How to make a simple cream

 

 

A cream or lotion is a combination of oil and water together with an agent (emulsifier) that stops the oil and water from repelling each other. In most cases the emulsifier also provides consistency and viscosity to the cream

 

Of course the process can be a lot more sophisticated and various other ingredients can be added to the basic oil + water + emulsifier recipe to affect sensorial attributes such as skin feel, fragrance and appearance. And of course it will be necessary to consider adding ingredients that will preserve your product.

 

This article is designed to provide a basic grounding in creating emulsions before we move on to more sophisticated formulations

 

 

Getting Started

 

Basic Equipment.

 

• Accurate scales (digital ideally) 
• Equipment to heat the water and oil phases (kitchen hob or microwave
• Saucepans or microwaveable jug
• Large jug or bowl (2 litre size if working in 1kg batches
• Thermometer (digital ideally
• High Speed Stick Blender.
• Gloves (Disposable latex ideally but clean marigolds are fine)
• Bottles or jars to hold finished product.
• Spatula

 

It is important that we can weigh the ingredients as accurately as possible and digital kitchen scales that can weigh in 1g increments allow far more accuracy.

  

For most formulations using simple and readily available emulsifiers, both the water phase and oil phase must be heated to about 75 C - 80C. You can use saucepans and heat the two phases on a kitchen hob or if you have microwave proof jugs or beakers you can use a microwave.

A digital thermometer is important to check the temperature of the two phases before blending. Most emulsifiers are fairly heat tolerant but there are several commonly used emulsifiers that do not appreciate very high temperatures. Ideally the water and oil phases will be heated to the same temperature.

 

A high speed stick blender is essential for blending the two phases together. Although it is theoretically possible to use a whisk to create an emulsion the energy and effort required to ensure a properly combined emulsion by hand is beyond many of us! Far easier to use a stick blender and the final product will be much more stable.

 

Preparing the equipment

 

It is important to ensure that all your equipment is sterile. Place bowls, jugs, pans in boiling water, most stick blenders will have a detachable head which can also be sterilised in boiling water. Milton's solution can be used to sterilise equipment but remember to rinse under cold water before use. Use an anti-bacterial surface cleanser to wipe down your work surfaces

 

 

Basic recipe

 

At it's most basic the ratio of water, oil, and emulsifier follows the 80:20 rule where the water component (water phase) represents 80% of the final product and oil and emulsifier (oil phase) represents 20% of the final product. The oil phase ratio is typically 75% oil and 25% emulsifier.

 

Or we can view the ratio as Water 80%, Oils 15%, Emulsifier 5%.

 

To make 1kg of product our basic recipe will therefore be

 

 

Water	800g
Oil	150g
Emulsifier	50g
	1000g (1kg)

 

Or halve the above amounts to make 500g

 

 

Which oil – which emulsifier?

 

We don't need to think too much about the water phase. But you could consider purchasing distilled water – not only will it be more sterile than tap water, but will have had various (undesirable) chemicals removed  

 

Oils are a matter of personal choice. There are numerous plant oils easily available in supermarkets and online. A future article will analyse the properties of various readily available plant oils in terms skin benefits but for now, I would recommend, while experimenting, using inexpensive and easily available oils such as sunflower oil (yes the one you cook with is fine for making creams), sweet almond oil, apricot oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil, and grapeseed oil. You may find that your local supermarket also stocks hazelnut oil, avocado oil, and walnut oil.

Feel free to blend various oils as long as you keep the total oil content at 15% or 150g per kg of finished product

 

There is a vast range of emulsifiers available to formulators. Some of these are quite sophisticated and require a level of experience and technical ability to work with. Fortunately tried and tested, simple to work with, and reliable emulsifiers are available online. One of the most popular emulsifiers is Emulsifying Wax. The name Emulsifying Wax is applied to several different blends of emulsifiers but here I am referring to Emulsifying Wax as – Cetearyl Alcohol and Polysorbate 60.

 

You will note from the chemical name that Emulsifying Wax is a blend of two ingredients. Ideally, and emulsion will be formed by two or more emulsifiers working together – a primary emulsifier and a secondary emulsifier – usually a high HLB emulsifier in tandem with a low HLB emulsifier 

 

I'm not going to go into the arcane world of HLB and how to calculate it here - it may be the subject of a future article. Rest assured that Emulsifying Wax has been blended to provide the optimal ratio of the two separate emulsifying agents so you don't need to worry about HLBs for now.

 

For this recipe I'm going to use a blend of Sweet Almond Oil and Hazelnut Oil

 

So our recipe will now look like this

 

Water Phase
Water	80.00%	800g
Oil Phase
Sweet Almond Oil	10.00%	100g
Hazelnut Oil	5.00%	50g
Emulsifying Wax	5.00%	50g
	100.00%	1000g

 

Method

• Weigh out the water phase and heat to 80C
• Weigh out the oil phase and heat to 80C
• Pour the heated water into your mixing jug.
• Slowly add the heated oil phase to the heated water phase while blending on highest speed setting.
• You will notice that the emulsion forms immediately as the two phases combine to a white lotion.
• Continue blending for 1 or 2 minutes on highest speed setting.
• Set aside to cool down.

 

Using a spatula or suitable implement (large slotted spoon works well) stir the emulsion occasionally while it is cooling. As the cream approached room temperature you will notice the cream thickens.

 

 

There you have it – your first DIY cream!

 

Check back for the next article as I'll be showing how to improve on this basic recipe.

Visit www.theformulary.co.uk for a selection of ingredients for making your own products.