Fresh Margarita Body Cream

In addition to the Margarita Salt Scrub, we made a matching Margarita Body Cream at our recent employee workshop. Fresh creams are so fun to make that it is hard to believe I was ever intimidated by them. The truth is that while I dove head first into handmade skincare, for a long time I shied away from anything that involved water. Emulsion and preservation were very scary words to me.

Luckily, my good friend and co-worker, Margaret, helped me to get past this fear by making my very first cream with me. We used The Minty Lime Foot Cream Kit from the Kits For Crafts line of handmade skin care kits. It was love at first emulsion. Very soon after this fateful day I brought home a copy of  Making Aromatherapy Creams and Lotions by Donna Maria. I devoured every page, thus beginning my love affair with fresh creams and lotions. I recommend this book whenever I get questions about making handmade creams. Donna Maria, the founder of the Indie Beauty Network, really does a great job of describing the process of creating an emulsion. She also provides a wealth of information on aromatherapy, carrier oils, and other natural ingredients. This is a great book!

You might also be interested to know that Donna Maria has a fantastic blog of her own. The Indie Business Blog is a daily inspiration to independent business owners, but it can also be inspiring to anyone who is interested in gaining some positive control over their own destiny.

But I digress, on to the fabulous Margarita Body Cream!

Margarita Body Cream

Ingredients

Water Phase
35 grams Organic Lemon Balm Hydrosol
35 grams Distilled Water
2 grams Glycerin
3 grams Grapefruit Seed Extract*

Oil Phase
12 grams Mango Butter
12 grams Ultra Refined Cocoa Butter
12 grams Peach Kernel Oil
10 grams Emulsifying Wax
2 grams Stearic Acid
1 tablespoon Parsley Powder

Fragrance (Optional)
6 ml Lime Fragrance Oil

Directions

• Add Oil Phase ingredients to the double boiler and melt/mix thoroughly.
• Place 1 tablespoon of Parsley Powder into a fine mesh tea ball or cheesecloth and drop it into the warming, melted oils.
• Allow oils to steep over medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Mix Water Phase ingredients together in a heat proof beaker or container. Pyrex works great. Gently warm the water phase in a sauce pan of hot water. (Just below boiling)
• Remove both ingredient phases from heat.
• Remove the herbs from the warm oils. Strain oil mixture through a cheese cloth, if necessary.
• While constantly mixing the Oil Phase, slowly pour the water phase ingredients into the double boiler. Continue to mix the Oil and Water Phases together. The liquid should become opaque and begin to thicken as it cools. To keep your mixture from separating, continue mixing for at least 10 minutes. You can mix this by hand or with a mixer. If you do use a mixer, I would recommend mixing in 3 minute bursts and letting the mixture rest for a few minutes in between each burst. This will help to keep the mixture from increasing its volume too much.
• Stir in Fragrance Oil.
• Pour into snap cap, disc cap or pump bottles. To make this step easier, pour your lotion into a zip lock bag, cut a small hole in the bottom corner and pipe your lotion into the bottles.

Packaging and Storage

Since this recipe contains water, it is especially fragile and will be prone to spoilage or bacteria growth. The Grapefruit Seed Extracts acts as an anti-microbial, but it is not as effective as chemical preservatives. I highly recommend storing this recipe in small bottles with snap or disc caps. This will encourage the cream to be used quickly, and it will  help to keep the cream safe from contamination. To ensure freshness, use your cream as quickly as possible or within 3 to 6 weeks. This can also be packaged in one or two ounce cream jars, but they will have a much higher risk of becoming contaminated in these containers. If your lotion changes color, odor or texture, it could be a sign that it has expired. Natural products can be unstable so please discard your cream if you suspect it of having turned.

*I chose to use Grapefruit Seed Extract as an anti-microbial agent in this recipe. If you prefer using an alternative preservative, please visit FromNatureWithLove.com for more information on preservatives.

** Citrus Essential Oils, such as Lime Essential Oil, can cause photo sensitivity when they are applied to the skin. For this recipe, I chose a synthetic alternative. However, there are many natural Essential Oils that would be suitable substitutes. For example, Ylang Ylang would be a lovely aroma for this lotion.