DIY Moisturizer Recipe With Squalane Oil

If you’ve ever checked the ingredients list on a fancy face cream and wondered whether you could make something just as good at home, squalane oil is the perfect place to start. It’s lightweight, stable, and plays nicely with almost every other ingredient in a homemade cream. This DIY moisturiser recipe with squalane oil walks you through the whole process, from gathering ingredients to fixing it when things go wrong.

You don’t need a lab or a chemistry background. You need a few basic ingredients, a kitchen scale, and a bit of patience while your first batch cools.

Why Squalane Oil Is a Skincare Favourite

Squalane is one of the most popular oils in natural skincare, and for good reason. It sinks in fast, leaves no greasy film, and suits almost every skin type. That makes it a forgiving ingredient for beginners.

Most squalane sold today comes from plants, usually olives. That’s a big shift from decades ago, when it was often sourced from shark liver. Plant-derived squalane performs the same way on skin. There’s no trade-off in quality.

Formulators like it because it’s shelf-stable. Unlike many plant oils, it doesn’t oxidise or turn rancid quickly. Your finished moisturiser holds up better over time, and the oil itself lasts a long time in your ingredient cupboard.

What Makes Squalane Different from Squalene

Squalene is a natural oil our skin produces to keep itself lubricated and protected. The problem is that squalene is unstable. It oxidises quickly when exposed to air, which shortens its shelf life and can leave it feeling less pleasant on skin.

Squalane is the hydrogenated version of squalene. That single chemical change makes it far more stable, with a longer shelf life and no oxidation issues. It’s why squalane, not squalene, ends up in skincare formulas.

Skin Benefits: Hydration, Barrier Support and Non-Greasy Feel

Squalane is a strong emollient. It helps skin hold onto moisture and supports the skin barrier, the outer layer that keeps water in and irritants out.

Squalane is generally considered low-risk for pore congestion and is widely used in products formulated for acne-prone skin. Individual responses can vary. That makes it a sensible choice even for people with oily or acne-prone skin, alongside those with dry or mature skin looking for extra comfort.

Squalane absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a heavy residue. That’s why it works well as the “oil phase” in a lightweight, everyday moisturiser, which is exactly what we’re building here.

What You’ll Need for This DIY Moisturiser Recipe with Squalane Oil

Before you start mixing, get everything measured out and within reach. Emulsifying moves fairly fast once you begin combining your phases, so preparation matters.

Core Ingredients

A basic squalane moisturiser needs ingredients from a few different categories:

• Squalane oil, the star oil phase ingredient, usually kept between about 3-10% of the total formula. Higher amounts can feel heavier without adding much extra benefit.
• Emulsifier, this binds your oil and water together into a stable cream instead of two separate layers. Emulsifying wax is a common beginner-friendly choice.
• Water phase, distilled water (never use tap water), aloe vera water, or a hydrosol works well as the base liquid.
• Humectant, something like glycerin draws moisture into the skin and keeps the texture soft.
• Preservative, any recipe containing water needs a broad-spectrum preservative to prevent mould and bacterial growth.
• Optional actives, ingredients like niacinamide or panthenol can be added once you’re comfortable with the basic recipe.

A simple beginner formula could consist of approximately 5% squalane, 4-6% emulsifying wax (depending on the emulsifier used), 3-5% glycerin, an appropriate broad-spectrum preservative at the supplier’s recommended usage rate, and the remainder distilled water or aloe vera liquid. It’s a solid base to adjust once you know how it feels on your own skin.

DIY Naturally stocks squalane oil, emulsifiers, and preservatives together, so you can put together a stable batch from one basket instead of chasing ingredients across several suppliers.

Beginner Squalane Moisturiser Formula (100g Batch)

This simple oil-in-water moisturiser is designed as a starting point for beginner formulators. Formulate in percentages so the recipe can easily be scaled up or down.

Ingredient	%
Distilled Water	84%
Glycerine	5%
Squalane Oil	5%
Emulsifying Wax	5%
Broad-Spectrum Preservative*	1%
Total	100%

*Always use your preservative at the supplier’s recommended usage rate and ensure your final pH falls within the preservative’s effective range.

Important: Use distilled water rather than tap water to reduce the risk of contamination and improve product stability.

Why Formulators Use Percentages Instead of Fixed Amounts

Professional formulators create recipes in percentages rather than fixed gram amounts. Percentages make it easy to scale a formulation up or down while keeping the ingredient ratios exactly the same.

For example:

• A 100g batch containing 5% squalane requires 5g of squalane.
• A 500g batch containing 5% squalane requires 25g of squalane.
• A 1kg batch containing 5% squalane requires 50g of squalane.

Because the percentages stay constant, the product should perform the same regardless of batch size. Learning to formulate in percentages is one of the most valuable skills for home formulators and makes future recipe development much easier.

Tools and Equipment

You don’t need anything specialised, but a few basics make the process much smoother:

• A digital kitchen scale for accurate measuring
• Two heatproof glass beakers or jugs, one for each phase
• A thermometer, so you can match the temperature of both phases before combining
• A stick blender or a small whisk for emulsifying
• Clean, sterilised jars or bottles for the finished cream

Step-by-Step: How to Make the Moisturiser

Emulsifying sounds technical, but it’s really just combining two liquids that don’t naturally mix, then holding them together with an emulsifier. Once you’ve done it once, it becomes second nature.

Mixing the Water and Oil Phases

Start by weighing your water phase ingredients (distilled water and glycerine in the example formula above) into one heatproof container. In a separate container, weigh your oil phase ingredients (squalane oil and emulsifying wax).

Heat both containers gently, either over a water bath or in short bursts in the microwave, until the emulsifying wax fully melts. Both phases should reach roughly the same temperature, usually around 70°C, before you combine them.

Matching temperatures matters. If one phase is much hotter than the other, the emulsion is more likely to fail or separate later.

Emulsifying and Cooling

Once both phases are at a similar temperature, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your chosen emulsifier. Many beginner-friendly oil-in-water emulsifiers are added by slowly combining the oil phase into the water phase while mixing.

Keep blending for a minute or two until the mixture turns opaque and creamy. This is where the emulsifier does its job, locking the oil and water droplets together.

Continue stirring gently as the mixture cools to room temperature. This slow cooling keeps the emulsion stable and stops it from separating. Once it’s cool, stir in your preservative and any heat-sensitive actives, since some of these lose effectiveness at high temperatures.

Customising Your Squalane Moisturiser Recipe

Once you’ve made a basic batch and it feels good on your skin, you can start adjusting it. Small batches make this low-risk, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Adding Other Carrier Oils and Actives

Squalane blends well with other carrier oils. Try swapping a small percentage of it for argan oil for extra richness, or rosehip oil if you want more support for uneven skin tone.

Water-soluble actives like niacinamide or panthenol can go into the water phase before heating, or be added once the cream has cooled, depending on the ingredient’s heat stability. Always check the recommended usage rate for any active before adding it. More isn’t always better.

Adjusting for Oily, Dry or Sensitive Skin

For oilier skin, keep squalane on the lower end of the range and lean on a lighter water phase. For drier skin, push closer to 8-10% squalane and consider adding a touch more glycerin.

For sensitive skin, keep the recipe simple. Fewer actives and a gentle preservative reduce the chance of irritation.

It’s also worth checking the pH of your finished cream if you have pH strips or a meter. Skin-compatible creams generally sit in a slightly acidic range, and getting this right supports both comfort and preservative effectiveness.

The required pH range depends on both your preservative and any active ingredients used. Always verify that your preservative is effective at the final pH of the formulation.

Storing, Preserving and Packaging Your Moisturiser

Any cream that contains water is a potential breeding ground for bacteria and mould. That’s simply the nature of water-based products, whether homemade or commercial.

Shelf Life and Preservation Basics

A broad-spectrum preservative isn’t optional here. It’s what keeps your cream safe to use on your skin over the weeks after you make it.

Without laboratory preservative efficacy testing, home formulators should make small batches and use them within a conservative timeframe. Shelf life cannot be guaranteed without stability and microbiological testing.

Store your moisturiser in a clean, sterilised jar or a pump bottle, away from direct sunlight and heat. Pump bottles reduce contamination risk since fingers don’t touch the product directly. If you notice any change in smell, colour, or texture, discard the batch rather than risk using it.

Making smaller batches more often, rather than one huge batch, is usually the safer approach for home formulators.

Troubleshooting Common Squalane Moisturiser Problems

Even careful formulators run into hiccups sometimes. Here’s how to read the most common issues.

Separation. If your cream splits into layers after cooling, the emulsifier likely wasn’t sufficient for the amount of oil, or the phases weren’t blended long enough. Try increasing your emulsifier slightly next time, and blend for longer during the emulsifying stage.

Greasy feel. This usually means the squalane percentage is too high for your skin, or the cream needs more water phase to balance it. Dial squalane back toward the lower end of the 3-10% range and see how it feels.

Too thin or runny. This often points to too little emulsifying wax, or a water phase that’s too heavy compared to the oil phase. Adjust the ratio slightly and try again.

Because these batches are small, testing and tweaking costs very little. Treat your first few attempts as experiments rather than final products, and you’ll land on a formula suited to your own skin.

Once you’ve got your ratios sorted, it’s worth browsing the wider range of carrier oils, emulsifiers, and packaging on the DIY Naturally site to build out your own line of homemade skincare.

Disclaimer: The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. DIY Naturally supplies raw materials but does not guarantee the performance, stability, safety, or suitability of any formulation created using this recipe. Formulators are responsible for conducting their own testing, including stability, compatibility, preservative efficacy, and safety assessments before personal use or sale.

Frequently Asked Questions About DIY Moisturisers with Squalane Oil