If you’re looking for touchable, smooth, soft skin, this Sea Buckthorn Mattifying Moisturizer is right up your alley. It’s a creamy, orange-hued moisturizer features a few scoops of silky smooth arrowroot starch to give your hydrated skin a beautiful dry touch. It was inspired by a similar product sold by Lush for an unsurprising $40, with a few changes. The reviews on the original varied; some said it was amazing for their skin, others said it was a bit drying, so I thought we could bring some DIY magic to this to make it exactly what you need.
The oil part of this balm is loaded with goodness. Sea buckthorn seed oil is rich in linoleic and alpha linolenic fatty acids, as well as vitamin E and carotenoids, and rosehip oil is known for its high vitamin C content. Moringa oil is rich in antioxidants, and creamy mango butter is an excellent emollient, rich in vitamins A & E.
Rosehip oil and mango butter also help contribute to the dry finish of this moisturizer, thanks to their naturally fast absorption speeds and non-greasy finishes. “Drying” oils are few and far between, and drying butters are even rarer, so while you could use hazelnut oil instead of rosehip oil, I wouldn’t swap out the mango butter if the dry finish is important to you. If not, shea butter or cupuacu butter would be good alternatives.
I chose arrowroot starch for that extra powdery drying boost, but you could use cornstarch or wheat starch if that’s what you’ve got. It gives the hydrating blend of oils an almost unbelievable dry finish—give it a minute, and that smooth, oily glide will transform into silky smooth dry (hydrated) skin. Aww, yeah. This stuff is brilliant pre-makeup for helping it wear better, too (score).
And if all that wasn’t enough to convince you to whip up a batch, it’s ridiculously easy to make to boot. You should definitely make yourself some sea buckthorn mattifying moisturizer. You’ll love it.
ALSO! My awesome contest with Swanson closes tomorrow night, so make sure you enter it—you could win some sea buckthorn oil, moringa oil, marula oil, and a $100 gift certificate to Swanson’s online store. Score!
Sea Buckthorn Mattifying Moisturizer
5g |0.17oz sea buckthorn seed oil
7g | 0.25oz mango butter (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz moringa oil
4g | 0.14oz rosehip oil18g | 0.63oz arrowroot starch (can substitute cornstarch or wheat starch)
2 blobs benzoin essential oil
Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer in a small saucepan.
Weigh the sea buckthorn seed oil, mango butter, moringa oil, and rosehip oil in a small heat resistant glass measuring cup. Place that measuring cup in your water bath to melt everything through—that’ll take ten minutes or less.
Once the oils and butters have melted through, remove them from the heat and stir in the arrowroot starch and benzoin with a flexible silicone spatula, taking care to break up any clumps, until you have a smooth, uniform mixture.
Place a 30mL/1 ounce tin on a small plate. Pour the oil/starch mixture into the tin and carefully transfer the plate with the tin to the fridge (the plate is only there to make it easier to move the tin).
Leave the tin in the fridge to set for one hour. Voila! To use, just take a wee bit of the moisturizer into your hand to soften it a wee bit, and spread it across your skin.
If you have sea buckthorn fruit oil instead of the seed oil, you can still use it, with the following adjustments: use 2g of sea buckthorn fruit oil, and 7g moringa oil. This adjustment makes your moisturizer less likely to give you that coveted oompa-loompa look 😉
If you have very oily skin I’d recommend making the recipe as written first, and if you’d like an even stronger mattifying effect after trying it, stir in another 4g (0.214oz) of arrowroot starch. Be careful, though—too much starch will result in eraser-shaving like pilling whenever you run your hands across your face!
I don’t have Sea-Buckthorn oil and it is a bit pricy for the amount of it you get. what can be used instead of it?
Sea buckthorn is pretty unique, so it’s hard to recommend a good all-purpose swap. In this case I would choose your favourite skin-loving oil with a medium-ish absorption speed; something like argan, jojoba, or meadowfoam would be a good choice 🙂
Winnner to Meadowfoam!
Woo! Happy making 😉
This sounds scrumptious! Can’t wait to give it a try.
Thanks, Jennifer! I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂
This is just what I have been looking for. Staying with the ingredient Seabuckthorn. Have you heard of Bee By The Sea company. They have a wonderful face cream that my skin loves, especially in winter. It prevents, red blotches and wind burn. It is pricey, for(2oz/60ml) it costs $30.00. Maybe you would like to try to re-create this product.
Hmm, I hadn’t, but I have now! I’ll add that product to my big ol’ idea list 🙂
I cannot wait to make this. I have been looking for an mattefying moisturizer for years.
Thank you!
Happy making! I look forward to hearing what you think 🙂
Must get some sea buckthorn seed. This sound like a great idea, and will really resonate with younger people.
Thanks, Lois! I’m really enjoying the way this makes my skin feel 🙂
Can another oil be substituted for moringa?
Check out the encyclopedia page for moringa for information on substitutes 🙂
Marie – this sounds like a gift for my very oily skin! I thought arrowroot and cornstarch were the same thing. I knew that rosehip oil was good for oily skin but didn’t know about the moringa oil. When you listed mango butter, the first thing that came to mind was the stuff sold at The Body Shop. Then I clicked on your link and saw what it was. lol. I don’t have any of these ingredients but I’m hoping I win the giveaway! =)
Thanks, Lynne! Arrowroot and cornstarch are both silky smooth, white starches, just made from different starchy plants—arrowroot or corn 🙂 In water-free applications they function pretty much identically! Thanks for entering the giveaway 🙂
I was so anxious to try this I guess I decided that it was a good idea to make it first and read the instructions later 🙂 I didn’t check to see if I had Sea Buckthorn Seed or or Berry oil so of course I added the wrong amount. I also didn’t have Moringa so I used Marula. And, cornstarch which I did read could be used. It didn’t set up well. And, to make matters worse I tripled the batch ! So…can I use Sea Buckthorn Berry oil and Marula and if so how much of each. Thanks
There’s a note at the bottom of the recipe re: berry oil instead of seed, so I’d go with that. As for marula, I’d just use that 1:1 for the moringa, it should work well!
I absolutely love the Lush product(used it this morning) and can’t wait to refill the container with your DIY version when it’s empty.
Woohoo! I look forward to hearing how mine compares to the original 🙂
I am wondering if tapioca starch could replace the arrowroot? And have you tried Kokum butter? That is what I use in my non greasy body butter along with the tapioca starch. Going to try this one out. I made my first body butter with shea and coconut….just sat on the backs of ky hands a shiney mess. The kokum with lots of other oils and butters with tapioca leaves a dry feeling.
It’s worth a try, I haven’t worked with tapioca starch yet (I already have 3 or 4 different kinds of starch, and one lady only needs so many!). I have worked with kokum butter, but it is mucho harder than mango butter (so not a great alternative in this recipe), and I tend to prefer cocoa butter when choosing a brittle butter. Happy making!
Also, see this re: comment approvals.
Update…I made this 2 days ago, as written with no substitutions. I like it alot. It did harden up after a day. I am thinking though that I might sub out half the sea buckthorn seed oil for maybe argan or one of my “dry” exotic Brazillian oils to make it less orange so I can use it in the morning. And I do have seed oil from Lotioncrafters, not berry oil. I have the Lush product as a comparison….the Lush product does not feel as oily upon initial application so maybe adding more arrowroot would help. But by morning though this version it is no longer oily on my face or backs of my hands. I like this version enough though to make a few tweaks, and never buy the Lush version (i have a sample from them when I made another purchase). I do not sell products but am going to give some as gifts….will be fun to see what people think.
Hey Tammy! Thank you so much for the update, I always love hearing what people think of my recipes and how they tweak them to suit their tastes 🙂 I love how we can do that so easily and aren’t at the mercy of Lush and the like anymore 😀 I’m also constantly amazed by how much the pigment of sea buckthorn oils vary by source and batch; mine seems to be the least pigmented SBO ever as so many people comment that my recipes turn them orange
I just made this with half mango and half kokum … turned out beautifully.
Lovely! Thanks for sharing 😀
Sooooo I don’t have moringa oil… Can I just use Argan or Primrose oil? Or is that kind of a deal breaker? I’ve never heard of it before and a preliminary search online doesn’t yield too many trustworthy results on it–though I did notice the name of the plant it might come from its also called a Benzoil tree (like Benzoil peroxide for acne treatment) and it makes me wonder about safety with sensitive skin?
Anyways, other oils to use?
Well I’m a very impatient person and I decided to split the moringa oil among primrose, argan, and jojoba instead of ordering it from Amazon. And I think it worked great! Well, then again, mine is nowhere near as thick as yours, but it’s thick enough to be considered a “moisturizer” rather than a “serum”. Not entirely sure where I went wrong in the recipe, since I used all the proper amounts for liquids and solids. I also refrigerated it afterwards like your suggestion. Perhaps I should just add more mango butter?
Woohoo! I did find that it thickened a bit over the following few days, so waiting just might do the trick 🙂
Mine is very liqued still instead of cream. What should I do to get it more “solid” or cream like? Could I add beeswax or is that a bad idea?
I’d probably look at incorporating some cetyl alcohol; I find beeswax to be a pretty heavy thickener for the face 🙂
I’d probably go with argan over EPO as EPO is WAY heavier than moringa. Remember, check the encyclopedia for swapping (and other general) info 😉
I mixed my small batch up with some foundation pigment (just the oxides) and wowza what an amazing cream foundation! Great coverage and great finish and so far, no breakouts! Of course it’s only been 1 day wearing it so I’ll have to wait longer to see how it works then.
Anyways I have a review here: https://minicoopergirl93.wordpress.com/2016/10/02/diy-cream-foundation/
What a cool idea! I was pretty excited to see this on Instagram 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing 😀
Hey Sarah! Could you please post the amounts of iron oxides and mica you mixed in? I would love to turn this amazing cream into a very light foundation. Thanks!
Hey Natasha,
I didn’t really keep track of exact amounts — and I will say that I do prefer the liquid foundation recipe from Marie’s new book better — but this formula makes a great tinted cream moisturizer!
In essence, I had my mineral makeup blend and kept adding makeup blend and sericite mica until I found an opacity that I liked. I also decreased the arrowroot starch amount by 2 grams to keep it from getting too dry and thick. I hope that helps!
Thanks, Sarah! 🙂
I am going to try this with meadowfoam oil
WOW. Marie, this is fantastical.
I just made it. Just now and it’s in the fridge chilling. I rubbed the contents left in the glass all over one forearm. The sun has given me a lot of beauty marks (let’s just call them beauty marks)on my arms over my lifetime.
And the arm I tested this on is lovely. It took 10 years off that arm. The beauty marks are faded, imagine what my face will look like tomorrow!
You’re the Queen, my friend. I need your book!!!
Yay! I’m so thrilled 🙂 Enjoy it!
**update**
I’ve put an APB out for my pores.
For the last three days, I’ve been using this moisturizer on my face.
Coincidentally, I seemed to have lost my pores. I’m especially searching..in vain sadly..for my largest, most beautiful pores.
If found, you can just keep ’em. My compliments.
Wahoo! What awesome results, I love it 😀 Yay for DIY awesomeness!
Yeah, me too! Very happy about this, as I’ve always been quite self-concious qbout the big pores on my nose.
I made this a second time adjusting the Sea Buckthorn as I have the berry oil. I also substituted Marula for Moringa and used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch. Before I started I researched arrowroot powder and cornstarch to see which one was the better thickener. They both seemed equal in thickening abilities but I noticed they both said they needed heat to thicken. So, this time I added the arrowroot to the melted oils/butter in the mixing cup (still in the shallow pan of just simmering water and mixed it for at least 5 minutes. For those of you who also make soap it looked like a thin – medium trace. This time it set up much better.
How interesting! I’d assumed the heat thing only applied when working with water, but I guess I don’t have a very good reason for making that assumption. Thanks for experimenting and sharing your results!
You have waaaay more experience than I and maybe it was my imagination. Maybe some other DIYers will see if it actually thickens with mixing time.
I might’ve ended up heating mine meaningfully without meaning to by just adding it to the still-hot oils. Perhaps further experimentation with mattifying moisturizers is warranted!
This was one of the things I made last week and I loved everything I made, but I think my face is happiest with this one.
I had to cut back on the sea buckthorn oil much to my dismay as I get a wicked bright oil, so upped the moringa and rosehip oils and added in a wee bit of evening primrose oil. I also used arrowroot starch and added it when all the oils were melted and off the stove top. When I first added the starch I thought I did something wrong as it was very liquidy. I remember thinking that there would be no way these oils will keep the starch throughout the moisturiser.
But shrugged and thought, do it this way now, and if it doesn’t, heat it up and stir till it’s cool. No biggie!
It was perfect! It is so soft to dig my finger in at room temperature! The only advice I’d give to anyone, is play around with the amount you need. I always use a little bit of lotions or oils on my face and figured this would be the same. I was wrong. I actually use a little bit more than the size of a marble.
I am thinking of making something with these ingredients to use as a night moisturiser. My skin is so happy! Oompa Loompa and all!
Huzzah! I’m glad you’re loving it 😀 I think I might put less starch in mine less time as my skin is getting drier and drier as the weather does the same, but I’m definitely liking it on the whole. I find it so funny that sea buckthorn oil seems to come in so many different strengths, colour-wise. Everything from insta-oompa-loompa to only orange in the bottle. Odd!
You’re a busy bee this morning! I’ve been researching this morning and it almost seems like every time I get up to grab a cup of coffee, I get a new email from you! Fancy!
I’ve noticed that too about the sea buckthorn. Figured out my supplier of it was selling me the fruit oil. So, did some research, called some former students, and met a man on the Tibetan Plateau who has a sea buckthorn orchard! So he shall be my supplier of all things sea buckthorn. I’ve got some juice, some extract, olive oil infused with sea buckthorn tea, and about 500mL of fruit oil….. now need to make a new soap recipe.
Oh my goodness, you should start a blog just on sourcing ingredients in China! It sounds like you have the best stories!
Hi, first of all me and my mum are loving your blog! I dont know if you have heard of the charlotte tilbury magic cream but its such a hyped face cream and it costs so much money! I was looking through a little bit of the ingredient list and of course there is some good stuff in it but for the price there is also a lot of nasty stuff in it. Do you have a recipe existing on your blog that is quite similar to the product? For me its hard to find something because all the ingredients are in english unfortunately its not my first language. Would be very happy to hear from you any suggestions. Kind regards, Viv
I’m afraid I don’t—that looks like quite the chemistry-degree-requiring concoction!
Hey Viv, you should google for Charlotte Tilbury + Beauty Brains, which is my second favourite source of skincare wisdom after Marie here. Also, note that the key components of that cream is caprylic capric triglycerides which is dessicated coconut oil, as well as water and glycerin.
Other ingredients are Cyclopentasiloxane which is a delivery agent, lubricant and solver, sucrose stearate is an emulsifier, Phenyl Trimethicone is a silicon for texture and dry feel.
Phenoxyethanol, the preservative, by law can’t be more than 1% and everything under it is non-essential.
So no magic there! But her lipsticks are lovely 🙂
Thanks, Natasha! The guys over at TBB are brilliant, I’m sure they’ve forgotten more about this sort of thing than I’ll ever know.
I’ve just made my second batch of this (yea I’m already there) and I’ve found the batch comes out a looooot smoother if you cook the oils with the arrowroot for a while. There are fewer clumps and the whole thing feels less grainy when you finally apply it. Also, as it solidifies over the course of a few days, it helps to give it a few stirs. I used a mix of argan and EPO again and while I love it for winter, it does hinder the “quick absorption” factor a bit. My third batch will probably still use argan but replace the EPO with something else (jojoba?)– maybe by that time I’ll have finally sprung for some moringa oil (if I can find it)!
Very cool! Thank you so much for continuing to experiment and sharing your findings 🙂 You could also try incorporating a lighter oil (like macadamia or hazelnut) to help counter EPO… or perhaps some silica microspheres? If you don’t have those already, get some—you will want them in everything if you love a dry finish!
I made this but my oils and the arrowroot seperated in th jar while cooling and there is a layer of oil on top of the starch at the bottom
How can i fix this?
/
Hmm—did you make any changes? Did you measure everything by weight? Which starch did you use?
Yes I weighed everything and I used arrowroot
Hmm, odd. In that case I would take Rose-Anne’s suggestion (4g of beeswax would also work) and add some wax to thicken it up!
I had the same with mine, it just would set up,even after reheating it (it was a bit better, but still very runny). I added 3 grams candelilla wax, that helped.
I love what this stuff does to my face, it’s super soft and smooth. Amazing!
Thank you!
I made this today and only have one thing to say…..woo-hoo! Finally a diy moisturizer that doesn’t feel so greasy. I love this stuff! Thank you for the great recipe and Merry Christmas to you and yours, Pam
Woohoo! I’m so glad you’re loving it 😀 Happy Christmas and enjoy the season 🙂
I have a sea buckthorn berry CO2, can I use it & if so how would I swap it out or adjust the other ingredients?
I also have a rosehip CO2, so I have the same question about substituting as I do about the sea buckthorn CO2.
All the CO2 indicates is the extraction method—those oils are still oils, and should be used just as a cold pressed oil would be 🙂
Thanks Marie! Aren’t the CO2s more concentrated so less is used? I wasn’t sure how much the other oils should be increased to if using less due to the CO2s.
From my research they are not more concentrated; more constituents of the plant make it into the oil. That means they can have slightly different compositions or textures, but does not necessarily mean they are more concentrated (some elements may be present that were not before, others may be diluted because of the presence of new constituents). I would think of it as more of a higher/better grade than a more concentrated version, and continue to use it 1:1.
Thanks Marie. I was under the impression a lesser quantity was needed when using the CO2’s. Have a great weekend!
I could see using less simply because they can be more expensive, but I don’t think the concentration/composition difference is of the kind where you can easily say “use half” or anything similar 🙂
I made this yesterday and used geranium rose and tangerine EOs. I love the way it feels! I used it in the morning since I feel like it’s light enough, and the orange in the sea buckthorn did not affect my skin color. I have a question though, and maybe I didn’t give it enough time to absorb. I applied my liquid foundation as I normally do, and it seems a little…cakey I guess? It affected the way my makeup applied. Do you suggest using this at night instead, or should I be using a different type of foundation? Wondering your thoughts.
Hey Pam! What kind of foundation are you using? I must admit my experience with foundations is mostly limited to my own formulas; I’ve purchased a few but never really wore foundation much until I started making my own. It could be that the mattifying element (aka drying, really) of this moisturizer carried over to your foundation and dried it out a bit. Perhaps try using less? I find my makeup looks great on top of this, but that’s just mine; it’s pretty hard to speak for the great wide world of options there!
I normally use L’Oréal true match liquid foundation. I recently made a face serum with sea buckthorn, moringa, argan, and rosehip. I found if I added just a drop to my fingertips to the areas the seemed “cakey” or uneven, that seemed to do the trick.
I’m glad you’ve found a solution! You might also try this—it also helps with dry looking makeup 🙂
Marie! This cream is amazing! All-oils with matte finish, awesome! Made it with cornstarch. Made it with sweet orange (which is not phototoxic as per Andrea Butje). But the weird thing is – my sea buckhorn seed oil reeks of fish! It is a CO2 extract and my first experience with this oil. Probably need more of that orange to cover it up. Orange works beautifully with the lovely citrus color of this cream.
What a discovery from someone spoilt with premium skincare products. THanks to you I will never buy finished products again 🙂
I’m so glad you’re loving it, but what on earth is going on with your sea buckthorn?! Weird. All the bottles I’ve ever smelled are sort of nutty, but never fishy—WEIRD. Where are you getting yours?
Thanks for DIYing with me and happy making!
Interesting. I got it from a German supplier Dragonspice. They have been around for many years. Other stuff I got from them was good. I only had 10ml tester bottle and used most of it for this recipe. Will check with other suppliers!
Strange indeed—perhaps email them and ask? Any good supplier should be able to answer questions about their products and should know if one batch is significantly different from previous ones 🙂
Natasha also happened to me but I figured that the odd smell came from Rosehip oil. Other than the smell, My skin is in love with that recipe. Thank you Marie. I order the book already.
Thanks, Daniela!
HI Marie. Love your posts. I have made lots of your soap recipes,etc. Can I substitute sea buckthorn extract and rose hip extract in this recipe. I asked before for substitute for soap and you responded that I could. Looking forward to your response.
I’m so excited for you with your book out and that people worldwide are following you!
Thanks Rose
Hey Rose! That bit about “usually no, but it’s ok ’cause it’s soap” comes into play here—this is one of those “usually no” situations. Sorry!
Hi there! I just found this and I have a question. I am in love with the lush moringa moisturizer for the feel and mattifying look it leaves but my skin gets super dry around my nose, chin and cheeks with it. If I make your recipe the way it is do you think it would be hydrating enough or should I make substitutions? Also the seabuckthorn fruit oil would be a better choice if I use in the am to avoid the maybe orange look? Thanks!
Hey Candice! You may want to use half the starch and work up to more. Seabuckthorn fruit oil is the way to go if you WANT orange—the seed oil is less orange!
Thanks so much!! Just bought the last ingredients to make this when my lush one runs out:)
Woohoo! DIY = awesomesauce 🙂
It reminds me a lot of Dr. Feelgood primer … have a recipe for that too? 🙂
Nope!
I finally got around to making this and telling you that I made it ..lol..I can’t stop touching face!! It is so soft … it’s like I gotta check it to see if it’s still soft and it is …and it’s unbelievably soft! Wow ! Marie you really so impress me with how you make these incredible products..thanks for all of it..you are my go to gal! Keep it up !
YAY! That is so darn awesome 😀 Perhaps I should whip up another variation on this recipe with some other oils. Hmmmmmm… 😀
Hi … i’m so excited to make this.. but how much is 2 blobs on benzoin oil, and you explained why all the other ingredients are perfect for this recipe except for the benzoin. Thank you.
Benzoin is for scent/fragrance, and I’ve got an FAQ on “blobs” 🙂
Hi Marie
I have pressed my own moringa oil so have loads of this lovely stuff! I would really like to make a rich night cream and a light body lotion with it. Can you recommend recipes (or make us some new ones!) that will work with moringa as the primary oil please.
And also, please can you add it to your extremely useful charts of what can be substituted for what.
Many thanks and best regards
Lynn
The way my substitutions guide is written is to encourage you to think about your ingredients, make observations, and determine for yourself if a swap might be a good idea 🙂 Is the oil you’re looking at fast absorbing? Compare it to other fast absorbing oils. Is it liquid? Compare it to other liquid oils. You got this, you don’t need every oil ever in those charts 🙂 In pretty much any lotion you can use moringa as the liquid oil called for and it’ll work well!
My husband loves this stuff. If I get behind on keeping his supply replenished he whines and whines. 😛 I do split with mango / kokum and add fennel eo as well. He loves the scent of fennel.
Ha, I love it! I was just thinking of this recipe a few days ago and how I should riff on the cornstarch facial thing again 🙂 I’m so glad your husband loves it!
Hi I just love your website! I would love to know that much as you about making homemade products. I am still at the learning curve! I am about to make that moisturizer but as I can understand it is quite solid consistency. Would it be possible to make this into face lotion (with water phase, oil phase and emulsifying wax). As I would like to place that into pump bottle. If yes the big question is how much water and emulsifying wax to use for that exactl recipe? Or its just enough to add cetyl alcohol to make it lightweight creamy if so how much? I have learned so much and still am from you! You doing amazing stuff! Thank you so much!
Hey! What you’ve described is likely possible, but it’s far too big of a change (it would be a start-from-scratch kind of change) for me to give any guidance beyond “might as well give it a try and see”. Happy making!
Omg thank you so much for your response! I have been doing lots of research and educating myself but still getting confused the more I more I starting not understanding. I can’t find nowhere about the typical recommend usage rate of water, oils and waxes for a basic lotion recipe. I just making your magical promise serum! I just love your recipes that they are in grams. Living in UK but being Polish I can’t stand the whole us cups and spoons measurements. Thank you for all your help and for your knowledge! Ohh also I have your book! Loooove it! Looking forward for more books perhaps! Kind regards!
To learn more about basic lotion formulation check out my post & video on using spreadsheets—it discusses how to calculate those things 😀 Happy making!
So. I thought I got the seed oil, but it’s obviously the fruit. The moisturizer came out looking VERY orange. What can I do? Can I melt some more of the other oils in the formula and add arrowroot starch and then mix it with what I already made?? I really love the feel, but oompa-loompa is seriously bothering me!!
Oh no! Honestly, I would probably re-formulate and re-make rather than trying to fix what you’ve already made by scaling up. In theory that will work, but in my experience, that’s a really good way to end up with a colossal amount of something that you may or may not like very much :/ Maybe use the original on your legs and try again for a face version with a much lower amount of SBO?
Hey, great primer !
I was also wondering about mixing powders in lotion? Like would it be okay to add some sericite mica in a face lotion? Or even starch.
Thank you!
You can definitely try it! I’ve found pilling can be an issue, but from commercial products I’ve seen it’s obviously not always a problem 🙂
Threw some optiblur in here. Would love to see more recipes that use it BTW. I have a jar of it to use up. LOL. I also replaced some of the flour with rosehip powder so I now have a super bright pink concoction setting up in my fridge but i don’t think the color will transfer. I noticed the graininess too and am hoping that dissipates as it sets. Otherwise, I will remake adding the powders while heating. Thanks for all you do Marie. I am now holed up in my house each and every weekend in my PJ’s making creation after creation. It is totally addicting!
So this did set very grainy and I was wondering what I could do with it. I was thinking perhaps I could create a face scrub with it. The oil phase is already there. The graininess would be the scrubby part. Now the hard part – how to convert. Any ideas? I would have to add water, an emulsifier and perhaps a surfactant. I’m totally lost after that. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
I know you already said it worked beautifully as-is, but if you did want to add anything I’d just go with some emulsifying wax to aid with rinse off, similar to what I did in the new creamy face mask I shared today!
I will do that and THANKS TO YOU, I now know that the amount has to be 20% of oil phase or a 1: x ratio of the ingredients which, in this case would be 1:5 or 3 grams. You have taught me sooooooo much Marie. I am so indebted to you.
You’ve put such a huge smile on my face 🙂 For increasing rinse-off (as opposed to making emulsions) I have found that less ewax works. In products where there isn’t an emulsion the amount of ewax will determine how strong of a cleansing effect you get, and I’ve found 20% to be on the stronger side for emulsified oil cleansers—10% usually works well, but of course, the specifics will be determined by your skin, your emulsifier, and the full context of the formula. Happy making!
I actually rubbed the grainy stuff across my face before going into the shower and then washed it off with the lavender facial bar I made with you – BEAUTIFUL. The grainy moisturizer acted as a moisturizing exfoliant and then i washed it all off and didn’t even need moisturizer afterwards. Primo!
HOOOOOORAY! I’m so thrilled to hear it 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Marie, just to let you know, your reply to my latest comment didn’t show up here. My email displayed
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I will do that and THANKS TO YOU, I now know that the amount has to be 20% of oil phase or a 1:[…]
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You’ve put such a huge smile on my face For increasing rinse-off (as opposed to making emulsions) I have found that less ewax works. In products where there isn’t an emulsion the amount […]
BUT WHEN I CAME HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST, NONE OF IT SHOWED UP. Just an FYI. I’d be curious to see what else you said after the “…”
Hmm, how odd. I can see the full reply if I just scroll up about 3 comments. Perhaps try refreshing?
Hi Marie, thanks for this lovely recipe! Would you know if it would make any difference in terms of texture, shelf life, etc., if kaolin or silica were to be used instead of arrowroot in this recipe?
Hmm. Shelf life would be the same. Silica would be MUCH more drying—don’t do a 1:1 swap there 🙂 I’m unsure what you’d think of kaolin. Happy making!
Thanks so much Marie! Will experiment a little and try them out
Have fun & happy making!
I made this recipe exactly as you’ve written it. It looked beautiful…the arrowroot powder blended perfectly. But when used the arrowroot somehow balled up, making a mess…other ingredients glided right onto the skin but dozens of little white, doughy bits were everywhere. I have not attempted to make it again…i want to try one of your recipes, replacing silica microspheres with sericite mica…is there a chance it will do the same???
Hey Jennifer! It sounds like you’re describing “pilling”—like eraser shavings? I found there was a bit of a sliding scale with this formulation for that effect with the amount of starch. More starch = more blurring/mattifying, but also more chance of pilling. There are a few things you could try: 1) try applying the product to skin in different conditions (just washed, with an oil serum, etc.)—sometimes a combination of certain products will exacerbate pilling, so it could be helpful to see if that’s the case by doing a bit of trial & error. 2) Try a version with less starch, possibly even applying it to the face as you go to see if you can find that happy balance for your skin between the desired skin-feel but no pilling. 3) Try applying different amounts—perhaps less will work better?
I haven’t found pilling to be an issue with sericite mica or silica microspheres (especially the silica as we typically use very little).
I hope that helps and happy making!
After using this recipe for almost one year I added some zinc oxide non nano and iron oxide to give some colour. Voila, my perfect light coverage foundation.
Hooray! I’m so thrilled you’ve created something you love ❤️
i made this today and hate the smell of benzoin oil. I love heavenly smelling floral scents like rose, magnolia, jasmine, sandalwood , ylang ylang. I am apprehensive to add and mix scents. I added 4 drops of rosemary oil and 2 drops of lavender but still does not smells like benzoin oil?How can make it heavenly smelling moisturizer. How much essential oil should I add and what scents to mix?
Also my moisturizer is like bright tangerine color and interferes with my yellow tone complexion. It did become solid in refrigerator but become liquid once out of fridge.
It sounds like you may’ve used fruit oil instead of seed oil for the seabuckthorn—learn more about their differences in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia (https://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-encyclopedia/) 🙂
And give this a read for the melting part 🙂
My bottle from Life-flo says it is from seed. Also can I add more mango butter to lighten the orange color and help stay solid?
Yup, that should work! Usually, I would recommend something like cetyl alcohol to help with solidifying as it’s more potent, but since you are also looking for dilution, mango butter is probably a better option. Happy making!
Thanks. I couldn’t find lush moisturizer through the given link? Could you please provide the link as I want to show to my daughter?
Updated!
Thanks. Also, I made twice the recipe with recommended ratios for fruit oil instead of seed oil and I got better results with color. However, it is still not sold at room temperature. It is thick yogurt like consistency. Secondly, I need help with amount needed for essential oil for fragrance. I added about total of 1% of 2.6 oz (total volume of cream made) the combination of lemon, magnolia and benzoin oil. but scent is not strong enough, may be due to so much starch in it???? Is it recommends to add more essential oil or not??? Thanks
Can silica microspheres can be used instead of starch?
I don’t recommend it—not only will you be dramatically increasing the cost of the formulation, but silica microspheres are far more drying than starch, to the point of making this formulation uncomfortable.
Would it be possible to make this into a solid bar? Either by adjusting the amount of mango butter or adding a small amount of wax? I’m trying to figure out replacements for some lush face oil bars that I’ve been using.
Thank you!
Probably! You’d likely want to use some stearic acid and/or cetearyl alcohol… that’s where I’d start, at least. You can look them up in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia (https://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-encyclopedia/) to learn more. Happy making!
I made this per your instructions and think its devine. I liked it so much I thought I would create a whipped version to add to the luxury feel of the product. I used the same recipe but some how it feels less…wonderful on my skin – a bit oilier. With the original recipe I made two 2oz containers and when I whipped the same recipe, it filled three 2 oz containers (obv cuz of the air). Do you think that I would need to up the arrowroot percentage so there there is more coverage on the skin or that something to do with the whipping is making it feel oilier? I would love your take on this since you make “solid” and whipped body butters.
Hi Sarah! When you whip a formulation it melts faster on the skin, which can make it feel more oily/greasy 🙂 You can try more starch to see if that helps. Happy making!
I’m not seeing the substitution link. Where is it hiding?
Whoops, this post is so old it pre-dates my substitution lists 🙂 You can look up the individual ingredients in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia for substitution ideas, or you can reference the Substitutions list for this similar formulation for ideas. Happy making!
Can I use bamboo powder instead of arrowroot powder?
😉 Sanne
You could try it IF the bamboo powder is silky smooth and very fine 🙂
Hi, I am new to this formula but I am so glad I found it. I have mature skin that isn’t oily or dry. I use it at night as a night time moisturizer. It smells delicious and I love the way it makes my skin feel. You have such wonderful formulas and I’m always excited at what you create next.