Rose Skin Cream Recipe
A simple rose skin cream recipe using light-feeling oils and rose essential oil. If the rose water you use is pink, the cream will be pink, too. Otherwise, it makes about 6.7 fl. oz (200 ml), or about two pots, of thick, white skin cream.
Servings 2 pots
Cost $20
Equipment
- digital jewelers scale if measuring the ingredients by weight
- 2 heat-proof jugs (or jars) glass or stainless steel
- immersion blender (stick blender) milk frother or spoon
- pH testing strips optional
Ingredients
Water Phase
- 0.6 cup rose water (rose hydrosol) 140 g
Oil Phase
- 4.5 tsp emulsifying wax NF (or BP) 15 g
- 7 tsp sweet almond oil 30 g
- 3 tsp jojoba oil 10 g
Cooling Phase
- 10 drops rose absolute Optional - or 20 drops rose geranium essential oil
- broad spectrum preservative* such as Leucidal SF Complete, or Optiphen
Instructions
- Measure the oil phase ingredients into a small saucepan and the rose water into a heat-proof jar or container.
- Heat both using indirect heat — Place a cloth or flat potholder at the bottom of a saucepan. Set the oil and water phase containers on top, then fill the pan with hot water up to the level of the oil phase ingredients.
- Heat on medium to medium-high until the oils and wax have completely melted. Take the temperature: the oils and the rose water should be about 150°F (66°C). When they reach this temperature, carefully lift the jars out of the water and set them on the counter.
- Pour the rose water into the container of oil phase ingredients. The mixture will become opaque very quickly.
- Mix with an immersion blender or milk frother (or spoon) until the mixture thickens to the consistency of double cream. This takes less than a minute with electronic mixing but will take longer if stirred with a spoon.
- Allow the rose skin cream to cool to about 122˚F (45˚C ) before stirring in the essential oil and preservative*. By this time, it will have thickened, and you should be able to spoon it up.
- Test the cream's pH (see below) before spooning it into jars for storage. Once made, it's best to allow the ingredients in the skin cream to synergize for a day before using. If properly preserved, the rose skin cream can have a shelf-life of up to eighteen months. Once you begin using it, use it up within six months.
Notes
* There are many broad-spectrum preservatives available for you to use in skin creams. I use one called Geogard Ultra (gluconolactone and sodium benzoate), a white powder that I dilute in a little rose water and use at 1.5% of the recipe. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the specific product you use, though.
Testing for pH
Skin creams and lotions should be pH 4.5 to 5.5 to feel comfortable on your skin. If they're more acidic or alkaline, they can sting or cause dryness. To work out your batch of lotion's pH, stir a half teaspoon of lotion into 1-2 tsp distilled water. Dip a pH paper into the liquid and then compare the color to the ones on the pack.
You can make the lotion more acidic (lower the pH) by adding tiny amounts of lactic acid or citric acid dissolved in a small amount of warm, distilled water. Make it more alkaline (increase the pH) with triethanolamine or by dissolving a small amount of L-Arginine or bicarbonate (baking soda) in water and adding it. Pass it through the sieve and into the lotion. Take the pH reading again and adjust again if needed.