HOMEMADE COLD CREAM

 1/4 teaspoon borax

 1/4 cup distilled water
 1/2 cup fractionated coconut oil, or another oil that is liquid at room
temperature
 1/2 ounce (by weight) grated beeswax (or just a little over two tablespoons)
 5-6 drops lavender essential oil or other oil of your choice

Dissolve the borax in the water in a (one cup) glass measuring cup. Set aside. Borax is
generally used for cleaning purposes but it’s necessary in this recipe to make the cold
cream emulsify and come out right.

Add together the oil and beeswax in a larger (2-cup) glass measuring cup.

Heat the oil/beeswax mix in a microwave until the beeswax is melted and the mixture
is clear. (Start with 30 seconds at a time).

Heat the borax/water mix in a microwave for a minute – almost to boiling.

Slowly pour the borax/water mixture into the oil/beeswax mixture, using a stick
blender to mix as you pour. Now beat well with the stick blender until the mix is
glossy white and thicken.

https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/homemade-cold-cream/

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I decided to use the Ponds sample recipe from 1947 and some math

 White beeswax 22.0%

 White mineral oil 50.8%
 Distilled water 26.0%
 Borax 0.8%
 Perfume 0.4%
I decided I didn’t need perfume, but to keep the percentage at 100% total I added
perfume to water – giving water a new percentage at 26.4%. An easy way would be to
treat every 1% as 10 grams – which would give you a kilo of cold cream which is too
much in one go for most people, remembering that it has no preservatives in it. I then
halved that to make 500g which is quickly used by me. Which gave me the following
recipe

 110g White Beeswax (3/4 cup Australian Cup Size**)

 254g of Oil – I use Rice Bran Oil (1 and 1/8th cup Australian Cup Size**)
 132g Distilled Water (2/3rd cup Australian Cup Size**)
 4g of Borax (1 Tsp)

This is really quick to whip up. I measure the oil and beeswax in a disposable plastic
container and pop it in the microwave for no more than 30 seconds at a time, stirring
each time until all the beeswax is melted. Mix the borax and water in another container
and microwave until the water is hot and the borax is dissolved. Then using a whisk mix
the water/borax into the oil/beeswax. It will turn white straight away but keep mixing til
it starts to cream up. Some people like to use a hand blender for this to make it light and
fluffy…but I find the cream is just fine. Then I pour it into a very clean jar and leave until
cool.

Now I have my oil/water/beeswax/borax mix right I have been experimenting and my

latest one is just divine! Keeping the oil weight the same I added 20g of Rosehip oil and
a couple of capsules of vitamin e oil, then topping up with rice bran oil until it reaches
254g in weight. Now here is where it gets tricky without preservatives. Instead of using
distilled water I brewed a cup of very, very strong green tea and used 132g of that
instead of distilled water. As this is only a few days old I can’t comment on how long it
will last. But I would urge you to be careful as without preservatives things will start to
grow long before you see them. I also have no idea how effective brewed green tea is for
the skin (as opposed to green tea extract which is used in commercial beauty products)
– it just sounded like a neat idea.

https://missfairchildscharmschool.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/my-cold-cream-recipe/

By lisareaFollow

More by the author:

I've always liked cold cream for washing my face because I have
fussy skin and it's always worked better for me than anything else, but
a few years ago, the regular drug store brands changed their formulas
and some of my many unspecified contact allergies started flaring up.
I tried to find a replacement, but everything that looked like it might
work for me was really, really expensive, so I found some old cold
cream recipes and started experimenting with making my own.

After making a whole bunch of batches and trying different ingredients

and techniques, I ended up with this basic recipe for simple, non-
comedogenic cold cream made almost entirely out of inexpensive
ingredients you can get at most decent sized grocery stores, at least
in the US. The only thing I couldn't get at my grocery store is
beeswax.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Oil. I use sunflower oil because it's non-comedogenic, it's cheap, and
you can buy it in the cooking oil section in grocery stores. I've tried
other, more expensive types of oil, but I can't tell the difference, so I
stick with the cheapest and easiest option.

I also add a little castor oil, which supposedly has astringent qualities
and is good for unclogging pores. It's tough sometimes trying to sort
out some of the claims you see about things like this, but the castor oil
does seem to help the cold cream wash off cleanly without residue. I
use about a teaspoon of it in each regular sized batch. You can get
castor oil in the grocery store, usually in the laxatives section. If you
have very dry skin, you probably want to skip the castor oil, though.

Beeswax. This is the only ingredient that I can't get at the grocery
store, so I bought a one pound bag of beeswax pastilles online, and
years later, I'm not even halfway through it. I keep it in the refrigerator.
 Beeswax is what makes cold cream different from lotion. Lotions use
an emulsifying wax that helps the oils penetrate the skin, whereas
beeswax sits on top of the surface of the skin, so it picks up dirt, oil,
and makeup and then comes off, leaving your skin clean.

Borax. You only need a pinch for each batch, but it's pretty necessary
to make the cold cream emulsify and come out right. You'll have
much, much more borax than you'd ever need for just making cold
cream, but borax is nice to have around for all kinds of other things as
well. You can usually find it in the laundry aisle at the grocery store.

Water. You could substitute herbal tea or rosewater if you like.

You'll also need:

 Two heatproof measuring cups, at least two cup capacity

 An immersion blender (a regular blender should also work)
 An eight ounce jar
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Step 1: Water and Borax.

Pour 1/2 to 1 C. boiling water into a heat proof measuring cup, and
add about 1/4 tsp. of borax. You can also use distilled water or
rosewater, but I just boil tap water to get rid of major impurities and to
dissolve the borax so it doesn't come out gritty.

(About 2/3 to 3/4 C. is usually right for me, but if you want to give
yourself some leeway, you may want to measure out a little more in
case your cold cream comes out too thick and you need to adjust it.)

Then, I go do something else for a while and let the water cool down a
bit. It's usually cooled off enough within a half hour or so.
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Step 2: Oils and Beeswax.

Measure out 1/2 cup of oil in another heatproof measuring cup. I put in
about a teaspoon of castor oil, then fill it the rest of the way with
sunflower oil.

Add a scant 2 Tbsp. of grated beeswax or beeswax pastilles, then

heat the oil and wax mixture in the microwave in very small
increments, maybe 30 seconds or so. Watch it carefully and take it out
once the beeswax is completely melted.

If you don't have a microwave available, you can heat this up on a

stove.
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Step 3: Emulsify!

This is the trickiest part, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty
painless. And if it doesn't come out right, you can often fix it as you go
along, as described in the troubleshooting section below.

Carefully, because you don't want to splash hot oil on yourself, stick
an immersion blender in the oil mixture, and then start blending,
adding the water and borax in a slow trickle.

What you're aiming for is to emulsify the mixture as the temperature of

the ingredients cools. This can take a while if you just stand there
blending it the whole time, but I've had good luck with either putting it
into an ice bath as I'm blending, or blending the mixture thoroughly,
then going to do something else for a while--20 to 30 minutes maybe--
as it cools, then coming back to finish once it's cooled off some. I
prefer the latter because it's less work and I rarely have such urgent
cold cream needs that I can't wait an extra half an hour.

Continue blending until the mixture is smooth, white, and starts

forming soft peaks. In other words, when it looks like cold cream.

Troubleshooting:

If the mixture isn't starting to thicken up right away, you can heat up a
tiny bit of oil with a pinch of beeswax in it the same way you did in the
previous step, and then add the mixture to that and blend.

If the mixture is too thick, add a little of your extra water + borax
mixture and continue blending.
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Step 4: Put It in a Jar.

This is the most boring of steps: Put the cold cream in the jar.
Using a flexible spatula, transfer the cold cream to a clean 8 ounce jar.

My favorite is the 8 ounce size jars that Better Than Bouillon comes in.
They're the right size, they have nice straight sides and wide mouths,
and the labels come off pretty easily. But any 8 ounce glass jar you
can dip your fingers into should work just fine. Of course, you can just
buy a jar if you want, but it's usually cheaper to buy something that
comes in the size jar you need, and then clean and reuse the jar. That
way, you get the jar plus whatever came in it.
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Step 5: Miscellany

I go through this pretty quickly, so I've never had a problem with it

spoiling when I just leave it on my bathroom counter. If it takes you
much longer than maybe a month or so to go through a batch, though,
you may want to keep it in the refrigerator in between uses.

Variations

For a thicker consistency, add more beeswax, and for a thinner

consistency, add more of the water mixture. See the photo for an
illustration of what they look like.

You can use just about any oil or blend of oils you like. If you have
fussy skin, you probably want to look for non-comedogenic oils and
patch test them first.

If you like, you can substitute rosewater or distilled water for the boiled
tap water, or you can steep some tea in the boiled water and borax.
Just make sure the borax is well dissolved if you start with non-hot
water.

You can also add whatever essential oils you like during the
emulsification process

https://www.instructables.com/id/Basic-Cold-Cream/

https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-make-your-own-cold-cream-346526

Cold cream is the model for all creams and lotions; it's one of the oldest and best known of
all beauty creams.  It is a mixture of oil, wax, water and mild alkali.  The combination of oil
and wax provides a cleansing action when it comes in contact with your skin. It also acts an
emollient to soften and smooth.  
 
If you are a beginner to DIY beauty this is a good cream to master as then you can
substitute  the oils, liquid (try herbal teas), scent and natural color and the number of
creams you can create is unlimited! 
 
Cold Cream 
Ingredients: 
1 /8 teaspoon borax powder 
1 /4 cup pure water (use distilled if in doubt) 
1 /2 cup light oil such as almond, sunflower or light sesame 
2 tablespoons grated beeswax 
 
Directions: 
Dissolve the borax in the water and set aside. Mix together the oil and beeswax in a heat
resistant container and gently heat in a water bath until the wax begins to melt, stirring
occasionally.  
  When the wax is melted, heat the borax, water mixture to very hot but do not boil.  Now
you may use a blender, hand mixer or by hand but you want to put the hot wax mixture in a
bowl or blender and slowly add the water mixture to it, stirring briskly or blending on low.
You want to add the water in a slow, steady stream.  I find the blender the easiest but with
some practice you may be able to do my hand as well.  
  Once combined, pour the warm cream into a clean container and let the mixture cool
completely.  You should have a white, rich cream.  To use: massage into your skin. You
may also use as a cleansing cream. 
 
Yield: 8 ounces 
 https://www.naturalbeautyathome.com/single-post/2019/03/08/Basic-Cold-Cream-Recipe