I have been making natural body creams and lotions since April 2011.
Therefore, I have a lot of experience producing natural body creams and lotions.
There are four basic ingredients used to make water based
natural cream or lotion.
Please see below for these four basic ingredients:
- Water or Herbal Infusion
The major constituent of a body cream or lotion is water.
The reason of using water is to hydrate the skin. The skin
is the largest organ in the body and is made up of mainly water.
Body lotions can contain up to 90% of water or herbal infusion.
Thick creams are about 70% water or herbal infusion.
Making herbal infusion involves putting the herb(s) in hot water.
When the herbal infusion is cool, it can be strained and used in
making the body cream or lotion. Body lotions tend contain more
water than body creams. Body creams have a thicker consistency than
body lotions.
Herbs used in making natural creams and lotions can include:
lavender, chamomile, spearmint, green tea or rose petals.
- Fat – vegetable oil and or butter
The second main constituent of a body cream or lotion is usually
vegetable oil or fat. The function of adding fat is to moisturise
the skin. The fat can be liquid at room temperature (oil) or
solid at room temperature (butter).
Some creams & lotions use both oil and butter. Other creams &
Lotions use oil or butter. Vegetable oils with little or no aroma
tend to be used. Care must be taken using nut oils due to nut allergies.
Examples of vegetable oils that may be used:
Sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, sweet almond oil or starflower oil
Butters usually make the body cream or lotion heavier and may be
ideal for especially dry areas like the feet and elbows.
Examples of butters that may be included:
Shea butter, refined avocado butter, coconut butter or cocoa butter.
- Emulsifier or Emulsifying wax
The function of adding an emulsifier or emulsifying wax is to ensure
the water or herbal infusion and fat can fully mix in the body cream
or lotion.
- Preservative
Natural, gentle effective preservatives are now available to stop mould,
spores and fungus growing in any cream or lotion that contains water.
If preservative is not used, the cream must as a result be used quickly as well as
stored in the fridge.
Some other useful ingredients that can be used when making body creams:
Rolled Oats – used in herbal infusion, oats have many skin-soothing properties.
Vegetable Glycerine – a humectant so it can enable our skin to retain more water.
Pure Vitamin E Oil – Anti-inflammatory and excellent to really nourish to our skin.
Essential (Ethereal) Oils – Many creams and lotions contain essential oils or pure plant extracts.
Beneficial essential oils that should be carefully used in tiny doses. Some common examples are:
lavender, tea tree, spearmint, geranium or citronella essential oils.
Hope the above information gives you an idea of four the basic ingredients used in making a
natural body lotion or cream that also contains water.