How to Make Herbal Creams & Lotions

How to Make Herbal Creams & Lotions

Quick Recipe Card

What You’ll Learn

Making your own herbal creams and lotions isn’t much harder than making homemade mayonnaise. You’re just blending oil and water together with a little help from beeswax or emulsifying wax. The result? Rich creams for dry skin or light lotions for daily use — at a fraction of store prices.

The difference between cream and lotion? It’s mostly about thickness. Creams have more oil and butter (about 2 parts oil to 1 part water). Lotions flip that ratio for something lighter that absorbs faster.

What You’ll Need

Basic Kitchen Tools

• Double boiler setup ad — Just a heat-proof bowl or jar sitting in a pot of simmering water
• Stick blender ad — Makes the job much easier (a whisk works but takes elbow grease)
• Two heat-proof jars or measuring cups ad — For warming your oil and water phases
• Clean glass jars ad — For storing your finished cream (amber glass is nice but not necessary)
• Kitchen thermometer ad — Helpful but not essential

Nice-to-Have Tools

These make the process easier but aren’t required:

• Mini electric milk frother ad ($10–15) — Great for small batches
• Infrared thermometer ad ($20–30) — Takes the guesswork out of temperature
• Small kitchen scale ad — For consistent results batch to batch

Ingredients

Oil Phase:

• ½ cup herbal-infused oil (see our infused oils guide)
• 1–3 teaspoons beeswax (for thickness)
• 1–2 tablespoons solid butter (shea, cocoa, or coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon emulsifying wax (optional but helps stability)

Water Phase:

• ½ cup distilled water, herbal tea (see our guides for hot infusions and cold infusions), or hydrosol
• 1 teaspoon honey or glycerin (optional, for extra moisture)

Additives (add when cool):

• ½ teaspoon vitamin E oil (helps prevent rancidity)
• 5–10 drops essential oils (optional, for scent). Keep the bottles locked up, out of the sight and reach of children and pets (safety notes)
• Natural preservative (see section below)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare Your Herbal Bases

For the oil: Fill a jar about one-third full with dried herbs. Pour oil over them until it sits about an inch above the herbs. Let this steep 4–6 weeks in a sunny window, or speed it up by warming gently in your double boiler for 2–3 hours (set up as in Step 2, and keep young children away from the hot water). Strain through cheesecloth before using. (See our guide to oil infusions.)

For the water: Make a strong herbal tea using 2–3 tablespoons dried herbs per cup of boiling water. Steep 20 minutes, strain, and cool. (See our guide to hot herbal infusions)

Fresh vs. Dried: Stick with dried herbs for oil infusions — fresh ones can make your oil go rancid. CDC’s rule for homemade oils made with garlic or herbs (refrigerate them, throw them away after 4 days) is for oils you eat (CDC). Our advice: for skin oils and creams, use only fully dried herbs (safety notes). For the water phase, fresh is fine since you’ll use it right away.

2. Set Up Your Double Boiler

Put an inch or two of water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Place your jars or bowls on top — they shouldn’t touch the water.

Hot water can cause serious scald burns in young children, so keep them away from the stove (safety notes).

3. Warm Both Phases

Put your oil phase ingredients (infused oil, beeswax, butters) in one jar. Put your water phase (tea or hydrosol) in another. Warm the oil phase until the waxes and butters are completely melted. University of Delaware Extension notes that “Beeswax has a fairly high melting point between 143-145° F” (University of Delaware Extension), so if you’re measuring, the oil phase has to get at least that warm. That figure is for beeswax. Our sources don’t give one for emulsifying wax, so just watch until it’s fully melted. Our advice: warm the water phase alongside so both phases are about the same temperature when you blend.

Heat safety: Beeswax is flammable. If it boils over or flows onto the burner, there’s danger of a violent fire, so use low heat and keep a close eye on the pot (safety notes).

4. Blend Them Together

Here’s where the magic happens. Remove both jars from heat. While running your stick blender (or whisking like crazy), slowly pour the water phase into the oil phase. It’ll turn from clear to creamy white — just like making mayo. Keep blending for about a minute until it’s smooth and uniform.

Troubleshooting: If it separates, you poured too fast or the temperatures were too different. Just rewarm both phases and try again.

5. Cool and Add the Good Stuff

Let your cream cool to about body temperature (below 110°F). Now stir in your vitamin E, essential oils, and preservative if using. Mix well — the cream will thicken more as it cools. Lock essential oils away afterward, out of the sight and reach of children and pets (safety notes).

6. Jar It Up

Pour or spoon into your clean storage jars while it’s still pourable. Label with the date and ingredients. Let cool completely before putting the lid on.

Natural Preservatives: Your Options

Without a preservative, your cream will last 1–2 weeks in the fridge. That’s fine if you make tiny batches, but most folks want something that lasts longer. Here are your choices:

Natural Preservative Options

Vitamin E Oil

Pros: Easy to find, inexpensive
Cons: Only prevents oil rancidity, doesn’t stop bacteria or mold
Use: ½ teaspoon per cup of cream

Rosemary Extract (ROE)

Pros: Natural antioxidant, extends oil life
Cons: Like vitamin E, doesn’t prevent bacterial growth
Use: 0.5% of total recipe weight

Leucidal Liquid (from radish root ferment)

Pros: Broad spectrum, naturally derived
Cons: Can be hard to find, needs pH 4–7 to work
Use: 2–4% of total weight

Geogard ECT or Optiphen Plus

Pros: Reliable broad spectrum, widely available
Cons: More processed than other options
Use: Follow manufacturer’s directions (usually 0.5–1.5%)

What About Alcohol?

You might wonder about using alcohol since it preserves tinctures so well. Here’s the thing — to preserve a cream, you’d need at least 20% alcohol. That much alcohol turns your lovely moisturizing cream into something harsh and drying, like aftershave. It can also break your emulsion, making everything separate. Save the alcohol for tinctures and stick with the options above for creams.

For beginners, the simplest path is to either make fresh weekly batches (no preservative needed) or use Leucidal Liquid for a good balance of natural and effective.

Storage and Shelf Life

Without preservative: Keep refrigerated, use within 1–2 weeks. Make just ½ cup at a time.

With preservative: Store in a cool, dark place for 3–6 months. Bathroom counters are fine if the jar has a good seal.

Signs it’s gone bad: Off smell, color change, visible mold, or separation that won’t remix. When in doubt, toss it out.

Smart tip: Use a clean spoon or cosmetic spatula to scoop out cream — fingers introduce bacteria.

Three Starter Recipes

Every recipe melts beeswax, so follow the heat safety note in Step 3. Where a recipe adds essential oil, lock the bottle away from children and pets afterward (safety notes).

Calendula Everyday Lotion

A light everyday lotion. Patch test first, especially on children.

• ½ cup calendula-infused olive oil
• ½ cup calendula tea (cooled)
• 2 tsp emulsifying wax
• 1 tsp beeswax
• 1 tbsp shea butter
• ½ tsp vitamin E oil
• 5 drops lavender essential oil

Follow the basic method above. This makes about 1 cup.

Rich Chamomile Night Cream

Thick and rich for dry skin

• ½ cup chamomile-infused sweet almond oil
• ¼ cup chamomile tea
• 3 tsp beeswax
• 2 tbsp cocoa butter
• ½ tsp vitamin E oil
• Preservative of choice

Makes about ¾ cup of thick, rich cream.

People allergic to related plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds or daisies are more likely to react to chamomile, so patch test first (NCCIH; safety notes).

Simple Plantain Balm

No water = no preservative needed

• ½ cup plantain and comfrey infused oil
• 2 tbsp beeswax
• 1 tbsp each: shea butter, cocoa butter
• 1 tsp vitamin E oil

Melt everything together over low heat, as beeswax is flammable (safety notes), then pour into jars. Lasts months without refrigeration.

Comfrey caution: Comfrey contains compounds that can damage the liver (MSKCC). Use it only on unbroken skin, only for adults, and for no more than 10 days (European herbal monograph). Never take it by mouth, and skip it if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding unless your doctor okays it.

Safety Notes

• Always start with clean tools and containers
• Label everything with ingredients and date
• Do a patch test before slathering any new cream all over
• Don’t use homemade creams on broken skin or wounds
• Store out of reach of children

Beeswax: University of Delaware Extension cautions that “beeswax is flammable. If beeswax should boil over or flow onto the burner there is danger of a violent fire,” and advises “low heat and careful attention” when handling it (University of Delaware Extension).

Hot water: The American Burn Association warns that “Hot water, drinks, and kitchen items can cause serious scald burns” in young children, and advises a “nokid zone” in the kitchen “around stoves, ovens, and hot items” (American Burn Association).

Essential oils: Poison Control warns, “Misuse of essential oils can cause serious poisoning.” It adds, “If you have bottles of essential oils at home, consider discarding them safely if you have young children. Otherwise, they must be locked up, out of the sight and reach of children and pets” (Poison Control).

Chamomile: NCCIH notes, “People are more likely to experience allergic reactions to chamomile if they’re allergic to related plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, or daisies” (NCCIH).

Fresh herbs in oil: CDC advises, “Refrigerate homemade oils made with garlic or herbs. Throw the oils away after 4 days” (CDC). That advice is about foodborne botulism, so it covers oils you eat. Our advice: for skin oils and creams, use only fully dried herbs.

Final Thoughts

Once you get the rhythm — melt, blend, cool, jar — you’ll be making custom creams in less time than a trip to the store. Start simple with one herb you know well. Calendula or chamomile are perfect first choices.

The beauty of homemade? You control everything. Too thick? Use less wax next time. Want it richer? Add more butter. It’s your cream, made your way, for pennies on the dollar.

Next up: See our guide to herbal salves & balms for an even simpler, no-water option that lasts for months.

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