"Bye-Bye Winter" facial balm

Up to 6 months ago, I found the idea of applying a balm over face not quite tempting. Now I'm obsessed with facial balms and I want to share with you this easy to make and amazing formulation. It literally melts over your skin, doesn't need any rubbing, just a light massage as if you're applying an oil and the after feel is divine.

The key in preparing a balm (lip balm, hair balm, facial or body balm) is the right balance between the oils, the melting point and hardnhe balm must have the right melting point to remain stable (and firm in case of sticks) but should melt over the skin either by body temperature or by applying a little bit of pressure. Otehrwise the balm would feel sticky, greasy and unpleasant (which is unfortunately the case with 80% of the balms and butters on the market).

A few points before we start:

The formulation is kept very easy. Remember the KISS principle. Make it as easy and simple as possible and just layer it up after you're happy with the stability and the skin feel. Don't blend all of your precious butters and waxes from the very beginning.

Don't heat any ingredient longer than necessary. Natural ingredients, plant oils, infusions and extracts do not like heating. Forget about the "heat & hold" myth. Melt your solid ingredients in a water bath and stop heating as soon as these are melted.

You can whip this balm but I wanted to keep it smooth like a cream.

Before we start I want to recommend you to read our older posts: hygienic manufacturing practice in cosmetic lab and introduction to Basic equipments and utensils for a cosmetic lab.

Here is the formulation for 100 gr balm

A-

19.0% Shea butter (19.0 gr)

1.0% Capuacu butter (1.0 gr)

5.0% Rapeseed lecithin (liquid lecithin) (5.0 gr)

0.2% Ceramide III (0.2 gr)

B-

5.0% Olive Squalane (5.0 gr)

0.5% Vit E (0.5 gr)

40.7% calendula infused Jojoba oil (40.7 gr)

3.0% Acai berry oil (3.0 gr)

C-

3.0% Zinc oxide (3.0 gr)

22.0% Calendula infused jojoba oil (22.0 gr)

D-

0.2% Patchouli essential oil (0.2 gr)

0.2% Geranium essential oil (0.2 gr)

0.1% Manuka essential oil (0.1 gr)

0.1% Organic Rosemary CO2 extract (0.1%)

Here we go:

1-In a water bath @ ca. 50-60 degrees (because of ceramide), heat the ingredients in phase A until everything is melted. Blend the ingredients gently (to avoid bubbles) with a spatula. Stop heating as soon as everything is nice and smooth.

2- Remove the beaker from the water bath, continue stirring gently and add the ingredients in phase B @ around 40 degrees.

3- Blend the zinc oxide and jojoba oil of phase C in a beaker to a very nice paste without any clumps. You may need to use a small grinder for ZnO.

4- As the temperature reaches around 35 degrees add the essential oils and rosemary extract and blend gently. Continue stirring the balm as it cools down. You may need an ice/water bath to accelerate cooling.

The key to a nice butter without any graininess is continuous stirring during cool down.

5- As the butter starts to harden (makes a trace) add the ZnO- jojoba oil blend, by adding the ZnO, the consistency changes a little bit and the balms becomes more fluid (decrease in viscosity). Continue stirring and cooling until you reach a harder trace than the first time.

6- Stop stirring when your traces on the balm do not disappear and fill the balm in a suitable container.

7- Bring the balm into the fridge. Let it rest there for 24 hours and then bring it to the room temperature.

This balm has been stable over months @ RT (around 21 degrees) in my bath room and have been travelling in my suitcase without any great changes in consistency and appearance. The consistency depends obviously on the ambient temperature but if you avoid direct heating and sunlight it would remain like a nice cream.

Hope you'll enjoy experimenting with this basic recipe and applying your own tweaks. Feel free to share your results.

BeHappy and have fun