Today we’re continuing our soothing series with this beautiful Soothing Facial Lotion. It’s a fairly lightweight facial lotion, positively packed with potent moisturizers, skin-soothing actives, and ingredients that help strengthen barrier function so your skin can be on its best behaviour while we wait for warmer days.
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Our water phase is boasting all kinds of things that are amazing for your skin. Aloe vera juice soothes, hyaluronic acid hydrates like a champ, chamomile hydrosol calms, and cucumber distillate refreshes. Panthenol (vitamin B5) is both soothing and moisturizing, and sodium lactate and propanediol are both kick-butt humectants.
The oil phase is fairly small, at 16%. This means the lotion is quite light, and absorbs into the skin quickly. It isn’t thin, though—between some thickening cetyl alcohol and the hyaluronic acid gel this lotion has a good amount of body to it. I chose argan oil and evening primrose oil for the bulk of the oil phase. Argan oil is a long-standing face favourite for me as my skin positively loves it! Argan oil is rich in vitamin E and has been used in Morocco for hair and skin care for centuries.
Evening primrose oil is relatively unique among carrier oils for its high linoleic and gamma linoleic acid content. Acne-prone skin has been found to be deficient/low in linoleic acid, and studies have shown that adding more of it to your skin care routine can decrease acne and boost healing (another source, and another). Gamma linoleic acid “has been shown to be one of the most effective agents for the treatment of skin disorders and for the maintenance of healthy skin… based on the strong research showing that it is of benefit in the treatment of various skin conditions, including dry skin, eczema, inflammation, wounds, and dermatitis” (Source). So, basically, all kinds of good things. Evening primrose oil does have two downsides, though—it’s pretty heavy, and smells sort of… fishy. This makes it a great in emulsions, as you get all the benefits in a lightweight, fast-absorbing package.
We’ve also got some totally amaze-balls urea in here, and if you aren’t in love with urea yet, prepare to swoon. Hard. I highly recommend checking out this post from Simple Skincare Science, which is basically a reference-heavy love letter to urea. The tl;dr is basically that urea is an incredible moisturizing, soothing ingredient and you should definitely include it in your skin care routine. I have found, though, that urea makes lotions “soap” a bit more than usual, so you may experience some temporary whitening on rub-in (I’ve found this varies with what you’re applying it on top of, and how much you use). If you really don’t like it you could try trading 1–2% of one of the carrier oils for some dimethicone, which should reduce the soaping effect.
The finished lotion is lovely—gently scented and packed with stuff that is great for our skin. I’ve been using it as the last step of my skin care routine (which also includes my Soothing Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum!) and my skin loves it.
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Soothing Facial Lotion
Heated water phase
23g | 23% aloe vera juice
20g | 20% low molecular weight 1% hyaluronic acid solution
20g | 20% chamomile hydrosol
7g | 7% cucumber hydrosol
2g | 2% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
3g | 3% sodium lactate (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% Propanediol 1,3 (USA / Canada)Heated oil phase
4g | 4% Polawax (USA / Canada)
5g | 5% evening primrose oil
5g | 5% argan oil (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% cetyl alcohol (USA / Canada)Cool down phase
0.5g | 0.5% allantoin (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% calendula extract
4g | 4% urea (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 0.5% 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 heated water phase into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Weigh the entire lot (measuring cup + ingredients) and note that weight for use later. Weigh the heated oil phase into a second heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place both 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 and weigh it. Add enough hot distilled water to bring the weight back up to what it was before heating, and then pour 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.
When the lotion is cool it’s time to incorporate our cool down ingredients. Because cool down ingredients are typically present at very low amounts you’ll need to use an accurate scale—preferably one accurate to 0.01g. As these more accurate scales tend to have fairly low (100–200g) maximum weights you won’t be able to put the entire batch of lotion on that scale without blowing it out. So—grab a smaller dish. Add a scoop or two of lotion, and then weigh the cool down ingredients into that, using the more accurate scale. Stir to thoroughly incorporate, and then stir all of that back into the master batch of lotion. Doing it this way minimizes the amount of cool down ingredients lost to the secondary container.
That’s it! Transfer the lotion to a 120ml/4oz squeeze bottle or 120mL/4oz plastic pump-top bottle (I found this formula was too thick for use with a treatment-pump top). To use, smooth a pea-ish-sized amount across the skin towards the end of your skin care routine.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this lotion 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 100g.
- To learn more about the ingredients used in this recipe, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there!
- If you’re like to use a different preservative, please review this page.
- The theme of this formula is soothing and hydrating; keep that in mind when choosing alternative ingredients.
- You can try different hydrosol(s) in place of the aloe vera juice, chamomile hydrosol, and/or cucumber distillate. Try to choose things that will smell nice together!
- I really, really don’t recommend dropping the hyaluronic acid.
- Panthenol, urea, and allantoin are all included for their skin-soothing properties. Read the encyclopedia posts for each (linked in the previous sentence) for substitution ideas.
- You could use a different soothing/calming botanical extract in place of the calendula extract.
- Both sodium lactate and propanediol are humectants. Ideas for alternatives include vegetable glycerin, sodium PCA and propylene glycol.
- You can use a different complete emulsifying wax, like Emulsifying Wax NF or Olivem 1000, instead of Polawax.
- You can use different oils your face loves in place of argan and/or evening primrose
- You could use cetearyl alcohol instead of cetyl alcohol, though this will make for a slightly fluffier/thicker end product.
Gifting Disclosure
The cucumber distillate was gifted by Essential Wholesale. The hyaluronic acid was gifted by Pure Nature.
Can you use a substitute for the urea?
Thank you,
Donna
Please read the substitutions list at the end of the recipe; this is covered there
Can i sell these products and if yes, hope it will work for the specific purpose its been made?
Please give this a read 🙂
If I add urea powder into a lotion I already use will it dissolve properly?
Hi! It will, but I do not recommend adding actives to pre-made lotions unless they’re designed for such things.
Are there different grades of Urea? I have a bag of it that I use for mixing fabric dyes. Would it be the same thing?
There are different grades; make sure you are using a cosmetic or pharmaceutical grade 🙂
I used a body lotion ages ago that had allantoin and urea, and it was amazing. This looks worth a try! thank you.
I hope you enjoy it! Happy making 🙂
Hi Marie–
I love the ingredients here, and look forward to trying this. I have a couple of questions, though…one, why did you choose Polawax, and two, why did you choose not to heat to 170F and hold 20 minutes? Thanks so much!
Hey Lorraine! I chose Polawax because I found it soaped significantly less than Olivem 1000, and this recipe seems to be fairly soaping prone. You can read up on the different emulsifying waxes I use in the DIY Encyclopedia to learn more about why one might choose one over the other 🙂
Regarding heat and hold—I have never used this method. I have made hundreds if not over a thousand lotions without it, and have never had any issues. I’d probably made several hundred before I even heard about the method and thought it seemed like a lot of fuss to solve a problem I’d never had. Formula Botanica has a great article on why it is unnecessary 🙂
Marie
Will BTMS50 work well in this recipe?
Yup!
Hi Marie! I love your recipes and education. I was wondering if I could decrease the viscosity for use in a treatment pump by increasing the hydrosol in the water phase.
Please watch this video for guidance on changing viscosity 🙂
My urea came this past weekend! Woo hoo! Can’t wait to make a lotion with it! This one looks lovely!❤️❤️
Woohoo! Enjoy 😀
Hi Marie! Just curious, do you reuse your plastic containers or any other containers?
Sometimes; I only re-use things that can be thoroughly cleaned and dried, which usually means simple jars and bottles. Caps with nooks and crannies or pump mechanisms have far too many little cracks and turns and what not that trap water and then get all kinds of gross.
So this is back on the lotion rotation. My doctor advised me to use a urea cream to heal my skin and was pretty amazed when I said I knew how to make it. He mentioned I needed to ensure it was 4%. Winner!! Lifesaver Marie!
Awesome! Urea to the rescue 😀
Do I need to pre-melt the urea before adding? Thanks for your sharing!
Nope! It is very water soluble and dissolves very easily in the cool down phase. You can watch the video to see it in action 🙂
I was just wondering this very thing! I haven’t watched the video yet but am playing around in my “lab”, making a few things. Thanks Marie!!
Is there something I can substitute for the aloe? I do not have a good reaction to it when ive used it in the past. thanks!
Please read the substitutions list at the end of the recipe; this is covered there 🙂
Is it possible/useful to make a 1% allantoin solution in the same way you make the 1% hyaluronic acid solution?
It probably is, but it wouldn’t be very helpful. We typically want a 0.5% concentration of allantoin in our end products, so your recipe would have to be 50% of that solution. Additionally, we want to avoid heating allantoin, so that would mean you have to incorporate 50% of your end product in the cool down phase, which will de-stabilize any kind of emulsion. I’ve found allantoin to dissolve well at 0.5% in the cool down phase, so I’d just stick to doing that 🙂
Funny you say avoid heating the Allantoin as I have read where it is added to the water when heating. Would it dissolve well?
Yes, it dissolves well, assuming you keep the levels within soluble range. Check out the encyclopedia post on it to learn more 🙂
Hi there, I’m really enjoying your videos recipes and enthusiasm for you craft 🙂 I’m wondering if you plan to do any recipes or write ups on using ingredients that are specifically for sensitive skin? Like what preservatives, emulsifiers, or other ingredients are non pore clogging/non irritating for fussy skin, that can be used to create a hydrating lotion??
Thanks
Hello Tamara!
That’s the beauty of DIY! So many ingredients in different ratios to other ingredients can make the change from something being much to harsh for any skin type, to being over the moon soothing for overly sensitive skin. And with each and every person having a plethora of different skin types (my forehead, upper cheek area, nose, jawline, and neck always seem to be at war with each other, can’t seem to make the whole face happy it seems) during a season, it’s difficult to make any suggestions! It is a lot of trail and error. If Emulsifying Wax NF doesn’t work on your skin, then you try Polawax, then Olivem 1000, then another one. And another one. And you do it again until you find something that works for you. And you do this for every single ingredient. This Soothing Facial Lotion should meet your requirements, as all the ingredients are soothing, and calming. Another formula you could try is this one.
Some feedback for you for this wonderful face lotion. I have been using it since it was posted and just love it! My doctor mentioned on my latest skin check how “glowy” and fabulous my skin was looking. And the second point – needing some tinted moisturiser quickly and having the lotion handy I added a bit of the mineral makeup from your book into a dollop of lotion, mixed it up and instant tinted moisturiser! This is a definite fav (well until the next fantastic one comes out!)
I am so, SO thrilled to hear it, Laurie! Thank you so much for sharing your fab results and for DIYing with me 🙂 Happy making!
I don’t know if I needed the cucumber distillate (didn’t have it) to balance out the smell, but mine smells kind of like sour milk baby…is it the promrose?(first time using it) does the urea give it a smell? Maybe the lavender water which I used as about 1/3 of distilled water just didn’t go with. Only other different things I did was use some chamomile extract in the cool down as I didn’t have that hydrosol, as well as a tiny bit of powdered green tea extract. And I won’t do that again as it turned the lotion a rather ugly beige colour!
Maybe my nose is over sensitive, but I really dislike the smell. I wondered if I could make another plain lotion to mix with it and dilute it, or add another fragrance to cover it? I just hate to waste the ingredients, and I was so excited to try my new ingredients like the urea, I made a double batch! Anybody have similar experience or ideas to fix this?
By the way, I just signed up to be a patreon, I think I am now addicted to lotion making!
That is very odd. I would suspect the EPO more than anything else in the recipe, though it might be worth checking the pH as well. In higher pH environments the urea can break down and give off an ammonia-y smell, but from the scent description you’ve shared I doubt that’s it.
You definitely can try creating a diluted batch, or scenting it with something else. I’d probably be inclined to try the masking fragrance angle simply because if it really doesn’t work you don’t now have a colossal amount of something you don’t like. I’ve done that in the past and then, uggggh, felt like I had to use it all because there was just so much of it. I think I can still taste that lotion (I didn’t eat it, ha, the smell was just… so… awful).
Another thing you can try is using it as a body lotion, where you’re less likely to notice the smell.
Good luck, and thanks for becoming a patron! 🙂
I also had the same problem as well as it being a bit sticky although it absorbed quickly. Was wondering the same thing as the originator of previous post.
This sounds absolutely wonderful, thank you very much!!
it’s difficult to find and buy ingredients in my country and I can only find 2% hyaluronic acid premade solution, can I use this at 10% so that way I’ll get 0.2% concentration like in the recipe and add 10% distilled water instead of 20% 1% hyaluronic acid solution in the recipe? Thanks!!
Yup, that sounds perfect 🙂 Happy making!
Love the idea of this lotion on my older skin. However, my formulations don’t come together. They are runny, & oil and water seem to separate. I’ve changed Polawax suppliers but have the same results. Do you recommend ECOMulse and a substitute for Polawax? Or it is the Cetyl Alcohol that is failing? Thanks!
If they are separating and you are confident the emulsifier you’re using is Polawax, then I would suspect your method. Cetyl alcohol would not impact separation in the least unless you’d used so much of it that it was overwhelming the emulsifiers ability to emulsify… and in that case I don’t think you’d be able to stir the mixture lol. Are you using a high-shear mixer? Have you watched my videos to really see what I am doing?
Hi Marrie,
I bought some chamomile hydrosol to make this lotion but apparently chamomile hydrosol smells really bad! at first I thought its just mine which is a bd batch or something, then i did some research and found out thats the normal smell of it!
it’s horrible!!!
I am wondering if i make this lotion will the smell get lost between all the other smells or it would still be the dominated smell? i just dont want to make somthing that i hate!
Thanks
Aww bummer! It’s really hard for me to say as I actually like the smell of chamomile hydrosol (or of the ones I’ve smelled, at least). I find this does smell mostly of cucumbers to me, but I also know if you really don’t like a smell it tends to lurk out of everything, ha. If I were you I’d replace the chamomile hydrosol with lavender hydrosol—the benefits will be similar and hopefully you will prefer the smell. Happy making!
Hi Marie, I was wondering if I could use glycerol stearate instead of polawax. I can’t find it in your encyclopedia.
You can’t, no. Thanks for checking the encyclopedia first, I’ll add it to the list of things to add!
First off, huge fan. I love your links to “Simple Skincare…” on fungal acne and I have finally been able to DIY so many things that I love—mostly facial mists, lip butters and face oils. So I’m turning to you with my Great White Whale of DIY. I love Drunk Elephant B Hydra, but I simply can’t afford the price tag. Neither can my friends. We’ve been going together on ingredients and making some amazing skincare products but DE B Hydra is our number one choice of pre-made items and we can’t figure out a DIY fix. Some of the extracts in there are pretty crazy, but you always have these really practical solutions/substitutions that serve the same purpose and don’t require a safari to Zanzibar for the extract. Please oh please give them a look and see if there might not be a simplified DIY version with a lot of the same active ingredients. (I put this post here, because so far in my search this lotion seemed the closest.)
Hi Jessica!
Marie’s posted a number of videos on YouTube explaining duping. But my favourite and most helpful guide by Marie when it comes to swapping ingredients. That is where you’ll get the most help in my opinion! There is a little bit of leg work when it comes to duping a product, and there are no easy answers! Once you’ve done all that, check out this request a recipe link!
This is a great resource, thank you! Speaking of the duplicates guide, I’ve looked everywhere for information about how to determine Phytomulse percentages/weight in lotion and cream emulsions to replace e-wax, but there is nothing out there that my limited chemistry knowledge can decipher.
Can you please provide some guidelines or references? At this point all my results are like creamy super-glue, thanks again.
Hey! I’m afraid I’ve never worked with that product, and from my research it seems like there are many different varieties so I can’t provide even a sliver of advice without knowing exactly what you have. I would recommend getting in touch with the manufacturer and requesting some sample formulations as a starting point; they always create them and tend to readily distribute them to potential customers 🙂
I’m at a loss…….. HELP. 1st time I made this, I messed up by not weighing the water before heating (but it made a fine lotion!). 2nd time was successful. HOWEVER, I tried two more times yesterday and was extremely careful and both turned out runny. I’ve watched your video and still can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong, especially since somehow I got it right once. Thanks.
Hey Paula! The first two things that come to mind are 1) your initial batch lost enough water during heating that it ended up much thicker than the formulation was intended to be, and now that you’re topping up the water amount you’re getting the correct end consistency / 2) You aren’t using a high shear mixer (I’ve found Polawax needs high shear blending to thicken quickly, otherwise it takes a couple of days). Do either of those resonate?
You called it………… I used a less powerful mixer. I “remixed” my unsuccessful batches with my powerful hand mixer and it worked!!! Thanks.
Huzzah! So glad we got that sorted 😀 Woot!
Hello and thank you for all your amazing recipes and videos. I have a quick question. The place where I buy my ingredients lists urea as a preservative. Can I use only urea as preservative or should I add another preservative as well?
I know Diazolidinyl Urea is a preservative, but urea is not—you’ll need to include a proper preservative (like Liquid Germall Plus [INCI: Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate], as I’ve used) as well. Happy making!
HI Marie! I absolutely love this lotion and have added it to my skincare routine. I recently learned though that urea can cause an upward drift in pH and that a buffer is necessary to help stabilize it in the formulation. I saw some recommendations of sodium citrate and citric acid or sodium lactate and lactic acid. I chose the latter for its moisturizing properties but I’m at a loss as to how much of each I actually need. Especially since sodium lactate is already an ingredient in the formula. I was wondering if you had any information on this and what % of the acid and base I should I add to the formula? Thank you in advance for your help!
Can I heat the water and oil phases in the microwave instead of the hot water baths?
Yes, but I don’t recommend it. The water bath means everything is the same temperature and you can’t burn the oil phase. Whatever you do, don’t microwave the two phases after they’ve been combined unless you want to clean a hot lotion volcano out of your microwave… I’ve learned that one the hard way LOL.
Hi! I made this lotion last night. The only changes I made were to swap in distilled water for the cucumber hydrosol, added .5% bisabolol and added .5% blue tansy predominate EO blend (reduced the hydrosol by 1%) and it came out thinner than the pictures here show. I did the initial blending with a milk frother but quickly switched to my immersion blender, and it still didn’t thicken up. I put it in an airless pump and it works great, but any ideas about why this happened? Should I start with the immersion blender next time? increase the cetyl alcohol? If so, by how much?
Hey Mandie! How long has it been? I’d start by giving it three or four days and seeing if it thickens up with a bit of time 🙂
Hi Marie,
I made this lotion and I really want to like it. However, it makes my skin sting. Do you know why this could be?
Full disclosure: I did not have urea on hand so I omitted that. I substituted abyssinian oil for argan oil and sea buckthorn for evening primrose, I used extra chamomile hydrosol instead of cucumber hydrosol, and I used aloe vera powder 200x concentrate mixed in the appropriate amount of water as a substitute for aloe juice.
Hmm, that is unexpected. Do you generally have sensitive skin? Can you check the pH of your lotion? How is your skin barrier health?
My skin can be sensitive at times, so that could be it. I don’t have pH strips at the moment, but I can get some to check. Should I be aiming for a pH of 5.5?
I tried using your recipe for rosé moisturizing body cream on my face, and did not experience any stinging sensation – not sure if that means anything.
What are your thoughts about removing the cucumber, adding to the aloe (or just distilled water?) and adding bergamot @ .2%?
Love this lotion. I used propanediol and some extra aloevera instead of urea and calendula. I applied it last night and it feels just as amazing on skin as I remembered. I actually think I love this even more than sugar plum lotion. Both are amazing! Love the light weight consistency (mine is in squeeze bottle). It had great soothing effect for my slightly irritated skin. Happy Holidays!
This sounds so lovely! I should really make more facial lotions, lol.
Hi! Love the formula, do you not adjust the pH at the end? Urea has quite an alkaline pH.
I experienced a similar problem, although I used Olivem 1000 as a substitute for the Polawax. It came out running, emulsified but didn’t thicken up. Is it due to the type of emulsifier used?
Hi Marie, I’m planning to make this, but my HA powder is high molecular weight, not low. I assume that would make the product thicker due to the greater gelling action of the HMW; is that correct? If I use the HMW-HA, would you recommend that I make the HA solution at .5% instead of 1%? Or perhaps reduce the cetyl alcohol a bit? Thanks for your help!