A while back I posted my DIY Natural Face Moisturizer, because I use it and I love it. That recipe focuses on being light and non-greasy, and I find it works perfect for my naturally oily skin type. However, the recipe might not be the perfect solution for someone with dry, chapping skin, or those who find their skin aging and unable to keep its moisture balance.
My best friend, Amy (she’s doing well in Korea by the way. I miss her! ♥) gets wind burn. Any time she is out in the cold her face becomes dry and cracked to the point of pain. Usually the easiest target is her face. I’m sure Amy isn’t the only one who experiences this during the colder months, so with September well upon us, and the first cold snap of the year, I began working on a special face cream just for them. Introducing my Green Tea Face Cream!
On my Lotion Texture and Feeling scale, this one is a little heavier than some of the others I’ve posted.
This Repairing Face Cream is perfect for people like Amy. Green tea has been known to repair some sun damage and possibly reduce signs of aging. Plus, it smells yummy. The Rose hip seed oil focuses on skin repair and regeneration, which makes this cream great for chapped areas. Rose hip seed oil is also used for aging skin, increasing its ability to repair itself. Coconut and Almond oils are great moisturizers, and bee wax helps lock in that effect. Its all natural, smells delicious and is great for your skin!!
Oh, and did I mention it is easy? The Green tea face cream is arguably easier than the DIY Natural Face Moisturizer, because there is no emulsification in the blender. What are we waiting for! Let’s get to it!!
What You Need:
- .25 oz (by weight!) bees wax. Grate the wax, or you can buy it in pellets. Avoid wax made for candles, as it can be mixed with other things and be scented. 100% pure bee wax is what we’re after here.
- 1 oz almond oil (I order on Amazon)
- 1 oz coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp Rose Hip Seed Oil (I got mine at Amazon)
- 1 packet organic green tea
- Sterilized container to store lotion in
- A chocolate melter or double boiler
- A deep, heavy cup and a hand mixer
- Fine sieve or tea strainer
This Green Tea recipe has become a fan favorite, and I’ve been asked a lot of questions about it. I’ve compiled the answers into an easy FAQ at the bottom of this page. Check it out!
How To Make It:
- Clean and sterilize all of your equipment. This lotion has a longer shelf life because it is oil only, but we don’t want to create a breeding ground for bacteria.
- Combine wax and oils in a double boiler or chocolate melter. Allow everything to melt together.
- Open the tea bag and pour loose tea into the oils. Let the mixture warm and extract from the tea for 15 minutes.
- Strain oil mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a deep cup. (I used my pyrex measuring cup.)
- Whip the mixture with your hand mixer, periodically scraping down the sides, until lotion is room temperature and creamy.
- Store green tea face cream lotion in a cool dark place. Keep in mind that lotions have a shelf life. Do not use anything that looks or smells wrong. That said, oil only lotions have a very long shelf life.
DIY Lotion Frequently Asked Questions:
“Can I use loose leaf tea? How much?”
Absolutely. I would think a couple of tablespoons. It shouldn’t hurt anything if you use too much.
“Can I leave the tea in the bag?”
You can certainly try. I was afraid that the viscosity of the oils would keep it from permeating the tea bag, and I wouldn’t get any green tea in at all.
“Do I need Beeswax? Can I substitute it?”
You can try swapping with 1/2 the amount in carnauba, emulsion or soy wax. I do recommend using a wax to help stabilize the mixture.
“By weight or by volume?”
For all of my recipes the measurements are by volume unless noted otherwise. In this particular recipe, all of the oils are measured by volume but the beeswax is measured by weight. The coconut oil was measured in its semi-solid room temp state.
“Can I add/substitute this, that or the other thing?”
I get these sort of questions a lot. These recipes are simple ratios of solid, semi solid and liquid oils/additives. Obviously I have not tried everything under the sun, so I don’t really know what would happen if you try adding X or Y. But please, experiment! Try things! Add that fancy rose water, or that pigment, or sub out that oil- whatever! Report back and let us know what you find.
“Do I need a blender?”
I would really, really recommend it. A hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment would be fine too.
“How Much Does It Make?”
Well, silly me forgot to measure before I started using it. But you can see the 1 cup measure in the picture to get an idea.
Check out my other Beauty Related posts!
Kayla Domeyer
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Simple and easy to follow. Thanks for sharing!
Hi – I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Have you ever tried adding liquid lanolin?
Hi Sarah! No, I haven’t – but I’d love to see it if you do!
Hi Kayla,
This is my 2nd time making DIY skincare recipe. I have not tried your previous DIY recipe but this one is what I am looking for because it contains green tea. Green tea helps slow down aging, that is why I want to try this one. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Kayla,
I heard that green tea is great for acne. I have some occasional acne problem, so I’m wondering if this recipe could make my acne gone. It seems so nice and I really want to try to make my first DIY moisturizer. Thanks for sharing this great post!
While green tea may be good for acne, the other oils in this recipe are better served for dry or aging skin. Instead, try the DIY Thyme Toner!
Hi Kayla,
I love your recipe, but I am afraid to use coconut oil because of a horrible experience. I have an oily face, and I tried making a face mask using coconut oil as a carrier oil, and I ended up with a nasty breakout. Do you have any recommendation for a good substitute for coconut oil? Thanks!
Hi! I really want this recipe to work. I am using a regular blender. I even added extra beeswax but it just won’t set up. It stays oily. I let it sit overnight to cool and it still would not firm up in the blender. I am at a loss! HELP!
I can’t wait to try this! Is this good for acne prone skin? I’m thinking about using this cream in the morning and then your other facial moisturizer recipe in the evening. I just hope that I don’t break out. I’ve started doing this ACV detox every morning to clear out toxins in my body and in combination of going natural with my face lotion, I hope my mild acne will clear up and prevent ones from popping up in my face. Also, I need something that will lighten up my red marks.
Btw I love your blog!
Love all of your articles and ideas!
Wondering if you sell your products and if so where can I purchase?
Unfortunately, I don’t have easy access to health food stores or farmers markets as I live “out in the sticks” so rather than buy all of the ingredients online was wondering about buying your finished product.
Thank you,
Hope to hear from ya 🙂
Hey Julie!
Sorry, between the blog, the planner business, day job and my new baby I don’t have the time to make/sell the finished products. Have you tried etsy or something similar to find completed natural/small batch products?
I wish I could help more!
I love your recipe for face cream. I’ve been trying to find appropriate preservatives to use in my face creams because they contain water. Have you tried any particular preservatives in any of your products? I am trying to stay away from harmful chemicals but if I end up selling my products I will need them to have an extended shelf life and be sure to inhibit growth of bacteria, mold, and fungus.
I made this today. It is a rather ugly shade of green and smells quite strongly of the green tea. Feels rather oily on my skin. I’ll continue to use it and see what happens
Anyone tried to put makeup on over top of this? My whole face gets really dry and flaky in the winter so it’s almost impossible to get a good makeup application. Do you think it would be too thick for the makeup to stay
Kayla – this “recipe” has me intrigued. I love your choice of ingredients and have most of them on hand. I’m a big matcha green tea powder lover; what is your thought on using this in place of the green tea leaves. I wonder if it would be too potent. I don’t want to look like Shrek. I may try a batch with the matcha and just use less. I’d love to get your opinion. Thanks for the awesome idea!
Hey Patti!
If you can find organic green tea powder with no additives, I would give it a shot. Start with 1/4 of the amount called for, since you won’t be straining it out. Add it directly to the oil and let me know how it works out for you!
I’ve tried this today! Bio green matcha tea powder; very finely grinded, so just mixed it in with the rest.
Pros: all the best of the tea stays in and you don’t have to sieve – haven’t tried on a regular basis for the long term results.
Cons: turns out Shrek green, so the mixture may look a little frightening. I didn’t read this comment in time, so I added the full 2grs. But, it actually spreads open nicely on the skin, not leaving any green hues!
I did mix up the fl oz and the volume oz, so mine’s a little oily on the skin but creamy in the jar nonetheless! Might make it my night cream instead.
Forgot to add: substituted 1/2 of the almond oil by thistle oil. Love the almond for softening purposes, but needed a semi-dry oil for my acne-prone skin.
I’m so glad to hear you had a good experience Laura! Please report back if you try again with more tweaks!!
wow nice your recipes for Green Tea good idea, ty for sharing
My face is dry in winter, super sensitive and prone to acne. Thaks to Accutane my skin is finally clear so I’m looking for something natural without a bunch of chemicals to moisturize. My worry is the beeswax, do you find that is clogs the pores at all?
Jamie,
I personally do not find an issue with the wax in the recipe, but everyone’s skin is different.
I like your recipes for Green Tea Repairing Face Cream and Healthy Face Moisturizer but I wish it used grams rather than ounces (3/4 ounce, .25 oz, tsp, cup). Grams are way more precise when making cosmetics.
Hey Fran, I’m glad you like it!
I’ve thought about using weight measurements instead, but since so many people are already thrown off by the few weight measurements I do give in recipes, I’ve decided to stick with the US volume measurements. Thankfully, nothing I’ve posted requires that much precision!
Hi Kayla,
Everything was going fine until I was beating it with my hand mixer. It did turn a nice creamy color, but the consistency wasn’t creamy like your picture. I also found it slightly oily – maybe I put too much coconut oil. It’s hard to measure it by volume when it’s practically solid. Also, is there any reason why you couldn’t add the green tea step to your other moisturizer recipe?
Oh bummer! It is definitely on the oily side by design. Still, I think you could steep the oils from almost any recipe with the green tea.
Really needing to try this!
–http://soulalien.blogspot.com/
I have just read the receipe and I am exciting. I would like to ask you if I can use 15 oz of wax for having more fluid cream.
Thank you for all
The recipe only uses .25oz of wax, so 15 would be way to much!! That said, yes, you can use less wax for a less waxy cream. However, you might end up with just a nice whipped oil.
Hi, this seems really awesome and I want to try it, but I was wondering if it has any spf (and how much)? I know that roses hip seed oil and coconut oil has a bit of natural spf but I don’t know if it’s concentrated enough to even count xD
Sofie,
I really wouldn’t consider this to have any natural SPF. As always, be sure to use a sunscreen on your face!
Has anyone else had this problem…my final product still has tiny pieces of wax in it (even though it was thoroughly melted) that quickly melt as I message it in. It’s sort of a nuisance. Any ideas on what I did wrong. Aside from that…
I LOVE THIS CREAM!
That has happened to me several times with different beauty products. I figured out it was because I didn’t stir it enough when it was melted. It looked stirred because everything turns clear but it wasn’t. I stir mine as it was cooling to, just to be sure.
Im allergic to almonds and nuts…. I heard that grape seed oil is amazing for the skin and so is Vitamin E. I was thinking of substituting that for almond oil, do you think it would be the same consistency?
would you recommend this as someone who has vascular rosacea and is trying to repair damaged skin after versa pulse treatments? Fat loss under eyes with skin that is very sensitive to products and sun sensitive that gets very red at times and some under eye swelling, thank you
Dale,
I’m sorry but I’m not a healthcare professional. I’m not even a lotion expert. I’m a person who knows a bit about some things and likes to create. I’m really not able to give any sort of advice on medical conditions. I would say that a natural lotion is a good start. I’m not sure what versa pulse does to skin so I can’t comment on any of these ingredients in that arena.
Hi,
I really love this recipe. My one question is I am vegan and would prefer not to use the bee wax . Is there anything I could substitute. Also could I substitute grape-seed oil for almond oil. Thanks so much.
Hi Michele,
Have a look in the FAQ section at the end of the post (in pink), there are a couple other options for beeswax, and a section about oil substitution. The recipes are simple rations so yo’d probably be okay with the grape seed oil. Hope that helps!
Hi Michelle, you can use xanthan gum or lecithin to sub the bee wax. Normally, xantham gum is added to water but it will explode and become gooey. I personally like to mix my xanthan gum in a little bit of oil. For lecithin depends on which type you buy. You have to experiment to mix a little with water or oil and see how they react. I use both in my serum and it makes it silky. I like to use grapeseed oil and macadamia nut oil too because I dislike greasy feeling. Somehow I find almond oil for me is a little oily.
Kayla I will be trying out your recipe but will add a lot of other goodies inside as well like Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) and N-Acetyl Glucosamin (NAG) because they can heal acne scar, anti-aging and anti-pigmentation.
http://knowledge.innovadex.com/294/benefits-niacinamide/
Hi, Kayla! I have a question about the green tea. Can I use powdered green tea (matcha) rather than loose tea or that which comes in tea bags? If so, how much would you recommend? I’m thinking a tsp. would be just fine, but wanted to get your input.
Thanks so much! 🙂 Looking forward to trying this!
I’ve never used the powdered teas because I haven’t been able to find one that was just tea without sugar or additives. But I would think a tsp would be fine, and there wouldn’t be a problem if you added too much. =D
Fabulous! Thanks so much, Kayla! I’ll let you know how my 1st batch turns out! 🙂 Have a great day!!
Hi Kayla
Just read your recipe for green tea face cream
It says 25ozs of beeswax is that the right amount or misprint as all other ingredients are 1oz
Thanks Carmel
Hey Carmel,
the recipe reads .25 so 1/4 oz by weight for the beeswax. Enjoy!
2questions: 1. Can I use a stick blender, instead of a mixer? and 2. If I just leave the tea in the packet, and let it steep in the oil, squeeze it out, could I not skip the straining step?
Well I do have one more question, I am out of almond oil, wondering about grape seed oil or rice bran, or a mix of the two, any thoughts on that?
Hey Linda!
Great question! I’ve just added a FAQ section to the post to help with questions like these. I chose not to keep it in the bag because I don’t think the viscosity of oil would allow it through the fine filter. As for subbing things, I’ve not tried either of those, but my recipes are sort of just guides. Feel free to try it and let me know!
How about using a stick blender?
Where is the FAQ section?
Nevermind about the FAQ section, I am posting in that section! lol
I cannot get this to “whip”. I measured all the oils by weight, and came to read through the FAQ and noticed that you did this by liquid measure, and not by weight. How did you measure the coconut oil? Did you melt it first, and then measure it out?
Linda, I measured the coconut oil by volume when it was semisolid at room temp. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you the first time! What did it do? Did you whip it until it was completely cooled?
I whipped it for a while with the beater, then put it in a pan of cool water, and whipped some more. I finally switched to a stick blender, and it thickened some, but still does not look like your picture. I did double the recipe, and substituted for the almond oil. I may try it again later, when I get some almond oil.
I had the same problem – I did everything by weight and it won’t thicken up. I looked up fl oz to oz conversion and realized that if you do it by weight you end up with about 1 extra fl oz of the liquid oils.
I am SOOOOO excited to try this, because I have been dealing with dry skin for a few years now.
I’m going to use your links to buy the almond oil and rose hip seed oil…could you also recommend a coconut oil on Amazon? I know you might not buy it from there. This is all new to me and do so appreciate any help you can give.
I also wrote a note about essential oils on your other moisturizer. I’ll still buy the oils but use them for other uses since this face cream is better for me.
Donna,
I’m so glad you are going to try it!! I did find the brand of coconut oil on amazon here. But really, anything organic and food-grade will probably be fine. =D As for the oils, I usually buy from my local harvest health foods. But I’ve had goo experiences with the NOW brands on Amazon.
This looks like a good recipe. I look forward to giving it a try!
EyeCandyPopper recently posted..Homemade Whipped Body Butter (organic, vegan option, gluten-free)
Thanks! Your whipped body butter looks great too!
if i wanted to incorporate water, would i just gradually add it to the mixture while blending?
Amy,
Adding a non-oil component to this lotion would make it a totally different process, similar to my Clean and Healthy DIY Face Moisturizer. At first blush I’d reccomend against it because of the amount of wax and solid-at-room-temp oils in this recipe. Perhaps you can make the moisturizer, but add some rose hip seed oil and steep the oils with tea before creating? I would start with that recipe rather than this one.
You really don’t want to blend oil & water as it will lead to mold down the road unless you use a preservative which will defeat the purpose of being all natural. If you’d like it more liquid, just go easy on the beeswax.
Can’t wait to try these moisture creams on your site, I make chapstick and lots of other lotions and potions, but have not seen one with the green tea. Is the 1 oz of oil equivalent to 1/4 cup? I do not have a digital scale. Thanks
Hey Beverly! The liquid oils are measured in liquid volume. So a 1oz liquid measuring cup would be accurate! (I actually used a shot measure. 😛 )
One ounce is two tablespoons.
I THINK it’s equivalent to 1/8 of a cup, but I’m still trying to verify that myself!
Thanks so much for making this recipe available! Is that 1 ounce of each oil by weight or one ounce measured? Also, why so little rose hip seed oil? I was thinking of bumping it up to .1 ounce and reducing the almond oil by a like amount. Any reason you can see not to do this?
Thanks!
Heidi
I’m glad you like it!! For liquid oils the ounce measurement is by volume. For the grate wax the measurements are by weight. This was my first foray into the Rose Hip Seed Oil, and I was being conservative. I can’t see any reason why you couldn’t add more! Let me know if you do and how it worked.
Do u have any recipes or any suggestions for under eye puffiness? Thanks
P.S. Can’t wait to try the green tea recipe!
Lori,
I haven’t pinned anything down specifically for that, but I’ve noticed that using the Non greasy Moisturizer on my eye area straight from the fridge daily, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep helps!!
Hey, will storing the face cream in the fridge help with preserving it at all?
You certainly could. IT would make the lotion a lot thicker than at room temp.
How big of a packet of green tea?
Kimberly, It shouldn’t really matter- any single serving tea bag should work!
this sounds lovely. how much does it make? (i’d like to have an appropriate container handy.)
Hey Staci!
I whipped it up in a 1 cup measure, so less than that. I wish I could be more specific but I didn’t measure the finished quantity and now I’ve used a bunch!!
Nice recipe! I’m just wondering if whisking instead of hand mixer would work?
Thanks!
Chris
Whoops didn’t read the comment above. Apparently whisking doesn’t work 🙁
How do you clean and sterilize your equipment and containers (blender, metal mixing bowls) and if I do not have a hand-mixer may I use a blender or a whisk?
Thanks!
John, I usually boil a large pot of water and sterilize my jars there. For the mixing bowls etc I use them fresh out of my heated-dry dish washer.
Really, you’re going to need a hand mixer, or a stand mixer for this. Blending in a blender will be near impossible because its not liquidy enough to move freely in the blender. A whisk would take you hours. :/
So just dropping the jars in hot water does it? If so- awesome. For some of my larger jars it can be hard to rinse away dish soap from the insides. Let me know – thanks!!
You have to use distilled water to sterilize your bottles and equipments. Normally, I fill a spray bottle with 91% rubbing alcohol and spray on whatever tools I use and let them air dry. This kills all the bacteria.
I’d like to try to make these but I was wondering how you clean all your equipment after use? Especially the seive, and when you use the blender, the blender? I’ve made oil/beeswax mixes before that after i poured it out, and let what remained cool, I scraped out using baking soda and paper towels into the trash. The first time I washed a small amount down the sink and ended up jamming our garbage disposal and probably lined our pipes with some beeswax. Just can’t imagine how you get all the oil and wax out of a seive.
Thank you!
Hey Hannah,
I find that boiling a large stock pot of water and putting all my utensils in works really well for cleaning. For the blender, I disassemble and scrape what I can off, then drop it in the dishwasher!
I made this but changed out almost all the oils – shea butter instead of coconut, and a mixture of mostly sunflower and olive oil and a little castor instead of almond.
I thought it would be a bit thickers as shea is harder then coconut, but it’s really soft! And it doesn’t look like cream on my skin, it’s like rubbing plain oil on it and it stays on there for a while…
I measured all the oils by weight, was I not supposed to?
Eve,
Whoa! That’s a lot of substitutions! Its hard to say why your cream is coming out oily, having never tried those combinations myself. I do know that I find both Shea and Olive to be too heavy/greasy for my taste- perhaps that is part of it? Did the cream whip up as expected?
Your recipes are awesome, I’m so glad I found your site.
I have been looking everywhere for a cream with green tea and without nasties!
Guess I have to make it myself. Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely try this one out.
Marjolein recently posted..De beste anti roosshampoo ooit
I hope you do! Its awesome!!
Hey Kayla
I’m trying this face cream recipe and I’m wondering how much a packet of green tea is. I have some loose green tea and I wanna use that but don’t know how much ( a teaspoon, a tablespoon maybe). Thank you.
Emmanuelle,
I would go with about a tablespoon of loose leaf. It shouldn’t matter too much if you use a little extra. Good luck!
Hi, I’m trying your recipe for face cream but don’t have a scale. I’m using small beeswax pastille. Do you now about how many tablespoons is .25 oz of small pastilles? Also, what temp should the burner be?
Thank you.
Kathleen,
If you’re using a double boiler system, the pot of water on the bottom should be bubbling, but NOT at a rolling boil. Set your burner so that you can accomplish this.
Unfortunately, wax pastilles/pellets/shredded wax are all vastly different in terms of volume. This is why I give the measurement by weight. I would estimate its about a tablespoon MELTED. So, maybe melt your wax and then measure out a tablespoon?
Hello,
It seems this recipe is super cool, I relly like bees wax as natural emulgeator and would like to make it, but I’m a bit confused about the bees wax. What do you mean on “0.25 oz (by weight)”? I only use european metric system, is it possible to share the ingredients – or at least bees wax – in gramms?
Thanks a lot!
Szabina,
According to a Google search .25 oz by weight = 7.08738 grams.
Hurray, thought the same, thanks Kayla! Greatings from Hungary. 🙂
can I use tee tree oil or jojoba oil or simple olive oil instead of almond oil? also what can I use instead of rose hip seed oil? I have rose essential oil and rose water, can I use those instead?
thank you
Narineh,
I have not tried the recipe with jajoba, but it is a fine substitute for almond. I would certainly NOT use rose essential oil in the amounts listed. Essential oils are very potent. I chose rosehip seed oil for its healing properties. You could simply leave it out, and have a nice lotion without those properties. Good luck!
Thanks so much for sharing. I can’t wait to try it. I’ve never made my own skin care products before. How long does this cream keep for after its been made?
Can you use 100% Pure Carrier Oil in Sweet Almond? And which brand of Rose Hip Seed do you use? I’m very new to making DIY lotions….been using a coconut simple recipe. Can’t wait to try this!
Gina,
I use the ones I linked to- I got them on Amazon as my local store charges too much. I’ve never heard of Carrier Oil in sweet Almond, what is the difference between that and just Almond oil? In theory, you can use any liquid oil. It just might not be as good for your skin.
How long does it usually take to mix it until it turns into a creamy texture and what setting should it be on? Thank you.
Its difficult to guess how long the whipping takes. Basically you have to whip it until it is completely cool. Depending on how hot your double boiler or melter gets, and the temp of your room, it can vary widely. If you are impatient, you can set the cup in a cool water bath while you whip. Be careful though, because if you get water in the mixture it will be ruined. :C
As far as speed, crank it up as high as you can go without breaking your cup, or flinging the mix all over =D