With summer sandal season right around the corner, now feels like the perfect time to whip up a batch of rich & velvety Jojoba Mint Natural Foot Cream! This beginner-friendly DIY stars some of my favourite oils and butters, and I’ve taken care of all the fussy stuff so you can make this lovely cream even if you’re new to emulsifying.

The heated water phase

I’ve kept the heated water phase for this formulation super simple; it’s literally just water. Don’t bother weighing it to heat it; just make sure you heat up enough and we’ll weigh that hot distilled water straight into the toasty hot oil phase.

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The heated oil phase

Since this is a foot cream, I wanted this formulation to be really rich & creamy—but it still needed to spread over the skin nicely. Velvety golden jojoba oil and rich shea butter star alongside EcoSil; aka Hydrogenated Ethylhexyl Olivate (and) Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables. My first try didn’t include any EcoSil and it dragged on the skin when applied and soaped really badly. The EcoSil helps with both those problems!

I’ve found EcoSil sold all over the world, but it can be tricky to find because it’s sold under a ton of different names. So, if you’re having trouble finding it, look it up in the free Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia—I’ve included lots of links there to places to purchase it in different countries.

🌹 Spring 2026: Formula Botanica is offering a FREE formulation masterclass where you can learn how to make an all-natural botanical eye cream with jojoba seed oil, Olivem1000, and some beautiful botanicals! You can sign up here 🙂 I highly recommend it, especially if you're wanting to see how Formula Botanica works.

To create a rich, creamy, thick consistency, I turned to one of my favourite thickening blends: a mixture of cetyl alcohol and stearic acid. These are both fatty thickeners with different skin feels: cetyl alcohol is smooth and silky, while stearic acid is rich and creamy. Together, we get the perfect mix of creamy & slippy for a super luxurious texture.

The cool down phase

I chose Geogard® ECT (INCI: Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Glycerin, Sorbic Acid) to preserve the cream. It’s a widely available natural preservative that I’ve found to be effective over years of use—but it does have a few downsides. One: it smells like benzyl alcohol (the primary ingredient). It’s a sort of chemically, marzipany smell that I don’t love. Two: with two acids in the preservative, it really pulls the pH of formulations down, often to a not-good-for-the-skin level.

Vitamin E—a fabulous antioxidant—adds both skincare benefits and helps delay oxidation in the formulas.

I used a really fresh, creamy Seely spearmint essential oil from Simply Ingredients for a minty, foot-freshening punch. A peppermint essential oil would be lovely, too. You can use a different (non-mint) essential oil or fragrance oil if you prefer, just make sure it’s approved for use at 0.7% in IFRA category 5A products. I don’t recommend going totally unscented with this formulation as the essential oil is what covers up the smell of the preservative. I tried it and my notes say “smells like a swimming pool” 😅

Lastly, one of my absolute favourite, under-appreciated ingredients; a 60% sodium lactate solution. Sodium lactate is a humectant like glycerin, but it holds onto water—hydrating the skin—even better than glycerin does, and with less stickiness. And, because of its mildly basic pH, it balances out the acidity of the preservative, ensuring the pH naturally falls in just the right place without any additional fussing! So, unless you’re confident testing and adjusting pH, I don’t recommend substituting the sodium lactate.

If your sodium lactate is a powder instead of a 60% solution, you’ll need to adjust how much you use. If you’re making a 100g (3.5oz) batch you’ll need 1.2g sodium lactate powder and 0.8g additional water; if you’re making a 300g batch you’ll need 3.6g sodium lactate powder and 2.2g additional water.

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Relevant links & further reading

• Distilled water in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Olivem 1000 in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Jojoba Oil in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Hydrogenated Ethylhexyl Olivate (and) Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Shea Butter in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Cetyl Alcohol in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Stearic Acid in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Geogard® ECT in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Tocopherol (Vitamin E) in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• Sodium Lactate in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
• How long will ______ last? What is its shelf life? in the Humblebee & Me FAQ
• Can I use a different preservative than the one you’ve used? in the Humblebee & Me FAQ
• pH
  • pH meter in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia
  • pH measurement in cosmetic lab: why we dilute samples? from Skin Chakra
  • How to adjust the pH of your cosmetic products from Skin Chakra
  • Why do you create a 10% dilution of a formulation before measuring the pH? in the Humblebee & Me FAQ
• More natural lotion & cream formulations
  • Rose & Jojoba Natural Face Lotion
  • Sugar Plum Fairy Natural Hand & Body Lotion
  • Easy Natural Lotion for Beginners

Jojoba Mint Natural Foot Cream

Heated water phase
182.4g | 60.8% distilled water

Heated oil phase
15g | 5% Olivem1000 (USA / Canada / UK / Germany / Aus / NZ)
15g | 5% jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
30g | 10% Hydrogenated Ethylhexyl Olivate (and) Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables (USA / Canada / Germany / Aus)
24g | 8% refined shea butter (USA / Canada)
15g | 5% cetyl alcohol (USA / Canada / UK / Germany / Aus / NZ)
6g | 2% stearic acid (USA / Canada / UK)

Cool down phase
3g | 1% Geogard® ECT (USA / Canada / UK / Germany / Aus / NZ)
1.5g | 0.5% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
2.1g | 0.7% spearmint or peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)
6g | 2% sodium lactate (USA / Canada)

Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a wide, flat-bottomed sauté pan. If you’re using beakers, you can also use a lab hot plate on low, setting the beakers directly on it.

Weigh the heated oil phase into a heat-resistant glass measuring cup or glass beaker large enough to hold the entire batch; I used a 600mL beaker for this 300g batch. Pour at least 200mL (7ish fl oz) into a second heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place both measuring cups in your prepared water bath to heat & melt everything through.

After about 20–30 minutes the oil part should be completely melted and the water part should be steaming hot. Remove the oil phase from the heat and weigh in 182.4g hot distilled water. Stir with a flexible silicone spatula to incorporate.

Grab your immersion blender and begin blending the lotion, starting with short bursts so the still-very-liquid emulsion doesn’t whirl up and spray everywhere. Blend for about a minute before switching to hand stirring. You’ll need to be diligent with the stirring to prevent clumps; do not walk away until the cream is very thick and creamy.

Once the outside of the glass measuring cup is just warm to the touch (40°C or cooler, if you have a thermometer) we’re ready to incorporate the cool down phase.

Because cool down phase ingredients are typically present at very low amounts you’ll need to use an accurate scale—preferably one accurate to 0.01g. As these more accurate scales tend to have fairly low (100–200g) maximum weights you won’t be able to put the entire batch of lotion on that scale without blowing it out. So—grab a smaller dish. Add a scoop or two of lotion, and then weigh the cool down ingredients into that, using the more accurate scale. Stir to thoroughly incorporate, and then stir all of that back into the master batch of lotion. Doing it this way minimizes the amount of cool down ingredients lost to the secondary container.

To test and adjust the pH: create a 10% dilution by weighing 2g product and 18g distilled water into a small bowl or beaker and whisk to combine (wondering why we create a dilution to check the pH?). Check the pH with your pH meter. Depending on the shape of your bowl/beaker you may need to tilt it in order to fully submerge the sensor on your pH meter. If you made the formulation without any changes, the pH should fall in the 4.8–5 range. If it is lower than 4.5 you’ll want to raise it; if it’s higher than 6, you’ll want to lower it. Please read this article from Skin Chakra to learn more about pH adjusting.

If you’ve made this formulation as written, the pH should be in a good place (every time I made this formulation the pH fell in the 4.8–5 range). So, if you don’t have a way to test the pH, it should be ok.

Now all that’s left to do is package it up! Because this foot cream is really rich and thick, you’ll need to package it in some sort of wide-mouthed jar; it’ll get stuck in a pump-top bottle. I used three 100mL amber glass jars from Yellow Bee, and I used a piping bag so I could get the cream right down to the bottom of each jar easily.

To use, massage a dollop into dry skin; I’ve designed this as a foot cream, but you can definitely use it as an all-purpose rich body cream, too! Just keep it away from any parts of you that would be sensitive to lots of minty freshness (aka mucous membranes). I wouldn’t use this as a face cream unless you either removed the essential oil or used less of a different, face-friendly essential oil (be sure to check the allowable IFRA level for a face cream for that essential oil). I’ve learned the hard way that minty face creams are not pleasant… unless you like your eyes watering up when you apply your skincare?

Shelf Life & Storage

Because this cream contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. With good manufacturing practice and proper preservation, this formulation should last at least a year. In the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.

Substitutions

As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the formulation, you will get a different final product than I did.

• As I’ve provided this formulation in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams, this formulation will make 300g.
• To learn more about the ingredients used in this formulation, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
• If you change anything about this formulation, you’ll need to test the pH to confirm it’s in a good place for your skin and preservative.
• If you want to use a different emulsifying wax, my top choices would be Montanov 68 or Montanov 82.
  • Ritamulse SCG (Emulsimulse, ECOMulse) will work, but I find it thins noticeably when used with Geogard® ECT so you won’t get the same rich, thick texture.
  • I’d tread carefully with PolyAquol-2W as it is sensitive to electrolytes (like sodium lactate) and will thin.
  • Non-natural options like Emulsifying Wax NF, Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG-100 Stearate, BTMS-50, or BTMS-25 will also work.
• You can substitute another mid or lightweight oil like meadowfoam oil, grapeseed oil, or sunflower seed oil instead of jojoba oil.
• You can use golden or clear jojoba oil.
• If you don’t have EcoSil, I suggest swapping it or a different natural lightweight ester/emollient like Isoamyl cocoate, Isoamyl laurate, Neossance® Hemisqualane, or Coco-Caprylate.
• You can use refined or unrefined shea butter; the mint essential oil should cover any scent that might come through given the usage rate is quite low.
• If you don’t have shea butter, try a different soft butter like mango butter or murumuru butter instead. Tallow would also work.
• You can use cetearyl alcohol instead of the blend of cetyl alcohol and stearic acid (so 7% cetearyl alcohol instead of 5% cetyl/2% stearic), but this will change the consistency and feel of the final product.
• If you’d like to use a different preservative, please review this FAQ and this chart. Changing the preservative will impact the pH of the formulation and will require you to test and adjust as needed.
  • Remember that Geogard® ECT (INCI: Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Glycerin, Sorbic Acid) is often sold under other names like “Preservative Eco”, so always double-check the INCI name to make sure you’ve got the right thing!
• If you’d like to use a different essential oil or a fragrance oil instead of the essential oil, ensure whatever you use is approved for use at 0.7% in IFRA category 5A products (or reduce the usage level accordingly).
• I don’t recommend going totally unscented with this formulation as the essential oil is what covers up the smell of the preservative. If you don’t include an essential oil or fragrance oil the product will smell like the preservative.
• Don’t change the sodium lactate unless you can test & adjust the pH as it’s part of the pH balance of the formulation.

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