This lightweight, hydration-packed facial lotion is one of my formulas from my Formula Botanica coursework, and it also happens to be the first recipe I’m sharing using hyaluronic acid! I tested this lotion through some of Calgary’s driest winter months and found it to be a wonderfully hydrating, yet lightweight final step to my skin care routine. It smells divine, is full of good things, and is definitely a rather decadent DIY skin treat!
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When I got to the facial emulsions module in my Formula Botanica course I knew whatever I made needed to have rose hydrosol in it, and I knew it needed to be hella hydrating. To that end I decided to break out my (at the time) shiny new hyaluronic acid from Pure Nature, along with a few of my favourite humectants. I decided to use my 1% HA stock at 20% in this recipe. In a 100g batch that’s 0.2g HA, or 0.2%. Studies have shown HA to be effective at this level, which is awesome ’cause that’s still about $2 of HA (ow).
Renee had a great question when I posted about how to make a 1% HA stock earlier this month—is HA heat sensitive? Surprisingly few suppliers provide advice on which phase HA should be added to (typically “water or cool down”), and I didn’t find any mentions from them on heat sensitivity. I did dig up a really interesting study, though: Thermal stability of sodium hyaluronate in aqueous solution. In it, the researchers expose 0.03% HA solutions to heat, 25–90°C, and observe what happens. It’s very stable at 25°C (no decline after 50 hours), but once we pass 50°C the solutions show an increase in viscosity before then decreasing in viscosity. The higher the temperature, the faster the jump and following drop in viscosity (the drop in viscosity being the result of “thermal degradation”).
So, we can say from these findings that HA is heat sensitive… but how heat sensitive? The 70°C chart shows that it takes approximately five hours for the initial viscosity increase to settle back to original levels, and longer than that to show 10% thermal degradation. So—in a lotion making situation, where we’re looking at approximately 20–30 minutes of heating at 70°C, is this level of sensitivity relevant? Almost all the ingredients we use are subject to some degree of thermal degradation; this is why we keep oils in cool, dark places even though we readily heat them when we work with them. One study I found looked at canola oil and found that it took on a rancid taste after 24 hours incubation at 100°C—that’s a similar timeline to the HA tests (the HA tests were over 50 hours), though at a higher temperature. The results aren’t terribly comparable, but we can say that an ingredient we regularly heat also degrades over a similar time frame (hours instead of days or months) with heat exposure.
From what I know at this point I’m inclined to add HA to the cool down phase, but I also don’t think heating it for less than an hour below 80°C is going to do a whole lot of damage—the graphs in the paper show the viscosity is still rising around the 1 hour mark, and if loss of viscosity is due to breakdown of the HA (“… the decline in viscosity associated with polymer chain degradation…” [source]), then less than one hour of heat should be ok. In any event I added the HA to the heated phase for the video for this recipe simply because it ended up getting grouped in with my water phase when I was writing out the recipe, and I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Not wanting to throw it out, and knowing the degradation rate at 70°C is fairly slow, I decided to carry on rather than bin it and start over. The written instructions here have it in the cool-down phase, but that’s the reason for the inconsistency with the video!
Well, now that we’ve talked about the heat + HA thing ad nauseam, let’s move on to the rest of the things in the recipe! In addition the the HA we’ve got vegetable glycerin and sodium lactate—two other good humectants that are far less expensive than HA. Panthenol (vitamin B5) is moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, and helps reduce transepidermal water loss. Hydrolyzed silk holds moisture very well, further contributing to the hydrating power of this lotion.
Our oil phase is simple; Olivem1000 is our emulsifier, and argan oil is our sole oil. I love argan oil on my face, and I thought it would do well here. You could also use a different, pricier oil that your face loves—this lotion is a great place to use some of your posher oils as the emulsion really extends their use!
Our lotion is rounded out with some soothing calendula extract, and a bright essential oil blend that compliments the sweet rose hydrosol. Lemon essential oil is not photosensitizing if used at 2% or less (yay!), so at 0.26% we’re a-ok. I love how bright, tart lemon balances with rose, and a touch of exotic spice from cardamom is utterly beguiling. Yum!
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Lemon Rose Facial Lotion
Water phase
14.43g | 28.87% distilled water
10g | 20% rose hydrosol
10g | 20% 1% hyaluronic acid solution
1g | 2% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 1% sodium lactate (USA / Canada)
1g | 2% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 1% hydrolyzed silk (USA / Canada)Oil phase
2.5g | 5% Olivem1000 (USA / Canada)
9g | 18% argan oil (USA / Canada)Cool down phase
0.06g | 0.12% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 1% calendula extract
0.13g | 0.26% lemon essential oil
0.13g | 0.26% cardamom essential oil
0.25g | 0.50% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a wide, flat-bottomed sauté pan.
Weigh the water phase into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Weigh that full measuring cup and note the total weight.
Weigh the oil phase into a second heat-resistant glass measuring cup, and pour some distilled water into a third measuring cup. Place all three measuring cups in your prepared water bath to melt everything through.
After about 20–30 minutes the oil part should be completely melted and the water part should be thoroughly dissolved. Remove the water bath from the heat. Weigh the water part and top it up to the original weight with the heated distilled water before pouring the water part into the oil part. Stir with a flexible silicone spatula to incorporate.
Grab your immersion blender and begin blending the lotion, starting with short bursts so the still-very-liquid lotion doesn’t whirl up and spray everywhere. Blend for about a minute, leave to cool for ten, blend for another minute or two, and repeat this blend-cool-blend cycle until the outside of the glass measuring cup is barely warm to the touch and the lotion is thick and creamy. (I used my MiniPro Mixer from Lotion Crafter for this 50g batch; if you don’t have a smaller high speed mixer I’d recommend making a 100g batch instead of 50g so you’ve got enough product for your immersion blender to work with).
Once the lotion is cool you can add your cool down ingredients, stir to combine, and transfer it to a container. I used a 50mL frosted glass bottle from New Directions with a pump-top that appears to have been discontinued, though this looks like a good alternative. Enjoy!
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this cream contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this project is likely to eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 50g.
- You can use a different hydrosol if you don’t want a rose scent, or just more distilled water
- If you don’t have panthenol you can replace it with distilled water
- If you don’t have hydrolyzed silk you can use hydrolyzed oat protein or sea kelp bioferment instead, or just replace it with more distilled water
- You can try a humectant like Sodium PCA in place of the sodium lactate if you don’t have it. I wouldn’t use more glycerin as you’re starting to tip-toe towards sticky territory.
- You can use a different oil your face loves in place of argan
- Polawax or Emulsifying Wax NF should work well as an alternative to Olivem1000
- If you don’t have HA that’s a bummer, but just replace it with more distilled water (in the heated water phase)
- You can use a different liquid botanical extract in place of the calendula extract
- You can use a different essential oil blend if you wish
Is there a Reason you’ve stopped using our recommending Ecomulse (Emulsimulse)? It’s my favorite emulsifier, reliable and durable. Please advise. I know it’s hard to source right now but I have plenty from my last order and am vigilantly watching for it to come back to Lotion master’s. ????
I don’t feel like I’ve stopped using it, I just haven’t used it in a while—no reason, just like there’s no reason I haven’t eaten an apple in a while… just busy playing with other things, I guess? This recipe in particular uses Olivem1000 as it’s what is used for Formula Botanic co I shall try to keep it in mind for my next lotion 🙂
If I wanted to add goat milk powder to this to make it a goat milk lotion, what percentage would you recommend??
Maybe 1%? I’m looking at this sample formulation 🙂
This sounds absolutely decadent! DH is away, so this is going on the diy docket for today. : )
Question about the amount of water: should I use the % amount or the absolute amount? -It’s the only ingredient that isn’t doubled to get the percentage.
The water amount has an extra 10% added to compensate for the water lost during heat and hold 🙂
Marie
Will you be giving a review of the formula botanical course?
I shared it nearly a year ago! Search “formula botanica review” on the website 🙂
I find that olivem 1000 gives a soapy affect even if adding cetyl alcohol. Any ideas?
Including a small amount of dimethicone (1-2% instead of some of the liquid oil) will help 🙂
Hello – I’ve always been curious what makes a face lotion, day cream, night cream etc and what is the difference. This recipe seems similar to normal recipes that I use, why would this be specific for the face? is it because of the acid and the lower % of oil? For a face lotion, do I not have to add SPF protection? What is the point of extracts and hydrosols? Sorry so many questions!
Typically the biggest difference will be weight; a heavier, more occlusive cream would be a night cream, and you likely wouldn’t want to wear that during the day. A day cream could easily be used at night—I use the same cream morning and night.
When we formulate for the face we typically include more expensive ingredients and actives—things like hydrosols, extracts, hyaluronic acid, hydrolyzed proteins, vitamins, and more expensive carrier oils. You will need to research the individual benefits of the different ingredients, but generally speaking they are hydrating/soothing/soothing and more expensive than we’d want to use for something for our legs. We also tend to pay closer attention to the feel and consistency and people tend to be pickier about how things on their face feel than things that go on their feet.
You CANNOT add SPF protection to anything you make at home—read this for more information. Regardless of what sort of cream you’re using, please apply a professionally made SPF product at the end of your skincare routine before going out in the sun.
Hi Marie,
This recipe, like all of your recipes, is fabulous and I love it!
I do however think it needs a serious word of warning:
Albeit it’s not as critical as other citrus essential oils, the Lemon is still photo-toxic, and a product containing Lemon essential oil should not be recommended for use during the day, especially not on the face 🙁
While there are some citrus essential oils that have been treated so that they are not photo-toxic anymore, the most of them in most common stores, still are.
And since this product is intended for the face, I strongly recommend that you do not use it yourself, nor recommend it for others to use while being exposed to the sun.
Thanks!!
Hey! So, I used to think this, too, since MANY websites tell you that all citrus EOs are photosensitizing under ALLLLLL circumstances, but I have since learned otherwise thanks to Robert Tisserand and my Formula Botanica course (this is briefly covered in the post if you scroll up and give it a read). Expressed lemon essential oil is not photosensitive at usage rates 2% or lower. Given this recipe uses 0.26%, we are WELL below 2%—almost by a factor of 10x. So, there is no danger, daylight use is perfectly safe, and there is no serious warning (or warning of any kind) necessary. I’ve done my homework on this.
Both Tisserand and the IFRA agree: “IFRA recommends that, for application to areas of skin exposed to sunshine, expressed lemon oil be limited to a maximum of 2% in products applied to the skin except for bath preparations, soaps and other wash-off products.” (Page 331 of Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals, 2nd Edition)
If you want to learn more about essential oils and their specific limits I can’t recommend Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals enough!
Thanks for all the informative links that you added!
Since I am a certified aromatherapist, I suppose this is a matter of the different methods each one learns.
But I believe that if IFRA agree to this, then perhaps it is not as bad as I used to think.
I will do some extra reading on this, although, for myself, since I’m already a sun sensitive red-head, I will replace the Lemon with some May Chang or Lemongrass 😉
You could also use steam distilled lemon; the steam distillation destroys the photosensitive compounds. Tisserand recommends a maximum dermal use of 20% for steam distilled, vs. 2% for expressed 🙂
I followed the recipe very close and after blending for a minute and than cooling for 10, it came out seperated! Help! What went wrong?
Hmm. When you say you used a hand blender, was it the type you use to cream butter for baking, or an immersion blender? What we want is an immersion blender for fast, high-shear mixing (rather than whipping). Can you link me to the emulsifying wax you purchased?
Yes it was a hand blender but I do have a stand mixer as well. I will get an immersion blender though!
They don’t have it on their online store anymore but it was Olivem1000 from Windy Point soap
It sounds like your emulsifier was exactly the same one I used (same supplier and everything!) so that’s not the problem. I’d try again with the immersion blender + plenty of blending. You could also try incorporating 0.2–0.3% xanthan gum into the formulation, distributing it into the glycerin before carrying on combining the rest of the heated water phase. Happy making!
I usually read the blog first then check out the video later. I read this one and was psyched to see HA in the recipe, sounded nice. I watched the video, and WOW, this has such a gorgeous texture, it looked so rich.
I hope you love it! I’m so enjoying using it 🙂
This is on my “To Do” List for this coming long weekend. It looks absolutely DIVINE!! I LOVE citrus with rose. Wish I had some Cardamon (I do have the spice-but not the EO). Darn. Looks like a light but very moisturizing formula. Can’t wait to try. I actually don’t need to wait to order something for once! Guess it’s a sign that I buy waaaayyy too many ingredients! 🙂
I can’t wait to hear what you think! And hey… we’re in that ingredient boat together 😛 Hopefully it stays afloat LOL!
Hi,
All this while I was looking for a perfect recipe for my HA which comes very costly in India and had kept my packet of 25 gms of HA as a prized possession being unable to use it. Thank you so much for this recipe which i am going to try very soon but with Ewax as Olivem in any form that is 300 or 1000 is not available in India. Love your videos and blogs.
I know the feeling! Mine is guarded very carefully as well 🙂 I hope you love the face lotion!
Hi Marie,
In the Ask the Tutor forum in the DOSF (of Formula Botanica’s- yes I’m a student too and you inspired me to become one :)), many tutors stated that the cooldown phase shouldn’t exceed 10% or it wouldn’t emulsify completely and the emulsion would eventually fail. In this recipe the cooldown phase is over 20%. Did you try adding the 20% of HA to the cooldown phase or the water phase when making it?
On her books and blogs Susan adds HA in the water phase too – and I’m confused now whether it’s heat sensitive or not (I bought my HA from Pure Nature and it’s very hard to me to get replies from them so I don’t like asking them questions very much.).
Look forward to knowing what you think,
Huong
Hi!Not to seem rude in ANY way,but Marie explicitly goes over this exact subject in great detail in the accompanying blog-post (right before the actual formula)..hope this helps,b/c she very helpfully & clearly(w/study citations & everything!)goes into depth on this point(probably b/c she knew we’d all be confused otherwise!). Blessings!
Muchlove,suki
Hey! I have definitely had success with cool down phases larger than 10%, but this is a great point, and just because it worked for me doesn’t mean it’s the best method to teach as it definitely does challenge the emulsion/emulsifier (especially Olivem1000, which can be fussier than ewaxes like Polawax). If we’re comparing potential disappointments I suppose I would rather have the HA degrade slightly than the end product split!
I have started putting HA in my heated phase if there is one—the study I found shows it breaks down over time, but it really is quite a lot of time and ~30 minutes of heating at ~70°C really isn’t much time or much heat. I think the slight breakdown is an ok price to pay for a super stable emulsion! Really, all of our ingredients break down with heat and time, and we typically save our cool down phase for things that are sensitive to temps about 40°C, which HA isn’t.
Thanks for making me think about this some more!
Perfect timing! My face cream has been feeling really heavy on my face in this hot and humid weather so I can’t wait to make this. It’s a good thing I ordered HA awhile ago when I saw it on your insta!
I hope you love it! I feel like I could have a full on love affair with HA… swoon!
Thank you, I’ve been waiting for you to make a HA lotion. I have used it in serums and did try making a lotion once using the 1% serum as the water in the heated phase. Total disaster, it separated instantly. I don’t know if it was the HA, but I have been afraid to try again.
Aww no, that would be so heartbreaking! I’ve made this recipe a few times now, so hopefully I can embolden you 🙂
I’m wondering I f you use a complete emulsifier like Ritamulse if you need the extra ingredients like stearic acid, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, or sodium lactate.
I see some form or other of these ingredients seems to already be in the Ritamulse. Is it so you can more customize the results? Or because you like the emulsifying of, for example of Olivem 1000 better, but maybe it doesn’t include these?
I am trying to make a nice face cream or lotion and seems like every recipe I look at I am missing something! (And now H.A.!)
I am really enjoying reading all your experiments and musings! Thanks for sharing!
Val
Hey! So, that’s sort of like saying “if you have self-rising flour, do you really need eggs?”. I would say “it depends, but I would recommend it”. If you’re making simple biscuits or something, just self-rising flour is fine. If you want to make a cake, you’ll need eggs. If you want to make scrambled eggs the self-rising flour is irrelevant, and you absolutely need eggs.
All that is to say I think you are mis-identifying the purpose of most of the ingredients you’ve listed. Also, ALL the emulsifying waxes I’m using are complete emulsifying waxes. Ritamulse has nothing on Olivem1000 in terms of “complete-ness”.
Stearic acid, stearyl alcohol, and cetyl alcohol are thickeners and stabilizers. Including them separately from the e-wax gives you more control over the consistency of your end product—you can choose whether you prefer the richness of stearic acid or the silkiness of cetyl alcohol, and both those ingredients have uses in projects that don’t require an emulsifying wax at all.
Sodium lactate is a humectant; emulsifying waxes don’t contain humectants. That’s like asking if you can eliminate the sugar in a recipe because you’re using self-rising flour 😉 Just because there’s also a compound that contains sodium in Ritamulse doesn’t mean they have much else in common.
Now, you absolutely CAN make a lotion with just emulsifier + water + oil + preservative, but I’d compare that to an eggless cake, or perhaps a cake from a box. It will definitely be a cake, and you will be proud of it because you made it, and it’ll probably taste pretty nice, but it is unlikely to be the best cake you’ve ever eaten. It’s a great place to start, to be sure, but for something like this lotion (which I’d call reasonably advanced), I included all the fancy ingredients because they make for a far superior end product that works harder for you and your skin 🙂
Thanks again! I am ordering more ingredients today!
I feel like I am over my head with all this stuff, but am trying to learn, my 60 year old brain is a bit rusty!
Think of it as a new cuisine, with new spices and flavours to fall in love with 😀 Happy making!
Hey Marie,
I absolutely love the feel of this lotion. It feels so light but rich. I’ve been debating on buying Olivem1000 for awhile. Thank you for pushing me over the edge!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! Thanks so much for DIYing with me 🙂
Hey Marie, this recipe looks gorgeous and very timely for the summer months ahead! I am a fellow formulator and have a question for you about gums/thickeners. Most of the lotions for body and face I learned to make involved adding xanthan gum to glycerine which we then added to the emulsion after the heat phase. I noticed that you don’t seem to use gums in your formulations and instead just mix the glycerine with the water/hydrosols in the water phase. I have tried a tonne of your recipes and haven’t yet made one I haven’t loved! But I was just wondering is there a reason you don’t incorporate gums in your formulations?
Hey! I just really don’t like the way gums feel when left on the skin, and by the time I heard that you’re “supposed” to do that I’d already made hundreds of lotions without them and was pretty sure I’d get on fine continuing to leave them out 😛
Lovely recipe! I’ve tried to make facial creams with Olivem 1000 but I can’t stand its feeling on my face, it feels suffocating, as if I had a waxy film on my skin or something, it’s weird 🙁
How odd! At least with DIY you can choose something else 🙂
Hello Marie;
I ordered Olivem 1000 from Lotion Crafter but they refunded that portion of the order so they must not have it in stock and I looked at Windy Point but their shipping costs are high, so, is there a substitution for Olivem 1000? I looked in the FAQ’s section of your site and didn’t see anything, but pardon me if I missed something. Thank you:)
Aww bummer! I would think emulsimulse/ritamulse would be your top pick for an alternative for this recipe both in terms of the ECO-CERT thing (if that matters to you) and the skin feel of the end product 🙂
I just made this today and am loving the smell and texture of the end result. Obviously haven’t used this multiple times yet since I just made it, but I can see it wiggling its way into my daily routine. Instead of using hydrolyzed silk, I decided to try out some of the hydrolyzed baobab proteins I picked up recently. Thanks for sharing!
Ooooh, beautiful! The sheer number of hydrolyzed proteins out there is mind-boggling—baobab sounds amazing!
Hi Marie! Just wondering if the calendula extract was an oil or tincture. I’m contemplating making my own:)
Click the link in the recipe, that will take you to the exact product I used.
Do you have another measurement for the HA? I’m using sodium hyalauronic and when weighing it it seems that I can’t put enough on to get a measurement because it’s so light.
You need to make a 1% solution separately; click the hyaluronic acid link in the recipe for instructions.
Wahhhh my emulsion broke after a couple days
Ahhh no 🙁 Have you had successes with Olivem1000 in the past? What sort of mixer did you use?
Mine did the same! I used a hand blender
Hello Marie,
I bought Hydrolised Silk Peptides (HSP) in March. I live in Wisconsin so it is always in a cool dark place. It expires in 2020. I went to use it in June and it had a stronger smell than when I first used it. My lotion that I made Smells strongly of the HSP at room temperature. Did it spoil? Will I have better luck with it if I store it in the refrigerator or freezer? I got it from amazon so I don’t know who the original supplier was. Have you ever had this problem?
Hey! Silk peptides definitely do have a smell to them, and it can vary in strength depending on the supplier. The smell also seems to bother some people more than others. As long as the powder is still dry I highly doubt they’ve spoiled. You can always try storing it in the freezer, but I don’t see how that would decrease the scent. If it is getting stronger as the result of something like fermentation it would slow that process, though—that’s just a hypothesis, though. If you can determine the original supplier/seller it may also be worth getting in touch with them.
Thank you. I love what it brings to my lotion projects, and want to continue using it. I do so so so love your formulas, passion, personality. I love watching your videos. Keep them coming. You are so sweet.
Thank you so much, Carol! I really appreciate your kind words & support 🙂
Hi Marie I used olivem 1000 for the first time I don’t know why but it didn’t completely melt. I melted it for 30 min on 75 degree but still noticing some flakes or more like it melted to a point after 1 hour where it was mushy liquid but not runny liquid like emulsifying wax NF which I used to make most of your recepies . I watched the video in which the oil phase was complete liquid . I don’t know what went wrong .
I was thinking of making your winter solicite cream using olivem 1000 please advise .
If you’re having issues getting it to melt in a water bath just pop the oil phase in the microwave for ~10 seconds—that usually finishes off any melting 🙂
My friend gave me Pure Almond Extract & Natural Blackberry Extract from Australia. Both are for baker (food grade). Until now, I never use them. Can I use them for this recipe or any other lotion recipe? How much %?
Good morning!
Honestly, the short answer is no. Extracts are usually made with a form of alcohol, sometimes water or other solvents and you can’t extrapolate the other various ingredients that could cause some stability issues in your overall formula.
I just Goggle what they are made from. Blackberry extract made from Propylene Glycol, Blackberry Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavours, Water.
Almond extract made from Alcohol, Almond Oil (20%), Water.
So, it is safe to use the Blackberry extract? Because there’s no alcohol
Hello Elok,
Again, my first response to your question is no. I personally would not use food grade extracts on my skin or in my formulas. If you wish to use them on your skin, you are going to be on your own here and will need to do some experimenting.
Ran out of my Immortelle serum so tried making this one. I finally found an Australian supplier for olivem 1000 (also sea kelp bioferment) and made this. Don’t you love it when you find a supplier for ingredients! Anyway – Oh wow – beautiful. It has a nice feel on the skin. My new favourite.
Woohoo, I’m so thrilled! Enjoy 😀
Hi Marie! Is germall plus sufficient for thr broad spectrum preservative? Why did you opt for germall plus than optiphen? Thanks to you, I have learned so many things for DIY natural skincare.
Hey Diana! Yes, liquid germall plus is a perfectly sufficient preservative for this (and most) projects. At this time I didn’t have optiphen—I now have optiphen plus and have started experimenting with it. You can learn more about different preservatives here. Optiphen is weak against fungus, so I probably wouldn’t recommend as there are better options 🙂
This recipe came out LOVELY! A friend and I had a lotion making party last night and added a little surfactant to turn this into a cleansing lotion and we are both in heaven! Thank you for sharing =)
OOoh, divine! I’m rather hoping you left out the HA if it’s a cleansing product, though if not that must be a super luxxy product!
What the different between facial lotion and face cream?
As far as I’m concerned, mostly just the words “lotion” vs. “cream” 😛 I typically consider a cream to be thicker than a lotion, but sometimes “cream” sounds better in a product name than “lotion” so I wouldn’t get too caught up on it 🙂 Happy making!
Hello Marie;
I made this lotion a month ago, it is light and good more a gentle cream. I really like the rose hydrosol and hyaluronic acid solution. The rose gives a lovely aroma, and next time I will leave out the lemon (I put just a wee bit too much in, anyway). Thank you for the creation, your generousity is so much appreciated.
I am so glad you are enjoying it! Another scent note I love with rose is benzoin—you might like trying that as an alternative to lemon, especially as it’s lovely with the cardamom as well 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me and happy making!
I’ve been needing out, making a spreadsheet of a bunch of your recipes with their ingredients, and noticed that the recipe calls for 15.88g of water, which doesn’t seem to add up to 28.87%. Am I missing something?
By the way, I’ve been loving taking a deep dive into all your recipes!
I had to go all the way back to my OG spreadsheet to check—there’s a bit of a hiccup between a way I used to do things and the way I do things now. For the grams number I added 10% onto the water ([28.87% x 50g] x 1.1) to compensate for loss during heating, but the instructions don’t match up. Good catch! I’ve fixed it 🙂 Thanks!
Hello Marie,
My Panthenol is in liquid form. I think it needs to be added in the cool down phase since it’s heat sensitive.
So what do I need to add instead in the water phase? 1g of water? Thanks!
Just move it to the cool down phase, that’s it 🙂
Hi Marie,
What size is the syringe you used to fill the bottle?
Thank you
I think it’s ~70mL.
To fill one 50ml bottle, would 35grams of lotion be a good amount?
I am so confused. How come half of your syringe is still filled. I understand lotion contains a bit of air and oil is not water so 50gr is not 50ml. But still, you filled a 50ml bottle with 50grams and you had so much left in your syringe. I am puzzled.
If I recall correctly, that leftover bit was mostly a giant air bubble 🙂
That would probably be too little to fill 50mL (1.69fl oz); perhaps 45mL?
Hey Marie,
I see you said we can substitute the HA for distilled water. What would be the major change in the recipe if I did this? PS met you at Mother Earth News Fair in Topeka, KS. 🙂
Thanks,
Janna
Hey Janna! If you read about hyaluronic acid in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia you’ll see that it’s a super awesome moisturizer/humectant. Replacing it with water would mean the loss of those benefit 🙂
It was lovely to meet you in KS! Happy making 🙂
My lotion came out still liquid when it was ready for the cool down phase. I used emulsifying wax instead but increased the amount to 2.5 g. Help!
Did you use a high shear mixer? Has it thickened on its own since you left this comment?
Hi Marie, this cream is indeed very light, so I used it as a source of inspiration for a variant. I made this for a friend with a skin problem. I left out the hyaluronic acid, since I added 4% niacinamide, and acids and niacinamide would appear to cancel each other out. I also replaced the argan oil with macadamia oil, because this oil is said to be good against rosacea. Furthermore, I did not use water (and therefore no hyaluron solution) but only rose hydrolate. I replaced the essential oil combination with rose essential oil (considering the rosacea).
The result was still just as light and spreadable. Love it!
That sounds lovely!
Just so you know, hyaluronic acid isn’t the sort of acid we’re concerned about combining with niacinamide (Vitamin B3)—it doesn’t lower the pH like citric acid and lactic acid do, and what one is generally concerned with is lowering the pH enough that the niacinamide starts to break down. That said, even with pH-lowering acids, niacinamide is likely more tolerant than sometimes said. There are more links on this in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia entry on niacinamide (Vitamin B3). Happy making!
Finally made this as written. It’s downright lovely, very nice luxurious face lotion! I remember loving the riffs I made on it years ago. It was one of the first DIY formulations I found that had both olivem & HA. You can propably guess that this is better than those were mostly because of the scent combination, because I followed your formulation and because I followed your instructions to scale it up + use immersion blender. 😉 Silk, panthenol, argan and this scent combination are all Humble Bee and me from head to toe to me…in the most positive way! Not everyone can maintain coherent “brand identity” and at the same time continue to change…I dunno. I think it is amazing and I admire you for it. This is exactly what my skin needs at this moment – it’s more moisturizing than my summer lotions and olivem seems to provide some extra emolliency.
I haven’t been super happy with the scent of my rose wax so I followed your formulation and sticked with rose hydrosol. This scent combination is to die for! I’m now 100 % certain that I’ll be making more things with it.