I’ve had this Silken Rose and Green Tea lotion on my to-make list for ages, and thought it was high time I moved it from the “to-do” list to the “done” list! Everything about it seemed like a good idea; healing aloe, moisturizing silk and honey, calming rose, and antioxidant-rich green tea all blended together into a light, hydrating lotion that’s perfect for summer. It turns out my to-do list was on point—this lotion is awesome!
Like all lotions, this one has two parts; an oil part and a water part. Because the water part has some extra delicious-to-bacteria goodies in it (silk/aloe/green tea/honey/rose) I’ve worked a heat-and-hold into the recipe to help make sure the water part has relatively little bacteria in it from the get-go. This will help extend the shelf life of the lotion, even though we’re including a broad spectrum preservative, because broad spectrum preservatives aren’t infallible, so it’s a good idea to reduce microbial temptations wherever possible.
The oil part of the lotion is a blend of emulsifying wax, grapeed oil, unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada), and fragrant rose wax (which, in combination with the rose water, gives this lotion its scent). Grapeseed oil is a nice, fast-absorbing carrier oil, which means this lotion sinks into the skin quickly, while the unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) ensures your skin will feel delightfully soft and hydrated.
My double water bath for both parts of the lotion.
If you need a new lotion, I recommend giving this one a go!
Silken Rose and Green Tea Lotion
7g | 0.25oz complete emulsifying wax (not beeswax!)
1g | 0.03oz rose wax (need a substitute?)
10g | 0.35oz grapeseed oil
7g | 0.25oz unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)40g | 1.41oz rose hydrosol
33g | 1.16oz aloe vera juice or 33g water + 1/32 tsp 200x concentrated aloe vera powder
2g | 0.07oz raw honey or vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
1/8 tsp silk powder (I use these tiny measuring spoons for tiny measurements like this)
1/4 tsp green tea botanical extractBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer (aim for steaming, no bubbling) in a wide, shallow pan. I used a sauté pan (something like this, with a flat bottom and short sides), but a frying pan would work as well. You want the pan to be large enough to hold two measuring cups or small bowls so you can heat the two parts of the lotion at the same time.
Weigh the emulsifying wax, rose wax, grapeseed oil, and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup, and place that measuring cup into the water bath to melt everything together.
Up next, combine the rose water, aloe vera juice, honey, silk, and green tea powder in another small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place that measuring cup in the water bath along with the emulsifying wax mixture to heat it up, stirring to blend everything together.
Heat the two parts in the water bath for twenty minutes, keeping an eye on the water bath so it doesn’t simmer dry. After twenty minutes the oil part will be thoroughly melted and the water part will be completely heated through. Pour the water part into the oil part. Leave that measuring cup in the water bath for another three minutes to ensure everything is melted before removing the measuring cup from the heat.
Whisk the mixture as it cools (or use an immersion blender, which will help lotions made with Polawax or E-wax NF thicken up faster)—it will thicken into a nice white cream (the thickening may take a few days if you are using a different emulsifying wax than emulsimulse/ritamulse and no immersion blender). I ended up using emulsimulse/ritamulse and blending it up with a little hand held milk frother, and it thickened up beautifully in about ten minutes.
Blend in your preservative (though do check the instructions for your specific preservative—some have special instructions for adding to concoctions) and decant the mixture to a 120ml/4 fl oz pump-top bottle or wide-mouthed jar. Enjoy!
If you don’t have grapeseed oil you can use safflower oil, sunflower oil, or apricot kernel oil instead. If you don’t have unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada), mango butter (USA / Canada) and capuacu butter are both great alternatives. For more information on carrier oil substitutions, read this. If you don’t have rose wax, you can use another gram of mango butter (USA / Canada) and add three or four drops of rose absolute or essential oil.
New to lotion making? Watch my basic lotion how to video!
Hi, which ‘silk’ product do you use in this lotion? TIA, Pam
I used silk peptides, but you can use pretty much any silk for DIYing you can buy 🙂
Hi Marie, can I use tea tree eo instead of botanical extract and how much? Thank you
Hey Ivelina—I’m a bit confused as there is no tea tree anything in this recipe. Are you trying to replace the tea? Tea tree isn’t actually related to tea at all, they’re completely different plants 🙂 You can drink tea, but tea tree oil is poisonous! I wouldn’t use any tea tree oil in this recipe as I don’t think the scent would work particularly well here.
Sorry, my mistake. Maybe I was thinking of something else and I didn’t see what I wrote. I wanted to ask is it possible to use just a regular high quality green tree?
Sorry for the inconvinience.
Yes, you can use brewed green tea in place of the water 🙂
Oh I love the stuff you used in this one… Summer is kicking my butt quite soundly (sunburns, bug bites, scratches, scrapes, bruises, etc.) and this lotion sounds like the best way to recover!
I’m thinking of adding a tiny bit of menthol and chamomile as well, to make this a super calming, numbing, summer relief lotion (keeping the silk, rose water, and aloe around as well). I can’t wait to start! Just need to wait for the aloe to come in 🙁
Results:
I made this using chamomile and calendula brewed in the water, allantoin and silk, aloe powder, honey, and 2g menthol. I’ve got some residual bruises and scrapes on my legs from a hang gliding/camping adventure last week, and I rubbed the lotion on my legs. Nice, gentle tingle, sweet rose wax scent, soothing aloe all working together to make this the best “Summer Soother” lotion I’ve ever tried. I highly recommend doing this! It’s a great summer skin relief lotion (and probably great in winter also, if you replace the cooling menthol with a warming agent instead)
Beautiful! You’re making me miss summer already 😉
Ooh, I love the menthol idea! Did you ever try it?
Yeah! I may have added 1 crystal too many but it was a delight for on sunburns and bruises! I did about 2g but was using a bad scale at the time that doesn’t like to register anything under 5g so I may have done anywhere in that range :/ less menthol is definitely better but I loved the tingly, cooling sensation on my summer-scathed skin.
Now I’ve just made the Mexican Hot Chocolate body balm for the start of cooler weather!
Oooh, lovely! I wish I lived in a world where chilly minty tingle was a nice thing year-round; it definitely isn’t here!
This was another of my efforts this weekend. I added chamomile powder, uosed BTMS-50. Silk powder would have been great but it hasn’t arrived yet. Call me silly, but for some reason I wanted to try it as a hair conditioner… It worked great, no greasiness and my hair felt soft when it dried. My lotion didn’t turn that lovely rosy color, I don’t have rose wax, is that why I didn’t get a pretty color?
Oooh, I love the hair conditioner idea! Honestly, I think the pink hue in the photos may be more of a trick of the light than anything—I remember this lotion being a warm, faint brownish hue in person—not all all noticeably pink. So I’m sure you didn’t do anything wrong 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me!
Hi Marie! I know this is one of your older recipes but I’m hoping you will still see this! I’m having trouble with the emulsification of my (your) recipes! I follow them exactly and the lotions always turn into a thick cream that does not glide on very well! I’ve used this recipe and another, your creamy mango facial cleanser and it turned even more thicker than this batch did! I’m using an stick blender and using BTMS-50 for my emulsifier. If you or anyone else could offer some insight I’d greatly appreciate it!
Hey Destiny! First off, it doesn’t sound like you are having any emulsion issues—that would be if your lotion was separating, which it doesn’t sound like it is at all. This lotion is a thick one, and the mango facial cleanser is even thicker, so it’s not surprising you are ending up with a thick final product for either recipe 🙂 The pictures are a pretty good hint—in this one you can see how it doesn’t settle out completely in the jar, indicating it is definitely not a thin liquid. BTMS-50 does have a powdery finish that can be a bit drag-y in some formulas, so that might explain what you’re experiencing there; perhaps try e-wax NF? Hope that helps!
Thanks for getting back with me Marie, I’m just now seeing your reply! I read ALOT so I get sidetracked easily! One of the many amazing (not) qualities of ADD lol. I gave the recipe another go and decided to blend it a little longer and it didn’t turn out as thick as it did before so I’m wondering if maybe I didn’t blend it long enough the first time? Also, can you help clarify something for me? I was watching one of your YouTube videos on a lotion (heaven knows which one, I’ve almost watched them all lol) and I remember a bit about when you see bubbles rising to the top it’s a good indicator that the lotion is completely emulsified and needs no further blending? I’ve been getting a lot of air pockets in my lotion and just wondering if I’m blending them too long? I’m still new to everything and since I have a tendacy to be a perfectionist I sometimes tend to over do things
Hope to hear from you soon!
Hey! Honestly, I’m not sure what you’re talking about in terms of the bubbles, so that may not’ve been me, but in any event, that is not a thing I look for in lotions 😛 If you are getting lots of air pockets you are likely pumping too much air into your lotion—keep the blender glued to the bottom of your container 🙂
I just made this lotion sans rose wax – don’t have it (yet!). I really love it. My skin feels so silky smooth! I used BTMS-50 for the first time. I like the finish a lot. I’m thinking of trying it with lavender water next time, maybe with some chamomile extract….I love the tinkering!
I’m so glad! I, too, looooove that BTMS-50 finish; so powdery and lovely! Happy tinkering and thanks for DIYing with me 🙂
I tried this twice with allantoin water 0.5% as the water component and it kept coming out of solution (2nd time I also waited for both oil and water to drop below 50C)
Gave up on the allantoin and it emulsified at last. looking forward to testing this!
How irksome, but I’m glad you’ve finally got something emulsified and usable 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Marie,
Can I use aloe vera extract to substitute aloe vera juice? How much should I add in
Thank you
What does your supplier recommend for a usage rate? I’d go with the low end of that and replace the aloe vera juice with water.
Hi Marie,
I’m going through radiation therapy and have been making my own aloe vera burn cream. I recently found some matcha butter I had in the cupboard and I’m amazed at how it’s helped with itching. I ordered some matcha powder and I’m planning to make a version of your cream, using all aloe juice instead of the rose water. Do you know how much matcha powder I could add? I”m thinking of using more than you did. By the way, thanks so much for your site. Because of all I’ve learned here, I’ve been able to make pots of “burn cream” and use it lavishly. The doctors say my skin is looking really good (though I do have some burns now). Best regards,
Janice
Hey! So. Matcha powder is not a cosmetic ingredient and is not going to be stable in something like a lotion; it will rapidly oxidize and de-stabilize, and within a few days it is unlikely to offer any of the benefits you’re hoping for. I’d recommend sticking with cosmetic extracts (and their recommended usage rates) as they are designed for this sort of thing 🙂 Happy making, and best of luck with the radiation therapy!
I’m a little confused. Your recipe says matcha powder but here your saying not to use it? Was going to try this recipe tomorrow so if you could please clarify
Sorry, I’ve adjusted the post. The more recent remarks are typically the ones to go by 🙂
Sorry, not sure where you posted new post. Is the powder okay to use?
I didn’t post a new post, I updated this post. No, don’t use matcha powder.
Hi Marie,
I made some lotion from your recipe. I love it! But today, all explode. I put that all in my bedroom. What happen? Do you have any idea on how to prevent explode?
Can you be more specific? Which recipe? Did you change anything? Which preservative did you use? How was it stored? What was the ambient temperature like? What was the packaging?
I use recipe from How to make basic lotion from scratch video. I use preservative Kemidant L-Plus I found in local store. I made 4X recipes, and put different essential oils each. I put in a plastic pet jar. And outside temperature was around 32-33C.
I use mixer to re-mix and it back to normal until now. I was just shock to see it all spilled out of locked tight jar.
Then I search all possible information, and I think my mistake was the lotion wasn't completely cool when I lock the jar. Its ok now Marie. Do you have other possible cause on what happened?
Hmm. Reading about your preservative, it is soluble in alcohols and glycols, but not water. That may be part of the problem as there is nothing in this recipe that the preservative is soluble in, so it may not be working or working optimally. That could mean the lotion is spoiling and that could be causing a build up of pressure inside the jars as it decomposes. This is just a hypothesis, though.
regarding honey being food for bacteria, from what I’ve read, it’s antibacterial. We actually used to use it in the hospital on wounds to prevent infection. Of course, I use preservatives in my products but wouldn’t be extra concerned by the honey. just by the by.. Thank you for your wonderful recipes, I love your site!!
It can be antibacterial when pure, but when diluted it’s really not terribly different from adding sugar to your products—just as the dose makes the poison, the dose also makes the efficacy 🙂 Happy making!
Hi, I’m a long time Bee, first time commenter. 🙂 In the ingredients it shows Green Tea Botanical Extract or matcha powder, but in a comment it says, “Matcha powder is not a cosmetic ingredient and is not going to be stable in something like a lotion; it will rapidly oxidize and de-stabilize…”. I am having a hard time being okay with spending $20 on an admin fee for the Green Tea Botanical Extract from new directions aromatics. I would appreciate your thoughts & clarification on the comment because if matcha powder won’t be good for the lotion, I am not sure how to proceed.
The comment (the newer remark) is correct; I’ve adjust the recipe to reflect it. I’m still learning things all the time 🙂 You could always leave it out, or use a different extract that you do have!
Hi Marie,
I love your recipe! I was just hoping you could help me understand the difference between water and hydrosol. Can I substitute rose water with rose hydrosol and still keep the same measurements? Also, when would I add the hydrosol?
Thank you so much!
Hey! I find the terms “water” and “hydrosol” are often used interchangeably. What you want is the byproduct of essential oil distillation. I’ve found it to be superior to the water + dispersed essential oil products in every way. It smells AMAZING, and is much stronger than its inferior infused cousin. You can use ~20% true rose hydrosol in a product and get an incredibly fragrant end product, while the other would struggle to do much at that usage rate.
Hydrosols typically go in the heated water phase.
How much lotion does this recipe yield?
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂 You can also refer to bottling instructions for a volume idea.
What’s the shelf life, using the preservative?
The germal preservative.
I have an FAQ on this 🙂
This lotion holds special pleace in my hearth. I also love the scent of rose + unrefined shea. It takes me few years back when I started diy’ing. I have big bag of xyliance so I made a new version with 4,5 % xyliance, less (20 %) aloevera, more water and some xanthan (following formula botanica’s tutorial). I subbed rose wax with extra shea + rose absolute and silk with betaine. A bit off I went, but It’s lovely. Thanks, Marie. <3
It technically has less oils/ lipids than yours has. It suprised me that xyliance could work oil phase this low (15 % test batch + 18 % this one)…and it soaps less than my olivem lotions. 🙂
Hi Marie. I love how this came out. Last time I checked it, it’s awesom, thick, very rose scented summer lotion with slightly powdery luxurious skin feel. Quite similar than yours looks like. You have teached me a lot about lotions. Anyway, as thank you
10 g sunflower oil
8 g shea butter
4,5 g xyliance replacing ritamulse scg
to 100 g water
30 g rose hydrosol
20 g aloevera
2 g honey
2 g glycerin + 0,5 g xanthan / stabilizing
Cool down:
1 g betaine replacing silk + green tea
0,1 g chelator pa-3
1 g cosgard 221 + 0,6 g sodium benzoate & potassium sorbate complex
0,2 % rose
– lactic acid to pH 4-4,5
Hello, I am interested in making bath products. When you first began making bath products how did you develop your recipes? I want to make things to sell. However, I’m not sure if I can find a recipe on Pinterest or elsewhere and to use to sell. How did you get around this if you are selling your products?
Thanks!