I’m happy to say, I’ve got my cream makin’ mojo back and have created another eye serum. This one is in a light cream form and instead of adding plain distilled water, I decided to kick it up a notch and add rose water. Let me tell you, this is the best smelling product ever! Are you ready to make a DIY Firming Eye Serum with Rose & Kokum Butter?!
I’ve made several batches in my experimenting and have been slathering it all over me every night! My skin has never been so soft! I kept with my favorites, rosehip seed oil, sweet almond oil, vitamin E, lavender and frankincense essential oil but explored a few new ingredients as well. I added Cypress essential oil for added tightening and added kokum butter for more nourishment and an anti aging boost!
This DIY cream turned out absolutely incredible. I decided to make this cream very light and airy. It’s the perfect consistency for thin, fragile skin. When using an eye treatment, you never want to tug or pull on the skin around the eye. That skin is so delicate that you absolutely have to be so gentle when applying skin care and makeup.
Kokum butter is a great addition mainly because it is so rich in Vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant and is known for it’s firming abilities. Kokum Butter is believed to promote skin elasticity, prevent skin dryness, and restore damaged skin. It also is great for cell regeneration which is perfect for the delicate area around the eyes. Sun damage and aging can really cause the skin to break down more quickly in thin skin.
Rose water to this cream is perfect for the water phase of this DIY. I loved using it in THIS DIY and it dawned on me, whenever you can, use antioxidant rich rose water! Rose water is antibacterial, antiseptic and anti inflammatory. It is extremely rich in vitamins A, C, D, and E. Rose water is amazing for dry, sensitive skin. It is balancing to all skin types and is known for it’s anti aging properties. Rose water has even been known to reduce under eye bags! Ah hah!
Cypress essential oil I have worked with before but I love it for it’s tightening properties. I find it so interesting that it can be used for people that have bladder issues-when applied to the skin over the bladder, it can actually tighten the bladder offering relief! It’s perfect when used in conjunction with Frankincense to help firm delicate skin and regenerate new skin cells.
As you can see, this is a action packed serum! Using it every night will not only rehydrate your skin, it will also plump up those fine lines and wrinkles as well as tighten and nourish the skin!
Equipment needed:
- Hand held blender
- Thermometer (having 2 helps with convenience)
- 2 glass pyrex bowls
- 1/2-2 ounce glass pump bottles
- Pipettes
- 2 medium sized pots
- Measuring Spoons (they double as stirs for me)
DIY Firming Eye Serum with Rose & Kokum Butter
Oil Mixture:
1 TBSP. Rosehip Seed Oil (find it HERE)
1 TBSP. Sweet Almond Oil (find it HERE)
1 TBSP. Kokum Butter (find it HERE)
1/2 TBSP. Emulsifying Wax (find it HERE)
Water Mixture:
1/2 Cup Rose Water (find it HERE)
1/16 tsp. Neodefend (find it HERE)
After Oil & Water Mixture have cooled:
15 drops Lavender Essential Oil (find it HERE)
10 drops Frankincense Essential Oil (find it HERE)
5 drops Cypress Essential Oil (find it HERE)
1 tsp. Vitamin E oil (find it HERE)
FYI-Picture recipe is double the recipe I have listed.
Directions:
- Kokum butter is extremely hard. It can be omitted and you could add 2 tbsp. of another oil or rosehip or sweet almond if you like. If you choose to use kokum butter, you need to heat it up first. I put my kokum butter container in a sauce pan of water and turned the heat on low-medium. It took quite a long time to melt enough for me to use. I ended up transferring the rest of my butter into a glass jar for easy melting next time.
- Create 2 double boilers using 2 medium sized pots filled 1/2 way full with water. Place a glass pyrex bowl in each pot.
- In one pot add your oil ingredients: rosehip seed oil, sweet almond oil, kokum butter, and emulsifying wax.
- In the other pot add rose water and neodefend.
- Heat both mixtures until the oil mixture is completely melted.
- Now your mixtures will be too hot to mix together so you will need to cool each mixture down by removing them from the pot and monitoring your mixtures with a thermometer. This is the tricky part! Both mixtures need to be around 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit. You might have to place 1 or both pots back in the double boiler if you end up with too low a temp. Pay close attention!!
- Once your water and oil mixture are near the same temp., pour your water mixture into your oil mixture.
- Using a hand held blender, blend your mixtures for at least 1 minute.
- Keep returning to your lotion every 10 minutes or so to mix for 30-60 seconds each time.
- I continue to blend my lotion for at least an hour just to make sure it is totally mixed. **If you end up thinking you are done and the next day you find your lotion has separated you can always throw it back in a bowl and mix it more!
- Once your lotion has been mixed and cooled, add your essential oils and vitamin E and mix. (if you’ve already put away your hand held blender, mixing with a spoon is sufficient)
- Transfer to containers. I use THESE pipettes-they make life much easier. Glass is preferable and pumps are best to avoid contamination. I found my 1 ounce glass pumps HERE.
This recipe will make about 8 ounces, so share with friends!! The shelf life is around 3 mos. Because I use such a small amount of preservative, I’m counting on my essential oils to help preserve as well. It really will make all the difference to put your eye cream in a pump bottle.
Your DIY cream will thicken up after 24 hours. You really want to transfer to your pumps within 4 hours of mixing. After a week it will thicken up a bit more. Emulsifying wax is what thickens up a cream and I really prefer to use as little as possible, especially for an eye treatment. I want it to be as potent as it can be! In a few weeks I’ll do another cream recipe that will be a bit thicker.
I get most of my ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have high quality ingredients that I trust. Your DIY eye cream is only as good as the quality of your ingredients. You don’t want to put in all this effort then come up with a crappy product because you skimped on ingredients. I have personally used each of these ingredients that I have linked and I have used cheap brands from Amazon. There really is a huge difference!
Hope you have enjoyed this recipe! Don’t be daunted by making a cream. It truly is so rewarding! You won’t believe how good this smells and feels!
xx, Jenni
PIN IT!!!
Hello Jenni! Yes, I’m back. 2Q’s4U… You call for Kokum in this recipe. They do have it at the site I buy my oils, butters, etc but it is a bit pricey. Do you highly recommend this over the almond butter as a substitute?
#2 – About Neodefend, I did look up the ingredients & yes it sounds ok for a preservative. Have you heard this product? My site has this:
Optiphen Plus – is a paraben- and formaldehyde-free preservative system that is ideal for products with a lower pH systems. Optiphen Plus is an ISP patent-pending liquid preservative formulation featuring an innovative blend of phenoxyethanol, sorbic acid and an emollient base that is ideal for slightly acidic personal care products requiring broad spectrum protection. It did get a few excellent reviews. In your opinion would you consider it as a preservative to use? Thank you!
Laura
Hi Laura! Kokum butter is not totally necessary-I chose it for it’s high vitamin E content. I haven’t worked with almond butter but I’m sure it’s very nourishing so there’s no reason it wouldn’t be a good substitute. You could also look into cocoa butter or shea.
I have heard of Optiphen Plus-I haven’t used it. I haven’t heard anything that would make me not use it either. I will probably switch to it after my neodefend is out because neodefend has a strong smell and I would like to take a chance that maybe optiphen plus doesn’t. So yes, try it and let me know what you think!
So using a little bit or 1% or less of a preservative makes it ok? Isnt that like saying you’re a little bit pregnant. Pregnant is pregnant and toxins are toxins and regsrdless of the amount are not good for us. This can be just as effective as an anhydrous product especially to be used around the eyes.
Hi jenni,
I go to your website regularly for DIY skin care and I love the recipes. You mention in this post that you made some mistakes related to the PH of some of your recipes. Have they been removed or updated on your website? I’m curious to know which you are referring to so I don’t make them if they are not good for my skin. I love your other firming eye cream and olive oil moisturizer for example. Thank you, jennifer
Jennifer-I have updated all my recipes to reflect my new knowledge-I did this almost a year ago. The change was the citric acid. I eliminated it from my recipes and added a preservative (neodefend). Basically the citric acid was making my creams have a lower pH then a moisturizing products should have. It’s not a big deal, the creams just won’t be as moisturizing. As far as cleansers, the pH’s were too high since castile soap is so alkaline. So I added the citric acid to the cleansers in order to lower the pH a bit. Hope this helps!
Hi could I use citric acid as a preservative? What do you recommend?!. Here’s a link with all the info:). Thanks! https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/citric-acid/profile
Ali-No problem! I used to use citric acid as a preservative but found out it really isn’t legit enough for creams, plus it lowered the pH of my creams too much where the creams weren’t as hydrating as they should be. That’s why I switched to neodefend. Thanks!
Omg nevermind!!, I’m on mobile and for some reason the comments didn’t show!
So, I went all out today and did three DIYs. Jennifer , I’m blowing up yer blog!! I figured since I tried theCtpress Rosehip face cream, why not try this eye cream too!!
I had been using your Firming Eye Cream posted on Primally inspired as both an eye and face cream bc I loved it so much!!
My fave thing about this is that it calls for Rosewater. I was using it in the other firming eye cream and did add some to the Cypress Rosehip. I am IN LOVE WITH MY New creams. This one in particular is so light but packs some serious anti aging power!!
I also ditched my same old oil cleanser DIY (castor, frankinsence, tea tree and rose) and did the solid you posted in response to the Eve Lom audacity!!!!
After cleansing, I have been toning with Witch Hazel, Rosewater and geranium EO, then I use a layer of use thelow molecular weight HA infused in…. You guessed it… Rose Water,! And now I follow it with a good firming cream that I also added rose water to. This is the closest thing to a “line” I’ve done since my Stri-Vectin days. My skin feels wonderful and I’m very confident my new additions will rock!
Since switching to your Eye Firming cream and oil cleansing and doing DIY treatments and masks, I get completely likens on how bright and clear my skin is. I don’t have breakouts, which were caused by my harsh skin care regimen- I’ know that because doing all natural DIY skin care, my sensitive skin is soothed and happy!!
Thank you for initiating a Fall Skincare makeover!! Your recipes just get better and better. They work well and it was very easy to learn to cook up and emulsify with the directions and pics you posted.
I am living proof that problem skin can be healed and can be one of your best features when you follow a blogger who knows her stuff!!!!
Always looking forward to more!!!
Thanks again Jodi-I so appreciate your encouragement! I love how your skin is responding! I think diying your skin care is just another way to truly take care and love yourself! I’m glad you are loving your DIYs!!
Hi Jeni!
Hope you are doing great! I am a new follower of your blogs! I love your DIY firming eye cream recipe and for sure going to give it a try! I also came to found your this DIY recipe for DIY Firming Eye Serum with Rose & Kokum Butter so I was wondering which one is for what pupose or may be one of them is just the advanced version from you for eye cream?
Looking forward to hear from you so I know which recipe I should go for before buying all the ingredients.
Thanks in adavance!
Hi Khushbu! The firming Eye Cream is an older recipe and is on Primally Inspired. The Firming Eye Serum is a brand new recipe that reflects a bit more education on my part as well as some new and more effective ingredients. Both are good but I like the serum better!!
Thank you!!!!
Jenni, I have got few questions for you. Sorry I am new to this DIY eye care area!
1) Can serum used as an eye cream? Would I need to wear another layer of moisture under the eye after applying eye serum?
2) Should I use it at night only or I can use during the day also?
3) If I can use it during the day, can I use it before the make up? or I I should wear another layer of moisture before teh make up since it is serum but not a cream.
Thanks in advance!!
Hi Khushbu! Yes, serum and cream are words I’ve used interchangeably on this DIY so you should use this as you would an eye cream. I apply this right before bed. I usually have taken off my makeup and moisturized earlier in the evening. You can do whatever your skin needs-just leave a bit of time in between creams!
You can use it day and night. It is very thin so it works nicely under makeup. I forget to use it during the day so I usually just use mine at night.
It works under makeup and it can be used with a moisturizer but depending on your skin, it might end up being to much to add your face moisturizer on top or underneath it. You really can’t go wrong-just pay attention to how your skin responds and whether you are oily or dry.
Thanks!
Hi Jenni, I love, love, love your site! I have been making my own skincare for about a month now and my skin has never looked and felt so good…well maybe in my twentys it did. I was wondering if it was ok to use beeswax in this recipe instead of emulsifying wax? also, would I use the same amount of Shea butter as the Kokum butter? These are the ingredients I have on hand. Thank you so much for all of your great recipes! I use your site more than any other.
Thank you!
Hi Cindy!! Thanks so much! You must use emulsifying wax if you want a creamy consistency. Beeswax doesn’t always emulsify water and oil and if it does, it will be a stiff cream. Yes, use the same amount of shea butter instead of Kokum butter. Emulsifying wax is cheap and you can find it on Amazon prime HERE. I also approve this kind as well as Mountain Rose Herb’s. Good luck!
Thank you so much. I will invest in some emulsifying wax!
hey Jenny
do you also sell this product?
Hi, I do not. So sorry!
Am I the only one who didn’t realize the quantity differences? I couldn’t get my cream to incorporate, even after trying everything. I looked back at the recipe and the quantity in the recipe is 1 TBSP (mostly) but the pictures say 2 TBSPs. I’m guessing this is why my cream wouldn’t cream?? Such a waste of product.
Nancy-You are! I’m so sorry! The recipe on the picture is doubled from the recipe on the actual post. I can’t remember why I did that but the proportions of both recipes are correct. Did they not mix? What emulsifying wax did you use? I have only worked with Mountain Rose Herb’s e. wax and it is the only one I suggest. They vary in performance. My different recipes are super confusing so I’ll change that-thank you for bringing that to my attention. I’m so sorry your recipe didn’t work out-it’s all about the e. wax. The more you use, the thicker the lotion. If the waters and oils did not mix then I would advise to use a hand blender for longer and ditch any e. wax that isn’t Mountain Rose Herb.
Do I need to add neodefend since there is already Vitamin E?
Thanks!
Angela-Yes, vitamin E is not enough.
Hi Jenni,
Do you store in a glass pump to avoid opening the container? What about storing in a small glass jar?
Thanks for sharing the recipe, I look forward to trying it!
Tara-It’s best to do a pump for less contamination but I glass jar works too!
Jenni,
I don’t have access to neodefend here in India and somehow don’t want to have a product go bad on me. Are there any oil alternatives or butter alternatives to the rosewater? Like rosehip seed oil?
I Made Mine,, I love it‼️‼️‼️
Lori-Oh good!!! So glad!
As a seasoned (read..old) skincare
maker, may I add just a tiny tip? Instead of two saucepans, one for oil ingredients and one for water ingredients,I put both bowls/measuring cups, in a large, deep skillet. It’s easier to have them together, only need one burner, and, hopefully, keeps their temps quite similar.
Apply making!
Cat-Thank you for this! That’s a great idea-I’ve never thought of it! I’m excited to make another lotion now! Feel free to offer any advice you have-I’ll take it!
Hi Jeni!
I found a very similar recipe to this several years ago and have been trying to find it again. I recently found this page bookmarked in another browser, so half the battle is over! I had bought just about all the ingredients (in July 2018), but curious why I bought sandalwood powder. Has this recipe ever contained sandalwood powder in the past and you perhaps you have updated the recipe? I can’t wait to try this similar version.
Thanks in advance!
Michelle
Michelle-I’ve never heard of sandalwood powder! It was never part of the recipe but now you’ve intrigued me! I love sandalwood. I’m glad you found me again! Good luck!
Hi Jenni. My question relates to neofund. I went to Lotion Crafter to purchase it and found out that they don’t ship to the state I live in. Whaaaat?? I found neofund in powder form on Amazon. Can I substitute the powder for the liquid?
Chris-That’s weird! I looked on Amazon to see the NeoDefend and nothing popped up for me. Was the NeoDefend on Amazon liquid? It’s a powder at Lotion Crafter. Since I couldn’t find it on Amazon, I don’t know how to direct you on it. However, I chose NeoDefend because it is a more natural and gentler preservative so if you can find it and it claims to be natural, I would get it and I’m sure it will have percentage directions. Good luck!
Oops!! Neodefend!
Hi, I love your site and have made a number of your recipes that have turned out great! I am planning on making this. I wanted to point out the the measurements in the pictures are doubles of what it says in the written directions.
I appreciate what you do!
Kris-Thank you for telling me! I revamp these recipes sometimes and I must have missed that!