Cold weather got you down? Using natural, non-toxic products is great for helping to care for your skin, and making them yourself can be an awesome act of self-care, too. In her book, Pure Skin Care: Nourishing Recipes for Vibrant Skin and Natural Beauty, author Stephanie Tourles shares customizable recipes for facial cleaners, masks, and body creams, scrubs, and more.
This cream uses specially chosen ingredients and essential oils to give your skin a high-dose of hydrating, renewing ingredients.
Rich and Royal Regenerating Cream
This is an intensely fragrant, hydrating, skin-plumping, luxurious cream fit for a queen — or king! Though the recipe makes only a small amount, a little goes a long way. The exotically aromatic essential oils and rose hip seed oil are nourishing, act as cellular regenerators, and promote vitality within the skin. The cream is best used in the evening, as the essential oils have gentle tranquilizing properties.
Yield: 1⁄4 cup Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour to set and synergize
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons almond, sunflower, jojoba, or macadamia nut oil 2 teaspoons rose hip
seed oil 1 1⁄2 teaspoons beeswax
or vegetable emulsifying wax
1 teaspoon shea butter (refined or unrefined)
1 tablespoon distilled or purified water or lavandin, lavender, neroli, rose, or rose geranium hydrosol
1⁄4 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
1 capsule 200 IU vitamin E oil
10 drops geranium or lavender essential oil
10 drops neroli, sweet orange, or lavender essential oil
5 –10 drops ylang ylang, rose otto, or lavender essential oil
To Make
Heat
In a very small saucepan over low heat or in a double boiler, warm the base oils, beeswax, and shea butter, stirring a few times, until the solids are just melted. In another tiny pan, gently warm the water and vegetable glycerin, and stir a few times until the glycerin dissolves in the liquid.
Cool
Remove both pans from the heat and let their contents cool almost to body temperature, until the oils/wax/shea butter mixture just barely begins to turn opaque but is still liquid. This happens quickly, within 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen, so keep an eye on it.
Blend
Quickly drizzle the watery mixture into the oils/wax/shea butter mixture, stirring rapidly with a small spoon or whisk as you go. Continue stirring rapidly for 2 to 4 minutes, or until a rich gold emulsion forms.
Add the vitamin E oil (pierce the capsule skin and squeeze out the contents) and the essential oils, then rapidly stir for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until the mixture is cool. This recipe really gives your forearm a workout! You should now have a moderately thick, shiny golden cream.
Package and Cool
Spoon the cream into a beautiful storage container — it looks gorgeous in a cobalt-blue glass jar. The product should be cool enough that you can cap the jar immediately so none of the volatile essential oil constituents escape into the air. Label and date the jar. Allow the cream to set and synergize for at least 1 hour prior to use.
To Store
The cream will keep best in a dark, cool cabinet. Use within 60 to 90 days. If your storage area is very warm, please use the cream within 4 weeks for maximum potency and freshness. On the day that you notice any mold growing in your container, toss it out and make a fresh batch.
To Apply
This cream is highly concentrated; you’ll need only a pea-size amount to cover your face and throat and a little more to cover your chest and breasts, if you wish. Rub the cream between your palms to warm it before applying, then massage it into your skin.
Use daily.
Skin Types Recommended for
all, except oily or combination
Excerpted from Pure Skin Care © by Stephanie L. Tourles. Photography © by Michael Piazza Photography. Used with permission from Storey Publishing