Winter skin care: green tea moisturizing cream.
Since the temperature dropped a week or two ago, my skin has been painfully dry.
I don’t generally like to use store-bought lotions and creams because almost all of them (even “natural” brands) have weird ingredients in them: drying alcohols, toxic preservatives, etc. And the ones that have good ingredients tend to be way too expensive for me. So I make my own.
This week I made a thick cream based on coconut oil (Cocos nucifera), green tea (Camellia sinensis) and oats (Avena sativa). It’s a rich moisturizer—the oats and green tea are soothing and healing, and the coconut oil forms a barrier that protects skin from harsh weather.
This is how I made it.
1. Melt 3-4 tablespoons of grated beeswax with 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of grapeseed or other skin-friendly liquid oil (more beeswax makes a thicker cream). When it’s thoroughly melted, pour the oil mixture into a blender and let it cool completely.
2. Make a strong infusion from 2 tablespoons green tea and 3/4 cup almost-boiling water (don’t use boiling water on green tea; it destroys some of the medicine). Let it steep for 5 minutes or so. Then pour it through cheesecloth or muslin and wring it out. You should have about 1/2 cup of strong tea.
3. Simmer a small handful of oats in 3/4 cup water for about 10 minutes. Let it sit for a while (at least 1/2 hour). Strain. You should have about 1/2 cup of oat water.
4. Mix the oat water and the green tea together. These are your “waters” (as opposed to oils).
5. When both the oils and the waters are completely cool (it’s easiest to just wait until the next morning), put the waters into a pitcher or another container that’s easy to pour. Then get the blender going on its highest speed and pour the waters in a slow, steady stream into the center of the blending oils. When you’ve almost finished adding the waters, pay close attention. When the cream is ready, the blender will start to sputter and choke a little bit. When this happens, turn the blender off. Your cream is done. You can stir it more by hand if you like, but if you beat it too much it might separate. (This is also a good time to add a few drops of essential oil if you want to scent your cream. I used 5 drops of grapefruit oil.)
6. Scoop the cream into jars, and store it someplace cool. (Since it doesn’t have any preservatives in it, it’s a bit perishable. If you won’t be using it for a long time, you can store it in the refrigerator.)
You can vary the recipe in all sorts of ways, but make sure you have 1 cup each of oils and waters, and that they are at room temperature when you blend them. (The basic proportions of this cream are based on the recipe for Rosemary Gladstar’s “Perfect Cream,” which can be found on Recipenet or in her many books.)
Some notes:
Because this cream doesn’t have drying alcohols in it like most store-bought creams do, it takes a few minutes to soak in. Don’t worry, your skin will absorb it.
Since this cream feels oilier than store-bought creams, people sometimes worry that it might promote breakouts. I have never found that to be the case. In fact, I’ve used it to soothe acne-prone skin with good results. But everyone’s skin is different, so you’ll have to try it and see how it feels.
New note (11 Feb): If it’s on the cool side in your house (i.e., your room temperature is below 68 or so), you might want to use less coconut oil and more liquid oil so that the final oil mix is soft enough for the blender to work with at room temperature. (The day I made this cream the wood fire in our house was really roaring.)
darcey blue said,
February 9, 2007 @ 10:11 am
I’ve done something similar with other herb infusions (elder, calendula for example) but found they grow mold really quickly (within about a month) I suppose one could freeze them for long term, but that seems to make it separate. how long does yours last??
That does sound devine though! Homemade creams are so much fun! Last summer I did up a white sage tulsi cream with shea butter.
crabappleherbs said,
February 9, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
White sage and tulsi sound great!
My creams generally last about a month too. I use a lot and give some away… I haven’t tried freezing, but I imagine you’re right, it might separate.
The Herbwife’s Kitchen » Oh my goodness. said,
February 9, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
[...] Coming soon: Homemade herbal lotions for winter skin. Bookmark to: [...]
Persephone said,
February 9, 2007 @ 8:44 pm
Sounds great! I haven’t tried my hand at lotions or creams yet- mental block- but we’re almost out of lotion, and I’m ready to try it! Can’t wait for the next installment! (I have a vanilla lotion from Victoria’s Secret that I LOVE the smell of. But it’s loaded with synthetics, and so I’m gonna try to make one that smells like it. Do you think vanilla extract would be a good thing to add, since it’s an alcohol? If not, what would you suggest? Should I post this on herbwifery.com instead?
crabappleherbs said,
February 9, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
You could use vanilla extract… I don’t think it would add too much alcohol. If you want the vanilla to come through more than the coconut, you could try using the more usual proportions of 1/4 cup of coconut oil to 3/4 cup grapeseed (I used extra coconut in mine this time). There is vanilla essential oil out there too, but it’s really expensive, even diluted.
Sure, we could start a thread on the herbwifery forum for skin care.
rebekka said,
October 15, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
Great recipe…I must try it!
I have very oily, acne-prone skin, and I’ve been using only pure coconut oil as a moisturizer for the past month…it has COMPLETELY cleared up my skin. Maybe because of the anti-bacterial properties of the lauric acid? I don’t know, but I feel like I have discovered a huge secret!
Rose Garbien said,
December 27, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
How long does your green tea cream last? Rose
David Essig-Beatty said,
January 1, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
On new year’s eve I discovered club moss (Lyocopodium) fruiting bodies poking up from the leaf litter into the waxing sun. Now that I’ve picked and dried them, I plan to grind some for use as a desiccant powder. Do you know if the drying properties are retained in a tincture? If so, it could contribute an antiperspirant component to an herbal deodorant.
None of my reference books give details on ground pine as it’s known here in the Alleghenies. The web says that the leaves,stems, and roots are toxic and best left for homeopathic application. The spores in the fruiting bodies, however, can be used internally as a diuretic. Does anyone have experience using club moss internally?
Henriette said,
January 1, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
The usual way to get the powder is to dry unripe seedheads and shake the spores out of them. Here’s a pic.
I don’t think the water repellant quality will come through in a tincture. Also, I’d be interested to know if your grinding of the seedheads produces anything but ground up seedheads.
Green parts have been used as diuretics and more (herbally) – Madaus tells quite a lot about it.
crabappleherbs said,
January 1, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
Thanks, Henriette!
David, I don’t think many people are likely to see your question here, as this is an old post, and on a different topic. If it’s OK with you, I’ll post your question on the herbwifery forum — a place that’s built for such conversations.
crabappleherbs said,
January 1, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
Rose, the cream usually lasts me a few weeks if it’s kept in the refrigerator. It won’t last very long if it’s kept in a warm place.
Karen said,
January 22, 2008 @ 6:24 am
Hallo,
I’ve been making my own creams for a while now, but have always used an emulsifyer (alcohol based), as I thought the oils and waters wouldn’t combine without one. I am thrilled to read about your gorgeous cream with no emulsifyer. Do you find that the cream separates later on? How well and long does it hold together?
Thank you for opening my eyes to new possibilites.
Cheers,
Karen.
crabappleherbs said,
January 22, 2008 @ 10:46 am
Hi Karen!
They key to the emulsification is having the oils and waters at the same temperature, and pouring really slowly and evenly — as if you were making mayonnaise.
(The beeswax also has some emulsifying properties, but not enough to keep the cream together without these precautions.)
Kathleen said,
June 5, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Rebekah mentioned coconut oil, of all the vegetable oils I think coconut is the most drying, which is why it’s great for oily skin
Another one to try would be soy oil. If you’re putting them into a cream you probably wouldn’t need as much beeswax to thicken it up, they thicken when they make contact with air… Hope someone finds this interesting! Great page, really enjoying it!
Aquarius said,
October 21, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
I really like your homemade moisturizing cream. I want to make it by myself at home. My face skin is dry and have black-heads. I try many products from walmart, CVS, even the famous brand, but they are not working on me. I think they have to much chemical. I need something pure and fresh for my face. I think your cream is a good idea for me, but I do not know how to get the ingredient for the cream, like coconut oil, green tea , alovera. Can anybody tell me how can I get them, or where can I buy them outside. I live in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. Thank you so much
jenn said,
December 24, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Great recipe. I’m making it right now!
Aquarius, you should look at vitacost.com
They have GREAT prices and all sorts of stuff. I bought my coconut oil, green tea, and alovera from them. I also bought almond oil.
beeswax and essential oils I got from mountainroseherbs.com
jenn said,
December 24, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
Anyone have any tips on how to clean the blender after making this?
Bernadette said,
February 2, 2010 @ 8:38 am
Oh no, I was thinking about trying this but if it going to make a mess of my blender I think I have to wait until I can get an extra one. I’ll be checking back hoping someone post some good suggestions for cleaning.