cleopatra’s face cream
I’ve never considered myself skilled at making face creams until I experimented with eliminating shea butter and cocoa butter from my recipe– two staple ingredients listed in every face cream recipe I’ve ever come across. It took me a while to realize the reason my creams came out so grainy in texture and seemed to separate quickly could be due to these ingredients.
Then I discovered the wonders of coconutoil.
I’ve used it for cooking and body oils for years. And now, I use it in my face cream! I find the silky texture adds that special something for a lovely cream, plus, it’s not a temperamental oil.
I’m excited to share my precious face cream recipe with you; I think it is divine, and I’ve named it Cleopatra’s Face Cream after the legendary lover of roses. I am a serious rose lover too, and in this recipe I used rose water, rose infused oil, and a lot of rose absolute essential oil for the scent. It’s amazing.
Basically, a cream is 50/50 (more or less) oil and water. The alchemy is in getting these two substances which normally repel one another to infuse and become one. The result is a very beautiful, nourishing substance that is simply glorious.
INGREDIENTS:
* All amounts are approximate, I’m never strict with amounts* This recipe makes about 2 cups of face cream.
20g beeswax
75g coconut oil
1/2 cup herbal infused oil (or pure olive, sesame, apricot, almond oil) or you could use plain oil that’s not herbally infused
The above ingredients account for your oil group
The remaining three ingredients below account for your water group.
100 aloe vera gel
150ml rose water
1 tsp of rose essential oil
(or your own favourite essential oil e.g lavender, rose geranium, vanilla, Ylang ylang, jasmine, Neroli, chamomile) the options and combinations are endless) and of course you can make this unscented too! Yes, even though an essential “oil” is oily, it’s actually added to your water group.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Place your beeswax and coconut oil into a glass measuring cup, that measures 2 cups. Then place the measuring cup into a large pot with simmering water that rises to approximately the 1/2 cup mark. This hot water bath is warm enough to melt the wax and oil (coconut oil is solid unless heated) but not so hot you burn the wax or oil.
2. Meanwhile, mix your water group ingredients in a separate measuring cup. Set aside.
3. The wax and coconut oil will eventually become completely liquified. This takes approximately 10 – 15mins. Once solid particles completely dissolved, lift the measuring cup out of the hot water bath.
4. Now, pour your herbal infused oil into the now-warm but not hot wax and coconut oil mixture. See this post for how to make herbal infused oils.
Now, having just poured cool / room temperature oils into warm-body temperature oil/wax it may try to harden and look like this:
Don’t worry! Everything is still ok. However, quickly scoop this concoction into an excellent and very powerful blender if you have one– or my preferred method– a 1 litre mason jar and mix with a stick blender. Use a spatula to get all of the oil/wax into your blender / jar.
5. Then, start blending, while gently pouring your water group into the oil group- this is the amazing part! We are encouraging the water molecules to bind with the oil molecules, to homogenize, and become one.
Very quickly, you have cream! Blend until the water and oil have clearly homogenized – do not over blend or else your finalized cream will separate.
Because the blender motor is warm, the cream may seem a bit runny. Once you transfer into jars, it will settle into a lovely texture.
Done!
TIPS:
– My suggestion for clean up is to rub excess cream all over your body – it’s so much fun plus you’ll feel amazing!
– You can also wipe your dishes/blender down with newspaper mopping up excess oil to prevent your kitchen sink from becoming a greasy disaster
– I have never had any cream go mouldy. Some people are afraid this might happen, in which case add 1/4 tsp of vitamin E oil, OR 1tsp of calendula tincture or, I use poplar bud oil as one of my ingredients for the oil group.
– This cream has a very long shelf life. However I’d recommend use it up within a year.
Enjoy and have fun!
Does this recipe work without the beewax?
Yes, you could use a hard fat like Shea or cocoa butter
Does this recipe work without the beewax?
Yes absolutely, you can experiment with a beeswax alternative such as shea butter or a heavy oil.
I really want to make this but am worried about the shelf life. Does it really last 6 months approximately without a preservative?
Hi Andrea,
Yes it really is shelf stable! This quantity, if used daily as part of your body care regime, usually only lasts 3 months so there’s even less of a chance of it spoiling. I’ve experimented by having some batches sit a year and up to 3 years just so I could see at what point it indeed spoils….exposure to hot weather (sunny windows, etc) for prolonged periods of time speeds up the spoilage. A rancid “off” smell occurs about a year later…or sooner if left in heat. To ease nerves you can always empty one softgel of vitamin E into the finished product just before blending. This is a preservative. Good luck! And keep me posted!
I made this recipe and my lotion turned out really runny. I think maybe I messed up on the measurements. Is it 100ml of aloe?
Hi Olivia!
Yes – the amount of aloe is 100ml.
Is it still runny after some time of letting it sit?
Once it’s just freshly made it can still be very runny because the ingredients are still warm. But once it sits, it’s a beautiful texture.
I made the cream but it started to seperate. What did I do wrong?
Hi Michelle,
How soon after making it did it start to separate?
Here’s what I’ve seen happen…it separates if:
1. The water group and oil group were not close enough in temperature – they don’t need to be exact temperatures, but close enough. Meaning the oil group has cooled a bit, and you were sure to have the water group room temp.
2. You didn’t mix it long enough or fast enough
3. The cream once finished was stored in really different climates. For example, I notice if I take my cream to southern california and it sits somewhere in the extreme heat, it’ll eventually separate. Likewise, if I store it somewhere cold, and later leave it somewhere really warm.
This is the downside of a natural cream without additives.
What you can do: It’s not bad! So you can empty it into a mixing bowl and whip it fast with an electric mixer or whisk. See if you can get it to emulsify again.
Or just keep using it as is.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions. And if you do re-mix it, let me know how that goes!
I would love to try this recipe but I get a mild allergic reaction from aloe (redness and itching), any suggestions for leaving it out of the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Llyn!
Yes of course – for folks allergic to aloe, just leave it out and replace with rosewater. It’ll work out just beautifullY!
Hi I made my first batch today, but my cream looks like it has little crystal beads through it. Does that mean I haven’t blended it enough or too much. Thanks
Hi Bronnie!
Little crystal bead-looking particles means that you may not of blended it enough, or, the temperature of of your water group was too cold. What you could risk trying is blending it again more and see what happens. It can sometimes do the trick!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I did my first batch today and it worked out fine! It’ s the best cream I ‘ve ever made.
Oh Good Monika! I’m so glad it turned out well. Yes, it’s still the best cream I’ve ever made, too.
Just made this tonight, used a combo of Lavender, Sweet Orange & Geranium. Was easy to make, seems to have a nice texture, made the unfortunate mistake of slathering my face, not recommended, a little goes a long way. Have given some to my neighbor so she can try it as well and give me some feedback.
Wonderful this is a definite must try. Thank you for the wonderful post I have some lovely Neroli oil that will work great with this.
Yes, neroli would be divine in this recipe. I love neroli alone, and combined with ylang ylang…..enjoy!
OMG! This sounds Luscious! Can’t wait to have some of this gorgeous cream! Thankyou:)