homemade moisturizers

[Hazelnut]

I'm just wondering if anyone has any favorite recipe for moisturizer with basic ingredients, for "mature" skin. I have shea butter on hand, aloe vera gel, jojoba, tto, rosehip oil. I tend to put them on separately, here and there. Sometimes I even use a little bit of olive oil or coconut oil (at night, when I can be oily). In the morning I use moisturizer with spf. I once mixed up some jojoba with rosehip and tto, and I don't recall it being too great. Just wondering if anyone has a good mixture idea??

[sunnysandiegan]

Unless I have a specific issue, I rarely use TTO.

I use rose hip seed oil neat (straight) on my eye area after washing my face and spritzing rosewater as a toner. I am almost out of nighttime face moisturizer (commercially prepared) and am planning to do a mix of coconut oil, vitamin E oil, rose hip seed oil, and perhaps sweet almond oil all over my face, eye area, throat, and upper chest in the evenings. I consider my skin "normal" now (used to be oily) and I am "maturing" (just turned 42 earlier this month).

I still have quite a supply of daytime moisturizer, so I'll just use the above for nighttime/non-sun exposure time for now. I don't believe in using SPF when I'll be inside all day or at night and I am thrifty enough to use what I have.

Anyway, I have read and heard that you need wetness before using oil. I already use rosewater after cleansing, so I'll keep that up as the "wetness" to seal in with the oil to retain moisture in my skin.

[Hazelnut]

I also used to be a little oily. I'm 36, and hate to say "mature" skin but I do feel like my skin is a bit different now that in my late 20s! I blame the kids and that hard work. Anyway...will you mix the coconut oil, vit e and rosehip in one bottle? I'm wondering if I do so if it will keep, or if I'm better off just dabbing different oils/butters in my hand.

rosewater? sounds lovely. Is that supposed to be good for your skin? Where do you get it? Is it just an essential oil mist?

[sunnysandiegan]

I plan to mix a TINY bottle of vitamin E and rose hip seed oil just to try it that way. I find the rose hip seed oil is a bit too thick to get out of the bottle easily. I am hoping vitamin E oil (which I just purchased yesterday) will thin the rose hip seed oil a bit. I've heard/read vitamin E oil is really good for the skin, too.

I plan to just scoop a bit of the coconut oil straight into the palm of my hand and add a few drops of the above oil blend to my palm and blend it all together in my hands right before application. I don't like to mix up too much stuff ahead of time, either.

My skin used to be oily right up until November 2008. A holistic healer I'd been seeing recommended rosewater to me at the end of October 2008, along with other hormone-balancing treatments (internal and external). I had read it is really good for DRY skin and was a bit skeptical, but I trusted her judgement and went for it. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It is absolutely DIVINE and it really works wonders!!! At least it did for me. My skin is positively "normal", terrific, amazing in a new, very balanced, unbelievable way and I've tried soooo many things in the past.

i got my first bottle of rosewater at the local health food store (Henry's) for $8 (4 oz spray bottle), which is kind of pricey. Well, actually, it may have been on sale, but regular price is what I typed above. I asked the employees in that area for help and they explained and showed me the difference between the various brands and let me try them all. I was definitely most attracted to one particular brand, which I purchased and started using right away. I linked it somewhere in this forum recently, try a search to see more about it. Anyway, yes, it is water with rose oil. From what I have read elsewhere, rosewater is the by-product of producing the super duper expensive rose essential oil. Kind of like a "weak" dilution, sort of, at least that is what I recall from the reading I did.

[sunnysandiegan]

Oh, to finish my story... I then found several 8 oz bottles of rosewater for $2 each at a local discount store. The bottles were dented. Oh no. It is the same brand I already loved and such a good price. I bought quite a few bottles and gave one to the healer I referenced above as a thank you gift. She was equally thrilled. (Nor did she mind the dented bottle.) I ended up pouring half a bottle into my original 4 oz bottle anyway because the 4 oz spray bottle fits in my cabinet better. I am currently working on the second half of that first big bottle, so I have used 8-12 ounces since November 1, 2008. It goes a long way.

[sunnysandiegan]

I mixed 1 part vitamin E oil and 2 parts rose hip seed oil into an itty bitty vial last night (leaving the remaining 1/4 unfilled) to test it out. Still too thick and sticky, so this morning I added 1 part sweet almond oil to the itty bitty vial and shook it all up. I won't know until tomorrow night if I like the new consistency, though, because we are headed to a campout in a few minutes.

I also blended up an insect repellant today:
80% sweet almond oil
20% vitamin E oil
in one oz amber glass bottle with a little head room and then added:
2 drops bergamot EO
2 drops lemongrass EO
3 drops existing blend of thyme EO (+ 2 others, but I used it solely for the thyme) in jojoba oil base

I shook that up really well, too, and applied it all over my feet and legs. While I was reading in my aromatherapy books, I also discovered bergamot and lemongrass are great deodorizers. So, before I added the thyme blend, I rubbed a bit of my new blend under my arms. Works nicely so far. I also put one drop of bergamot EO neat on the part of my bra that sits under my arms, so two drops total. Mmmmm...smells delightful!

Okay, so a little off-topic, but you seemed a little interested in this type of thing...

[Annapooh]

i'm interested too! What is/are your favorite books for EO's?

[sunnysandiegan]

I have three:

Practical Aromatherapy by Penny Rich
Aromatherapy An A-Z by Patricia Davis
Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child by Valerie Worwood

They are all very different in the organization and presentation of the material. Even some content varies and contradicts each other. They are just guides.

The first one is the fastest to find quick info. The second is much more in-depth and requires you to know what you are looking for. The third is specific to children. I got them over time in the order I listed them. I am actually ready for a new aromatherapy book soon. While some info doesn't change (EOs that have been around for eons and were used consistently way back when, for example), there is always new information being discovered over time (rose hip seed oil is glossed over in the first two books, for example, and it is quite popular nowadays). I typically use the internet and/or library for newer info, but a reference book would be very helpful since I have been researching the same handful of EOs/carrier oils over and over for the past couple years. I want a new author, too, for a different perspective...

I thought I would update the deodorant and insect repellant "stories"...

~ The deodorant was very pleasant throughout the day and evening yesterday. I'm not exactly sure when it stopped working, but we got home around noon and I had a bit of a funk. DH didn't notice, though...

~ The insect repellant worked like a charm. Neither my DD nor I had a single bug bite nor even any annoying critters anywhere near us. A couple of the other little girls were complaining of itching and bites after our hike, but at this age it could be from anything in a new environment.

[sunnysandiegan]

I showered before dinner tonight since we were camping and I am trying desperately to stay awake until my DD goes to bed tonight.

Therefore, I have an update on my face oil concoction I adapted yesterday morning.

My mix:
50% rose hip seed oil
25% vitamin E oil
25% sweet almond oil

It works perfectly for my original purpose as an eye "cream" now! It is a tad thinner than straight rose hip seed oil and smoothes onto the eye area (I apply with ring finger on bones around eyes) and soaks in immediately. It felt nice and was not sticky.

I decided to try it as a whole face moisturizer just to see... While it was quite lovely around the eye area only, it was too thick for the whole face. It took several applications to cover my entire face, neck, upper chest because it was sticky and soaked in way too fast. I still have some (commercially prepared) nighttime face moisturizer, so I am not ready to open my coconut oil just yet. I'll need to do some more reading and experimenting before I find an appropriate mix of oils for my entire face, which takes into account my skin type and "issues" I wish to address while smoothing on easily and soaking in quickly enough to not leave traces all over the pillow case/sheets.

[Hazelnut]

sounds good. I was just googling eye recipes, and found that most seem to use beeswax, or be straight oil sesame oil as well. Since i have a huge tub of shea butter, I was hoping to use that as a base for some oils.

Maybe I just need a tiny vial to mix up the vit e, rosehip, and a bit of jojoba. I dont have beeswax or sesame oil onhand. And I am very lazy about mixing, but I'd like the benefits of more than just one oil.

[sunnysandiegan]

I was reading up on coconut oil today. My commercially prepared non-SPF lotions are not moisturizing enough for my skin at night now. They are for oily skin and my skin is not oily anymore. Sooooo... I opened my coconut oil tonight and tried it. Mmmm... smelled and felt heavenly!

I washed with my rose face and hand soap, then spritzed with rosewater...both as usual. Then, I dabbed a drop or two of my rose hip seed oil blend on my ring fingers and lightly massaged it around my eye area. Lastly, I squirted one-third of a dropper of organic unrefined cold-pressed coconut oil into my mouth and a second one-third dropper into my palm and lightly massaged it into my face (overlapping the eye area), neck, and upper chest. I kind of ran out partway through my neck, so I used half as much of a third dropper for the entire neck area and upper chest and had leftovers, so I used it on my hands and knees and heels (lightly). It soaked into my forehead and eye area and nose and chin almost immediately, but is still sitting on top of my cheeks and neck and upper chest. I'll be experimenting with the amount over time.

Coconut oil is liquid in temps 76 degrees and higher, which we have mostly (70s nearly year-round here). It is solid below that, which will occur for a few months a year here. I hear it will melt easily if held in your palm for a bit, so I think it'll be easy to use year-round. It has a very long shelf-life, too.

I love EOs, but not on my face unless I want the healing properties for something specific and short-term. I think I have a good amount of the rose hip seed oil blend mixed up. It is a very small green glass bottle with a screw-top...maybe 5 ml. It is only slightly larger than the tiny clear vials that have the push-in, wiggle-out tops. I'm only using 2-3 drops a day and it will "keep" for a long while due to the vitamin E. I'm hoping for a 2 week to one month supply. I don't want to mix it up every day (too much work; likely to revert back to commercial lotions), but I also don't want it to sit around for months (rancid oils REEK and are not frugal!).

I've never used shea butter and would love to hear about your adventures with it.

[Annapooh]

I have borrowed, but not been able to spend time with; The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood. It has "recipies" for health, beauty, and home environment.

[Hazelnut]

I shook up some vit e, rosehip, and jojoba in a little vial. I think I will melt shea butter and put some of that stuff in that. After doing some reading, I might order some carrot oil. I think in surfing I am realizing that I am a bit lazy to conjure up any recipe that requires more than five minutes. I have a lot of stuff onhand (vit e, coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera gel, jojoba, rosehip, etc.) but maybe I'll just continue slathering them on randomly at different times? Just surprised I didn't come up with more shea butter based recipes.

[3bees~1flower]

why not just create your own recipe with all your ingredients using whatever %'s of each oil you want?

if you want to use your shea, i would make that the base of your recipe so you end up with a nice butter. i would start with 65-70% shea and the other 30-35% use your other oils.

edited to say: the only thing is, you can't use the aloe vera gel in your butter as it would need an emulsifer to keep from separating out as well as a preservative to prevent microbial growth.

[Hazelnut]

[QUOTE=3bees~1flower;14254662ld start with 65-70% shea and the other 30-35% use your other oils.

edited to say: the only thing is, you can't use the aloe vera gel in your butter as it would need an emulsifer to keep from separating out as well as a preservative to prevent microbial growth.[/QUOTE]


That's why i'm kind of afraid to make my own. But I wasn't quite finding the recipe I wanted. Just curious: Why would the aloe vera gel get icky with the shea, if it's OK in the tube it's in?? So I can melt shea, add in the oils and an EO and that will stay good? I would just like a little tub of it to use around my eye area, but the oils are too oily to use in the day and the shea butter to hard to rub in for me alone.

[sunnysandiegan]

Just use the coconut oil.

It feels sooooo lovely!!!! I just needed one dropper tonight (for some reason, it will only fill 1/3 of the way no matter what method I use). I inadvertently put it on before the eye oil blend. I just used the same amount of eye oil as I have been using and blended it in the eye area as usual. There is still a bit of coconut oil sitting on top of my skin in the neck and upper chest areas, but my face feels smooth and soft without any trace of the oil. I squirted a dropper full into my mouth, also, since I read how it is supposed to be so good for us humans yesterday.

[3bees~1flower]

your aloe is in a tube? like an oiltment tube? aloe is a waterbased product and ickies grow in waterbased product. is there a preservative listed in the ingredients of the tube of aloe? if so, when you heat it up with the rest of the ingredients, it may be compromised and be rendered useless...the preservative, that is, so that is why you would want to add additional preservative if you use it in your butter...but without an emulsifier, you wouldn't really want touse that anyway. i would just use it either under or over your eye balm as a separate product and not worry about trying to get it in your balm.

as for how to make it...yep, just gently heat up the shea in the microwave to 175* allow to cool to 120-130* and then add your other oils...you don't want to heat them up as high as the shea. stir periodically as it all cools to room temp.

[Hazelnut]

Thanks. It's lily of the desert, which is listed as 99% pure- I think there probably is a preservative. I guess I will just use shea and rosehip oil and jojoba then for an eye cream.

So far for moisturizers I have just stuck to using a little coconut or rosehip or aloe or jojoba separately. Whatever moves me in the moment.

Also thanks for that rose water tip. I have this already which I enjoy just sprtizing here and there : and now I'm just spritzing it on my face after I wash. It's just water and rose, so I'm assuming it's a safe toner?? Anyway it feels great to spritz on as a toner. Smells better than vinegar.

[sunnysandiegan]

Yep, that'll be good as a toner.

I agree it feels GREAT! I sometimes spritz my face mid-day just for a pick-me-up. I like a different brand (Heritage Products) better, so check out others when this one runs low. Everyone's "sniffer" is different, though.

I was inspired yesterday to play "chemist" and I went through all my face and hair products. I looked them all up on that cosmetic database online. Many were not listed, but about half of the ones listed are good and half are in the 6-7 range. I had several mostly empty bottles of face lotion with SPF along with a few full-ish ones. I mixed up all the super low ones with not the best ratings into one container to use up first. I used it today and we were outside most of the day (not at the beach or pool or park, though) and it did a really good job of keeping my face feeling nice and no pinkness at all. They were all SPF 15, some with chemical sunscreen and some with physical blocks. I wondered if it was going to stink or separate, and it was actually nicer than any of them solo.

I also mixed up some of my non-SPF face lotions (very lightweight) and added some coconut oil to up the moisturizing properties. Felt very nice last night. I'm too thrifty to toss these lotions out, so I made them work for me.

The most fun, though, was being very brave (for me) and mixing the oily-skin facial wash (too drying for my face now) with the last inch or two of a face wash I love as is (normal/combo skin) and the rest of a face wash that is too rich for my skin here, but works on vacation. It felt FABULOUS this morning! :

All in all, I got to recycle 5 now-empty toiletry bottles and had to toss out a few more (non-recyclable).

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by Annapooh

i'm interested too! What is/are your favorite books for EO's?

I took my 8YO DD to two libraries yesterday and while she looked for her books, I looked for essential oil books. I found five and have already read four of them. I was pleasantly surprised with the diversity of authors.

Aromatherapy - Scent and Psyche by Peter and Kate Damian
I started out reading it and learned some interesting facts. Ultimately, though, it was not what I was looking for and I skimmed through the rest of it until I got to the properties of the EOs. I liked the initial general message that EOs have been around for eons and are generally safe and part of a bigger healing realm (natural therapies of many kinds). I didn't really dig the political hoopla and all the nitty gritty scientific details. (Some is good, this was overkill, IMO.)

Aromatherapy Workbook by Marcel Lavabre
I liked this book and felt it was a good blend of history, science, and practical usage of EOs. I particularly liked how the author goes over how many EOs are good for the same ailment and how certain EOs can do different things depending on what you need at the time. Adaptogens, I believe he called them? I'll be going back to this one later. I want to get a better understanding of the way he assigned a "power" scale to each EO for specific uses. Fascinating idea!

The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils by Julia Lawless
Hmmm...This book was annoying almost from the get-go. Way too many cautions and warnings and discussion of better methods than EOs for this and that for my tastes. I couldn't even enjoy the detailed descriptions of the various plants and EOs because the info presented was blatantly out of balance with what I already know about EOs from other authors and my own experiences.

Seasons of Aromatherapy by Judith Fitzsimmons and Paula Bousquet
I absolutely ADORE this book and will probably be buying my own copy!!! The authors specified 12 EOs and give a brief intro to each EO in each month and why they chose that particular EO. Then they give practical uses for that EO with recipes and tips, etc. I already tried one tonight and my DD LOVES it! The authors named it "Sweet Dream Mix", but encourage the reader to let the child help make it and name it whatever suits them. Eight year olds are less enthused than younger kids about this. I asked DD first and she refused to have any part of it, so I mixed it up myself. When she had a hard time falling asleep tonight, I suggested the mix and let her shake it and smell it, etc. Only THEN did she fall in love and, more importantly, asleep.

375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols by Jeanne Rose
I haven't read this one yet....