I start planning out Christmas recipes in the summer and typically have everything more-or-less nailed down by the end of September. This formula wasn’t in the original plan, but I am so in love with plum oil right now that I couldn’t not make some sort of decadent lotion with it. It is just so downright swoon-worthy with its marzipan-y scent and golden colour and just… sigh. So, here we are, with a bonus Christmas 2018 recipe because I simply had to. Many apologies 😉
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Because this is a facial lotion I’ve packed it with a selection of things that are amazing for your skin (if you don’t have something, please refer to the substitutions list at the end of the post and the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia). Our oil phase is pretty small to keep the lotion lightweight and fast-absorbing. I’ve used a blend of fragrant plum oil and antioxidant rich argan oil for the bulk of it—an earlier version of this formula used more plum oil (plus some essential oils) than the version I’m sharing today, but I found it to be too fragrant for facial application so I dialed things back. I’ve also included a touch of dimethicone 350 as it is an excellent (and completely safe, non-pore-clogging, non-skin-suffocating) skin protectant, which is always a good thing in December in Canada! If you don’t want to use it, please refer to the substitutions list at the end of the recipe.
For our emulsifier I thought I’d use an emulsifier I used to use a lot, but haven’t used in ages—Ritamulse SCG, also known as Emulsimulse or ECOMulse. It’s an ECO-CERT complete emulsifying wax that gives our products a beautiful powdery finish. I find it creates thicker emulsions than similar amounts of Polawax or Emulsifying Wax NF, so I reduced the amount of cetyl alcohol that I might otherwise include to keep the lotion nice and pump-able.
The bulk of our awesome-for-skin actives are in our water phase and our cool down phase. I’ve included 20% of a 1% low molecular weight hyaluronic acid stock; that makes for a 0.2% concentration of hyaluronic acid in the end product, which has been shown to be effective. Hyaluronic acid is an excellent humectant, helping plump our skin and keep it soft and hydrated. Vegetable glycerin and propanediol further amp up the humectant profile of the lotion, helping combat winter dryness. I’ve also included some panthenol (vitamin B5) and hydrolyzed oat protein. Panthenol is anti-inflammatory and helps reduce trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), while hydrolyzed oat protein helps retain moisture and leave the skin feeling soft and lovely.
In the cool down phase we’ve got some Penstia powder, allantoin, and N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG). Penstia powder significantly improves the feel of the lotion, improving slip and generally making the lotion feel much more luxurious. Allantoin is soothing and helps boost healing; it’s not hugely water soluble, though, so we’re adding a small amount in the cool down phase to prevent recrystallization as the lotion cools. N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG) is an ingredient I’ve been meaning to play with for a while—it has been found to help with moisturizing, boost healing, increase collagen production, improve skin tone, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and take you to the Bahamas for a relaxing beach vacation. In short, it’s pretty amazeballs. It can be derived from the shells of crustaceans, so if you are vegan (or allergic to shellfish) you’ll want to inquire with your supplier about the source.
Phew. That was a lot of ingredient talk! Fortunately the making part is pretty easy—it’s standard lotion-y procedure with our two heated phases, some blending, and a cool down phase to wrap things up. The end product is lovely enough that you’ll probably just want to keep it for yourself, and I don’t blame you. Merry Christmas from me to you!
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Sugar Plum Facial Lotion
Heated water phase
44.9g | 44.9% distilled water
2g | 2% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
20g | 20% low molecular weight 1% hyaluronic acid solution
3g | 3% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% Propanediol 1,3 (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% hydrolyzed oat protein (USA / Canada)Heated oil phase
4g | 4% Ritamulse SCG (USA / Canada / UK / AU)
6g | 6% plum oil
2g | 2% cetyl alcohol (USA / Canada)
7g | 7% argan oil (USA / Canada)
1g | 1% dimethicone 350 (USA / Canada)Cool down phase
0.1g | 0.1% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 0.5% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)
3g | 3% Penstia™ powder (USA / Canada)
0.5g | 0.5% allantoin (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% N-acetyl glucosamine (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.
Now you can package it! I split the batch between a 50g soft squeeze tube from YellowBee and a 50g airless pump bottle (I’m not sure where it came from).
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!
- Panthenol, vegetable glycerine, and propanediol all function as humectants in this recipe, so if you are missing one or more, try replacing it with another humectant. Sodium lactate and sodium PCA are good options, and you could also use more of what you do have. (Panthenol isn’t just a humectant, but its other roles are hard to replace)
- If you don’t have the hylaronic acid you can try replacing it with aloe vera juice or just use more water. This isn’t a very good swap as neither are anywhere close to the moisturizer that HA is, but you can’t just leave it out.
- You can try a different hydrolyzed protein, like silk, instead of the hydrolyzed oat protein.
- If you don’t have the plum oil (I haven’t found it in Canada yet—I’m sorry!) I think your best alternatives would be apricot kernel oil (USA / Canada) or cherry kernel oil—oils that are also pressed from the kernels of similar stone fruits. You will lose the marzipan/cherry note; if you aren’t a fan of the scent you might prefer that! Otherwise, you can look for a fragrance oil with a similar scent and incorporate it (I’d start at 0.1–0.2% as it’s a pretty subtle scent). I haven’t found this scent anywhere else in the realm of natural ingredients, sadly.
- You can use Olivem1000, Polawax, or Emulsifying Wax NF instead of Ritamulse SCG.
- You can try cetearyl alcohol instead of cetyl alcohol.
- You can replace the dimethicone 350 with more argan oil, or a natural silicone alternative like LuxGlide N350.
- You can use more water instead of the Penstia powder.
- A comfrey root extract would be a good alternative for the allantoin, though you will need to check the recommended usage rate and likely adjust the recipe—there’s a very good chance the recommended usage rate is much higher that 0.5% as it will not be as concentrated.
- You can replace the NAG with more water or more of a non-sticky humectant. This isn’t really a substitution (read the post—NAG does a lot!), but it’ll keep the recipe in balance.
- If you’re like to use a different preservative, please review this page.
Gifting Disclosure
The plum oil was gifted by Essential Wholesale & Labs. The plastic soft tube was gifted by YellowBee. The hyaluronic acid was gifted by Pure Nature.
I have been wanting to play with some hyaluronic acid for a while now. This lotion sounds beautiful and the perfect one to give it a try.
As soon as I can gather the ingredients, I will give it a go. 🙂
I hope you love it! Happy making 🙂
Ooooh new ingredients!! Why not add some niacinamide in there too? 😛
Mostly because I was already loading up on actives and vitamins and thought things were getting a bit crazy, ha. You definitely could, though!
Hi Marie, I’ve been making the Lemon Rose facial lotion with Hyaluronic Acid. How do you think this lotion compares to that?
This one has a slightly smaller oil phase and has much more of an emphasis on humectants and barrier repairing/protecting/supporting ingredients 🙂
I can’t find liquid germall oil here ! What substitute can you recommend ? And can I use total guards to prserve this preparation! Thanks alot
Good afternoon Norhan!
I’ve had some luck with this preservative from TheSoapKitchen. I was experimenting with products using Iscaguard instead of my trusty Liquid Germal Plus due to not being able to get it easily here in Ireland. Have you seen this handy link?
Hi! Thank you for all of the ingredient talk! It helps to know and better understand properties and benefits of what’s in a product.
My question is about the tools you use. I am especially interested in the hand blender you posted the picture of in this post. Will you tell me the brand name?
Thank you Marie!!!
I’m glad you found it useful! The immersion blender is an old Braun one I found at Value Village ages ago. This is the one 🙂
I’m glad you posted this when you did. I was just about to put in an order to lotioncrafter and picked up a few more things to make this! My daughter was just asking for a face moisturizer and now I don’t have to go out and buy her something. I read that plum oil is good for the face and was hoping that you’d come up with a recipe for face lotion. 🙂
Woohoo! I hope you both love it
Can you recommend which of the many HA options that you would use from Lotion Crafter for this?
I’d recommend on the one specified in the recipe—low molecular weight 🙂
To make this malassezia safe, would I be able to replace the plum & argan oil with squalane?
The oils that are “safe” for malassezia seem to be MCT oil, mineral oil, and squalane. Would any of these be able to substitute our standard carrier oils? (For wash off products, I wouldn’t bother wasting squalane in there…)
MCT would be my go-to inexpensive oil, with squalane as the fancier alternative. That said, make sure you’re watching out for emulsifiers and all kinds of other things—I’m not confident that’s the only swap you’d have to make for this usage case 🙁 Good luck!
Hello,
I love your website and your creations and I am a fellow student/graduate from Formula Botanica. I have a question: I notice that in your lotion recipes you often make oil-in-water emulsions but instead of pouring the oil in the water phase, you pour the water in the oil phase and I was wondering how come ? Is it because of the emulsifier you use or is there another reason ?
Thank you,
Morgane
Hey! It’s because the order you pour for these sorts of emulsions doesn’t impact the end product, and I find water comes out of its beaker more completely and easily than oil does. You’ll notice I don’t actually start blending until both parts are completely in the same container, which may have something to do with why this works perfectly fine for me—there’s no point at which the ratios between the two are drastically altered. I’ve made hundreds or oil-in-water emulsions by pouring the water into the oil with absolutely no issues. If you’re making a W/O (especially with lecithin) the slow water drizzle is important for success, but complete e-waxes are much more flexible. I hope that helps!
Marie! NEVER apologize for giving us your wonderful recipes!! I have so many it’s hard to pick 3 or 5 or 10 to make for my loved ones! I always have to try the new ones…which sometime becomes regulars. I thank you for each and every one of them, AND all the info you attach with them! I truly would not be where I am in this DIY journey without you! I love your videos and your recipes. Keep doing exactly what you are doing…for all of us out here in cyberland who wait for you every next recipe.
Thank you so much, Sue! Your lovely comment has put a massive smile on my face 🙂
This has done all sorts of wonderful for my ahem “mature” skin. I have been using it since you posted it and have been asked what am I using on my skin as it looks so good! I am loving the addition of NAG and I have found it in Australia – bonus! Are there more recipes coming with it?
And a very merry Christmas to you! Thanks so much for your wonderful blog. It’s been inspiring.
Aaaaand….it’s Poppy again, with more of her inane questions! Okay, so, I’ve been seeing some new ingredients around the blog lately. And, yes, I haven’t been keeping up with it, sorry! Buuuut, these new ingredients, with odd names and weird INCIs…I WANT ALL OF THEM!!!!!!! And none of us have unlimited time (or wallets). SO, for someone who mostly makes lotions and creams, sometimes oil-based stuff like lip balm and body butter, and occasionally something foamy that might require a foaming surfactant, what surfactants, chemical compounds, and whatever-else should be on her shopping list? Thanks! Ooh! And something else….I was browsing Lotioncrafter recently, and I saw this new thingymabobber called, like, liquid crystal emulsifying wax or something else like that. Hang on….okay, got it!
Here: Montanov™ 68 is a non-ionic, liquid crystal emulsifier based on the HLB system. Liquid crystal emulsifiers create a lamellar or bilayered structure that mimics the lipid bilayers in our stratum corneum, which may help actives or lipids from our lotions penetrate our skin easier. They also help reduce transepidermal water loss as the lotions hold more water in contact with the skin for a longer period of time, blah blah, blah, blah blah.
I want to try it! It says that you should use it at a 1-5% usage rate, which you seem to do, and that you dissolve it in the heated oil phase, again, mimicking the regular e-wax we use, so, do you think I could use it in place of the e-waxes you have in your lotion recipes? Please, please, PLEASE say yes!!!!!! (because it looks super cool and apparently makes much lighter, moisturizing concoctions….ooh, lordy, does that hit home!)
Hiya Poppy!
I’m afraid you are so not going to like my answer as my last shopping list from Lotion Crafter came out to be about $150USD. But! I did get a massive box full of small containers containing so many awesome new ingredients to play with! The best way to figure out what to buy is to figure out what works for you and your skin, or to look for common ingredients in the recipes you want to make.
This lotion looks lovely. Do you think I can add in 5% Ceramide Complex from Lotioncrafter (subbing for 5% water) and still come up with a nice product?
Can I replace vegetable glycerin with double the amounts of glycerin-based extracts that are 50:50 glycerin:water?
You can certainly try—I don’t see anything that raises red flags for me 🙂
Hi Marie
I hope this question isn’t too annoying but let’s go anyway. If I wanted to add Urea and/or Caffeine to any of your lotion formulas, such as this one, which ingredients would I replace them with.
I have researched but can’t seem to understand where they belong in the formula.
Thanks so much
Gayle
Hey Gayle! I’ve written an entire FAQ on exactly this 🙂 It should get you sorted!
Hi Marie, can I ask what essential oils you tried? I would love to add some mature skin friendly EOs that work really nicely with the marzipan smell of the plum oil. Thank you & you’re awesome ♡
I just tried the same ones use elsewhere in this series—benzoin and cardamom 🙂
Thank you, Marie, for this lovely lotion. I have been wanting to make it for awhile and am so pleased with its light feel on the face and its moisturizing qualities. I so appreciate your time and efforts to compile these recipes and for sharing them so generously.
A happy fan 🙂
Yay! I am so thrilled to hear you are enjoying it 😀 Thank you so much for sharing your results and for DIYing with me—happy making!
I’m curious as to why you pour the water into the oil phase when RitaMulse is, I believe, an oil into water emulsifier. Thanks
I’m about to make this lotion and am wondering why you only recommend using 4% RitaMulse when your usual amount is about 7% (including 2% glycerin and cetyl alcohol). I don’t want to make this and not have a great emulsion. Thanks in advance.
This one has a smaller oil phase than older formulas using it 🙂
Because, in my experience, it doesn’t matter at all. I find the water pours out of its container better than the oil does, so I pour the water out of its container rather than scraping out the oil phase, which can sometimes solidify on the pouring spout depending on its contents. I’ve made hundreds of oil-in-water emulsions pouring the water into the oils and it works brilliantly. The “oil in water” part is determined by the emulsifier, not which phase is poured into which. I recommend giving this post a read. Here’s a quote from it “This is a proof why the myth and general misunderstanding: “that you can create both an O/W and a W/O emulsion from a single emulsifier by changing the blending order of oil and water phases” could not be correct.” Hope that helps!
Hi,
I am currently making this and I substituted argan oil for marula and used emulsifying wax NF instead. I started blending with the MICROMINI but it did not thicken like it did in your video. So I switched to an emulsion blender and it thickened a bit more. However, it’s still a bit runny and not fluffy like how yours looked like. I’m not sure what happened and maybe it will thicken up in a couple hours or days? It’s been about an hour or so since I started making this formula. Thank you
I find that emulsifying wax NF needs more powerful mixing to thicken quickly, and it sounds like you noticed that happening once you switched to the immersion blender. I also find it creates slightly thinner products than Ritamulse/Emulsimulse does, so I would think that change would also result in a slightly lower viscosity. As noted in the post: “I find it creates thicker emulsions than similar amounts of Polawax or Emulsifying Wax NF, so I reduced the amount of cetyl alcohol that I might otherwise include to keep the lotion nice and pump-able.” In the future you might want to use more cetyl alcohol to compensate 🙂 Happy making!
ops my bad. Should have re-read the article haha. I was so excited to make this that I jumped right into it, after making the spreadsheet for it of course;) The consistency honestly isn’t that big of an issue. It’s kind of like a thicker, richer serum. And it spreads beautifully and my skin feels moisturized:) By the way, I use this in combination with the sheet mask recipe that you posted. I use compressed sheet masks made of silk fibers since they adhere to the skin so well and are so light yet absorbent. The GLOW I get from using the sheet mask is INCREDIBLE!! Just wow! I think it’s even better than some store-bought ones, not to mention significantly more affordable! I absolutely love it! Thank you so much Marie! <3
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! With the warmer weather we’re having these days I’m finding I prefer thinner, lighter lotions anyways 🙂 And oh my goodness—silk sheet masks?! How utterly divine sounding! I must keep an eye out for those 😀
update: I really wanted to like this since it’s the first facial lotion that I ever made but it’s stinging my face. I know it’s this lotion that’s causing it because I’ve been testing it for awhile. My cheeks sting almost immediately after putting this lotion on. It could be just my skin or that I accidentally put a couple more grams of an ingredient than what I’m supposed to(it’s hard to be accurate with those itty bitty numbers). I guess I’ll just use the rest on my body and try some of your other recipes:)
Bummer! I can’t think of anything in here that would be suspect for stinging unless you have an allergy or sensitivity to one (or more) of the ingredients in here. Is anything in here new? Do you notice a reaction elsewhere?
Also, how’s your skin generally on your face? Does it tend to be sensitive? Does anything else make it sting? Hmmm.
Your body will be very pampered 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me and sharing your results, even if they weren’t what you were hoping for!
The only things I changed were from hydrolyzed oat protein to silk amino acids, argan oil to marula oil, and from ritamulse to emulsifying wax NF. I applied this to my legs and there were no reactions at all.
I’m not too sure but my skin was traumatized 4 years ago by bad advice:( My dad’s friend told me to use a physical exfoliation scrub EVERY night and that caused the skin on my face to literally peel and flake. It was very bad and I remember someone telling me in class how I was creeping them out… I guess my skin could have been sensitized because of that but I’m honestly not sure.
And yes, my legs are very moisturized and pampered haha:) I’ll just keep experimenting and maybe try the recipes from your soothing series. Thanks for sharing and putting in so much effort! I love seeing your passion in what you love to do(and you’re good at it), especially in your videos with your lovely expressions ha. Reading your blogs have become something I look forward to each week. I’ve learned so so much ever since I started following you! At least I know how to read ingredient labels now and not get ripped off lol
Ouch! I would recommend looking into incorporating some products that are high in ceramides to help your barrier repair—it sounds like it may still be damaged/weaker than it could be. Ceramides will help strengthen it and you may find the sensitivity drops. I found this blog post to be interesting 🙂
Thank you so much for all your support 😀
I made and loved this lotion! I am very happy with the H.A and the Penstia. My sister has tried mine and she also likes it but would prefer it in a cream. Could I just increase the oil phase and deduct from water? Or add more e-wax/Penstia? (I don’t have ritamulse.)
We have mature, dry skin, and I hate to say it, but, wrinkles! Any suggestions?
Yay! I’m so glad you’re loving it 😀 If you’d like to make it thicker and richer I’d increase the oil phase and reduce the water phase—check out this post & video for guidance on that, as the amount of ewax will need to adjust as well 🙂 You could also increase the cetyl alcohol by 1–3%, decreasing a liquid oil to make room (or further growing the size of the oil phase).
From my reading one of the best things you can do for pre-existing wrinkles is keeping the skin hydrated—the plumping from the hydration will help fill out the wrinkles. To that end you might like to add a hydrating serum or sheet mask to your routine! Happy making 🙂
Hello! I loved the ingredients in in this recipe and made it with no substitution. And it feels sticky for my taste. Is it normal? Can I do anything about it? Any suggestions?
Hey F! I find stickiness seems to be a pretty personal thing; I didn’t find this lotion to be sticky, but I know I’ve found some things sticky that other people don’t. I find the easiest way to reduce the stickiness of something that is already made is to apply something oily on top of it, like an oil serum. In the future, you could try incorporating ~2% dimethicone 350 to reduce stickiness 🙂 Happy making!
I have made this comment in my head many times, so I had to double check to make sure I hadn’t already *actually* commented…lol
Anyway, I just wanted to say that this is the best moisturizer I have ever used. I literally mean ever. For many years, I have used all kinds of high-ish end products (think Lancome, Estee Lauder, and Kiehls, but not quite La Mer). I’m a product junkie. I’ve used many products that I really like. I am now DIYing my entire skincare, hair care, and body care routine (except retinol and spf stuff)….and this moisturizer has made my skin the healthiest and brightest it has ever been. I made it as a gift for my 70ish year old aunt, and she has noticed great results too.
Thank you so much for your wonderful site and recipes. We are kindred spirits and I enjoy your musings so much.
Oh my goodness Elizabeth, you’ve made my day. I’m tearing up a wee bit over here ❤️ Thank you so much for sharing and for making with me ❤️
Thank you so much for sharing this formulation! I made this yesterday making few swaps following your recommendations and it was easy to make (I know you saw the pictures – thank you). I didn’t have plum so I used some chamomile hydrosol for scent. What a gorgeous lotion! I like way it feels on my skin and how happy my skin is afterwards.
After useing this a week I can see a difference on my skin. It works super well for me and feels very great on skin. My skin feels hydrated, less oily, plumped up and slightly brighter / even toned. I think I might have less wrinkles and small blemishes too. It also costs far less for me than antiflammatory or multivitamin lotions of mine (haven’t used them lately). I’ve applied it around eyes too with great results. Again I’m grateful for you. xx
Hi Marie is there any substitution to montanov? thank you
This formulation doesn’t use any Montanov products?
Hi Marie. In this formula you indicate heating up the hyaluronic acid and also using a immersion blender. This is how I’ve been formulating as well, however, Belinda Carli indicates in her latest youtube video that HA should never be heated nor should high sheer ever be used on HA. She just posted that video. Thought you’d want to know and look into this.
omg I saw the same video too and now am confused to heat it in water phase or add in cool down phase
Finally dug up my Ritamulse (Ecomulse) from the depths of my closet, and I made the Sugar Plum Facial Lotion. In one word SUPER! Soft, creamy, a wonderful scent without any added fragrance. A lovely lotion (which has become more of a cream for me.) I am now going to start on the Sugar Plum Conditioning Butter.
I am so thrilled to hear it, Greet! ❤️