Dreamy Chocolate Mint Cream

When the air is dry and the temps are falling, there is nothing better than a dreamy, creamy concoction to pamper your parched skin. Join me in the workroom as I craft a cream to satisfy your moisturizing needs.

We’ll begin with Cocoa Butter for a thick base and that decadent chocolate aroma. I’ll add Shea Butter for creaminess, Marula Oil for a luxurious dry-feeling oil, and Conditioning Emulsifier for a velvety emulsion. Finally, I’ll use Hydrovance for my humectant at a bit higher than usual usage rate for extra oomph.

To bring in the mint notes, I’ll add Spearmint Essential Oil at a usage rate of just 1%. I chose Spearmint over Peppermint because of the sweetness of Spearmint, and because it doesn’t seem to get as much attention.

Chocolate Mint Cream

Percentages

65.5% Water
10% Cocoa Butter
6% Shea Butter
4% Marula Oil
5% Conditioning Emulsifier
8% Hydrovance
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
1% Spearmint Essential Oil

Instructions

Weigh all ingredients but preservative and essential oil into a microwave-safe container or double boiler. Gently heat until liquified, stirring often.

Once the oils are completely melted, use an immersion blender to mix. Blend well until the emulsion is created, then set aside to cool below 120ºF (49ºC). After cooling, mix in the preservative and essential oil, stirring thoroughly to make sure they are fully distributed throughout the cream.

Scoop the cream into a plastic zip-top bag and pipe the cream into wide-mouth jars. Allow the cream to cool completely before applying lids.

Notes

This cream turned out beautifully! It absorbs very quickly into the skin and imparts a delightful spearmint fragrance.

Unfortunately, that spearmint completely overshadowed the chocolate from the cocoa butter, ruining my hope of a chocolatey counterpoint to the fresh, sweet spearmint. It’s not bad at all; just different from my intent. I might use a chocolatey fragrance oil to boost that component, or I might just love it as is!

The texture of the cream is not very stiff, though it is a thicker consistency. It’s a very nice cream with good sensory characteristics: smooth, creamy, fast-absorbing, non-greasy.

Give it a try, and fragrance it however you like! What fragrance would you use?