How to Make Homemade Night Cream

If you have desire to live more green and natural, health and beauty products can either make or break this goal. A few years ago I was on a quest to live more green – this included changing the products I used to clean the house and beauty products I used on my body. One of these projects was homemade night cream.

Today I’m sharing the recipe I used to make homemade night cream for the face using only a few all-natural ingredients. Not only does this cream contain ingredients that can be pronounced, it’s also affordable to make and worked very well for me in particular during the winter.

Homemade Night Cream

What Night Cream Was I Using?

Making your own products can give you peace of mind. One area where this really holds true is with ingredients. I was shocked when I tried to read all of the ingredients in my face cream:

Water, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Heptyl Undecylenate, Plukenetia Volubilis Seed Oil, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Ilex Paraguariensis Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Stearic Acid, Gluconolactone, Maltodextrin, Sclerotium Gum, Benzyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance.

That’s a mouthful! Honestly I can only pronounce a few. Prior to making my own homemade night cream, I had been using Neutrogena Naturals Multi-Vitamin Nourishing Night Cream, which comes in a 1.7-ounce jar.

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Homemade Night Cream for Dry Skin

Making Your Own Night Cream

While the cream I was using on my face was touted as “all-natural,” it still contained a few too many ingredients for my liking. It did, however, come in a nifty glass jar which I was able to reuse for my own recipe.

If you don’t have a jar to reuse you can easily buy a small jar online or at a beauty supply store.

Ingredients and supplies you will need:

• Cocoa Butter
• Coconut Oil
• Olive Oil
• Tea Tree Oil
• Small Glass Jar with Lid
• Small Sauce Pan & Spoon

Homemade Night Cream Directions

• Gather all of the necessary ingredients and supplies for homemade cream for face. Place a small sauce pan on the stove on low heat (one with a lip is ideal for pouring). Add the cocoa butter first as it is fully solid and needs warming to liquify. Once liquid, add the coconut oil and the olive oil.

• Stir the ingredients together, remove the pan from heat. Let the mixture cool slightly, 5 minutes or so. Then add a few drops of tea tree oil. Stir again. Pour the mixture into a small jar (glass preferred).

• Refrigerate the mixture immediately. This will speed up the cooling process and make sure the ingredients do not separate. Leave the jar in the refrigerator for a few hours at most, checking on it periodically.

• If the mixture begins to separate, shake the jar vigorously to mix the ingredients again. Once you are certain it’s cool and the ingredients remain combined, store it at room temperature.

Measuring the Ingredients

I have a bad tendency to not measure when I cook or make homemade products and cleaners. If you would like more specifics on how much of each ingredient to use, be sure to check out Brittany’s recipe which contains a lot more detail.

When I made the cream I used half a stick of the cocoa butter (0.5-ounce) along with about 1 Tablespoon each of olive oil and coconut oil.

For the tea tree oil I only used a few drops. The tea tree oil was an adaption from Brittany’s recipe. Tea tree oil has natural anti-bacterial properties which help to both “preserve” this mixture and can help with skin flare ups such as acne.

I would not recommend adding the tea tree oil if you have sensitive skin. These ingredient amounts can vary depending on the size of the jar you use.

I would advise working in small batches, however, because this cream will not contain any preservatives. Those amounts of ingredients fit nicely into the 1.7-ounce jar I used.

Night Cream with Tea Tree Oil

What is the Homemade Night Cream Like?

I have combination skin and the night cream worked well for me. I only used the cream during the winter, which is when my skin is most dry. I do not think the cream would work well for me during the summer. The ingredients in this cream are heavy so they are really intended to moisturize the skin.

Also, because they are heavy and rich I found only a tiny bit of the cream was needed each time I used it. A small jar of this cream can last a very long time, which is another reason to make this homemade night cream in small batches.

It took a while to get used to the cocoa smell – so odd for bedtime – but the scent of the homemade cream for face quickly became part of my bedtime routine.

Does the Cream Cause Breakouts?

I had no breakouts or issues as a result of using the cream on my face. Some people may be sensitive to cocoa butter or other ingredients, so caution should be exercised with this or any new skin care product. The cream melted very easily and quickly on my fingers.

DIY Night Cream

In Summary

While I enjoyed using the homemade night cream, long-term I was seeking something with more of a “whipped” consistency, similar to what I purchased from Neutrogena. This is one struggle I have found with making homemade products.

Because they do not contain preservatives or any fake ingredients, homemade beauty products often have a much different consistency from traditional products. The next time I make a batch of Homemade Night Cream I would like to experiment with adding Vitamin E oil.

Do you experience dry skin more in the winter?

*This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated and republished for accuracy and comprehensiveness.