How Do I Choose the Best Natural Night Cream?

Dermatologists and consumers often agree that natural night cream formulas may be better for the skin than chemical-based ones. A natural night cream usually features an oil or vegetable butter base, which is infused with herbal extracts and essential oils that are known to heal the skin. They also usually omit the preservatives and chemicals that may harm skin over time. When you’re looking for a good natural night cream, it is important to understand what your skin needs. From there, you can choose which ingredients work best for you.

Before you consider what ingredients should go into your natural night cream, you should take an assessment of your skin. Examine it to see whether it is oily and acne-prone, dry and flaky, features fine lines, or tends toward large pores. These factors will help determine what extracts and oils will nourish your skin best. For instance, if your skin is already oily, applying olive oil to your face might only exacerbate your problem. Write down all of your skin’s characteristics so you don’t forget any key factors when making your decision.

The next choice to make for your natural night cream formula is what kind of base you will use. If you have dry skin, or aren’t particularly prone to blemishes, you might have success using coconut oil, lanolin oil, or vegetable butter as a base. Oily skin types and those who break out easily may want to opt for aloe vera gel because it is not greasy but still helps hydrate the skin. It is important to moisturize all skin types to keep them healthy and fresh-looking.

After picking your base, you should typically decide what extracts and essential oils you want to include. Some ingredients — like rose water, rose hip oil, or vitamin E extract — may be included in natural night cream formulas for all skin types because they nourish the cells. For dry skin, choose among jojoba, lavender, sweet almond and geranium oils. You may use just a bit of each of these, or choose just one. Experimenting with different formulas is also acceptable, and even sometimes recommended.

Oily or blemish-prone skin often benefits from natural night cream made with chamomile extract, a touch of mint or ginger oil, green tea powder, and some kind of citrus extract. Many with blemish-prone skin swear by grapefruit extract, though others prefer orange or lime.

When you’ve chosen all of your ingredients, it is time to combine them. This may be done in a microwave-safe bowl or double boiler. Simply heat and stir the ingredients together. Aloe vera gel should be melted over the lowest heat possible to keep it from evaporating. The finished night cream may be poured into an airtight plastic container for safekeeping.