Yes, this started out as an experiment, but it’s grown into a cream that I now make all the time and use. It’s richer than most creams you buy over the counter — and a lot less expensive. I make two: one for my eyes and one for the rest of my face. I’ve tried numerous ingredients and essential oils to get to this recipe. For each person, there are probably other oils they might like better, but here are my favorites:

I start with an unscented base (I don’t make the lotion from scratch.) I tried a few different bases and learned that you can’t use one that is too rich or contains wax or too much petrolatum or mineral oil. Some ingredients–or too many of them–mean the oils you add won’t incorporate into the lotion. I settled on Suave Oatmeal as a base lotion that I like. This lotion is a good base for making liquid makeup or enhanced lotions. Camden and Grey also sells a base lotion that you can work with. Lotions such as Curel didn’t work well at all for mixing (although I like the lotion by itself).

Here’s the basic oils that I add and why:

Walnut oil - very soothing, rich in vitamins and not greasy. This is one of my favorites for my eyes when my allergies are acting up. It is a good moisturizing, anti-aging, regenerative, emollient and toning oil.

Wheat germ – another very nice oil that goes on smoothly and really helps keep the skin soft. I recommend this all by itself in a base lotion that you use as an all-over body lotion. This oil is thick, sticky and antioxidant. It’s also very rich in vitamin E, a natural antioxidant. This is perhaps my favorite additive in my “night” cream or when my skin is feeling particularly dry or irritated.

Macadamia Nut – antioxidant properties that prevents deterioration of cell membranes. For mature skin it is hydrating and gentle. It is a skin lubricant and is easily absorbed by the skin or Kukui Nut oil – high in linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids. Excellent for skin conditioning after sun exposure, as well as for acne, eczema, dry/wrinkled skin and offers good protection for outdoor sports.

Aloe Vera Oil – This oil is known for its healing properties, which is why I include it. It’s very soothing for irritated, dry flaky skin.

Rosehip oil – I can’t use any of the over-the-counter lotions for skin regeneration or Retin-A without skin irritation. But the rosehip oil is a very nice addition to my face cream that helps cell turnover and keeps the skin from darkening (those annoying age-spots.) It is a wonderful, quick-absorbing addition to my face cream. Since the skin around my eyes is supposedly more delicate, I don’t use this oil or any of the essential oils in my eye cream (I’ve put all of this stuff on my eyes though and had no problems). Rosehip is high in essential fatty acids, GLA, and vitamin C.

I use the following essential oils in my face cream:

German Chamomile – this is a beautiful blue color with the classic chamomile scent. I don’t use it for the smell, however. It’s an anti-inflammatory and a vasoconstrictor, which can help reduce the redness of the cheeks due to enlarged capillaries. In my case, it helps with rosacea and acne.

Mandarin Red – this is a beautiful orange/red. I use it to cut the smell of the chamomile a bit. It’s an antiseptic though and too much can have a drying effect. It has a nice citrus scent. I use it in soaps as well. Used in a lotion, it does not have a lasting scent so you don’t have to worry about smelling like an orange! You might consider Clary Sage to meld with the chamomile also/instead.

Oils to Try
I’d still like to try grapeseed oil (high in vitamin E and is 76% essential fatty acid, linoleic acid, also known as Omega 6) and Calendula oil (used on slow-healing wounds and is an anti-inflammatory; supposed to be very helpful for rosacea).

I’ve tried a rather large number of other essential oils and basic oils. The ones listed above are my favorites. I buy all of them from Camden Grey–wonderful customer service and information on their site. There are many other places that carry the essential oils and both grapeseed and walnut oil can be found in many grocery stories.

My creams often need re-mixing. Over about two weeks, some of the oils float to the top. I just stir them back in. I’m sure if I used less oil, I wouldn’t have this problem, but for the most part, I really like the recipe I’m using (I put in about 1/8th tsp of the base oils per 3.5 ounce base lotion.)

I finally bought some grapeseed oil from my local grocery store (the brand was Napa Valley Naturals — I highly recommend it). It’s in the section with the olive oil along with some other high-end oils such as walnut and sesame. I used the oil in cooking and in some lotion-potions. I loved it in both! For the cooking, it made a very nice replacement for olive oil–it handles the heat better, no scorching. I liked the taste as well.

For the cream, I first tried it just on my skin–wow. It really absorbed well! With a few oils, especially ones that are good for your skin, they can sit on top–either for a long time or soak in so slowly that they can leave too much of a greasy feeling. Olive oil is like that–it’s supposed to be good for your skin, but I never found that it absorbed quickly or cleanly enough. I do like olive oil in soap, but not in lotion. Sesame oil, also good for your skin, has too much fragrance for me. I found the grapeseed oil quick to absorb–perhaps one of the fastest of the oils I’ve tried. It doesn’t seem to have a smell, although after I added it to my favorite base (Suave’s Oatmeal) it did seem to add a subtle clean smell, almost like a fresh soap smell. It made the lotion creamier and I’m really enjoying the way it keeps my skin hydrated!

All in all I think I have three favorite additives: Grapeseed topping the list, wheat germ and rose hip. I also like aloe, but I don’t find that it has quite the miraculous healing properties that I would like. Every person has different skin–and will therefore like different oils. I’m currently using a mix of grapeseed, wheat germ and rose hip for my face. For the eye area, I replace the rose hip and use walnut oil or another nut oil such as macadamia nut oil.

As for food, I’m really looking forward to trying the grapeseed oil in a salad dressing recipe. While it has a mostly neutral taste, it has a lot of subtleties (not to mention it’s good for me!) This one is going to be a keeper.

Here’s a description of the oil from Camden-Grey’s website:

Grapeseed Oil ( Vitis vinifera ) is an ecologically sound product that is made from the seeds of grapes after the wine is pressed. Grapeseed oil is high in vitamin E and is 76% essential fatty acid, linoleic acid (also known as Omega 6). It is low in saturated fat, contains natural chlorophyll and valuable antioxidants (known as proanthocyninidins), and has a good shelf life. Very rich in vitamins, minerals and linoleic acid. It’s a light and penetrating oil for massage. It’s also used in lotions, balms, creams, and soap. The skin absorbs it easily; it has no perceptible odor. Since it is slightly astringent, it tightens and tones the skin. Will not aggravate acne. This is one oil that is nearly impossible to extract through cold pressure due to its very low oil yield.

Am I the only person in the world who wants to create my own green tea cream??? Probably not. Sure, lots of places sell green tea. Lots of places sell green tea cream. BUT, how many of those places tell you the percentage of green tea extract in the cream? I haven’t found any yet.

Green tea cream is supposed to be very good for the skin. It helps with dryness, redness and inflammation. I already have several creams that help with these symptoms and have had moderate success with most of them. But for a few years I’ve wanted to try a green tea lotion–one that didn’t cost 40 dollars an ounce with no label to tell me just how much green tea I’d be getting.

I’ve finally decided to do a white tea/green tea infusion. This is a method of soaking tea leaves in an oil to impart the properties of the leaves into the oil. I thought about using the crockpot (heat on low for a couple of hours, stirring often, strain with cheesecloth) but decided on the “sun tea” method. It takes longer, but I don’t have a lot of time to monitor the crockpot temperature today. I’m, well, supposed to be editing my manuscript, not concocting tea leaves!!!

So tea leaves and oil are sitting in the sunny window. I used wheat germ oil, even though olive oil is the standard oil of choice. We’ll see how it goes. At the rate I try different creams, I should look 2, not 60.