DIY Whipped Face Cream

This DIY Whipped Face Cream is ideal for dry and sensitive skin. It’s very moisturizing and contains natural ingredients that can help improve the appearance of fine lines and other signs of aging skin.

Our face cream recipe is easy to make and smells absolutely amazing thanks to two essential oils – frankincense and ylang ylang. It leaves your skin feeling moisturized without being greasy.

Be sure to read our tips & detailed information for customizing this recipe for your skin before making it.

By the Numbers: How to Make Whipped Face Cream

Step 1: Add Ingredients to Double Boiler.

Start by adding ⅔ cup of coconut oil, ¼ cup of jojoba oil and ¾ ounce of beeswax to the top half of your double boiler. Heat the ingredients over low, stirring frequently, just until they’re melted until well combined.

Step 2: Cool Mixture in Blender.

After everything is melted, you can quickly pour the mixture into the blender then allow it to cool and harden completely. I recommend using a silicone spatula to make sure you get all of the ingredients out of the double boiler and into the blender.

The best blender for making this face cream recipe has a small pitcher. I typically use the small pitcher that came with my Blendtec blender.

Step 3: Blend in Aloe Vera Gel.

After the mixture is completely cool and firm, grab a fork and use it to break up the hardened mixture in your blender. Stir in about 1 tablespoon of aloe vera gel, then blend on high for about 30 seconds.

Next, you’ll keep adding a small amount of aloe vera gel to the blender at a time, then blending until it’s combined. Don’t add the entire cup at once or it won’t combine and you’ll end up with a goopy mess.

It’s important to be very patient and know it will take you several minutes to get the aloe to blend smoothly into the other ingredients. You’ll know it’s starting to emulsify when it begins looking like a very thick cream.

Step 4: Add Essential Oils.

When it takes a cream form, add 10 drops of frankincense essential oil and 10 drops of ylang ylang essential oil. Blend the face cream until the oils are incorporated and you have achieved the whipped texture you are after. Transfer to a glass jar for storage.

Tips for Making Homemade Face Cream

I recommend making this face cream recipe as written the first time. After that, there are so many things you can experiment with to make this the perfect moisturizer for your skin.

1. Tip: Use a smaller blender pitcher.

This Frankincense Whipped Face Cream is definitely one of the more complex recipes I make. That’s because when you make a whipped cream in a blender, it works best if you have a higher volume of ingredients.

Since this is a smaller batch, it can be a bit finicky if the pitcher of your blender is large. You can double the batch if that’s the case, but you’ll end up with a boatload of face cream!

I like to use the small pitcher that came with my Blendtec blender for making this face cream. Their new travel bottle would work well too.

2. Can I use something other than coconut oil?

Absolutely. You can use pretty much any skin safe oil in this recipe. If you have oily skin rather than dry skin, you may want to choose a different oil so it won’t be such a rich face cream.

Sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil and olive oil are great choices, but be sure to read my post on Choosing Carrier Oils to decide which one will work best for your skin type.

3. What to do if you add too much aloe at once…

One thing to keep in mind when making this recipe is that you do have to add the aloe vera very slowly or it won’t combine properly.

You also can’t add more than about a 50% ratio of aloe to the wax/oil mixture or it will separate, so it needs to be a pretty thick cream to be stable.

If you feel like maybe you added too much aloe at once, you can try draining the extra aloe out and then blending more if it hasn’t already been over-blended. If it’s already been overblended, you’ll likely need to start over and go slower next time.

4. Can I make this moisturizer the consistency of body lotion?

The reason you can only add so much aloe to this cream and still have it hold together is because beeswax only has mild emulsifying properties. It’s not a true emulsifier.

The maximum ratio of aloe to oil and wax you can add to this recipe and have it still come together is 1:1. If you want to make a thinner lotion, you can try using an emulsifying wax instead of beeswax next time like I use in my Basil Face Cream recipe.

5. Which essential oils to use?

I used Sacred Frankincense and Ylang Ylang essential oils from Rocky Mountain Oils in this batch. They’re two oils commonly used in skincare products for mature skin and they smell amazing together.

If you want to try switching out the essential oils for a combo you like better, get a free copy of my guide to using essential oils in DIY beauty products. It talks about which oils work best for which skin types, including normal skin, acne-prone skin and aging skin.

After deciding which scents you’d like to use, simply add 20 drops of essential oil of your choice (total drops) in place of the Frankincense and Ylang Ylang.

6. Does it matter what type of beeswax is used?

You can use beeswax pastilles or wax grated from a bar in this recipe. Just make sure you’re choosing pure beeswax as adulterated wax does not perform the same way in beauty products (or in beeswax candles).

I like to buy my beeswax from Mountain Rose Herbs because I know it’s high quality (they also have super affordable aloe vera).

7. How to make this cream vegan?

If you’d like to substitute a vegan wax for beeswax, try carnauba wax. It is firmer than beeswax, so you’ll need to use about 20% less carnauba wax.

Since this recipe calls for 0.75 ounces of beeswax pastilles, you’d use 0.6 ounces of carnauba wax.

You can also use an emulsifying wax if you want to make a cream that holds together longer. You can usually substitute emulsifying wax for beeswax without changing the ratio.

8. How to apply face cream?

Start by washing your face with a good natural face wash and follow that up with a toner. Then gently apply your whipped face cream – I like to use it as a night cream. A little goes a long way, so start small for best results.

9. Best way to store this cream?

It should always be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place that’s out of direct sunlight and it should not be exposed to water. I prefer to store it at room temperature, but it can also be stored in a fridge if you live in a hot climate.

10. What’s the shelf life of this recipe?

This face cream has a very short shelf life because it’s water based (aloe is considered water in beauty products) and there are no preservatives in it.

If it starts to smell funny or separate and not recombine with stirring, it’s time to toss it. You can store it in the fridge to extend the shelf life, but it still won’t last longer than a few weeks.

11. What preservative can be added to face cream?

Ingredients like Vitamin E oil, rosemary oil and grapefruit seed extract are often toted as natural preservatives. However, they are not strong enough to inhibit microbial growth in water-based beauty products.

You can try using leucidal liquid to extend the shelf life of this cream since it doesn’t last a long time. I like this natural preservative because it blends in well. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for measurements.

12. Other ways to use this moisturizer?

If you have more moisturizer than you can use on your face, try it as a hand cream, foot cream, body cream or body butter. It also makes a great handmade gift for a friend.

13. Best storage jars?

I have an entire drawer of different bottles and jars I use for my homemade beauty products. I like buying them from Mountain Rose Herbs when I’m buying ingredients because they have a great selection and fair prices.

14. Is there a similar face cream I can buy?

If you’re not up for the DIY, check out this Frankincense Face Cream from Anthropologie.

And if you’re looking for natural skincare brands that actually work for mature skin, my two favorites are Suki Skincare and Annmarie Gianni.

15. Other natural beauty products to make?

If you want a full homemade skin care routine, try making my Brown Sugar Face Scrub, Honey Tea Face Wash and Apple Cider Vinegar Toner.

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