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Nourishing Winter Skin Cream Recipe

Instructions for making a silky and moisturizing skin cream recipe with marshmallow root and lavandin oil. Use as a nourishing hand and body lotion for dry and weatherbeaten skin. Makes one 100ml pot but can be scaled up for larger batches.
Keyword lavender, lotion, marshmallow, skin care recipe
Prep Time 12 hours
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 12 hours 45 minutes
Servings 100 ml
Author Tanya Anderson
Cost $10

Equipment

Ingredients

Marshmallow Infusion

Water Phase

  • 90 g marshmallow infusion 90 ml / 3.04 fl. oz

Oil Phase

Cooling Phase

Instructions

Make the Marshmallow Infusion

  • Combine the dried marshmallow root and distilled water in a sterilized jar. Running the jar through a dishwasher beforehand will suffice. Cover and leave to infuse overnight.
  • Strain the thickened water through a mini-sieve and into another sterilized jar.
  • Measure how much one of the heat-proof jars weighs and jot that measurement down. Next, measure 90 g (3.04 fl oz) of the marshmallow infusion into that jar. Reserve the remaining marshmallow infusion for another batch and/or use it when adding the preservative later on in these steps. Freeze it if you'd like to use it later.

Prepare the Oil & Water Phases

  • Measure all the oil phase ingredients except the xanthan gum into a second heat-proof jar. Measure the xanthan gum into its own small ramekin. Next, place the main heat-proof oil phase jar in the pan with the jar of marshmallow infusion (the water phase). You're aiming to melt and heat it to the same temperature as the water phase.
  • You're ready for the next step after the contents of both jars are about 75°C/165°F and the oil phase is completely melted.
  • If you can fit the head of the immersion blender inside your heat-proof jars, that's great. If not, pour the oil phase ingredients into a larger sterilized container, but remember to take its weight measurement first.
  • Sprinkle the xanthan gum into the oil phase jar and blend it in with the immersion blender before it has a chance to gum up. I'd recommend that you sprinkle just a little at a time until it's blended together.
  • Pour the water phase into the same container as the oil phase. Use the immersion blender to emulsify the two. You'll see the mixture quickly change into an opaque white cream. With smaller batches, like this one, the immersion blender is likely to leave air bubbles in the lotion. It's not a huge deal if the lotion is for personal use. Larger batches won't have this issue since the head of the immersion blender will keep below the surface of the ingredients.
  • When it looks fully emulsified, tap the remaining cream from the immersion blender's head. At this stage, it might be runnier than you're expecting. It won't reach its full thickness until it's cool. This brings us to the next step, allow the lotion to cool to 45°C/110°F.

Cooling Phase

  • When the cream is at 45°C/110°F, add the essential oil and broad-spectrum preservative*. If the brand you use comes as a powder, mix and dissolve it in a teaspoon of leftover marshmallow infusion before adding it to the cream.
  • Now we need to test for pH. Dip one of your pH papers into the lotion, scrape it off and compare the color to the ones on the pack. Lotion and skin creams need to match the pH of your skin, or they can be irritating. If the pH is between 4.5-5.5, you're spot on. If it's too acidic, dissolve the tiniest amount of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) with a tiny amount of warm marshmallow infusion. Pass it through the sieve and into the lotion. Take the pH again and adjust again if needed.
  • If anything goes wrong with your lotion's emulsion, you'll tend to know within the first few hours. If this is your first time making lotion, scoop it into a sterilized clear glass container and wait. If after those few hours the lotion is holding its emulsion you're good to go. Decant the lotion into a sterilized cosmetic jar and use within six months of dipping your finger into it. Depending on which preservative you use, the lotion will have a shelf-life of up to eighteen months.

Notes

** I use 1/2 tsp (1.5 g) Geogard Ultra preservative when making this recipe, but you can use another broad-spectrum preservative such as Leucidal SF Complete. If you do, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
If you make this hand cream without a preservative, it will last up to one week in the refrigerator. After that time, invisible bacteria and fungi will begin colonizing it. Although they may be visible initially, using unpreserved cream can cause skin infections.