Non-Greasy Face Moisturiser
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This non-greasy face moisturiser, made with just shea butter and jojoba oil, comes together with no fancy equipment — and it’s simple enough to fold into a homemade Christmas gift basket too.
In the northern hemisphere, we’re deep into the winter months. Part of a daily skin care routine right now is using a non-greasy face moisturiser for dry skin.
This homemade face moisturiser is quite simple to make and doesn’t require any fancy equipment. It comes together easily, and can even be added to a Christmas gift basket.
Table of Contents
How This Comes Together
The process is simple: melt some shea butter with a little jojoba oil, using a homemade double boiler — easy to do by resting a small glass or metal bowl in a pot of water on the stove. Once melted, cool it until the edges start to solidify, then add a few drops of a favorite essential oil and blend. A hand mixer on high speed works well, blended until fairly creamy. These homemade creams are best stored in sterilized glass jars at room temperature.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory, and good for all skin types. It can help even out skin tone, lessen acne scars, tighten skin, and improve discoloration — and it’s probably the ultimate skin moisturizer, showing up in more lotions and conventional cosmetics than almost any other ingredient. Shea butter is incredible for dry skin, and can even be extremely helpful for cracked skin.
Jojoba Oil and Essential Oils
Ingredients List
- ¼ cup shea butter
- 2 tbsp jojoba oil
- 5 drops lavender
- 5 drops sandalwood
- 5 drops frankincense
Cooking Instructions
About the Carrier Oil:
This recipe calls for 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) of oil — jojoba oil in this case, though mixing in fractionated coconut oil or sweet almond oil is another good option. These carrier oils have a mild scent and are very moisturizing for the skin. Other options include argan oil, avocado oil, grape seed oil, hemp seed oil, or rose hip oil.
Why Jojoba Oil Specifically:
Jojoba oil is an excellent carrier oil — moisturizing, quickly absorbed, soothing to the skin, and protective against sunburn. It’s used often in other homemade cosmetics and lotions too.
What Essential Oils Can You Use on Your Face?
Essential oils give skin care products a nice scent, and they carry therapeutic properties too. Only a small amount is needed, since they’re very concentrated and potent — which is why they get diluted before use. Facial skin is especially sensitive, so it’s best to add a carrier oil before applying essential oils to the face.
Choosing Your Essential Oils:
A few favorites: lavender, great for dry, aging, oily, normal, or acne-prone skin; tea tree, great for normal, oily, or acne-prone skin; frankincense, great for anti-aging, skin imperfections, wrinkles, and fine lines; rose, great for sensitive skin, fine lines, crow’s feet, and wrinkles; lemon, great for oily and greasy skin; and sandalwood, great for all skin types.
How to Use It, and How Long It Lasts
Face moisturiser works best applied right after washing the face or after a shower, when the skin absorbs it well. Only a small amount is needed — take a small portion into the palm and massage it onto the face.
Stored in an airtight container, this moisturiser lasts about a year. Keep it at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
Tips for Making Homemade Face Moisturiser
Solidify before blending: about 10 minutes in the freezer helps the fat reach the right consistency before whipping it smooth.
Don’t worry if it’s frozen too long: just remelt and whip again once it’s softer — a common first-timer hiccup.
Use glass, not plastic: essential oils can leach into plastic jars over time, and that leaching gets absorbed through the skin during application.
Room temperature storage works well: oil-based lotions and creams stored this way last for months.
A little grain is normal: summer heat can soften these moisturisers slightly, and temperature swings can turn them a bit grainy — still perfectly usable, just massage them in the palms first.
Substitutions to Know
A combination of jojoba and fractionated coconut oil works well as the carrier oil, or any other carrier oil suited to your skin type. Shea butter can also be substituted with mango butter if that’s what’s on hand.
A Note of Caution
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Learn more
A note of caution: if using citrus essential oils on the face, avoid direct sunlight for 24 hours afterward, since these oils can cause photosensitivity.
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Recipe Card
Non-Greasy Face Moisturiser
- Total Time: 15
- Yield: 25 servings 1x
Description
A simple, non-greasy homemade face moisturiser made with shea butter and jojoba oil — easy to whip up with no fancy equipment, and gentle enough for any skin type.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup shea butter
- 2 tablespoons jojoba oil
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 5 drops sandalwood essential oil
- 5 drops frankincense essential oil
Instructions
-
Combine:
In a glass bowl, add the shea butter and jojoba oil.
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Melt:
Set the glass bowl over a pot of boiling water to create a double boiler, and melt the ingredients together.
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Cool:
Cool the molten fat in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes, just until the mixture starts to solidify and turns translucent.
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Add Essential Oils and Whip:
Add the essential oils and mix with a hand-held mixer until creamy and soft.
-
Store:
Store in an airtight glass container at room temperature.
Notes
If using citrus essential oils, avoid direct sunlight afterward, since these oils are photosensitive.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Natural Skin Care
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 25
- Calories: 200
- Fat: 2
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