Cranberry Seed Oil Cream

The first thing I want to make with Cranberry Seed Oil is a skin cream.

I like the idea of taking this liquid oil and thickening it with a combination of Stearic Acid and Conditioning Emulsifier. My expectation is that this will be a cream on the thinner side, but still definitely a cream and not fluid.

Distilled Water is always the starting point; I’m going with 72% to give this cream plenty of moisturizing capability. Cranberry Seed Oil is next in line at 10%, which is a pretty high usage rate for this oil. The reason for the higher than usual usage rate is to really see what this oil feels like in a product.

Squalane Oil will make a nice addition to round out the oils in this formula. I’ll also add some Stearic Acid to thicken things up a bit.

The remainder of the formula is the things you need to make a lotion or cream: emulsifier, humectant, and preservative. I’ll add some fragrance, too. We’ll see what I find in my cabinet!

If you’re making this with me, come to the workroom and let’s get started.

What You’ll Need

Formula

72% Distilled Water
10% Cranberry Seed Oil
3% Squalane Oil
5% Stearic Acid
4% Conditioning Emulsifier
4% Hydrovance
0.5% Lavender & Lemon Fragrance
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus

Instructions

Weigh water, Cranberry Seed Oil, Squalane Oil, Stearic Acid, Conditioning Emulsifier, and Hydrovance into a microwave-safe container.

Heat using short time bursts until all ingredients are melted. Check the mixture’s temperature. When using Stearic Acid, it’s important that the mixture be heated above about 160ºF to ensure that the Stearic Acid melts completely. Nothing worse than abrasive bits in the finished cream!

Ingredients before melting.

Stirring in heat-sensitive ingredients.

When everything is fully melted, use a stick blender to mix well into an emulsion. Check the temperature again and set the mixture aside to cool below 120ºF. After mixture has cooled, add the fragrance and preservative, mixing well.

Scoop the cream into a zip top bag, squeeze out the air, zip the top, and snip off a corner. This will allow you to pipe the cream into jars without plopping messes all over your work table.

Allow the cream to cool to room temperature before adding lids. Label and enjoy!

Cream scooped into a piping bag.

Piping cream into jars.

Notes

The first fragrance I pulled out of my cabinet was Lavender & Lemon, so that’s what I used for this cream.

When cooled to 120ºF, the cream had a great body! I was easily able to scoop it into a bag for piping into jars. I tried a small dollop rubbed into my hands. The texture of the cream is good, but it feels a little waxy, and the spreadability is not as good as I’d like it to be. I like the non-greasy feeling of the cream, thanks to the Cranberry Seed Oil and Squalane Oil.

What would I do different next time? I’d probably decrease the Stearic Acid to 3% and add the extra 2% to the water. That will cut down on the waxy feel I do not like. I might also add a bit of Cyclomethicone to increase spreadability.