Secrets of the cosmetic industry revealed…

THE AROMANTIC GUIDE

to making your own natural skin, hair and
body care products

4th Edition
Chapter Extract eB11:
MAKING ANTI-AGING & SKIN
REJUVENATION PRODUCTS

natural skin care

17 Tytler Street, Forres, Moray, IV36 1EL, Scotland

Tel: +44 (0)1309 696900 Fax: +44 (0)1309 696911
Email: info@aromantic.com
Web: www.aromantic.com
© Copyright 2009, Aromantic

KOLBJØRN BORSETH

Making Anti-Aging &
Skin Rejuvenation
Products
We would all like to stay forever
young and keep our skin like that of a
newborn baby, but it is not possible.
We can however reduce the skins aging
process which starts as soon as we are
born when the free radicals start the
oxidation (destruction) process of all
our connective tissues. We slow this
process by using antioxidants like
Rosemary Antioxidant CO2 Extract and
Vitamins A, C & E.
What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are substances that may
protect cells from the damage caused
by unstable molecules known as free
radicals. Oxygen, an essential element
for life, can create damaging by-products
during normal cellular metabolism.
Antioxidants counteract these cellular by-
products, called free radicals, and bind
with them before they can cause damage.
When Antioxidants perform this cellular
repair, or transform the free radicals into
non-damaging compounds, they are said
to ‘scavenge’ the free radicals. This is why
Antioxidants are known as ‘free radical
scavengers’.
Normally, the body can handle free
radicals, but if Antioxidants are
unavailable, or if the free-radical
production becomes excessive, damage
75
can occur. Of particular importance is
that free radical damage accumulates
with age and some studies suggest that
free radical damage is the cause of aging.
If left unchecked, free radicals may cause
heart damage, cancer, cataracts, and a
weak immune system.
On the skin level, free radicals damage
cells found in the connective tissue such
as elastin and collagen. Left untreated,
this will cause wrinkles. By applying
an Antioxidant through the medium
of Creams, Lotions or Oils on the skin
every day, this damage can be halted.
So, ideally, the best way to protect the
skin from aging is to start applying
Antioxidants to the skin when we are
children!
Recipes for Skin Rejuvenating Toners
Rose Rejuvenating Toner
80ml Rose Water
5ml/g Ginseng Tincture
5ml/g Siberian Ginseng Extract
5ml/g Aloe Vera Concentrate
4ml/g NFF Moisturiser
Preservative (for amount, see Table 2)
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Neroli Rejuvenating Toner
84ml Neroli (Orange Blossom) Water
6ml/g Aloe Vera Concentrate
5ml/g Hyaluronic Acid Gel
2ml/g Pseudocollagen
2ml/g NFF Moisturiser
Preservative (for amount, see Table 2)
Method for making Rejuvenating
Toners
Simply measure all of the ingredients
and pour into bottles/spray bottles,
secure the cap or spray cap, label. Tip:
If the toner is for use at home, you can
leave out the Preservative, but use the
toner within 6 months of making it.
Recipe for an Anti-Wrinkle/Skin
Rejuvenation Cream using Base
Emulsifier
This Recipe makes 100-105ml.
Dry/Mature/Sensitive Skin
• Fat Stage (75-80°C)
4ml Sunflower Oil
3ml Apricot Kernel
2ml Macadamia Nut Oil
2g Cetearyl Alcohol
5ml/g Base Emulsifier
• Water Stage (75-80°C)
56ml Boiling Spring Water
2ml/g Glycerine
contd/
• Third Stage (40-35°C)
3ml Kiwi Seed Oil
4ml/g Vitamin E Oil (undiluted)
1ml/g Vitamin C
2ml/g Hyaluronic Acid Gel
1ml/g Vitamin A Palmitate
2ml/g NFF Moisturiser
2ml/g Remodelling Intense
Preservative (for amount, see Table 2)
• Fourth Stage (40-35°C)
10-15ml Aloe Vera Gel
• Fifth Stage (35-25°C)
12-15 drops Essential Oils
8 drops Lactic Acid
Method for making Anti-Wrinkle/
Skin Rejuvenation Creams
1) Fat Stage: Heat the Fat Stage
ingredients in a double boiler until
all of the ingredients have melted and
the temperature has risen to 75-80°C.
There is no need to use a whisk at this
stage.
2) Water Stage: After boiling the Spring
Water in a Kettle, measure it according
to the Recipe and pour it over the
Moisturiser, which you have put into a
separate double boiler. Then allow the
mixture to heat to 75-80°C.
3) When both Fat and Water Stages are
over 75°C, remove both double boilers
from the hob, keeping the Water Stage
mixture hot by leaving it on the top half
of the double boiler.
4) Now pour the melted Water Stage into
the Fat Stage in a thin, steady stream, while
continuously whisking the mixture from
side to side for 5 minutes. If necessary, use
 77

a spatula to scrape the mixture from the An Oil Serum will feel dry on the skin
sides of the saucepan (or bowl). as it is usually absorbed quickly by the
skin. This is because Oil Serums should
5) Allow the mixture to cool, stirring
contain thin, dry Oils rich in Omega 3
all the time. You can speed up by the
& 6 Essential Fatty Acids combined with
cooling process by replacing the hot
Antioxidants. And so important Oils
water in the double boiler with very
for making Serums are Kiwi Seed, Chia
COLD water. In the process of cooling
Seed, Camelina, Rosehip Seed, Hemp
down, the mixture becomes a Cream and
Seed, Evening Primrose, Borage and
will reach its thickest consistency when it
Thistle. Serums are used on specific parts
is has cooled down to room temperature.
of your skin to effect an intensive cure.
6) Third Stage: Whisk in the Third Stage
Table 13 on the following page shows
ingredients, little by little, when the
the ingredients of a range of Extra
mixture has cooled to under 40˚C.
Intensive Rejuvenating Face Oil Serums
7) Add the Preservative. for various skin types.
8) Then add the Aloe Vera Gel until you
get the right consistency.
9) Fourth Stage: Continue stirring until
the mixture has cooled to under 35°C,
whisk in up to 15ml Aloe Vera Gel
(based on 1% Xanthan Gum) little by
little until smooth.
10) Fifth Stage: When the mixture has
cooled to under 35°C, thoroughly mix
in the Essential Oils and the Lactic Acid.
11) Pour the Cream into one big jar or
smaller jars and label.

Rejuvenating/Anti-Aging Oil Serums

for the Face

You can help reduce the signs of aging

in the face and around the eyes by using
super potent active raw materials in an
Oil Blend called a ‘Serum’. A Serum is best
applied in the evenings after you have
cleansed your face and applied Toner.
Serums prevent premature signs of
aging as they contain high doses of
antioxidants, which work on the skin
if used regularly and thereby reducing
damage caused by the aging of the
connective tissue such as elastin and
collagen.
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Table 13: Recipes for Extra Intensive Rejuvenating Face Oil Serums

Dry/ Dry/ Mature Mature/ Sensitive Sensitive Oily/

Raw Material Sensitive Sensitive Black Sensitive Black Sensitive
1 2 Skin Skin

Chia Seed Oil 15 10 20

Vit. E Oil 25 30 25 30 25 29 10
Evening
20 10 10 10
Primrose Oil
Hemp Seed
10 20
Oil
Kiwi Seed Oil 30 30 20 24 32 20 24
Squalane 10 10 10 10
Rosehip Oil 30 10 18 15
Vit. A
1 2 1 1 2 2 2
Palmitate
Macadamia
7
Nut Oil
Avocado Oil 30 5 30
Remodelling
2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Intense
Sea
Buckthorn 1 1 1 1
CO2 Extract
Rosemary
10dr 10dr 10dr 10dr 10dr 10dr 10dr
Antioxidant
Essential Oils 0.5ml 0.5ml 0.5ml 0.5ml 0.5ml 0.5ml 0.5ml
Total % 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
The following are pages which are
referred to in the preceding text.

About Double Boilers/Bain-
maries
When we refer to a double boiler, or a
bain-marie, we are referring to a cooking
vessel consisting of two nested pans,
designed to allow slow, even cooking
or heating of ingredients in the upper
pan, without scorching or denaturing, by
the action of water boiling in the lower
pan. It is very important that the water
in the lower half of the double boiler is
actually boiling – this will ensure that
the ingredients in the upper pan or bowl
will melt successfully. You can improvise
a double boiler, if you don’t already have
one – with two saucepans or a saucepan
at the bottom and an ovenproof or
stainless steel bowl at the top. It is not
essential to buy specialist equipment if
you are making products for your own
pleasure.
Preservatives
We’ve expanded this section on
Preservatives to help you use them in
your products more effectively. We also
have a handy table on what dosages to
use for the different Preservatives and
whether you are using herbs in your
products or not.
Using the Right Kind of Water
What we’ve seen from feedback from
two of our customers whose creams
went off using Preservative 12 is that
they used normal tap water, which is an
unnecessary challenge to the product.
Other customers have used osmosis
water, and that too can be a challenge.
I have always recommended using
reputable bottled spring water from
9
supermarkets and never tap water,
except for shampoos/liquid soaps as the
detergent helps to preserve the products
as well. Here it is always a good idea to
boil the water for at least 10 minutes
beforehand.
Other challenges
Other challenges to the preservative
effect in products the German producers
of Preservative 12 have told us about
is when you use food products in your
cosmetics e.g. ground almonds in an
exfoliating cream, etc.
Too many Ingredients can spoil the
Preservative Effect
The more active ingredients one has in
a product, the more challenging it is to
preserve it. Having said that, the Anti-
Wrinkle Cream we make on Courses
has a maximum amount of actives in
it and we have used a dosage of 0.6%
Preservative 12 without any problems.
Taking responsibility
At the end of the day, you, as a producer,
need to take responsibility for how much
preservative you choose to put into your
products. I would recommend doing
basic stability testing for anyone selling
products to the general public and so
that they get an idea of their shelf life.
The basic standard industry method is
to put into a glass jar at 45°C in an oven
for 3 months, check it every 2 weeks,
note their observations including colour,
smell, texture and skin feel.
If it survives 3 months with no changes
then it is deemed to be probably stable
for 12 months at room temperature.
More elaborate industry methods involve
putting the product through temperature
cycles of cooling and heating.
10

The minimum that you should do is to
put samples in clear glass jars on sunny
window sills and test them as above. The
longer you have seen it stay stable, the
longer the shelf life you can write on the
label.
At least make sure it is stable for 1
month in this way before you start
selling to the general public. If possible,
you should also store and observe
samples in the airing cupboard. But
ideally, it would be good to invest in a
45°C oven.
The best weigh to measure
Preservatives!
The best method for measuring the
Preservatives when adding to your
products is to weigh them on a very good
scale that weighs down to 0.1 grams. If
you still decide to continue using drops
to measure our Preservatives, we now
recommend using different quantities
depending on which of our Preservatives
you are using in your products. In
our recipes that you may have from
old Newsletters, our books and recipe
brochures, you’ll often find that we don’t
say which preservative to use, we simply
say ‘x’ number of drops of ‘Preservative’
in the recipe. As I mentioned before,
you need to decide how much of a
Preservative you will put into your own
products, but shown in Table 2 are
my new recommendations. For more
information on each of the preservatives
see Tables 2&3.

Table 2: Recommended dosage for Aromantic’s Preservatives

New recommended
Previously
amounts per
suggested New recommended
100ml/g of product
amounts per amounts per 100ml/g
containing herbal
100ml/g of of product
infusions or
product
decoctions

Preservative Eco
22 drops using
20 drops using small
- small 0.7mm
0.7mm dropper/1g/1%
dropper/1.1g/1.1%

20-25 drops using large 25 drops using large

Preservative 12 12 drops 2mm dropper/0.8- 2mm dropper/0.9ml/
1g/0.8-1% 1g/1%

12-15 drops using large 25 drops using large

Preservative K 12 drops 2mm dropper/0.5- 2mm dropper/0.9ml/
0.6g/0.5-0.6% 1g/1%

Still 12 drops using 20 drops using large

Parabens
12 drops large 2mm dropper/ 2mm dropper/0.72ml/
(Aromantic Blend)
0.5g/0.5% 0.8g/0.8%
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Table 3: Conversion Table for Aromantic’s Preservatives

1 gram of Aromantic Approximate no. of Density/Specific Gravity (grams

Preservative drops* per cubic centimetre)

approx. 20 drops using

Preservative Eco 1.018-1.118g/cm3 at 21°Celsius
small 0.7mm dropper

approx. 25 drops using

Preservative 12 1.09g/cm3 at 20°Celsius
large 2mm dropper

approx. 25 drops using

Preservative K 1.105g/cm3 at 20°Celsius
large 2mm dropper

Parabens approx. 25 drops using

1.125g/cm3 at 25°Celsius
(Aromantic Blend) large 2mm dropper

• NB Drops refers to drops from Aromantic’s bottles with dropper lids we supply our
Preservatives in.