Most of you will agree with me that shop-bought skin creams and moisturizers are very expensive. But did you know that natural homemade face cream is often better for your skin, or that it’s actually very simple to make at home, and comes at a fraction of the price?
So, although there are many other homemade face moisturizers for you to try your hand at, in this post, I want to focus on how to make one of my all-time favorite DIY face cream recipes.
Similar to the very popular homemade wrinkle cream, the cream below is great for all skin types, even sensitive skin. It’s also non-greasy and absorbs quickly into the skin. I often apply my basic face cream after using my homemade anti-aging serum or facial oil as it helps it penetrate the skin more quickly and eliminates the oiliness.
Eight DIY Face Cream Recipes
I will start by showing you how to make my basic anti-aging cream for mature skin, which although I call it basic, is still very luxurious! But keep reading, because after that I have 8 more excellent face cream recipes, I hope you enjoy these, I loved them all!
Watch How To Make Face Cream At Home
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The Benefits of Using Face Creams
Moisturizing is perhaps the most important part of skincare. Without it, the skin can look tired, dry and will age faster over time.
Face creams replenish moisture for the skin, as well as helping to lock it in so that our skin looks fresher and more supple for longer. Furthermore, as they are emulsions, they are amazing carriers for a whole range of different botanical and synthetic ingredients that can be fantastic for our skin.
Glycerites, tinctures, macerated oils, extracts of all kinds, emollients, silicones, esters, humectants and so on can all be used here. Without the use of a solubilizer, the emulsion is the only moisturizing product that can use both water and oil-soluble ingredients together.
Furthermore, the combination of water and oil makes a face cream relatively lightweight. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who doesn’t need or doesn’t like heavy skin care products. However, there is a lot of scope to be able to customize your emulsions – meaning you can make them as heavy or as light as you want.
This means that no matter your skin type, you will always be able to tweak your homemade face cream recipes to suit your skin type. This is not always the case with gel moisturizers and anhydrous formulas (facial balms & crème).
To learn more about formulating all types of moisturizers, take a look at my new DIY face moisturizers course where I go into more detail and show you how to make them all, and make them your own! This could be the first step on a journey to ridding yourself of store-bought products, full of unwanted chemicals and undelivered promises!
About Making Your Own Floral Infusions
To give your face cream that little extra, you can substitute all of the distilled water in the recipes below with floral waters (also known as distillates, hydrolats, and hydrosols).
The recipe already calls for some rose hydrosol, but you can, if you wish, substitute all the distilled water for this ingredient.
Alternatively, you can also make your own floral infusion by steeping dried flower petals or herbs in boiling water for 10 minutes, then straining through a fine strainer or piece of muslin.
The homemade face creams below will keep for a couple of days without preservatives, and 12 months with preservatives added. We don’t, however, recommend omitting it. Who wants to have to make their own face cream every week?
This is particularly important if you do go down the ‘making your own floral infusion’ route. You must use a preservative or it will only stay fresh for a very limited time, and even with the preservative in it, you will still have to reduce the cream’s lifespan to 4 months (12 months with purchased flower water/distilled water).
That’s not to say that I wouldn’t recommend making floral infusions, I definitely would, just make sure you use a preservative to get your 4 months.
For a more in-depth look at how to make your own herbal and floral infusions, take a look at my post that shows you exactly how to brew one up in your own home!
So, What’s In My Basic Homemade Face Cream?
We’ve formulated this face cream recipe to include a blend of gorgeous ingredients that will nourish all skin types. It’s relatively generic because we didn’t want to make it too complicated.
- The Argan and Macadamia nut oils are rich in vitamins and healing properties that soothe, moisten and encourage new cell growth.
- The Roman Chamomile essential oil is intensely soothing for the skin. If you’re heading into winter, like we are at the time of writing this post, this is the perfect essential oil for you. It’s anti-inflammatory, intensely healing and one of the best essential oils for people with sensitive skin. You can, however, swap this out for whatever you like. If there’s a particular essential oil that works great for your skin, now is the time to use it. E.g., if you want to give this cream some excellent anti-gaining action, consider using frankincense and lavender, which are a great pairing for this.
- Rose essential oil is perhaps one of the best available, but it’s very difficult to use at home. It’s prohibitively expensive, and it can only be used when making large batches (the dermal limit for Rose EO is extremely low and the risk of sensitization is very high). Therefore, we are using some rosewater (rose hydrosol), as it shares many of the same benefits but is much less intense.
- You’ll notice we’re using a little cetyl alcohol here. This is a stabilizer and thickener, as well as a co-emulsifier. We’re using it because it allows us to lower the e-wax a little. Emulsions that have more e-wax tend to be heavier and can feel a little ‘soapy’ on the skin. But if we’re only using e-wax, we’d need to accept this, otherwise, our cream would be very thin. By using some cetyl alcohol, we achieve an emulsion that has body without weight (i.e. not runny but also not heavy and waxy).
Adding Preservative To Face Cream
When it states to add the preservative, you will notice I give a choice of when to add it. When buying your preservative the packaging should always give a guideline of when it can be added along with a maximum temperature limit. Most can now be added at the cool-down phase, this is my preferred method as it eliminates the chance of overheating and destroying it. But always check the recommended usage guide before buying it. Unless otherwise stated all of these homemade face creams keep for about 1 week without preservatives, and 12 months with preservatives added.
Substitutions And Scents
Making this face cream your own is not only possible but highly recommended. A cream that is basic is always easier to customize, so this is the perfect recipe for you to do just that.
Firstly, if this is your first time messing around with an emulsion formula, consider keeping it the same as it is. If you have made emulsions before, then, by all means, do what you like. However, be careful with playing around with the more functional ingredients – especially the e-wax, cetyl alcohol, preservative, and vitamin e antioxidant.
As for the other ingredients, you could swap them out as you see fit. Feel free to change the carrier oil to what works best for you or your skin type. Avocado oil, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil are all great carrier oils for a face cream, but take a look at our post, The Best Organic Carrier Oils & Their Uses. This post is a detailed list of various different carrier oils and is a great resource for learning more about their benefits, uses and which are best for your own skin type.
You can do the same with essential oils. However, be careful with your pairings. It’s easy to choose two essential oils that have opposing benefits, meaning they will cancel each other out. Furthermore, it’s also possible to pick two essential oils that don’t smell very nice together. While you may only care about skin benefit, remember that you’ll have to walk around smelling of your face cream every day.
If you’re new to essential oils, and don’t know what works for you and your skin type, take a look at our Essential Oil Use Chart. Much like the post above about carrier oils, this will introduce you to everything you need to know about essential oils.
While we haven’t used any, you could also add a few botanical extracts to this product as cooldown ingredients, to further boost its powers to alter and improve the appearance of our skin. There are literally thousands to choose from, all with their own unique benefits. It would be impossible to talk about them all. So, take a look at this post we did a few years back that discusses some of the best botanical extracts.
OK Let’s Make My Basic Face Cream
But don’t miss these other recipes
How To Make Face Cream At Home
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Print Comment Pin ShareIngredients
Water Part
- 40 g Rose Hydrosol
- 23 g Distilled Water
- 5 g Glycerine
Oil Part
- 6 g Emulsifying Wax NF
- 3 g Cetyl Alcohol
- 3 g Shea Butter
- 8 g Argan Oil
- 8 g Macadamia Nut Oil
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Equipment
Instructions
- Combine your water part ingredients, including the rose hydrosol, distilled water, and glycerine40 g Rose Hydrosol, 23 g Distilled Water, 5 g Glycerine
- Combine your oil part ingredients, to include the e-wax, cetyl alcohol, shea butter, argan oil and macadamia nut oil.6 g Emulsifying Wax NF, 3 g Cetyl Alcohol, 8 g Argan Oil, 8 g Macadamia Nut Oil, 3 g Shea Butter
- Place both beakers into a water bath to melt, and remove once all the solid oils in our oil part have melted.
- Pour the water part into your oil part and stir vigorously.
- We need to wait for our mixture to cool to 40C (104F) before we can add our cooldown ingredients. You can speed up the cooldown by immersing the beaker in ice water. As this will also speed up the thickening process, you will need to stir continuously.Once it has cooled enough, add the vitamin e, broad spectrum preservative, and roman chamomile essential oil1 g Preservative, 1 g Vitamin E Oil, 1 g Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
- Transfer to a 3.5oz pot to store. Your pot must come with a lid, and must be made of glass, PET plastic or aluminium1 Cosmetic Jar
Notes
FAQ & Troubleshooting
My Face Cream Keeps Splitting
This is likely a problem with your water-to-oil proportions or your e-wax is not up to scratch. Take another look at your e-wax and make sure it’s a good quality one. Polar wax, NF, BTMS-50 are all good choices and work fantastic.
If your e-wax is fine, then your emulsion is destabilizing because your oil and water parts have been measured incorrectly. Make sure to take care when measuring your ingredients, and always use a good digital scale to get accurate measurements. Furthermore, this formula and suggested e-wax is for oil-in-water emulsions only.
What Preservative Should I Use?
Selecting the right preservative seems difficult but is actually pretty simple. You’re looking for something that is broad spectrum but can be soluble in either oil or water for an emulsion formula. I use either Geogard ECT, Preservative Eco, Germaben, or Saligaurd (Plantaserve P). Any of these will work just fine in your emulsions and should prevent any microbial growth for about 12 months.
You will notice that this formula also calls for an antioxidant, in the form of vitamin e. You can swap this out for Rosemary co2 extract if you prefer. However, it is not a preservative on its own. Antioxidants prevent oils and fats from oxidizing and becoming rancid. However, it will not prevent microbial growth in the form of bacteria and fungi.
How Often Can I Use My Face Cream?
You should use your DIY face cream can be used daily. However, you won’t get much benefit from using it more than twice a day, so try not to overdo it. I like to apply creams in the morning and at night. This will give you optimum benefits without wasting any product.
Why Is My Face Cream Too Runny?
If your face cream is too runny, there’s likely a problem with the emulsifying wax. Check to make sure it’s in date, and that you’re using a good quality e-wax, such as Emulsifying Wax NF, Polawax or BTMS-50.
If you do find that your cream is too runny, and wish to salvage it, you can gently melt it down and add a few more grams of e-wax. This should thicken up nicely. This is best done before you add your cooldown ingredients.
How Do I Use The Face Cream
Using your face cream is super easy. Apply a thin layer to the skin, massaging it using circular motions. This will ensure good penetration and an even spread.
If you have particular areas of skin that suffer from dryness, you can apply more liberally here. The cheekbones can often be a little drier than the rest of the face, so applying more here can be very beneficial.
You can apply this either in the morning or at night. If you have very dry skin, you can combine this with a heavier moisturizer if you wish. You may want to use this lighter cream in the morning, and your heavy moisturizer in the evening for intense hydration overnight.
8 More DIY Face Cream Recipes
Homemade Wrinkle Cream That Works!
This homemade wrinkle cream is fantastic, it’s perfect for tackling any ageing effects on the skin, it’s very easy to make and considerably cheaper than store-bought anti wrinkle creams.
DIY Moisturizer For Dry Skin – Antioxidant Summer Face Cream
For this DIY face moisturizer, I decided to embrace antioxidants by making use of green tea & lavender to make a moisturizer that really cares for my dry skin.
How To Make Aloe Vera Lotion For Men
Skincare doesn’t have to be just for women. So I decided to show you how to make aloe vera lotion for men.
Wrinkle Cream Recipe With Honey And Orange
Similar to my first homemade wrinkle cream this natural anti wrinkle cream is another great overnight treatment, it’s perfect for smoothing out fine lines and wrinkles in your facial skin. But you can also get some great results when using this cream on cracked heels or dry hands.
Lavender and Aloe Face Cream
I’m loving this lavender and aloe face cream recipe! It’s great for sensitive skin, speeds healing, soothes, calms, and also restores your natural glow.
A Quality Homemade Face Moisturizer For Men
If a guy is going to use only one DIY skincare product, what should they use? This amazing homemade face moisturizer for men is what I came up with, and it really is amazing!
How To Make DIY Eye Cream Without Using Preservatives
Specially formulated to keep eyes looking bright, young, and full of life. This DIY eye cream doesn’t call for any water, it can happily keep for up to a year.
Luxurious Natural Face Moisturizer with Rose and Argan Oil
By making this gorgeous and natural face moisturizer with rose and argan oil, you can have a little piece of the A-list lifestyle, just for you at an affordable price.
I hope you enjoy making these DIY face creams, I know they all work well as I use them myself. Let me know how you get on and ask any questions in the comments below. And don’t forget to have a look at my latest premium course Fabulous Face Creams & Moisturizers, it’s the product of many years of experience.
Hi Angela
Other than Rice Bran Oil, is there another alternative to Kukui Oil?
Hi Angela,
If I wanted to add hyaluronic acid to the Mature skin recipe (! – lol, trying everything), at which stage should I add it? Or should I rather add it to a serum? Your thoughts on these would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Kind regards.
I’ve just brought ingredients to make the luxury skin boost for dry skin cream. I would like to use lavender and geranium essential oils l and potentially orange essential oil. I wondered if I would need to use orange essential or not because it already includes the orange blossom water. What would you recommend?
Hi Georgina,
I often use floral waters in combination with their partner essential oils. Orange blossom won’t necessarily have all the benefits of orange essential oil, and vice versa. The only issue you may have is that your finished product will smell more orange-like than you may want. But you can offset this by using a little less orange essential oil and make up the difference with your lavender and geranium essential oils.
Hope this helps!
Hello, Angela,
Thank you for these wonderful suggestions. I made one of your face creams twice, albeit at a year’s distance, so I did not remember the second time that it takes FOREVER for the emulsifying wax to melt! Even when the oils and wax looked completely liquefied and I mixed them with the waters, I found a few pellets in there! So I put it back on the stove, as you suggested.
I guess the pellets become transparent when they are almost melted and the mixture looks fully dissolved, but it is not? Is that the reason why I still find pellets after mixing? I did not want to keep the oils on the stove longer than necessary, but perhaps I should leave them there another 5-10 min after they look melted, just to be sure the pellet consistency is completely gone?
Or, am I doing something wrong? In general, have you ever timed the melting time? It would be good to know.
Many thanks in advance, Beatrice
Hi Beatrice,
Yeah, just leave it for a little longer. I like to stir mine as it sits in the water bath. Not continuously, just to get an idea of the texture of the e-wax. But if you’re struggling, you could use a microwave. Sometimes that does the job a little better. No more than 30 seconds at a time, though.
Hi Angela
Which perservative do you recommend sodium benzoate & potassium sorbate or phenoxyethanol & ethylhexylglycerin?
Hi Paula,
Honestly, either of these preservatives will work just fine and should provide the result you’re looking for. So shop around and see which one is cheaper to buy. I would also say that ultimately you would want to get experience using both, so you can decide for yourself which one you prefer. Perhaps start with one, use it until you run out and then next time buy the other. Because these two preservative systems can be used interchangeably (add at around 1%) you shouldn’t have much problem doing this.
Hi Angela
Is there an alternative to kukui nut oil?
Hi Paula,
I’d try substituting the Kuki Nut for something like Rice Bran Oil. It should give you a similar consistency and absorbency.
I LOVE this cream – finally someone who understands dry and/or mature skin! I have recently developed a love for oat oil and hemp oil. The oils in this recipe do not smell nearly as much as oat oil and hemp oil would! I am tempted to try substituting them in place to see how it turns out. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe!
Hi Angela, do you sell finished products by any chance?
Hi Trish,
As much as I think it would be interesting to make these products to sell, with my current lab set up (which is basically a craft table in my kitchen) I just don’t have the resources. There’s also a lot of red tape involved with selling cosmetic products and I just don’t think I have the time to get into all of that, especially now that I’m a grandma. But I do hope my tutorials inspire you to give DIY skincare a try.
Excellent choice of ingredients and great recipes. Have heard a lot about the anti-aging and skin nurturing benefits of the kukui nut oil. Next one on my to-buy list.
Is the consistency smooth and thin enough to use in an airless pump type container?
Hi Sarah!
I find this cream is a little too thick for a pump container. A glass or PET plastic jar is your best bet.
Hope this helps!