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Step 1

Heat the almond oil, jojoba oil, and beeswax in the double boiler until melted and well combined (it takes about 2-5 minutes for me)Pour the oil mix into a bowl large enough to use a hand mixer in without splashingWalk away and let the mixture cool to room temperature- for at least an hour, probably more.Mix the essential oils into the aloe vera gelOnce the mixture is room temperature, start slowly adding the aloe vera gel as you use the hand mixer to whip up the moisturizer. You may not need all of the aloe so add it gradually.Continue to whip until it reaches your desired consistency (I used my hand mixer for about 10 minutes)Put in a container with a tight lid and enjoy!

Step 2

Pure Grace Farms says April 29, 2014 at 10:11 am Great post. Pinned and shared. I am definitely trying this!!! Reply Soozi says March 29, 2016 at 11:46 am For some reason it’s not blending well Reply Susie says March 29, 2016 at 1:48 pm Did you check the “updates” section where I answered frequent issues? Without more info, I can’t help you troubleshoot. Reply Robyn @ simply fresh dinners says April 29, 2014 at 10:14 am Just yesterday I was reading an article on how aloe vera is so good for your skin. I remember using it years ago but have to admit I’d forgotten about it. Another one of your recipes to try this weekend, lol. Visiting from Tips and Tricks Linky Party. Have a great day, Susie. Reply Candy says April 30, 2014 at 8:00 am Can’t wait to try this! Looks like a fairly simple process that will reap amazing benefits. Thanks for sharing. :) Reply Susie says May 2, 2014 at 10:10 am I can’t believe how easy it is to make these things at home! Good luck let me know how it goes for you! Reply Raneeta says December 11, 2014 at 12:28 am I made this lotion, however the consistency stayed a lot more liquidy then yours. Any idea why that might be? Could it possibly have been not enough beeswax? Reply Susie says December 11, 2014 at 7:13 am I’ve made this enough times to figure out different troubleshooting for why it comes out too liquidy. I think the most common mistake is adding too much almond oil. If anything, you should have a light hand with the almond oil and a heavy hand with the jojoba oil. Not enough beeswax could do it too. And also adding the aloe too quickly. Hope this helps! Reply Sylvia Enstro says November 3, 2015 at 9:09 am Now that is done can I thicken it somehow. Mine has stayed the yellow color, not creamy looking like yours and is still a pourable consistency. . Please help . Thanks Susie says November 3, 2015 at 4:19 pm Hi Sylvia. Without more details I don’t know how to help you. Color variation is normal based on whatever ingredients you used (beeswax color, etc.). Madhan says February 20, 2015 at 3:29 am I am having the same problem. I replaced beeswax with rice wax though. Reply Susie says February 20, 2015 at 1:29 pm I’ve never used rice wax before so I have no idea what kind of effects it would have on the final product. The beeswax is a key ingredient- it acts as an emulsifier which binds the aloe to the oils, and also thickens the cream. So that would be my guess as to why it is watery, but I can’t say for sure as I’ve never worked with that ingredient. Elzina says February 20, 2017 at 12:23 pm Try to put only a 1/4 cup of aloe gel, the temperature of oils and aloe gel must have the same temperature, or it won’t bind! If you want a thicker consistency, try a little more wax.I put less aloe gel and a tiny bit more wax in it, and it came out perfect cream like consistency.Mine came out to watery the first time i made it, but when I reduced the aloe and increased the wax a tad, it came out perfect! Reply Janine says April 30, 2014 at 8:27 am Looks luscious and delicious…oh but you shouldn’t eat it right? Anything with orange oil makes me want to take a bite. If you are in hurry, just adding a drop of orange to some coconut oil and rubbing it on the skin is a great toner! Thanks for sharing on Oil me Up Wednesday!Janinemylampisfull Reply Marla says April 30, 2014 at 9:50 am I love organic coconut oil and this sounds like a great recipe that would be so good for your skin I also use Aloe Vera on my skin quite often. I have pinned. Thanks for sharing. Reply Sandy says May 1, 2014 at 12:33 am This sounds so interesting. Do you think it could work on older skin? and if so could I impose and ask you to make me one. Reply Susie says May 2, 2014 at 10:11 am It would work on any skin, I’m sure. I am almost out of aloe but I can make you one once I get more :) Reply Kathleen @ Fearlessly Creative Mammas says May 1, 2014 at 10:36 pm This sounds like it would be so lovely on your skin. I will keep this in mind for the winter months. Thank you linking up to Tips and Tricks. Reply Anna says May 5, 2014 at 5:04 pm This sounds wonderful! I’m just wondering if it feels greasy or oily on your face? I’ve tried a few homemade lotions, but they are all too oily for my face. Another question I have is, I’ve read that citrus oils can increase photosensitivity. Does that mean that I could be getting more sun/age spots? I definitely want to prevent that as much as I can. I’m still trying to get rid of last summer’s spots.Thanks for any advice that you can give! Reply Susie says May 5, 2014 at 5:31 pm If you’re used to oil-free products, it might feel a little oily for you. I find it’s oily at first but absorbs really nicely on my skin. Citrus oils can increase photosensitivity, so you would want to make sure you wear sunscreen if you used citrus oils. Another option would be lavender oil, which I don’t think increases photosensitivity and is beneficial for most people’s skin, but you should double check because I’m not an expert. Reply Erlene says May 7, 2014 at 6:50 am I’ve never made my own face moisturizer before and I love the idea of aloe vera in it. We used to grow it in our yard and used it anytime we had a boo boo or burn. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday. Reply Lisa says May 13, 2014 at 7:46 am I love it – feels really great on my skin! Reply Mademoiselle Catherine says May 20, 2014 at 1:26 am This is my first comment on your brilliant blog, and I just have to say Wow! that looks exactly like whipped cream for the face! Thank you for sharing your recipes.I shall give it a go, using only jojoba oil (almond oil is slightly comedogenic) and adding some drops of vitamin E for conservation. Reply Susie says May 20, 2014 at 8:24 am The second time I made this I added vitamin E oil and it went really well. Reply melissa says June 14, 2014 at 5:57 pm Can you use fresh aloe from an aloe plant? Reply Susie says June 14, 2014 at 7:42 pm You need to use an aloe gel otherwise you won’t get the creamy texture when you whip up the moisturizer. I know some people make their own aloe vera gel from plants but I have never done it myself. I’m sure you could find a tutorial easily on google or pinterest. Reply My Site says June 30, 2014 at 10:55 pm Made this face moisturizer last week, it works really well, especially I have acne-prone skin. Now I don’t have to be afraid of acne attack when putting something on my face during summer time. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe :-DIvy Reply Susie says July 1, 2014 at 7:08 am I’m so glad you like it!! Reply tracy says July 22, 2014 at 8:24 am Would it be okay to add green tea powder in the moisturizer? If so, how much? Reply Susie says August 5, 2014 at 3:19 am I don’t have any experience with green tea powder personally, so I’m sorry I’m not more help. I’m sure you could add it in at the same time as the aloe and whip it up. As for the amount, I really don’t know. I would start on the small side at first and add more if you find it is not enough. If you do this, let me know how it goes! Reply bunny says August 7, 2014 at 6:14 pm Hi! I was in search of an all-natural aloe moisturizer for my oily skin, and it led me to this article. I must say I’m very excited to try this amazing beauty concoction.I do have a few questions- when mixing the ingredients, is it better to use a hand mixer? Can I mix it by hand instead? This might sound crazy but I was able to live without a hand mixer until now, and I’m on the fence of whether if I should buy one just to make this moisturizer…Also, I’ve done a lemon juice+honey facial mask before and I read that your skin shouldn’t be exposed to the sun when you have lemon juice on your face, since it could cause darkening of your skin. Does this apply to lemon essential oils?Sorry for the long question&comment, I’d appreciate your advice! :) Reply Susie says August 8, 2014 at 7:29 am Awesome! You could mix it by hand but it would take a long time and a lot of work. It’s about as much work as whipping up egg whites I would say, maybe a little more. So if you don’t mind putting in the effort, it’s fine. It’s just a lot faster and easier with a hand mixer. The photosensitivity also applies with lemon or other citrus essential oils. You can choose to leave out essential oils and keep it unscented if this makes you worried or you can use something like lavender oil which doesn’t cause photosensitivity. When I made a batch for my mom I used both orange essential oil and red raspberry seed essential oil to counteract the photosensitivity. Red raspberry seed oil has a natural SPF of about 30. You can have fun with oil mixes to see what you like best and what works well on your skin. Reply A. Eve says August 17, 2014 at 11:16 pm Sounds awesome! A few questions: are any of the above mentioned oils (almond, jojoba, beeswax) comedogenic? I want to be absolutely sure because I have very acne-prone skin…. also, where do you keep it? Refrigerator? lol. :) thanks for this! Reply Susie says August 18, 2014 at 8:35 am Beeswax and almond oil have comedogenic ratings of 2. Jojoba has a rating of 1. (Out of 5, 5 being the worst). I am also acne prone and don’t have a problem with almond oil, but if you want to be cautious you could replace the amount of almond oil with an equal amount of jojoba oil. The beeswax is necessary for the recipe, or it won’t be the right texture and it will go bad quickly. I keep mine in the bathroom at room temperature but if you refrigerate it it will keep for longer. Hope this helps! Reply Becca says August 25, 2014 at 10:20 pm Hi there! this looks like an awesome recipe and I have a couple questions: I usually use oil-free products on my skin so I was wondering if you put more of the jojoba oil in than the almond oil but still have the same total amount of oil in the end, would it be less oily for my skin than using the original proportions? and second how long does the lotion stay good if you keep it out of the fridge?Thanks! Reply Susie says August 26, 2014 at 7:45 am Jojoba oil is somewhat lighter feeling than almond oil so it might make the cream feel less oily, but it is definitely not oil-free. I haven’t tried changing the proportions so I can’t know for sure. Before I started making my own cosmetics I always used oil free products and it was weird for me at first to use products with oil but my skin is healthier now. If you naturally have very oily skin then you might want to use a lighter moisturizer. This one is very hydrating. It does leave a little sheen on the face after you use it but it absorbs after about 20 minutes. It should keep for a few months in a good tight jar. Reply Nat says June 28, 2015 at 9:01 pm I made this and love it!! what a fantastic recipe, HOWEVER mine only lasted 10 days and a cobweb looking thing started to form on the top… must be the start of bacteria anyone else have this? I am now looking to get a little preservative for this :( not that I want to as i love natural products but I have friends that want it so can give them a 10day moisturizer, I made it to the recipe but did ad a little dry lavender powder … the aloe I go was organic so may have already had bacteria in this ? any feedback would be great Reply Susie says June 30, 2015 at 4:39 pm I haven’t had anything like that happen when I’ve made it. It sounds like you might have gotten some mold. Any of your ingredients could have been contaminated or maybe there was some already in the container you used. I find that the batches I make with essential oils last longer than the ones without, but I haven’t had it last less than 3-4 months personally. If you want to make it again I would make sure that your containers are very thoroughly cleaned out first and make sure you work with clean hands and tools. I’m sorry it didn’t last long! The vitamin E oil can work as a bit of a preservative as can essential oils. I’ve also heard of people using citric acid as a natural preservative but I haven’t tried it myself. Reply Fallon Everitt says September 7, 2014 at 11:21 am I made this today and am amazed at how easy it is! And the end product looks very similar to a store bought face cream. Mine turned out a bit more yellow in colour because I used natural yellow beeswax.I’ve been trying to slowly cut out all the chemical-ridden products in my routine and finding a good facial moisturiser has been the biggest challenge yet (thankfully, I found this blog). Fingers crossed this will work for my skin :-)Thanks for sharing this recipe! I will have to experiment with all the others too. Can’t wait to try the make up one! Reply Jolene says September 8, 2014 at 2:54 pm This did not work out for me. I couldn’t get the beeswax and oils to bind no matter how much I whipped it. In fact, the beeswax wouldn’t bind in such a dramatic way that I ended up having what seemed like candle wax on everything. It just separated and stuck to my pot, bowl, utensils, sink, measuring cup, pretty much everything it touched. I used cosmetic grade beeswax but something went seriously wrong :( Reply Susie says September 8, 2014 at 3:49 pm Oh no. The only thing that I can think is that you didn’t heat the oils and beeswax for long enough. They should melt and combine completely before they need to be whipped, that way there is no separation. I’m sorry it went so wrong for you. Reply Laura says November 6, 2014 at 11:32 am I did not get it to work either. I had one huge mess in the kitchen. I am not an idiot in the kitchen. I make my own salves and cleaning supplies, lip balms, etc. But when my son planted so much aloe I thought I’d try a cream and this recipe looked good. What I did not realize, after trying to get the ingredients to bind together in Every way possible, was that she recommends using aloe gel pre made and I was using from the plants. No matter how much I tried and how many times of heating /cooling, mixing, blending food processing and whipping, I could not get the aloe to meld with the oils. It was just too watery compared to what you buy in stores. Now I have a hot mess, wasted expensive materials, and no cream to use, but lots of something like bag balm! or lip balm. Reply Susie says November 6, 2014 at 11:42 am Hi Laura! Sorry the moisturizer didn’t work out for you! I will add a more prominent note in the post to use actual aloe vera gel, in case it wasn’t clear. Let me know if you end up repurposing what you’ve made I would love to hear. Reply Laura says November 6, 2014 at 11:56 am I will use it on something! I was hoping to gift it to my girls for Christmas, but it’s too waxy. My hands feel great though! I am going to try to re-whip it later when my frustration level goes down :) I think if I had rinsed my ‘gel’ from the plants or strained it, it may have not been so watery, even at the risk of losing some down the drain. There must be a way to make real aloe vera gel that is gel, like from the stores. I blended my gel in the blender first. maybe if I had left it in chunks from the plant it may have worked? not sure. Reply Susie says November 6, 2014 at 12:26 pm Me either! I know that you can find a tutorial online for how to make it more gel-like, but I’ve never tried it myself. Alex says September 10, 2014 at 2:12 pm I made it but its liquidy. did I just jump the gun on the cool down part? If I did does that mean I should scrap this batch and start over? I feel like Ive been whipping it for a long time but I don”t have a hand mixer just my hand and a whisk. Help! :) Reply Susie says September 10, 2014 at 2:40 pm I have a couple guesses as to why it is liquidy. You could have added too much aloe too quickly. You are supposed to add it in gradually, while mixing. If you didn’t let it cool all the way it would also not whip up. And it could just be that you need more time to whisk. I haven’t personally tried it with a whisk instead of a hand mixer but I imagine it would take at least 10 minutes of whisking to get it to whip up. So try letting it cool for longer and don’t give up on the whipping. Those are my best guesses. If you added the aloe too soon before cooling, it might not mix well when it gets to room temperature. Hope this helps! Reply Anlee says September 21, 2014 at 1:45 pm Does this also work for people who has rosacea? Reply Susie says September 22, 2014 at 8:49 am I have rosacea. I think it feels wonderful and has a lovely cooling and calming feel for my skin. I don’t know if it will make a difference with redness because everyone is so different. It is worth a try though. Reply Shanna says October 6, 2014 at 12:27 pm This is an awesome post. Thanks for sharing. I tried this over the weekend and this has been the solution to my dry skin.I thought it would be too greasy but my skin absorbs it quite nicely.Thank you! Reply Susie says October 6, 2014 at 5:45 pm I’m so glad to hear that! Reply cheryl says October 6, 2014 at 1:34 pm how long does this keep for? and should it be refrigerated? Reply Susie says October 6, 2014 at 5:47 pm It keeps for several months. You can refrigerate it but it isn’t necessary. It is really nice and refreshing to put on when it is refrigerated. Reply Anne-Michelle says November 21, 2014 at 1:22 pm Is there another oil you recommend instead of almond oil? My son has a nut allergy, so I do not bring nut-based products into our home. Thanks! Reply Susie says November 21, 2014 at 5:33 pm Just replace the almond oil in the recipe with more jojoba oil. It’s more expensive, but I do prefer it over almond. The replacement shouldn’t affect the final product. Reply Parvathi says November 24, 2014 at 2:48 pm Great recipe! Thanks for sharing… :).. I have acne prone skin, but better now after my accutane treatment for about 8mos. I have been using cetaphil facial moisturizer now, but been thinking of going more natural.. I definitely want to give it a try… I just have few quick questions for you… how many times do you use it? Morning and night..or do you use some other products also? Is it good to use all year round, or climate specific? Reply Susie says November 24, 2014 at 8:40 pm I use mine a few times a week. I don’t think it will clear up acne on its own but it definitely is healthy for the skin and good for inflammation. Since it is very moisturizing, if you have oily skin, you might need to use it less in the summer. But that probably depends on the person. I use mine year round. Reply kristine says November 24, 2014 at 10:42 pm Mine did not whip up. I used a magic bullet to whip it, was that to much? I’m very sad about it not turning out. I will try again tomorrow! Reply Susie says November 25, 2014 at 10:58 am I haven’t tried using a blender-type mixer- so I don’t know if that works. I find I get the best results if I use my hand mixer with the whisk attachment. Reply Anjali says November 28, 2014 at 7:47 pm Can I substitute shea butter for the beeswax? I heard that it has a lower comedogenic rating, and I thought that it might be better for my oily skin. Reply Susie says November 28, 2014 at 10:09 pm I don’t know that it would work. It is less comedogenic, but the beeswax allows the oils to blend with the aloe so it is pretty essential to the recipe. If you wanted to make a less comedogenic version of this, you could use all jojoba oil instead of including any almond oil. That being said, if you do try to substitute shea butter for beeswax, let me know if it works. Reply Laura says December 5, 2014 at 1:35 pm This recipe sounds awesome! Will it work well as a body lotion also? It seems a bit heavy for that but it’s hard to tell in the pictures. I plan to use 4 tablespoons of the jojoba instead of the almond oil (I’m very oil and acne prone). I’m wondering if maybe not adding quite as much aloe would make it more of a lotion consistency? Reply Susie says December 5, 2014 at 2:11 pm I think it would work fine as a body lotion. The aloe makes it kind of fluffier if that makes sense- it’s very thick without it. You can certainly try. Lots of people have told me that replacing the jojoba oil works great. Let me know if you end up switching something to make it a lotion- I’d love to hear how it goes. Reply Laura says December 6, 2014 at 6:54 am I have been using it as a body lotion. IN room temp it feels nice and smooth, not hard at all, but fresh from the fridge it’s too turgid to spread evenly. I notice that the aloe has separated a bit over time and it pours off like water. But then again I used home made aloe vera gel which is runnier. I love this cream! Reply Susie says December 6, 2014 at 6:57 pm Yes, over time it can separate. This moisturizer doesn’t have as long of a shelf life as products with preservatives. But I still love mine! I’m glad you like it! Reply Parvathi says December 8, 2014 at 9:48 am Hi there, the aloe vera gel from Aubrey Organics that you’ve given in your link felt so liquidy, so I didn’t buy it. Did you use the gel from the link above or the picture above? Could you please clarify? Or if you have any other brand of gel that I can use, please let me know… Many Thanks…. Reply Susie says December 8, 2014 at 10:27 am My favorite aloe vera gel is from Mountain Rose Herbs (I highly endorse them in general for ingredients, but they are less convenient than amazon). I’ve started using it since I posted the link. Thanks for reminding me, I will switch it over. Their aloe is also more liquidy than what you may be used to- like the green aloe vera that you buy at a drug store. That stuff is like 99% gel and additives and 1% aloe, whereas a good aloe gel will be a bit runnier because it has less preservatives and additives in it. It is thicker than aloe vera juice but may not be like what you think of as gel. Reply angela says December 8, 2014 at 11:26 am Hi this looks awesome! I’m thinking about making this for Christmas gifts and am wondering how long this lasts and if it needs to be stored in the fridge. Thanks! Reply Susie says December 8, 2014 at 1:48 pm It lasts anywhere from 3-6 or more months. Longer if in the fridge, but it isn’t necessary. I keep mine in the bathroom at room temp. Reply Parvathi says December 8, 2014 at 12:56 pm Thanks! So will it ( Aloe vera from Aubrey organics) work for this recipe? i was wondering if it will affect the consistency. Reply Susie says December 8, 2014 at 1:48 pm It should! Reply Parvathi says December 15, 2014 at 11:44 am Just wanted to let you know that I made the moisturizer, finally! I was very nervous since this is the first time ever that I’m trying something like this..and it worked!! That gives me courage to try new recipes.. :)..Thanks a lot for sharing this..! Reply Susie says December 16, 2014 at 9:28 am Yay! So glad it worked for you! Reply Teddy says December 17, 2014 at 5:04 pm Hi Susie! I was reading in the comments that at one point you tried adding vitamin E oil to the mixture. I was wondering at what point in the recipe did you add the vitamin E and how much? Do you need to change any other of the measurements? Reply Susie says December 17, 2014 at 8:28 pm You can add vitamin E with the other oils in the double boiler. I just add about a drop of the Vitamin E and don’t change anything else. Works out just fine. Reply SparklyNerd says December 30, 2014 at 10:07 am will it work for jade plant Reply Susie says December 30, 2014 at 11:49 pm I don’t know. I haven’t heard of using jade for beauty recipes like this. I made the recipe for aloe. If you try it, let me know how it goes. Reply Gina says January 11, 2015 at 12:00 pm What about apricot kernal oil? Do you think I can substitute the almond or jojoba with good results? Reply Susie says January 11, 2015 at 4:09 pm I think you could substitute the almond oil with apricot oil. I haven’t personally used it, but based on reading about it it sounds like it will work. The jojoba oil helps the oils and aloe mix, but you could try substituting it and increase the beeswax a small bit. I can’t guarantee it will work. Let me know how it goes for you! Reply Kimberlee says January 24, 2015 at 10:36 am Great post – found it on pinterest. I have been making a lot of my own moisturizers and body butters lately and love how nice they are and how good they are for my skin. Do you think it would be okay to use grapeseed oil in place of the almond? I am using the OCM lately with grapeseed and castor and having good results. Reply Susie says January 28, 2015 at 7:24 pm Definitely! Especially if grapeseed has been working well on your skin in general. Reply Martin says February 7, 2015 at 2:07 am Hi,amazing recipe! Just got all the products in, can’t wait to make it myself. I have one question regarding the jar.. which one do you use? is it a cosmetic jar, glass or plastic? does it matter? Reply Susie says February 7, 2015 at 8:13 am The first time I made it I stored it in a 4 oz jelly jar. Now I use plastic jars (that I buy in bulk). Glass is nicer, just more expensive. Reply Martin says February 7, 2015 at 12:46 pm Thank you for the answer :)I have one more question regarding contamination.. during the process of making the moisturizer, how do I prevent from bacteria getting in, and then, when using the moisturizer, what can I use instead of my fingers to prevent bacteria from my hand getting into the jar? Reply Susie says February 7, 2015 at 5:12 pm Just make sure all the materials (like measuring cups, spatula, etc.) you use are very clean and use a jar with an air-tight lid to store it. You can probably get away with washing your hands before dipping into the jar, or you could try a little spoon to scoop a bit out. If you add an anti-bacterial essential oil to the moisturizer that will help a lot. I use my fingers to get the moisturizer out of mine and it hasn’t gotten contaminated in any way. As for the jar- as long as you wash it out completely you can reuse it. Reply Martin says February 7, 2015 at 12:48 pm oh and one more thing.. how often can you use the same jar? thanks a lot for all your tips! Reply Angela says February 17, 2015 at 1:58 pm Do you apply this moisturizer A.M. or P.M.? Reply Susie says February 17, 2015 at 5:17 pm It doesn’t matter. It would be based on your skin type. I usually apply it after I shower which is often in the afternoon. It would be fine either way, or both if you have very dry skin. Reply Cate says February 21, 2015 at 2:59 pm Is the oil mixture with the beeswax supposed to become hard at room temperature? Mine has! Reply Cate says February 21, 2015 at 3:13 pm Let me clarify– It is not hard when I stir it around it is more butter-like Reply Susie says February 22, 2015 at 11:39 am I’m not sure I understand. The oil mixture or the finished product? The oil mixture, before you whip in the aloe, is hard and wax-like at room temperature but whips up nicely. My final product for this moisturizer is similar to the consistency of whipped butter, but I wouldn’t describe it as “hard.” Reply Ishita says February 23, 2015 at 9:19 am нey.. ι lιve ιn a crappy place wнere ιт ιѕ ιмpoѕѕιвle тo ғιnd вeeѕwaх. ιѕ тнere anyтнιng elѕe ι can replace ιт wιтн?and can ι add a lιттle green тea тo тнιѕ мoιѕтυrιzer? Reply Susie says February 23, 2015 at 11:51 am I suppose you could try a different type of wax but I don’t know if it would work. Beeswax is really important to the recipe. Can you get it online? And yes, you can add green tea. If you want to add some brewed tea you can mix it in with the aloe, or you can seep the oils in green tea like I do in my green tea eye cream: http://pinsandprocrastination.com/green-tea-repairing-eye-cream-for-dark-circles/ Reply Ishita says February 26, 2015 at 7:27 am ι ғoυnd one.. вυт ιт ιѕ a нυge aмoυnт.. ιт woυld тaĸe мe yearѕ тo υѕe тнaт мυcн.. вυт тнanĸѕ anywayѕ. ι’ll тry ѕeepιng тнe green тea ιn тнe oιlѕ (ι already мade one wιтнoυт вeeѕwaх (and a вιт мore aloe vera gel) and ιт ιѕ ѕтιll greaт.. Reply Susie says February 26, 2015 at 10:55 am That’s great! Glad it worked out Reply Martin says February 25, 2015 at 2:08 am Hi,I’m in love with it, I’ve been using it for a few days and it’s just amazing! thanks for sharing..one thing though.. I just bought some tea tree oil because I heard so much amazing things about it – can I mix it into the moisturizer that I made a week or so ago? Or does it have to be mixed in from the beginning? Reply Susie says February 25, 2015 at 10:27 pm You could try mixing it in. It certainly won’t hurt it, it just might not mix properly. It’s worth a try. Reply Lily says March 4, 2015 at 1:00 am Hi Susie,can i use the aloe vera butter instead of aloe vera gel???if yes,do i need to use bee wax??? Reply Susie says March 4, 2015 at 6:54 am Hi Lily. I’ve never heard of aloe vera butter but from what I see on google it is a mixture of oils and aloe. I don’t know how that would work in this recipe. You could certainly try it. Since the oils and aloe are already mixed in the butter you might have an easier time mixing them without an emulsifier (beeswax). If you do try let me know how it goes! Reply Chuck Marunde says March 19, 2015 at 12:24 pm I’m trying to make an all organic healthy facial moisturizer for my daughter, and I can’t get the ingredients to mix without separating. I’m using a formula that includes coconut oil (hard paste), aloe vera gel, jojoba, vitamin E, and lavender. I’ve mixed at room temperature. I’ve mixed with the coconut oil just liquified. I’ve mixed with a blender. I’ve mixed with a slow blender, a fast blender, a high speed mixer. I’ve put it in the refrigerator, but when it comes out it separates again. I’ve tried everything everyone has written about how to do this, but why am I not able to get these ingredients to stay together without separating. Maybe it’s the aloe vera that separates, but I don’t know for sure. Does anyone know how to get these ingredients to stay together in a smooth paste? Reply Susie says March 19, 2015 at 4:57 pm Hey Chuck. How nice of you to want to make this for your daughter! In order to make water based ingredients (aloe) and oil ingredients to mix, you need some sort of emulsifier. In this recipe, beeswax acts as an emulsifier and allows the aloe and oils to mix. The most effective emulsifier that you can find easily is probably emulsifying wax, but it’s not natural- it’s synthetic. The other key to this recipe is mixing at a fast speed. So with my hand mixer, I usually mix up the oil mix and while it’s mixing I pour in the aloe gradually. I can’t speak for whatever techniques you have tried- but if you follow my exact recipe and directions it should work. I’ve made it about 35 times and it has worked each time, so it is tried and true. Good luck! Reply Chuck Marunde says March 19, 2015 at 9:50 pm Thank you so much Susie. Bless your heart. My daughter is going to love this homemade lotion. Reply Lily says March 22, 2015 at 2:04 am hi Susie,would you plsease recommend me which brand of vitamin E oil and lemon oil you r using for this DIY cream….Thanks^_^ Reply Susie says March 22, 2015 at 7:42 am Hi Lily,The brand I endorse most for getting ingredients is Mountain Rose Herbs. Their ingredients are always top quality. I also really love Rocky Mountain Oils for essential oils in general. I also use the cococare vitamin E oil, and Now Foods lemon essential oil. Reply Rosie says March 22, 2015 at 8:26 am Mine oil/beewax mixture came out very hard at room temperature. I wasn’t sure what is 1tablespoon of beewax so I searched online and found it should come out to be 0.5 ounce in weight so I cut off that much from my beewax bar. Maybe that’s actually too much? Did you use beewax pellets? It doesn’t feel my oil mixture can be whipped but I’ll give it a try now.. Thanks! Reply Susie says March 22, 2015 at 9:32 am Mine is fairly hard at room temperature, but easy to whip, but converting to weight can sometimes change up measurements for sure. Hope it works out! Reply rosie says March 22, 2015 at 10:48 am Thank you~ I did give it a try… I don’t think I did it right, as it came out not very light.. and I didn’t even add all my aloe gel, and there’s residual aloe gel that just wouldn’t blend in. I think I’ll just use it as hand lotion. By any chance you can tell me how much your table spoon of bee wax weigh? Thank you again for the great receipt! Reply Chuck Marunde says April 7, 2015 at 2:04 am I worked for hours on this formula and mixture, and it simply doesn’t work. You’ve got a bad formula or recipe. Doesn’t work. Reply Susie says April 7, 2015 at 10:41 am Hi Chuck,I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you. Did you look at some of the troubleshooting tips in the “update” section? I can assure you this recipe works I’ve made it more than 30 times. I would never post something on my site that didn’t work or that I don’t think would work for others. Reply Sophy says April 7, 2015 at 2:56 pm Hey! This is fabulous, thank you so much!I love the recipe, but maybe I didn’t wait long enough for the beeswax to cool, because I must have whipped that puppy for 30 mins, but the texture was a little grainy. Seems like tiny tiny chunks of the beeswax/oil mixture didn’t want to break down. Any tips? Or anyone have the same outcome? I’d love to make it again, so please let me know! Reply Susie says April 7, 2015 at 4:20 pm I sometimes get small chunks in mine too, but I’ve fixed that by using a whisk attachment on my hand mixer instead of the regular mixers it comes with. It just mixes better that way. Reply Donna says February 24, 2017 at 4:29 pm I had the same problem Sophy and Susie, it looked great and even soaked into my skin fairly fast _ but I just couldn’t deal with those tiny chunks of beeswax or whatever caused it :( . Can you buy a whisk attachment separately, I hate to buy a new mixer when mine works so well? I am going to try it again because I did really like it. Thanks for any helpful tips :) . Reply Susie says February 28, 2017 at 12:00 pm Yes- I bought mine separately. This is the one I use, but you should probably be able to find one that will fit whatever brand hand mixer you use. Reply averie says April 8, 2015 at 4:58 pm Hi there I was just wondering, if I want to add shea butter to this recipe.. how much should I add? And then willl I have to change the other ones in order to add the shea butter? Thanks. I dont want to add coconut oil either since its comodogenic but shea butter is noncomodogenic so that would be perfect. Thanks! Reply Susie says April 8, 2015 at 5:01 pm You could definitely try adding shea butter. Add it in with the other oils and melt it with them. If I were going to add shea I would replace one tablespoon of the almond oil with one tablespoon of shea butter. I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t guarantee it would work but if you use the same amounts of oils I expect it would be fine. Reply Mrs. Baldwin says July 30, 2017 at 2:57 pm Ave, how did it come out? Reply averie says April 8, 2015 at 5:00 pm also i will be using aloe vera juice and maybe rose water so maybe that’ll balance out the shea butter? Reply Susie says April 8, 2015 at 5:06 pm I don’t know if using the aloe juice and rosewater will work out, you might need an additional emulsifier. But if it does work out for you, let me know! In my experience this recipe only works with aloe gel. Reply Mrs. Baldwin says July 30, 2017 at 2:58 pm Ave, that sounds good too, did it work out? Reply Debbie says April 19, 2015 at 1:07 pm Hi Susie,Love this recipe, and I didn’t expect it to come out perfect the first time. I probably didn’t let the oils and beeswax heat up enough and have little pieces of beeswax now that it is all mixed together. Do you think it would be safe to put it all back into the double boiler, melt it down and remix? I don’t know what heat does to aloe vera gel. Also, a problem with anything I have made with aloe vera gel is that after a while it peals off my face, looks just like my skin is pealing from a sunburn – any thoughts on this? Thank you sharing your wonderful recipes – love the green tea eye cream!Thank you,Debbie Reply Susie says April 19, 2015 at 3:31 pm I used to have a problem with little pieces of beeswax- and it was totally fixed by using a better mixer with a whisk attachment. I would try remixing it before I would try melting it down- I have no idea what that would do to the lotion. What kind of aloe gel are you using? My guess is that it is something in the gel, but I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of that happening. Reply Debbie says April 21, 2015 at 11:13 am Hi Susie,Thanks for your quick response. Good to hear you have little beeswax bits also, I will try re-mixing with the whisk attachment. I am using Dr. Willard’s Premium Aloe Gel Moisturizer. It does have other ingredients in it, but was my only choice at our health food store. I live in a very small town, and too impatient to wait for an internet order. I have found that applying the face cream in a thinner layer helps a lot. Debbie Reply Susie says April 21, 2015 at 11:35 am I haven’t heard of Dr Willard’s, but I just looked up the gel and I would say you probably got your best option. It doesn’t say what percentage aloe it is so my guess would be it is something in the “willard’s water.” I understand, I lived in rural Vermont for a year so I know how hard it can be to get your hands on things! Glad to hear that the thinner layer helps. Reply Debbie says April 21, 2015 at 12:14 pm Thanks Susie! I keep forgetting to ask you; do you have a recipe for a hair rinse to leave hair shiny? I have fine blonde hair, if I use anything with an oil in it my hair looks dirty. I currently use a homemade castille soap and coconut milk shampoo, rinsing with apple cider vinegar/distilled water. My hair dresser says my hair has never looked healthier, but I want more shine. Any ideas? Debbie Susie says April 21, 2015 at 1:18 pm The closest thing I have to that is my aloe vera hairspray. I don’t know how much shine it adds but I use it for controlling frizz. I know you said oil leaves your greasy, but have you tried argan oil? It is my favorite oil for hair because it doesn’t increase greasiness for me. With hair oils, less is more, and I use about a pea sized amount for all of my hair (which is pretty long and thick). I was going to suggest apple cider vinegar, but you are already using that! I couldn’t get by without mine, it is so wonderful. Sorry if this isn’t helpful! Almira says May 18, 2015 at 1:42 pm Just made this for my husband and was thinking of adding some zinc for spf properties. I added 10 drops of red reap sherry seed oil because he never wears sunscreen and I wanted to have something protective in his daily moisturizer. Any idea how much the ratio should be? With both the raspberry seed oil and zinc.Love this! Reply Susie says May 19, 2015 at 9:20 am If you want an SPF of approximately 15, you should add zinc oxide at the ratio of 15%. This is a very unexact estimate, because I’m going by volume and not weight, but .6oz of zinc oxide should get you there. The best way to know for sure would be to weigh out the lotion ingredients on a kitchen scale and calculate .15 times the weight of the lotion. I love red raspberry seed oil. That should add some SPF to the lotion but I’m not sure how much. I use it in my own sunscreen products. Reply Milica says May 19, 2015 at 1:21 pm Hello! Thanks for the recipe. What is expiration date? Reply Susie says May 19, 2015 at 1:33 pm Hi! The moisturizer should last anywhere between 2-6 months depending on how you make and store it. Using essential oils will prolong shelf life as will storing in a cool place. Reply Darli says May 28, 2015 at 8:32 am I was wondering, does the consistency change if you leave out the essential oils? I am a little nervous to try out essential oils since my skin is so sensitive. Reply Susie says May 28, 2015 at 11:12 am The consistency will be the same, you can leave them out no problem. Reply Sandy says May 29, 2015 at 1:01 pm Finally!!! Thank you, thank you. A lotion that is easy to make, is moisturizing and yet not greasy! The only question I have is: What is the shelf life on this lotion? I figure it might be a little longer than most homemade because there isn’t any water in it. Reply Susie says May 29, 2015 at 1:28 pm The lotion has a great shelf life, between 2-7 months depending on how you store it, whether your hands are dirty when you use it, and whether you use essential oils. As with any homemade products, don’t continue to use it if you feel it is off or has expired. Reply Sasha says January 9, 2017 at 11:41 pm If I wanted the shelf life to be longer… do you know of a natural preservative that I can add? I want to make this recipe for friends but I don’t feel comfortable using aloe Vera without a preservative. Reply Susie says January 10, 2017 at 3:54 pm I like preservative eco, which you can get here: https://www.aromantic.co.uk/home/products/preservatives/preservative-eco.aspx and it ships from the UK Reply Bec says June 27, 2015 at 8:45 pm Hello,Great moisturiser, though I had problems getting a smooth consistency. I think it’s the beeswax that’s rather lumpy and it takes a long time to mix into my skin. Some of the mixture was solidified when I started blending it together and I think that’s why I got the lumps, or perhaps I just needed to blend more.How solidified should the melted mixture be when you start blending it all together? Or does it just need to cool enough to handle but still be a liquid?I’d like to make it again this week so any tips are appreciated.Thanks! Reply Susie says June 28, 2015 at 4:29 pm Hi Bec! I’ve made it both when the oil mixture is completely solidified or still somewhat liquidy. Lately I put it in the fridge for 20 minutes and then mix. I’ve found that I get the best consistency when I use the whisk attachment to my hand mixer instead of the standard ones it comes with. I used to occasionally get beeswax lumps but the whisk makes it so smooth. Reply Bec says June 29, 2015 at 7:00 pm Hi Suzie,thanks for your response. I made a batch up last night and waited til it was mostly solidified. I don’t have a whisk attachment but egg beaters seemed to work better than my hand blender. There’s still a few lumps but they’re a lot smaller and perhaps I just needed to blend it for longer. Thanks! Reply Kelli says July 14, 2015 at 10:36 pm This is the best recipe! I’ve tried other homemade lotions and have not liked them. I ended up mixing in a bit more of the aloe, and I had a little olive squalane left from a facial soap I made, so I added that. I love this so much I have used it on my entire body. Thanks for sharing your recipe! Reply Amy says July 29, 2015 at 10:33 am First, I want to make it known I am not savvy in the kitchen at all. In fact, some may argue I should be banned from them. Second, I am a complete novice and making beauty products. The need only came when I turned 32 last winter and my sensitive and now acne ridden face rejected all store bought products. I have about $1000 of products sitting around now that only made my complexion worse.I started off making a facial cleanser. After the 3rd time, I found a mixture that worked well with my face. Now I’ve been trying to find a non-greasy face cream. My first excitement ended horribly. The end result was a thick butter substance that shoots out liquid when disturbed. The second came out lovely but with one problem. I didn’t realize it wasn’t meant for the face and while not super greasy, it was way too much for my face.I made this recipe last night and all I can say is WOW. It was SO friggin easy and the cream is absolutely amazing. I cannot stop touching my silky face today (even though I know that alone will cause me to break out). My pores for the first time in awhile, are near invisible!!its almost noon and I don’t have that yucky oily look. Thank you so much!My family is going to love this come the holidays! Reply Jennifer says November 26, 2015 at 11:50 pm I am excited to try this recipe tomorrow! I don’t have a hand mixer…..is there enough that it would mix well in a kitchenaid stand mixer with the whisk attachment?? sometimes i find if there isn’t enough volume it doesn’t mix well….Thanks! Reply Susie says November 30, 2015 at 8:05 pm Stand mixer should work! I’ve made it with the stand mixer but it was a larger batch, so you might have to do some by hand to reach the bottom. Reply Emma says June 15, 2016 at 2:38 am Mixing with a spoon as I don’t have kitchen access travelling! I’m not sure if I’ve not mixed enough yet or added the mixture together too quickly. The wax isn’t binding to the aloe and there’s loads of tiny lumps. Will this eventually mix? I’ve had a look at the updates section but I didn’t see what to do if things were mixed too quickly or what the mixture should look like during mixing?Thank you Reply Susie says June 15, 2016 at 9:14 am Hi Emma. It takes a lot of force to make the aloe and oil ingredients combine. I would imagine that you just didn’t mix thoroughly or long enough. If you can’t use a hand mixer, I would try using a whisk to mix it, which would be better than a spoon. I’ve found that if my batch has lumps in it, it just means it wasn’t mixed thoroughly. Reply Sal says August 6, 2016 at 4:54 pm Hi, you’ve mentioned that fresh aloe juice from a plant cannot be used due to its consistency. However, the Wikihow link you provided is on how to make fresh aloe juice. So I’m a little confused. Please clear this out for me. Reply Susie says August 6, 2016 at 6:08 pm Several people asked me how to get aloe juice from a plant, so I shared the link because the information was requested. You could still try to make the moisturizer with fresh juice from an aloe plant, I just don’t know if it would create an end product with the same consistency. Reply Ashley says August 8, 2016 at 8:07 pm Great recipe!!! I switched out the Jojoba oil for shea butter, but I love it:) Thank you! Reply Julie says August 14, 2016 at 12:09 pm Hi Susie!I love your recipe and have made it a couple of times.I’ve tried to add zinc oxide the last time I made it and it separated and wouldn’t blend at all….Any idea where it went wrong? Have you tried zinc oxide in it before?Thanks! Reply Susie says August 14, 2016 at 1:08 pm I have made it with zinc oxide before. I tried to make a video of it but I pressed the record button at the wrong time and it didn’t work! It’s in the back of my mind to make a post about adding zinc oxide to this recipe, so I will have to try again and make sure I record it properly! I have no idea why that wouldn’t have worked- maybe you added too much? How much zinc oxide did you add? Reply Julie Morneau says August 16, 2016 at 6:36 pm Thanks for your reply!I added about 1 TBSP, so that it would have a greater SPF. I’ll try it again and add a little at the time to make sure it doesn’t separate again.Just to clarify: do you add the zinc oxide at the end of the 10 minutes of whipping or at the same time as the aloe? Reply Susie says August 17, 2016 at 2:19 pm Oh! Neither! Sorry I didn’t mention before. I added it to the oils just after coming off the heat and mixed it then and let it cool as normal. Reply Julie says September 6, 2016 at 8:45 am Great, thanks for the clarification!I’ll try it this way next time I make a batch. Gabriele says September 19, 2016 at 7:16 am Hi! Amazing recipe, cannot wait to try ! Just could you tell me how long the moisturiser last? As there are no preservatives and etc.Thank you! Reply Susie says September 20, 2016 at 1:09 pm It lasts several months for me, but it will depend on the quality of your ingredients and how well you store it. Reply Lin says October 31, 2016 at 4:16 am Only received this morning but I’m off to make it NOW. – I was going to make a sunscreen but as it is autumn in the UK I’ll use the ingredients I have to make this moisturiser instead. Thank you. Reply Susan says November 10, 2016 at 9:51 pm Does it matter if you use white or yellow beeswax? Will the expiration or storage change if I used yellow instead of white? I’ve been trying to figure out the difference between the two, if one’s better than the other. But all I can find is that white is the bleached form of yellow beeswax. Reply Susie says November 16, 2016 at 5:25 pm There’s no difference! Reply Christine says November 26, 2016 at 8:42 pm Hello,I am very interested in making the homemade aloe vera cleanser and the moisturizer. However, when I added all the ingredients for both recipes to my amazon cart, the total came out to $100. I went to your etsy shop and it says you’re currently on a break from making these products. I was wondering if I could convince you to possibly make another batch and I will buy them from you! I really want to start using homemade products but I don’t want to spend $100 without trying it first. Hope you understand! I’d love to hear back. Thank you for your lovely post! Reply Susie says November 26, 2016 at 10:11 pm Hi Christene,I completely understand your predicament! I’m not currently making more products, as I’m focusing on other projects. The only suggestion I can give is to try getting ingredients from a local health food store where they could potentially be less expensive, or start with making only one product (that’s how I got started!). You can make this moisturizer with just aloe, beeswax, and jojoba oil if you replace the almond oil with jojoba. Good luck!-Susie Reply Sara says January 6, 2017 at 10:09 pm Hi! I’m really interested in trying to make this, but I was wondering if I could leave the beeswax out of the recipe or replace it with something else like coconut oil or something?Thank you Reply Susie says January 8, 2017 at 1:11 pm The beeswax is important to get the aloe to mix with the oils. If you want to replace it with carnauba wax, you can do that, and divide the amount by half because it is much harder than beeswax. Unfortunately coconut oil would not work as a substitution, but you could replace the almond oil with coconut oil. Reply Blake Manion says January 26, 2017 at 2:01 am Sara,Susie is right when she says “The beeswax is important to get the aloe to mix with the oils”.In this kind of recipe, the beeswax has an important role in “holding together” the moisturizer. If you were to eliminate it from the recipe, the lotion would probably be very thin and oily, and could possibly separate. Beeswax is an emulsifier and when mixed with an oil creates what is known as an emulsion. If you would like to learn a little more about this, I talk about it in my moisturizer recipe here: http://www.soulsalve.co/soul-cream.html Great recipe, Susie! Thank you for sharing.BlakeSoul Salve Reply Indira Grullon says January 10, 2018 at 12:30 am I am so glad I found this post! Not only did I make the face moisturizer but I also made the face wash (which by the way is too watery, I am not sure if thats the consistency of it or not because on your post for it doesn’t appear to be watery) Anyway, back to the moisturizer, I only mixed in the beeswax and jojoba oil because after reading much about the products and the reviews from other folks it felt right. I have a very oily face naturally so the less the better. In regards to the mixing instructions, I did follow most of your instructions however I had the hardest time getting the aloe like some folks but what i did was I kept melting the mix in the double water boiler method and then used the hand mixer to mix it all up again. I repeated the process several times as well, cuz I am a little bit OCD lol. I am not sure if this takes away from the natural components of the ingredients but I felt it was the only way to mix it all up til my desired consistency. Anyway thank you for your post and I hope you have some feedback on the double boiling after having already mixed the beeswax and jojoba oil because I am not sure if this method can be deemed correct since the aloe gel was also being double boiled in with the mix. Reply Susie says February 22, 2018 at 2:58 pm I’m glad you got it to work! It sounds like you might have changed the balance between volume of “water” and “oil” ingredients with your recipe adjustments, which would change how difficult it is to mix. It is more difficult to emulsify together a moisturizer with a higher water content. Reply Mark says April 20, 2018 at 7:28 am Can I some sun screen into the mixture? Reply Susie says May 14, 2018 at 7:24 pm I’ve added zinc oxide to this mixture before to make it have some SPF. You add the zinc oxide to the oil ingredients after taking them off the heat, then follow the rest of the recipe as written. I believe 1 tablespoon of zinc oxide will be about 15 SPF, but that is approximate. Reply Tania says November 8, 2018 at 5:04 am Hi Suzie – I LOVE this aloe vera face cream – have you ever used avacado oil instead of the almond oil? Reply Susie says April 4, 2019 at 12:12 pm I haven’t tried it but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work! Let me know how it goes. Reply rabiya mumtaz says January 5, 2019 at 12:40 pm Hi.How long will this aloe Vera moisturiser keep? Reply Susie says April 4, 2019 at 12:06 pm I have used it for up to 2 months, but use common sense and if it looks or smells off do not continue to use it. It will last longer in the fridge. Thanks! Reply Vickie says February 16, 2019 at 8:34 pm I love this recipe I am wondering if you just add a few drops of lavender if it would be gentle enough for a newborn? I want to make lotion and diaper cream to give with diapers as baby gifts. Reply Susie says April 4, 2019 at 11:49 am I wouldn’t be comfortable making any specific recommendations for a newborn. Just use caution with essential oils and babies/children because they are much more sensitive. Reply