Handmade Face Cream for Oily Dehydrated skin (DIY)

6 min readNov 30, 2015

Be sure to read my articles on the Tool Kit that you would need and What is cream in General before starting to Craft this recipe.

I have a very oily skin. Since I was a teenager I was trying to get through it by buying different cosmetic products in pharmacies but I did not see real effect. So I decided to find natural ways to moisturize my oily dehydrated skin.

Here is the breakdown of the cream I came up with. It has tones of vital ingredients right for the oily dehydrated skin.

If you have a very oily skin like me, then this will be perfect for you as well!

Brief overview of the components

Water Phase

As the main moisturizer I chose Ylang-Ylang floral water because of it’s anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects. It is also known for it’s clarifying, cooling and detoxifying properties.
Perfect for my type of skin.

Note: If you don’t have Ylang-Ylang floral water, you can replace it with the distilled water as well. This will not affect the main recipe.

Ylang-Ylang floral water is has very nice antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, clarifying, cooling and detoxifying properties.

Oil Phase

I chose Tea Tree essential oil because it has strong antibiotic and anti-acne properties.

Emulsifier

For making a stable emulsion I used Olivem 1000 emulsifier. I believe it’s the best emulsifier for the beginners and it’s one of the easiest to apply.

Preservatives

In order to make my cream stay fresh for a long time (up to 2 months) I used Optiphen preservative .

Active ingredients

The rest of the active ingridients used in the cream suit for all of the skin types.

Let’s get to action

Creating the recipe: Every drop counts

Here is the article on the Tool Kit that you would need

Creating the recipe is a very important part of the process and probably the hardest part in cream-crafting. We are going to work with the very small amounts of ingredients and thus every drop will have it’s precise weight and will definitively count!

Creating the recipe is probably the hardest part in cream-crafting. As every drop counts

The water phase will be 70–75%
The Oil phase will be 10–25%
Active ingredients will be 5–20%.

The recommended usage of an active ingredients

The recommended usage of an active ingredient is always written on the packaging. Which makes it really easy to count:

30 grams of the Product is 100%. Devide it by 100. Then multiply by the recommended percentage of the ingredient (indicated on the package). The result will be the amount of grams that we would use for the cream.

Here is the recipe I got in the end

Please follow it strictly if you’d like to achieve the same cream I prepared.

Ylang-Ylang floral water — 73% (21.9 grams)
Almond oil — 10% ( 3 grams)
Shea Butter — 5% ( 1.5 grams)
Vegetable Glycerin — 1% (0.3 grams)
Vitamin E — 0.5% ( 0.15 grams)
Vitamin A — 0.5% ( 0.15 grams)
Vitamin C — 0.5% ( 0.15 grams)
Tea Tree essential oil — 0.3% (0.09 grams)
Collagen — 2% (0.6 grams)
Olivem 1000 — 6% (1.8 grams)
Optiphen(preservative) — 1% (0.3 grams)

Sterilizing your hands and tools before work will increase the chance of your cream staying fresh for longer period of time.

Step by Step instruction

Step 1: Sterilization

First of all I always begin with Sterilization. I sterilize of my tools and the jars.
I’m going to use by isopropyl alcohol. You can also you any of your sterilizers.
I usually wear sterile gloves, but if you want you can simply wash and sterilize your hands with isopropyl alcohol.
This will increase the chance of your cream staying fresh for longer period of time.

Step 2: Measuring

For the oil phase I mixed Shea butter,Almond oil, Olivem 1000 and a few drops of Vitamin E oil in the first measuring cup (photos 1–3 ).

Than I took another measuring cup and added Ylang-Ylang floral water to it (photo 4).

Step 3: Heating

I put the two cups in a water jar and apply heat. Then I wait until all of the ingredients in oil phase are molten. After that I start to verify the temperature with the laser digital thermometer.

The temperature for both of the phases has to be similar, otherwise our emulsion will quickly lose its structure. Keep heating your phases until they are in the range of 70–80 Celsius or 158–176 Fahrenheit.

Step 4: Mixing

When the temperature in both phases is similar and in the range of 70–80 Celsius or 158–176 Fahrenheit, it’s time to take them out of water, take them out and start to carefully add water phase to the cup with oil phase and mix it with the glass stick or spoon (don’t use the mixer yet).

I keep mixing it until the cream cools down.

Step 5: Active ingredients

Then once its cool, I start to carefully add other active ingredients in the mixed emulsion( I add Vegetable Glycerin, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Tee Tree essential oil, Collagen and Optiphen ) than I start to mix it with the mixer. I keep mixing for about 2 minutes.

Then happens one of the most exciting parts in the whole process! We start to actually see our Cream achieving the texture and its creamy look!

In the end I have 3o grams of the Handmade Face Cream that is ready to save my skin anytime!

Step 6: Storage

Now in order for my cream to live longer I have to store it in the small (pre-sterilized) container and save it in the fridge.

My container is plastic, although I highly recommend to use the glass jars for your Homemade creams. They are more convenient and give it a more expensive look.

Always remember to craft your creams in a positive relaxed mood as the cream feels your vibes and absorbs them. The more positive you will be with your cream. The more positive energy it will accumulate.

Time to try

What I actually did!

So I made a face massage applying a lot of cream before going to sleep.

First impressions

It was very cooling at first. But the feeling passed in few minutes and everything was OK.
I didn’t feel anything wrong.

Than I suddenly noticed that I don’t feel any dryness no longer. I can fully open my mouth and I would feel perfectly comfortable with it.

In the morning I woke up and (oh my!!!) the skin was not super oily as it usually is in the mornings. It’s amazing, I actually could not believe it’s so effective!

After my own experiment I have to say that this recipe is really good.
I hope that this recipe will help all you girls with Oily Dehydrated skin like mine.

I love you all!
Share your thoughts and questions in comments and I will answer them!