My face takes a beating during the winter months as I’m constantly out in the wind and frigid temps doing chores and taking care of animals. I’m so excited to try this aloe vera face cream recipe that Noelle from Coconuts and Kettle Bells is sharing today. Enjoy!
I’ll admit it:
I used to be a total sucker for step-by-step facial cleansing systems adorned with fancy price tags. Even after switching my diet over to real foods, making my own moisturizers and cleansers seemed confusing, complicated, and a tad bit “out there.”
And then, I finally did some investigation on what I was rubbing into my skin, and common sense hit me. In fact, after ditching my conventional cleansing system and switching to cleaning my face with coconut oil, my chronic dry skin disappeared, and the hard white bumps I had experienced on my cheeks and chin since high school completely cleared up.
The reality is, our skin is our largest detoxification organ, and what we put on our skin is absorbed into our body, and affects our skin’s health and integrity. This is why it’s incredibly useful to have moisturizers on hand that use natural and nourishing ingredients, like this DIY Aloe Vera Facial Moisturizer.
And bonus! It’s also super affordable, leaving extra funds for other important things – like food, water, and cute shoes.
Homemade Face Cream Recipe with Aloe Vera
(This post contains affiliate links)
Ingredients:
1 cup aloe vera gel
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons jojoba oil
1.5 tablespoons beeswax pastilles (Can also use 3/4th of a 1 oz bar of beeswax, diced finely or grated)
5-8 drops essential oil like lavender or geranium (optional)
Directions:
Heat coconut oil, beeswax, and jojoba oil in a modified double boiler, stirring occasionally to make sure contents combine.
Once liquid, pour mixture into glass blender and allow mixture to completely cool (about 1 – 1.5 hours.) Once the mixture has cooled, take a spatula and scrap down the sides of the blender to loosen the contents.
Turn blender on low and slowly pour aloe vera gel into the mixture, stopping occasionally to allow contents to combine.
If contents get “stuck” in the blender, continue to scrap down the sides of the blender and whip mixture by hand until light, fluffy texture forms.
Once aloe vera has been mixed in, blend 5-8 drops essential oil into lotion.
SPECIAL REMINDER! It’s incredibly important to allow mixture to completely cool in blender before adding aloe vera gel. Also, you’ll get the best results using a natural aloe vera gel. Aloe vera juice or homemade gel will not work the same.
Notes:
- This DIY Aloe Vera Facial Moisturizer is good for all skin types. However, before using it, it’s best to test it on a small area of your skin for at least 3-4 days in a row prior to regular use.
- YES! Coconut oil is fantastic moisturizer for your face and body. Studies show coconut oil significant improves dryness, and does so better in comparison to other oils because of its antibacterial and emollient effects.[1][2] It’s also been found to improve skin hydration and lipid barrier function, and reduce skin infections.[3] Preliminary research also suggests coconut oil may improve collagen cross-linking and increase antioxidant enzyme activity, and may be an effective treatment for certain types of acne, including Propionibacterium acnes.[4][5][6] Check out Coconuts Oil for Skin Care: Everything You Need to Know for more information and instruction about how to incorporate coconut oil into your skin care routine.
- There is no such thing as one size fits all skin care. While coconut oil is completely safe, and has no reported reactions or allergenic effects, it’s best to test coconut oil on a small area of your skin prior to using any new coconut oil skin care protocols.
- This is an incredibly powerful and effective moisturizer because is combines the emollient effects of coconut oil, and the occlusive effects of jojoba oil with aloe vera, which is a humectant. Humectants draw water from the air to your skin, while emollients and occlusive agents smooth the skin’s surface, and prevent water loss through the skin.
- You’ll want to store a small amount of this moisturizer in a jar in your bathroom, and keeping the rest of it in the fridge so that it will have a longer storage life. You can expect to get about 3-4 months storage life from this recipe.
- This recipe was adapted from Frugally Sustainable.
- 1 cup aloe vera gel (like this)
- ½ cup coconut oil (like this)
- 2 tablespoons jojoba oil (like this)
- 1.5 tablespoons beeswax pastilles (Can also use ¾th of a 1 oz bar of beeswax, diced finely or grated)
- 5-8 drops essential oil like lavender or geranium (optional)
- Heat coconut oil, beeswax, and jojoba oil in a modified double boiler, stirring occasionally to make sure contents combine.
- Once liquid, pour mixture into glass blender and allow mixture to completely cool (about 1 - 1.5 hours.) Once the mixture has cooled, take a spatula and scrap down the sides of the blender to loosen the contents.
- Turn blender on low and slowly pour aloe vera gel into the mixture, stopping occasionally to allow contents to combine.
- If contents get "stuck" in the blender, continue to scrap down the sides of the blender and whip mixture by hand until light, fluffy texture forms.
- Once aloe vera has been mixed in, blend 5-8 drops essential oil into lotion.
- SPECIAL REMINDER! It's incredibly important to allow mixture to completely cool in blender before adding aloe vera gel. Also, you'll get the best results using a natural aloe vera gel. Aloe vera juice or homemade gel will not work the same.
About Noelle
Noelle Tarr is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified Personal Trainer, writer, podcaster, and the passionate force behind everything you’ll find at coconutsandkettlebells.com. Through the site, she serves people who desire to completely revolutionize their relationship with health and fitness, and regularly talks about real food, fitness, natural living, skin care and body image. Join the community on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been wanting to come up with other ways to use the aloe Vera growing in my backyard, but you’re saying that wouldn’t work in this recipe?
Unfortunately, it won’t. I’m sorry! You’ll need to use aloe vera gel, not juice. Straight from the plant makes the recipe watery and it doesn’t combine well.
Hello,
I’d like to prepaire this Aloe Vera face cream but I miss water from the ingredients. Without water it’ll be very greasy this cream, wouldn’t it?
Jill, once you look up the moisturizing effect of beef tallow on your skin you’ll never look back – the best ingredient I’ve ever used after a life time of the upscale stuff…we make ours mixed with sesame oil, coconut oil, and almond oil but you can just use without additives, warm it up and rub it in…you skin drinks the beef tallow in completely….but you can only use grass fed and finished fat. One of the most bio identical fats to our skin there is.
Can you please let me know your recipe for this cream using tallow? I have some tallow and would love to use it in something like this cream. Thankyou!
Margaret – measure your beef tallow by weight or by volume and use a ratio of 40% beef tallow to what ever mixture of oils (liquid at room temp) that you’d like. You can add any essential oils as well. This should give you a mixture that is not solid. If it’s too stiff, just remelt on low heat and add more oil. We use this as the family body butter….at my age (66) I use just the tallow on my face and hands. You do smell like McDonalds for a short time but that disappears. But the results are stunning. I get random compliments on my skin a lot.
Thankyou so much for your prompt reply! It is very much appreciated!
Can u purchase beef tallow from a store. If so what brand. Could u give measurements for recipe. I’m the worst. When u say 40% How many cups is that.
PLEASE help?
Yes, I’m working on a tallow balm recipe to share soon!
I am making this aloe cream now. I have made many using butters and etc. I can’t seem to blend the aloe into the oils. It comes together and doesn’t look creamy or whipped? I am using Mountain Rose Herbs Aloe Vera Gel.
My Aloe is from Mountain Rose Herbs. The aloe is separated from the cream. Any tips, helps? Can I restore?
I wonder if I used a hand immersion blender when adding the aloe?
Hey MaryAnn, I am having the same issue with adding the aloe – it isn’t blending great, and smooth – sort of a grainy texture. Did you find out anything on what to do to make it more creamy: Was it the aloe?
I too am having a struggle getting the mixture into a smoothe cream consistency. I have cooled the fats, added the aloe a little at a time on slow blend. It just doesn’t emulsify. I have even put it back in the blender from my jars and blended it again. I just get a smaller curd like ‘cottage cheese’ in liquid.
I notice that several other people are posting this question but I don’t see any answers at all.
What can be the cause of the problem?
Please can we get a response to this question ASAP?
Are you using FCO (liquid coconut oil) or the the more solid coconut oil? I can’t wait to try this one!
Extra virgin coconut oil is what I recommend. 🙂
Just started my journey with using Essential Oils. So far, I love them. thanks for this recipe for me to try out. Stop by my blog and say hello.
http://itsapinterestingworld.blogspot.com
Coconut oil is drying, I’m surprised you would say it’s a fantastic moisturizer.
http://www.fromthebathtub.com/2015/03/why-some-skin-types-should-stop-using.html
Hi Marisa! Actually, coconut oil has been found to be an incredibly nourishing moisturizer. Studies show coconut oil significant improves dryness, and does so better in comparison to other oils because of its antibacterial and emollient effects. This was covered under the “Notes” section – and the studies are linked there. This does not mean it works for EVERYONE – as everyone has different skin. So, if it makes you feel more dry, it may not be the best option. This recipe combines the emollient effects of coconut oil, and the occlusive effects of jojoba oil with aloe vera, which is a humectant. Humectants draw water from the air to your skin, while emollients and occlusive agents smooth the skin’s surface, and prevent water loss through the skin.
What am I doing wrong in making this Aloe Cream? I haven’t seen who has made this successfully. I can’t seem to make the aloe cream, creamy or whipped. It just looks like it isn’t anything special. Please, can you offer me some help. 🙂 I kindly appreciate it.
Try putting it in a stainless steel bowl and pop in the freezer until the very top turns solid and then whip with a beater or hand blender. I had the same problems with some other recipes like this.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone say coconut oil is drying. It is exactly the opposite.
It’s the same for me. I know CO works well for most ppl, but for me it actually dries my skin out AND makes me break out. It kinda sucks since there are SO many diy beauty and toothpaste recipes out there where CO is the main ingredient and sometimes other oils don’t work the same in the recipe. Oh well, that’s life sometimes. ?
I have used coconut oil for ages, and it has never shown any sign of drying my skin. It is wonderful in fact. When I don’t have time to make anything special I use it straight.
http://www.healthstartsinthekitchen.com/2013/11/04/whipped-tallow-body-butter/ if you all want another recipe for beef tallow body butter.
Coconut oil doesn’t work for me. It breaks me out but I think everyone should try it to see if it works for them. If it doesn’t work for you, sunflower, macadamia, and olive oil are great and for me personally, do not make me break out. I use them straight however, so do not know about blending them into a cream.
Great options – Danelle! Jojoba oil is a great option too that works incredibly well for sensitive skin.
Rosehip Oil would be an awesome option to your recipe! It has countless benefits for the skin. Thanks for sharing.
It would! I’m sure it could be used in place of the jojoba oil pretty easily! 🙂 Great idea!
This looks great and a fun recipe to try one of these cold winter weekends!
Awesome! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Hi Noelle,
I want to give away this cream in mini jars as gifts. What would be an appropriate preservative so that it stays good without the refrigeration?
Thanks
this looks like a nice recipe but it does need a preservative because aloe vera gel is mostly water. really, you can only keep products with water in them for up to 2 weeks in the fridge before they will spoil. the microorganisms that develop in your cream will not be visible to the human eye for quite awhile because they are microscopic. by the time you do see nasties growing in your cream it has unfortunately long gone bad. the nerdy farm wife did a great post comparing a lot of different methods of natural preservatives. on her FB page she now recommends using a combination of Leucidal Liquid SF and AMTicide Coconut to protect against bacteria, yeast & mold.
Maybe it is enough what the gel already contains
Hi Tania,
Unfortunately, that doesn’t work due to something called water activity. As I understand it water activity means the water in the aloe vera gel doesn’t stay in just the aloe vera so the entire formulation needs to be preserved. The preservative in the aloe vera is only enough to cover the aloe vera but not the whole formulation. As I mentioned above there are some natural options for preservatives.
Also, Lotioncrafter sells an inexpensive microbial test kit for home use so that could be good to get for a better idea of any cream or lotion’s shelf life: http://www.lotioncrafter.com/microbial-test-kit-lotioncrafter.html
Vitamin E also works as a preservative
It also helps lock in the moisture
I get the gel caps and use one to 3 in a batch this size. Just pock a hole and squeeze out the vit E
I tried this 3 times with the same result. And yes I allowed it to cool for an hour and a half. The third time I even took into account the weather lol! It was cool and dry btw. I have yet to be able to whip the melted and cooled ingredients with the aloe mixture. It simply will not happen. I’ve tried using the blender twice and my Kitchenaid with the whisk once. I’ve used two different aloe vera gels just in case, which is becoming quite expensive as aloe is not cheap. I’ve followed your instructions to the letter. Help!!!!
I wonder if you received a private response to this query? It’s something I’ve had a problem with, also.
No, I haven’t received a response! I haven’t tried it anymore either. I’m so discouraged! I want a moisturizer made with an aloe base and with beeswax or even shea. I guess I’m going to have to create my own!
you are right ladies! u see all these pictures showing this creamy moisturizer but I have yet to achieve it. I have tried 10 different recipes , different products and ALWAYS the same result. it is not creamy but separated and sometimes a lumpy, bumpy consistency. However if u can look past the that and still use it melts down in hands as u apply and leaves your skin feeling amazing. And lets not forget it is way better for ur skin than chemicals. I hope this helps as I did not see a reply to your questions!
Try putting it in a stainless steel bowl and pop in the freezer for like half an hour until the top turns hard – just the top. Then use a hand blender and keep blending, it will turn into like a lotion, and then a fluffy cream. I had the same problem with other recipes and found this trick on line. I had been beating oil for hours and completely frustrated. This did the trick!
I figured it out! I was adding the aloe too fast. This time I added a little at a time. It is a perfect consistency this time.
Whew!
Great looking website. Think you did a great deal of your very ownyour very own coding
That recipe is awesome! The cream isn’t greasy, it is light and absorbs quickly.
So glad you are enjoying Emilia!
I can’t seem to get it to blend together.
Thank you for sharing. I love this lotion!
Hi is this cream good for hot season also…plz reply.
I want to know if I can use cold pressed aloe vera gel?
Please I long will it stay without refrigerator,and what preservative should I use if making in large quantity?
Can you use citric acid as a preservative in this cream?
I have tried this recipe from another blogspot and it didn’t work. Simple chemistry tells us that water (aloe vera gel) and oil (coconut oil and jojoba oil) do not mix unless there is some type of emulsifier in the mix. Simply heating, freezing, and whipping it up in a high-speed blender is not going to emulsify it. I also do not recommend using anything on your face that doesn’t have some sort of preservative in it. Even if it’s vitamin E oil or a little honey to stay all-natural. Now, with all of that being said, beeswax is not an emulsifier. Period. You can buy organic emulsifiers from places like Bulk Apothecary or Brambleberry. They also keep it vegan sans the honey. That is why most who are making this recipe are not getting it to turn out right. I do honestly wish more would do some actual research before they put something on a public site like they are an expert.
Preservative would be rosemary oil. Maybe 1%. Not for pregnant ladies.
Replace the beeswax with emulsifying wax. Water (aloe vera) and the oils don’t mix they need to be emulsified. Made this and it is a bit thin, it has thickened after putting into small jars.
Great recipe! I just tried it and it turned out amazing. Could you tell me if it’s better to store in the fridge? How long is it supposed to last? Thanks for sharing this beautiful homemade cream.
Last year I made Aloe and coconut oil and I got a perfect mix. This year I made the same mix and it came out like cottage cheese and when it cooled it separated. Maybe some years there is more water in the Aloe sap then other years.
Can I use something else Instead of jojoba oil?