Invigorating & Antioxidant DIY Earl Grey Body Cream

Earl grey tea invigorates this antioxidant DIY body cream, and bergamot essential oil adds great citrus notes to make it aromatic and uplifting. Enjoy!

Tip: You may also enjoy this homemade lotion recipe.

Earl Grey tea is one of my favorite hot beverages.

If you haven’t already noticed, I love coffee, tea, and almost every steaming hot liquid. It’s refreshing, relaxing, and makes my soul feel comforted.

This is especially true in the case of Earl Grey tea. It is wonderfully aromatic and uplifting with great citrus flavor of bergamot shining through. This aroma makes it one of the most easily recognized teas.

Earl Grey Tea Origins

Earl Grey tea first became popular in England because it was a favorite tea of Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl of Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830-1834. It was widely used in London society during that time. (source)

Today you can find many types of Earl Grey tea, both naturally and commercially flavored. I prefer to buy a natural Earl Grey tea that has not been flavored but perfumed with real Italian bergamot. This is my favorite Organic Aged Earl Grey Tea. I like to buy the bulk loose tea because it’s cheaper and I can use it easily in DIY projects like the one I am sharing with you today.

DIY Body Cream with Earl Grey Tea

Because I love Earl Grey tea so much, I decided I would infuse it into a DIY body cream that I could use all the time. Infusing tea into oil is fairly easy and is a great way to get many of the antioxidant benefits from the tea.

I love this handy guide on infusing tea into an oil. It easily breaks down the steps needed to make a good infusion.

For this, I wanted a DIY body cream that didn’t feel greasy and would spread easily. I used a high percentage of liquid oils, a medium amount of butters, and very little beeswax. Just enough to give the lotion a semi-firm appearance. If you prefer a more solid cream or if you’d like your DIY body cream to last longer, then you can always add more beeswax.

I also chose to add a few drops of bergamot essential oil to intensify the already fragrant aroma. If you choose to add bergamot essential oil to your cream, be sure to avoid exposure to direct sunlight or tanning beds as bergamot essential oil can be phototoxic (harmful to the skin when exposed to direct sunlight).

Below I will walk you through all the steps to get a lovely Earl Grey tea infused DIY body cream.

DIY Body Cream Infused with Earl Grey Tea

Step 1: Make Earl Grey Tea infused jojoba oil

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons organic, aged, Earl Grey tea (find my favorite kind here)
• 8 ounces golden jojoba oil (find organic jojoba oil here)
• 1 mason jar, sterilized

Instructions:

1. Measure Earl Grey tea into a sterilized mason jar.
2. Cover completely with jojoba oil.
3. Allow it to sit for 4 weeks in a sunny window (or longer for a stronger infusion).
4. After the desired amount of time, strain the oil through cheesecloth.
5. Store in a clean jar until you are ready to use.

Step 2: Earl Grey Body Cream

Ingredients:

• 3.5 ounces mango butter (find organic mango butter here)
• 5.5 ounces Earl Grey infused golden jojoba oil (from Step 1 above)
• 1 ounce beeswax (find beeswax pastilles here)
• optional, 5-10 drops bergamot essential oil (find pure, organic bergamot EO here)

Instructions:

1. Melt beeswax in a double boiler. (I use a glass pyrex container in a small saucepan of boiling water.)
2. Add in mango butter and jojoba oil and melt until all oils are clear.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add optional bergamot essential oil.
5. Stir lightly and pour into jars. (This recipe filled two 8-ounce glass containers ¾ of the way full.)
6. Cap the lotions and allow them to cool for several hours.

To Use

This is a great spreadable DIY body cream that can be used all over! Just scoop a small amount from your jar and inhale the invigorating aroma of Earl Grey tea! It also makes a wonderful gift for any tea lovers in your life.

If you find the lotion is too soft for your liking, you can always add another 0.5 – 1 ounce of beeswax.

Did you try making this DIY body cream? What did you think of it?

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