Making your own facial moisturizer isn't difficult, and it can save you a lot of money. Learn to make a homemade moisturizer for oily, acne-prone skin, and customize it to suit your needs.
Weigh out the distilled water and rose water in a heat-safe container.
Weigh the oils and emulsifier in a separate heat-safe container.
Heat both containers in a hot water bath until the emulsifier has melted. (You may also use double boiler inserts for heating the ingredients over the hot water.)
Combine the hot oils and waters while still hot, stirring until well combined. Ideally, both should be around 70º-75ºC/160º-170ºF when you combine them.
Periodically whisk the ingredients together while they cool. The mixture will thicken and become more opaque as it cools.
Once the mixture has cooled to around 30ºC/85ºF, add the preservative and, optionally, essential oils or other heat-sensitive ingredients. Mix together well to incorporate all of the ingredients.
Test the pH of the lotion. Adjust it down with a few drops of lactic acid, if needed.
Pour the facial cream into bottles. I love airless dispensers because they allow you to dispense the cream easily without contaminating it with your fingers.
Video
Notes
Customizing oils
You may adjust the amounts and combination of oils used to suit your skin and sensitivities. (Just keep the total weight of the oils the same.
Adding fragrance
This moisturizer obtains its subtle floral scent from the rose water. If you want a more pronounced rose scent, you can substitute part of the distilled water for more rose water or add a few drops of rose essential oil.If you prefer, you can also substitute the rose water with another floral water or hydrosol. You can also add an essential oil like lavender or tea tree oil at around 1% of the recipe by weight. Some essential oils may also help prevent and clear up acne.
Preservatives
I normally use Sharomix 705 and Euxyl k903 to preserve this moisturizer. If using Leucidal for your preservative, it should be dosed around 3-4% of the recipe by weight (rather than 1%). For more information about preservatives, check out my guide to natural preservatives.
Emulsifiers
Different emulsifiers will give different consistencies and textures. You may need to adjust the amount of emulsifier used depending on the one chosen. (Adding more will give a thicker consistency.) For more information about emulsifiers, check out my guide to emulsifiers. I like Montanov 68 and Olivem 1000.
Testing the pH
You can use ph test strips to test the pH of the lotion. Test the pH to ensure the lotion falls in a decent range for both your skin (5-6 is ideal) and for the preservative you want to use
Yield
This recipe makes around 100g of lotion. In volume, it will make slightly less than 100ml. (The oil component of ml to grams isn't interchangeable in the same way water is.) You can adjust the amount of the recipe to suit whichever container you plan to use.