I was meant to post an update to the state of my home-made moisturiser a while ago, but I just forgot, on account of spending most of my time covered in paper and glue.

So what happened?

Well, my main batch, surprisingly enough, went mouldy. Remember, this was the batch I kept in the fridge. However, it was mouldy only on one side, which seemed to be the bit where I had last scooped out my replenishment batch. The rest of it was fine. Also, the smaller batch I kept in my room, which had my fingers dipped in it at least twice a day, showed no signs of mould, neither did the smaller container which I kept in my bag for use at work.

So I guess it was in fact the spoon I had used to scoop out the last batch that was contaminated.

In any case, I got a good two months+ out of it before having to throw it away. Also, bear in mind the only preservatives I'd used were a few drops of essential oil and 5 drops of grapefruit seed extract, which isn't anti-fungal anyway.

So I've made two new batches now (in fact, I'd already made these long before I discovered my first batch had gone bad). This time I added some potassium sorbate (I don't think I added enough, though) and citric acid, plus cinnamon, which is supposed to increase the mould-inhibiting properties of the p. sorbate, and some natural Vitamin E. I also added a whopping 40-45 drops of essential oil, which sounds like a lot (compared to my 8 drops in my first batch), but works out as only 1.5% (usual dilution would be 3%) of 165ml.

So I made two different blends. One used chamomile and red bush infusion as the water, plus my Fruity essential oils blend. The other used green tea and spearmint infusion and my Crimson Forest oil blend. So I alternate them, because it's not good to use the same oils for weeks on end.

So far, no sign of mould on either the main batches or the decanted batches. And my hands are still nice and moisturised 😀

In hindsight, I think from now on, I'm going to make much smaller batches, i.e rather than tablespoons, I am going to use teaspoons, because it's easy to make, doesn't take too long, and this way I'll be reducing the chances of spoilage even more, and will be having a fresher product.