How to make Cold Cream

You can refer this page to know the following:

1. What is Cold Cream
2. How to make Cold Cream
3. Five commercially viable cold cream formulas and
4. How to label finished cream.

Cold cream is water in oil type of emulsion. Cold cream is called cold cream because breaking up of emulsion on application to skin leads to evaporation of water giving cooling effect. Cold cream is primarily used to prevent excessive drying of skin. It has emollient action and prevents dehydration of skin. The key chemical constituent of cold cream is bees wax.

Emulsifier usually prepared inside by reaction between borax and bees wax stabilizes cold cream Emulsion. Bees wax, spermacitin, paraffin wax are used as thickening agent and also provide fatty acid soap formation during the preparation of cold cream. Non-ionic and ionic emulsifiers are also used to supplement borax bees wax emulsion adding increase flexibility and stability to emulsion.

Example of Emulsifiers that can be used alone or in combination are Sorbitol fatty acid esters and other co-emulsifier that can be used are glyceryl stearate, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, phosphate fatty alcohols and fatty alcohol sulphate.

Since this preparation contains both oil and water. It is susceptible to microbial attack. Hence a cold cream preparation should also be preserved by adding preservatives.

Marketed Cold Cream products: -

• Pond’s Cold Cream
• Charmis Cold cream
• Nivea Cold Cream

Step 1: Triethanol amine was weighed according to formula and dissolved in given quantity of water and heated to 70 degree Celsius in a suitable pharmaceutical grade container. This would make the aqueous phase of the cold cream.

Step 2: Bees wax, lanolin, speramacitin wax, oleic acid, paraffin wax are next weighed as per formula and then dissolved in mineral oil and heated to 70 degree Celsius. This makes the oily phase of cold cream water in oil emulsion.

Step 3: Now this is the most important step and requires experience and skill to execute. At 70 degree Celsius, Both the phases are mixed and stirred to form water in oil type of emulsion. It is important to stir continuously while adding aqueous phase to the oily phase to get stable water in oil emulsion. Keep stirring till the temperature comes down to room temperature.

Step 4: Sufficient quantity of perfume is added before packing the finished product to suitable wide mouth labeled containers.


The label should display the following information: -

1. Name of the product
2. Contents: Name and percentage of any active ingredient if added to preparation.
3. Net Weight: As present in the final container.
4. Manufacturing License Number as obtained by regulatory authority of your country.
5. Manufacturing Batch Number: As applicable
6. Manufacturing Date – Month and year of manufacturing.
7. Expiry Date – Month and year of expected expiry.
8. Maximum Retail Price- As applicable.
9. Place Of Manufacturing- The plant where it is manufactured.