Interested in crafting your own skin cream? Here's a tutorial!

I'm sorry, I'm freaking out. I have typed and deleted so many things, but there really is no nice way to say this.

What you are recommending is DANGEROUS!!!!

Any beauty recipe that uses water MUST have a preservative, something you didn't even hint about on your blog.

This 'lotion' will be a ticking time bomb, a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, mold, fungus, yeast, etc, that can/will make the user very sick, and can potentially kill.

Many may think I'm over reacting, but I swear, I'm not. Not preserving (or even under preserving or inaccurately preserving) a skin care product is serious negligence.

Even made in tiny batches and stored in the fridge, this lotion will have microbial growth within a couple days. It probably won't be visible to the eye, but it will be there, and it is very dangerous to your health.

I'm sorry. There really was no polite way to phrase this. Water Based products NEED a preservative, there is NO WAY AROUND THIS!

Posted at 7:34pm Dec 5, 2009 EST

Ewwww. BL, thanks for the tip. I probably would have thought about trying this.

I think I will stick to the experts.

Speaking of which, I am heading to ABOFA's shop for more pumpkin lav body butter....my 4th order. (Shameless plug.)

Posted at 9:31pm Dec 5, 2009 EST

Everything BL said is dead on, this is a very dangerous recipe. I'm logged into my jewelry store right now (I'm Blushie B&B otherwise) and these kind of things freak me right out.

Bacteria and other nasties can start to grow in an unpreserved water based emulsion within 24hours, even if you stick it in the fridge. I have a compromised immune system, and these sorts of things can make me, and others very, very sick. Deathly sick. Seriously. Even those with healthy immune systems can be made very ill. Please, please rethink this.

Posted at 12:24am Dec 6, 2009 EST

Here's a question sorta on topic.

I love this one perfume and it's pretty expensive. Can I safely mix some of it into a scentless moisturing cream like Cetaphil?

Posted at 1:24am Dec 6, 2009 EST

Jersey, it's honestly impossible to say. Most perfumes are alcohol based, which will most likely help the preservative along, but could also compromise it. Chances are, adding an alcohol based ingredient into a cream, it's going to break down the emulsion, and it'll end up incredibly watery and possibly separate on you.

What is the perfume? Most perfumes out there have had their scent duplicated and turned into a fragrance oil that CAN be incorporated into a lotion.

Posted at 1:37am Dec 6, 2009 EST

Just curious, what kind of preservative should be in there for those of us that like "natural". Like an essential oil? I heard grapeseed oil is good. But ya, the water would make the product moldy, organic beeswax or not. I once purchased some at a fair. A few weeks later I opened the jar and all kinds of fuzzy things met my eyes...ewww.

Posted at 1:38am Dec 6, 2009 EST

My two favorites are
www.luckyscent.com/shop/section/1/item/48308/brand/Diptyque/Philosy... and www.luckyscent.com/shop/section/1/item/21300/brand/People_of_the_La...

Each have a cream available but again, alot more expensive then an eight dollar tube of cetaphil

Posted at 1:45am Dec 6, 2009 EST

If there is water, it's going to need a synthetic preservative. Grapeseed extract is probably what you're thinking of, and it's an antioxidant (helps increase the shelf life of the ingredients - but is not to be confused as being a preservative).

Essential oils DO have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, but to be able to utilize them as a preservative, they'd have to be included in such high percentages that they'd become major skin irritants. Not to mention, you'd never be able to scent them with anything but those essential oils.

Some common lotion preservatives (there are a lot though) are Germall Plus, Optiphen, Liquapar. They are synthetic, but are typically less than 1% of the formulation. It's a tiny amount, but the most essential part of the formula.

If a product is unpreserved, underpreserved, or improperly preserved, microbial growth WILL happen, and it's always dangerous.

Beadcomber, you're lucky that you were able to see the growth. Chances are though, it was contaminated before you ever bought it. So if you used it right away, you were spreading a bacteria laden cream on your skin.

Natural is good, it really is. But in this case, that 1% of synthetic can save your life. Mold is natural, but you don't want to spread it on your skin, do you?

If there was a natural preservative out there that did as good of a job as the synthetic ones, I'd be using it. But at the moment there isn't. There are a few 'natural' preservatives, but they are either incredibly unstable, have insanely short shelf lives, or other significant drawbacks that I wouldn't consider using them.

For someone who wants to truly stick to all natural and needs a body moisturizer, besides switching to a good handmade soap that doesn't strip your skin of its essential moisture, the best thing you can do is simply apply a light weight oil after you get out of the shower. It will trap the water from your shower in your skin. The oil doesn't hydrate your skin (but it feels like it does), it just traps the existing moisture so it can't naturally evaporate.

Normally, my skin finds that too heavy. Which is why I took the time to study, experiment, test and research the very complicated science behind safe lotion making.

Posted at 1:51am Dec 6, 2009 EST

Wow, great info BLsoaps. No, I don't like mold of any kind!...not even Blue Cheese, lol. This is serious though, so thanks for the heads up on this.

Posted at 1:56am Dec 6, 2009 EST