Making Cosmetics, Step 2: What is a cream?

Make sure to read my previous Article on the Tool Kit that you would need to start cream-crafting.

In order to start making creams let’s first understand its structure and how the creams are made in a nut shell.

There is only one formula for any DIY cream

It’s pretty simple and is combined of 4 elements:

Water+Oils+Emulsifier+Active ingredients

• Water — will be the main moisturizer in our cream.
• Oils — will work as a protective layer. They will prevent the moisture from evaporating. They will also have some nourishing vitamins for our skin.
• Emulsifier — crucial element in cream-crafting. Emulsifier will make it possible to mix water and oils and produce a stable emulsion to which we will then add active ingredients.
• Active ingredients — vitamins A,C,E and provitamin B5 , hyaluronic acid,zinc oxide, essential oils,etc.

What are the Phases?

In order to mix Water and Oil we need to heat them up to the certain temperatures in two different Cups. We call those conditions of Water and Oil — Phases, as short for Heated Phase of the Ingredient.

As you probably have already guessed there are only two Phases:

1. Water Phase (either water or 1 choice of Floral water)
2. Oil Phase (you can mix different oils hear, but avoid essential oils)

I recommend using Distilled Water from your local pharmacy when you’re still training in cream-crafting. But in the future you can also use Floral Waters ( rose,orange,chamomile,etc) to add some extra vital essences and vitamins to your creams.

Emulsifier

A good Emulsifier is a big deal in Cream-crafting. I tried couple of different once and almost gave up while learning till I found the really good one. It’s called Olivem 1000 and trust me if you’d go for it, you will save yourself from a lot of frustration.

Oils

As opposed to the Water Phase, there are a lot of choices that we can make for your Oil phase. However they will all depend on your skin type.

Here are the 4 main Skin types:

• Normal skin — jojoba oil, coconut oil(butter), hemp seed oil, macadamia oil and almond oil.
• Dry skin — avocado oil, jojoba oil, sesame oil, macadamia oil and almond oil.
• Oily skin — argan oil, jojoba oil, hemp seed oil, macadamia oil and almond oil.
• Combination skin — apricot oil, avocado oil, hemp seed oil, macadamia oil, almond oil, peach oil, cocoa oil and coconut oil.

As you can see, Almond oil and Macadamia oil can be used for every skin type. So if you’d like to make a gift to someone whose skin type you don’t know or if you’re uncertain about your own skin type go ahead and use those two:)

Essential Oils

While chosing essential oils follow the same logic :

• Normal skin — bergamot oil, ylang-ylang oil, lavander oil, lemon oil, rosemary oil, nutmeg oil and cedar oil.
• Dry skin — orange oil, basil oil, ylang-ylang oil, jasmine oil, lavander oil, lime oil, tangerine oil, patchouli oil, rosemary oil, rose oil, chamomile oil and sandal oil.
• Oily skin — bergamot oil, verbena oil, grapefruit oil, cedar oil, lavander oil, lemon oil, lemongrass oil, melissa oil, pepper mint oil, patchouli oil, green tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil.
• Combination skin — orange oil, bergamot oil, ylang-ylang oil, jasmine oil, lavander oil, lime oil, lemon oil, tangerine oil, rose oil and rosemary oil.

Active Ingridients

There are a lot of active ingredients that could be used in DIY cream, and the choice will depend on the effect you’re trying to achieve. For example, vitamins A,C,E and provitamin B5 , hyaluronic acid,zinc oxide, essential oils,protein,etc. (we will go into the detailed description of what every active ingredient will do for your skin in the next articles)

Essential oils for skin problems

Essential oils are very powerful in the treatment of skin problems. But always remember that good condition of your skin depends on what you eat,drink and breathe. If you want to have a beautiful healthy skin be sure to drink a lot of water and eat healthy!

• Antibiotics — lemon oil, chamomile oil, rose oil, green tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil.
• Antioxidants — calendula oil, cedar oil, lime oil, lemon oil, rose oil, chamomile oil and eucalyptus oil.
• Regenerating — orange oil, lavander oil, patchouli oil, lemon oil, chamomile oil, cedar oil.
• Detoxicants — orange oil, verbena oil, lavander oil and lemongrass oil.
• Anti-Acne — orange oil, bergamot oil, verbena oil, ylang-ylang oil, lavander oil, patchouli oil, chamomile oil, rose oil, sandal oil, cedar oil, green tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil and grapefruit oil.
• Anti-wrinkle — basil oil, ylang-ylang oil, lemon oil, rose oil and green tea tree oil.
• Pores tightening — orange oil, bergamot oil, grapefruit oil, lemongrass oil, tangerine oil, pepper mint oil, patchouli oil, lemon oil, rosemary oil and sandal oil.

Ok, this is it for today. Will come back tomorrow with more practical article on the anti-acne cream that I did today!

Love you all!

Share your thoughts and questions in the comments!