Preserving Your Homemade Skincare Products

However much you don't want to use a nasty preservative, you must. (Have I made my point!)

Moisturisers, lotions, creams and body butters are all made with differing combinations of water and carrier oils, along with emulsifiers to blend the oil and water. All these homemade products MUST be preserved or they will go mouldy within days.

Sadly, the fridge won't help here either. It is not OK to think that keeping them in the fridge will be enough to preserve them.

Preservatives are used in differing percentages, which the manufacturer will have given guidance with. If you are making 100g of cream and the preservative is to be used at 1%, then you need 1g of preservative.

Balms use no water. They are made with some kind of wax, usually beeswax, and carrier oils. No water is involved, therefore, balms don’t need a preservative. They won’t last forever though, as all oils eventually go rancid. If you want your balms to last a few months, especially over hot months, add Vitamin E at 0.5%. This will delay rancidity. 100g of balm = a few drops of Vitamin E.

The good news is this means you can use your balms liberally, knowing that you are soaking up all their goodness while they are freshly made