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| This is most of the liquid and oil ingredients used in my new skin care product that I’ll be producing. |
Who would have thought? First, fragrances, second, a woodcutting project, and now, I’m on to working on a high-end skin care cream formulation - new territory for me. The inspiration for this project comes from a product sample supplier from Guangzhou, in China. I was peeking around, on the internet, a while back, trying to see what other Michelia Alba flower oils were out there, and I stumbled upon the Guangzhou HZL Biotech Co., Ltd. website.
On the site, I found various extractive products and oils of Michelia alba, which is sort of the company’s flagship product, in their 10,000 acre planting grounds for these flowering trees, as well as for many other of the company’s offerings, which are oils, extracts, and powders of fruits, vegetables, etc. I liked their extensive catalog of botanical offerings, but I was moreso interested in learning more about the Michelia alba flower - I know that I had mentioned it somewhere, possibly here, on my blog, that I accidentally spilled a full container of my Michelia alba specialty reconstitution oil that I made - it spilled on to my bed, and I felt very noticeable anti-inflammatory effects, the morning after, for example, as well as that my room smelled like flowers for a week or more.
So, even a reconstitution of the flower’s oil has therapeutic benefits. It piqued my interest, and I was compelled to send an information request to HZL Bio, and they got back to me, after several days, or so, and I started speaking to Iris, the company’s sales director and founder. She offered me a free sample of Michelia alba extractum, as it’s called, which is an extract of the botanical active products, more so than the fragrance components of the flower’s oil. All I had to do was pay shipping, which came out to about $75, with bank international wire transfer fees. I was excited to receive the package.
Prior to receiving the last of the packages of items needed to do the job right, I formulated a fragrance oil component for the skin cream with the help of Google Gemini. We came up with the conceptual inspiration of the alpine flowering plant popularly known as Edelweiss. Apparently, the fragrance is a large portion clary sage (I used an absolute of clary sage), so it’s got a fresh and herbaceous streak about it, combined with some lavandin super essential oil, Angelica root, carrot seed oil, and ho wood oil, to round things out. So, there’s a really high-end fresh fragrance aspect to the cream, that I’m looking forward to exploring. It took some work to make it happen.
The overarching basic premise of the skin cream is an anti-inflammatory, firming, anti-aging, and skin brightening/lightening effect, with various botanically-derived actives and extracts, along with hydrating compounds and copper citrate to help mimic the skin’s natural barrier, giving the cream an easily absorbable, nourishing, and therapeutic set of benefits, while the refreshing and light fragrance relaxes the mind, as well as the body.
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| Some small drips of Michelia alba extractum, in alcohol. |
I made some notes highlighting the ingredients list and their purported therapeutic effects and benefits.
Face Cream Notes
Celadon color
The particular color of this skin cream can be described as Celadon, which has a rich cultural history dating back to ancient China, where it was the color of masterful ceramic pottery or ceramic glaze, prized for its jade-like appearance and subtle crackle effect. The Chinese term for this word is 青瓷, which translates to blue-green porcelain.” In this cream, the celadon color can be attributed to an extract of Michelia alba flowers and copper citrate.
Chinese mi se “mysterious color”
#ACE1AF
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| “The” celadon color, or, close to it. |
Misty, dreamy, ghostly, pale, foggy
Source - https://www.theawl.com/2017/10/celadon-the-unseen-green/
青瓷 - “blue-green porcelain”
Michelia alba Extractum
Derived from raw flowers using steam distillation, the core active ingredients are Phenylethanol glycosides (Phenylethanol glycoside), verbascoside >15%, and echinacoside >10%. The product is certified ISO, Organic, HALAL, KOSHER, HACCP. The flowers are traditionally used as spice and as a medicinal herb.
The production center is located in the Michelia Alba Industrial Park , Penshan Village, Bolao Town, Lingshan County, Qinzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where over 10,000 acres are dedicated to the cultivation of raw materials such as Michelia alba flowers.
Phenylethanoid Glycosides: Phenylethanoid glycosides (PHGs) are a type of glycoside compounds composed of phenylethanoid glycosides and glycosyl. Modern pharmacological activity research shows that glycosides with phenylethanol glycoside as the main component have a significant down-regulating effect on tyrosinase activity, can effectively inhibit skin melanin deposition, and can have great skin-whitening and beauty effects.
Widely distributed in Chinese medicine.
Verbascoside: Verbascoside is a type of compound with strong biological activity, which has anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing properties. It has many physiological effects such as scavenging free radicals, repairing DNA bases, and treating liver fibrosis. Modern pharmacological activity research shows that glycosides with phenylethanol glycoside as the main component have a significant down-regulating effect on tyrosinase activity, can effectively inhibit skin melanin deposition, and have great whitening and beauty effects.
Echinacoside: The therapeutic uses of echinacoside are very wide, including the enhancement of the immune system, anti-cancer effects, antioxidant effects, liver regulation, etc. It is also used for kidney deficiency, impotence caused by lack of semen and blood, nocturnal emission, frequent urination, low back pain and weak feet, tinnitus and blurred vision, irregular menstruation, infertility,intestinal dryness with constipation.
α-Bisabolol
Alpha bisabolol is a natural monocyclic sesquiterpene alcohol, most commonly known as a primary constituent of the essential oil of the German chamomile flower. It has also been used for hundreds of years in cosmetics because of its skin healing properties including reducing wrinkles, skin toughness and repairing sun-damaged skin.
Neuroprotective, anticancer, anti-nociceptive (stops pain), cardioprotective, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant
Source - Health Benefits, Pharmacological Effects, Molecular Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential of α-Bisabolol
Nutrients. 2022 Mar 25;14(7):1370. doi: 10.3390/nu14071370
Barrier-repairing, making it effective for acne, redness, and rosacea. Improves penetration of other actives. Apply it on to clean skin while still damp.
Source - https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2025/08/18/bisabolol-is-the-soothing-skin-ingredient-dermatologists-want-you-to-know/
Roman Chamomile
Anthemis nobilis, more commonly known as Roman Chamomile, features an essential oil with a scent that can be described as fruity, aromatic, and warm herbaceous. It is primarily used for its calming, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic properties to treat insomnia, anxiety, and digestive issues like indigestion or nausea. It is widely consumed as herbal tea, used topically for skin irritations/wounds, and is also utilized in aromatherapy and cosmetics.
Copper Citrate
Copper Citrate serves as an effective source of copper ions, crucial for maintaining skin's structural integrity by supporting the synthesis of essential extracellular matrix proteins like collagen and elastin. This ingredient also bolsters the skin's natural antioxidant defenses and demonstrates antimicrobial properties, contributing to overall skin health and regeneration.
Copper is one of nine essential nutrients for humans, as it plays a role in physiological processes for nearly all tissues, including the skin. It also contributes to making red blood cells and to the support of the immune system. The body uses copper to produce some hormones and is needed to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy generated in the cells for the body to run on.
How it turned out:
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| My first jar of my celadon skin cream. |
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| The workspace. |
The process went successfully, and I produced two and a half ounces of skin cream. It should have come out to three and 1/3 ounces, by weight, and I’m not sure where the additional weight disappeared to. Regardless, it turned out fantastically! It’s a very high-end feeling skin cream, light and moist, without being too oily. It makes the skin feel soft and smooth. As foretold, the cream ends up having that celadon color, due to the mix of copper II citrate, combined with the dark brown fragrant oils and the clary sage absolute I put in it. The fragrance is light and refreshing, with sage, chamomile, lavandin super, and ho wood, which smells very floral. The effect of the scent is supposed to mimic the Edelweiss alpine mountain flower.
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| Copper II citrate is a really beautiful bright turquoise color. |
Ingredient List (Descending Order of Weight)
• Distilled Water (The primary vehicle)
• Cucumber Seed Oil (Unrefined Botanical)
• Squalane (Olive-derived emollient and scent carrier)
• Olivem 1000 (Cetearyl Olivate & Sorbitan Olivate)
• Tonka Bean Butter
• Glycerin
• Propanediol 1,3
• Cetyl Alcohol
• Clary Sage Absolute
• Geogard ECT
• Rosemary Extract
• Edelweiss Reconstitution
• Copper (II) Citrate
• Hyaluronic Acid
• Alpha-Bisabolol
• Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
• High-Altitude Lavandin Super Essential Oil
• Ho Wood Essential Oil
• Carrot Seed Essential Oil
• Michelia Alba Extractum (White Champaca)
• Gum Arabic
So, I guess that’s it, as far as this project is concerned, so far. Thanks for reading!
Some of the research done on this article was from the site moumoujus.com, a wonderful resource on cosmetics ingredients, which details highlights and features of hundreds of different cosmetic ingredients, their value in formulations, and the reliability of clinical evidence supporting their use, individually.
Update: sales and studies have been good to me, recently, so I’ve amassed even three more hauls, from different suppliers, all under the banner of one sizable haul, in the name of exploring some ingredients further, namely clary sage, which is a star of the show in my celadon cream. Next, I’m aiming to do new and or different things, such as a variation or two on the skin cream, perhaps a completely alternate formulation of a skin cream, and I’m trying to get in to toiletries, such as a shower oil, here, with plum kernel oil, which I’ve already received, from Eden Botanicals (I think that that’s what I was planning on doing, I’ll have to go back and check my notes). There’s a 2.0 version to my skin care formulation, now, I’m equipped with a hot plate / magnetic bar stirrer, which I didn’t have before, in the first run, and some of the solids didn’t integrate in to the cream, because I wasn’t able to get the oil (2nd) phase hot enough. I got it up to about 40°C, and the target was 75°C. I used a ceramic bar aquarium heater, as an improvised device, the first time around. Now, I’ve got proper lab equipment, and I can have exact control over a container’s temperature, with the hot plate.
My other idea was to do a variant on the skin cream, with Mimosa floral wax (trying it, for the first time). I don’t really know what mimosa will smell like, I was just kind of guessing, and that’s what was available. I had the option of doing jasmine floral wax, but I chose to branch out and do something new, for myself. Part of my haul, from Eden Botanicals, was to stock up on Clary Sage Absolute, which I’m not really all that much able to source from other suppliers, hence, the haul comes in 3 parts. One part already arrived, on the weekend of May 9th and 10th, 2026, and the next ones are arriving this coming Monday and Wednesday, most likely.
One of the products that I was conceptualizing would feature coffee flower absolute, which is a solvent extraction on the flowers of the coffee plant. It’s kind of an odd smell, but I keep coming back to it, partly just because I like to have it around. I’ve had several incarnations of a perfumer’s organ (oeuvre, if you would), which you can trace back, on this blog, and in all instances, prior, I’d lost all of my collection, due to difficulties with the housing management not liking the “clutter” of my living spaces that I’d inhabited, since around 2020/2021, or so, I’d estimate, which was when I started back up doing fragrance ingredient hauls at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that period, if you’d recall, they were giving out benefits to unemployed citizens, and I joined that group, under some various business pretenses that I could construe, and validate for. For the coffee flower absolute, I got some standard coffee oil, or extract, (I forget, at this time), just in case it happens to pair well with the flower, or, perhaps, I’ll work the coffee flower absolute in to some other nuance or feature of a fragrant cosmetic product, of some sort.
I have various ideas, such as a lip balm, which I’d need still more ingredients for, a body wash, or a bar of soap, which would also require some additional supplies and ingredients. I also became interested in the latest 2026 perfumers and flavorist trends of “lickable” fragrances, that are sweetened with Stevia rebudiana powder, I’ve read, mood altering fragrance experiences, based upon scientific studies done on the fragrances being investigated, and I’m also working on developing the “story” behind the products, and the visual, forward-facing imagery of the products and brand.
@jay.ammon A soft debut, or preview of, some of the branding and marketing imagery associated with the skin care products I’m producing. Here’s a scratch video piece that I’m showing on my blog (I’ve still got a lot to work out, as far as potentially marketing my products for sale, which, I might not do so, as well. One thing at a time. In any case, the video opens, featuring the Michelia alba flower in bloom, with a sparrow nearby, under the brand name Heritage Botanica, which is a reference to the traditional folk medicine practices of plant-based healers, being that my formulations are probably over 99% natural and plant-based, so far. The video goes on to highlight some of the lifestyle visuals that I’m trying to exemplify, with the products, along with some information regarding the ingredients in this particular product that I’ve formulated, which I’m tentatively naming “Celadon Skin Cream,” based on the color of the skin cream itself, which is a reference to ancient Chinese ceramic pottery and glazes, which are of the named coloration, hence, as well - Heritage Botanica, being that I’m half Chinese (Cantonese), and the Michelia alba flower extract hails from a HZL Bio, a biotech establishment, based in China, where they offer extracts and powders, as growers, producers, and distributor of advanced nutritional and advanced natural alimentary and therapeutic products. #skincare #botanicals #heritagebotanica #newproduct #biotech ♬ original sound - Jay Ammon
And... here's the latest ingredients list that I'm going to be working with, for those of you who are keeping up.
May 2026 Fragrance and Cosmetics Item Manifest
468.F | 1OZ MIMOSA ABSOLUTE WAX INDIA | 1 | 1 oz. | 5.52 | $5.52 |
2015.C | .12oz COFFEE FLOWER ABS MADAGASCAR | 1 | .12 oz. | 42.67 | $42.67 |
401.F | 1oz BENZOIN LIQUID RESIN 50% MPG INDONESIA | 1 | 1 oz. | 10.89 | $10.89 |
1995.C | .12oz COFFEE BEAN SELECT SCO2 INDIA | 1 | .12 oz. | 4.88 | $4.88 |
1897.C | .12oz CARDAMOM WHOLE SELECT SCO2 INDIA | 1 | .12 oz. | 6.93 | $6.93 |
4.C | .12OZ PERU BALSAM E EO | 1 | .12 oz. | 4.41 | $4.41 |
606.F | 1oz GRAPE SEED EXTRA VIRGIN USA FIXED OIL | 1 | 1 oz. | 3.26 | $3.26 |
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| Total |
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| $78.56 |
Plum Kernel Oil - Organic 2 oz (glass) | 1098-9 | 1 | $21.00 |
Basil, Sweet ct Linalool - ORG Sample (1 ml) | 95-3 | 1 | $3.00 |
Clary Sage Absolute 15 grams | 235-015 | 1 | $27.50 |
Elemi Sample (1 ml) | 285-3 | 1 | $3.00 |
Subtotal |
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| $54.50 |
Shipping & Handling |
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| $12.75 |
Discount (Free Samples) |
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| -$6.00 |
Grand Total |
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| $61.25 |
SKU: | Product | Quantity | Price | Ext. Price |
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bl-179_sz1 | Agrestic-4ml | 1 | $16.75 | $16.75 |
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ac-103_sz1 | Cervolide (Givaudan)-4ml | 1 | $15.75 | $15.75 |
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eo-319-sz1 | Clary Amber®-4ml | 1 | $49.75 | $49.75 |
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eo-129-sz1 | Immortelle **-4ml | 1 | $25.75 | $25.75 |
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SubTotal: |
| $108.00 |
Shipping: | UPS Ground | $13.79 |
Tax: |
| $10.53 |
Total: |
| $132.32 |
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Payments: | Gift Card | $50.00 |
| CREDITCARD | $82.32 |
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| My fragrance drawer workspace. Most of my collection of aroma chemicals and natural ingredients are here, and some carrier oils, along with some past, or handy, formulations, as well. |
Here are some of the notable, stand-out materials, out of what I ordered, this week.
I'm excited with just about everything I got from Liberty Natural (the first list). The mimosa floral wax gives a great impression of a hay field. Peru Balsam is sweet, balsamic, and mysterioiusly smoky. I was able to make a coffee fragrance-based ingredients ensemble out of the simple combination of coffee bean sCO2, coffee flower absolute, Peru balsam, and benzoin liquid. I wore this combination when I went out in town, this evening, in DTLA, and I think that it went well. I added a touch of ethyl cyclopentonolone - that's my go-to ingredient for caramel-y, barely on the burnt side, more like caramelized, effect. It all smells great - clean, coffee-like, accessible and relatable ingredients, making for a gourmand fragrance delight, and I've read that a touch of cardamom adds the nicest hint of spice, when used accordingly, amongst coffee notes, although I haven't tried wearing that out, just yet.
I stocked up on more clary sage absolute, so that I could make more of my original celadon skin cream, as well as other, new formulations, which I also purchased plum kernel oil, all from Eden Botanicals. The plum kernel oil is one of my favorites, with a light and mild plum aroma to it, and some scent of almond oil, as well, which would make sense, since the two trees, plum and almond, belong to the same family and genus.
The Perfumer's Apprentice purchase is the last on the list. Agrestic is very nice, there's hay and tobacco notes, an herbal and a slight touch of fresh mint, to it. Cervolide is a nice, fruity type of musk, with also some skin fragrance about it, in the dry down. Clary Amber gives a strong impression of something like a strong cedar and wood dust, and it was difficult, at first, to discern the clary sage origins of the scent, but over time, the character of the clary sage started to shine through. It's a very powerful ingredient, and it's more of an effect type of addition to a composition, rather than a feature, I'd say. Immortelle gives a slightly medicinal aroma about it, if that aroma came from fresh wall paint. Even so, the ingredient has a large basis in skin care, so I wanted to try it out, at some point, to see how I could fit it in to a mix, or to feature it.
