DIY Shea Butter, Honey, and vitamin B5 rich body cream

 

 

Hey beautiful people!

I’ve been playing around with making body creams recently, and I was really happy with the last batch that I made over the weekend. In creating this last batch I was aiming for a rich, emollient cream just in time for the worst of winter.

I’ve found this Shea Butter, Honey, and B5 cream recipe really lovely, if I do say so myself. It is very rich, but melts into the skin without feeling greasy afterwards. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredient overview-

Shea butter- used here for its intensely moisturising, anti-inflammatory and emollient properties. In its unrefined form it is very high in vitamin A and E which are both important to supporting healthy skin.

Panthenol/B 5- boosts hydration levels in the deeper layers of the skin.

Avocado and Jojoba Oil- both possess their unique nutrient profiles and are really good for dry skin.

Honey- humectant, and mild antimicrobial properties. After this batch I am going to switch up to active Manuka honey which apparently has amazing healing and antibacterial properties.

Recipe:

• 5g Jojoba Oil, Cold pressed         (The Jojoba Company Pure Australian Jojoba Oil, from local health food store)
• 5g Avocado oil, cold pressed              (www.gardenofwisdom.com)
• 8g Shea Butter, unrefined     (www.newdirections.com.au)
• 4g Panthenol (Provitamin B5)           (www.gardenofwisdom.com)
• 1g Vitamin E   (Covi-ox mixed tocopherols)                (www.lotioncrafters.com)
• 40g distilled water
• 10g Hyaluronic Acid 1.0%      (my own stock serum, see recipe here)
• 10g Seamollient                              (www.gardenofwisdom.com)
• 2g Honey
• 5g Emulsifying Wax  (Polawax)         (www.gardenofwisdom.com)
• 2g Cetyl Alcohol                                   (www.gardenofwisdom.com)
• a few drops optiphen
• 1mL Rose Otto essential oil         (www.newdirections.com.au)

note: the avocado oil is dark green, and will lend a greenish tinge to the final product.

Instructions:

1. Measure out your non heat sensitive oil phase- your Shea Butter, Avocado oil, emulsifying wax, and cetyl alcohol, in one glass.

2. Measure out, in another glass, your non heat sensitive water phase- distilled water, seamollient and hyaluronic acid.

 

“Heat and Hold”

3. put both glasses in a saucepan and heat until the emulsifying wax and cetyl alcohol just melts.

4.  take glasses out to cool for 15mins.

“Cool down”

5. Add Panthenol/B5 and honey to the water phase

6. Add Vitamin E to the oil phase.

Emulsification:

7. Slowly add the water phase glass into the oil phase while stirring well (ideally with an electric hand mixer). You will see it come together in a creamy mixture.

8. Add the Optiphen (preservative) and essential oils.

9. As it continues to cool it will go from a runny texture to a thick cream. Stir it well every so often until it completely cools, to help with the stability of the final emulsion.

 

 

If you don’t have these exact ingredients, you can still easily make a body cream. In place of the avocado oil and jojoba oil, you can use extra virgin olive oil (this will make it a heavier cream, however). You can skip the vitamin B5, and cetyl alcohol; and you can use distilled water in place of seamollient and hyaluronic acid. Keep in mindthat substitutions will change the texture and quality of the cream.

The absolute minimum for a body lotion/cream is:

oils (nice ones, do not use mineral oil or baby oil)

emulsifying wax

distilled water

preservative 

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Jun 14th, 2011 in DIY Skin Care, Skincare | 5521 commenthttp%3A%2F%2Fmyfunnyvalentineblog.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fdiy-shea-butter-honey-and-vitamin-b5-rich-body-cream.htmlDIY+Shea+Butter%2C+Honey%2C+and+vitamin+B5+rich+body+cream2011-06-14+04%3A08%3A18myfunnyvalentinehttp%3A%2F%2Fmyfunnyvalentineblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D552