania
Hi there, I read the comments above and I think my oil was too warm. Thanks.
Denise
Ok, glad they were able to help you.
Ania J. Russo
Hi, thank you so much for this recipe. I made it twice and it came out amazing. I am hooked on your invention. I have just made my fourth batch the mixture didn’t emulsify. My water was room temperature. Oil was warm, as warm as it needed to be to melt the beewax. The batch before also didn’t emulsify but I poured oil too fast and I thought that might have been the reason. Are there any other things to look out for that I am missing. Thanks so much for your help in advance ❤️
Darlene ONeil
How much does it make?
Denise
Hi Darlene, it makes roughly two cups.
Becca
HI Edith,
I tried to make your face cream and had some problems.
If the nourishing cream recipe turns out to watery with the cream and water separting what do i do?
Thanks for any advice you have.
Denise
I’m not sure Becca. I would say to make sure the beeswax is melted but just above room temperature. Then slowly pour in the blender with the water in it. You should see it thicken as you get 3/4th of the way with the oil. It really shouldn’t separate. Temperature is important for the lotion to emulsify, so the oil mixture should be liquid but cool before mixing with the water. Hope that helps!
Becca
Ok sounds good thank you, i think the oil was to warm. And does it help if the water is warm also?
Denise
No you can just use room temperature water.
Edith
This face cream sounds exciting…what basic oil did you use for your infused oil
Denise
Hi Edith, It was my first time too and I really had fun with it. I used apricot kernel oil as that is what I had at home.
You could use almond oil, jojoba or even fractionate coconut oil if you have any of those. Also you don’t have
to infuse the oil with the calendula leaves if you don’t want. That is just another nice thing to have but not
necessary. Hope that helps and let me know how it goes!