Reishi & Rosehip Face Cream Recipe

This soothing reishi face cream recipe features anti-aging mushrooms and regenerative rosehip seed oil. It’s suitable for most skin types, but is especially nice for dry, weathered, and/or aged skin.

jar of face cream surrounded by small rose hips and a reishi mushroom

Reishi mushrooms, also called “the mushrooms of immortality” have been used medicinally for centuries for their ability to modulate the immune system, help us adapt to stress, fight the effects of aging, and more!

Not just for internal use, reishi are loaded with antioxidants and potent anti-inflammatory properties, making them useful for soothing redness, irritation, acne, and dry skin. The polysaccharides in reishi may also protect against UVB-induced photoaging and accelerate wound healing.

reishi mushroom - ganoderma curtisii

In this study: Resolution of Cutaneous Sarcoidosis Following Topical Application of Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi Mushroom), researchers “report the case of a 44-year-old male patient who used soap enriched with G. lucidum (reishi mushroom) and goat’s milk for 3 days in treating annular cutaneous sarcoidosis. The patient showed almost complete regression of the lesions”!

Related: Check out my recipe for Shiitake Facial Soap! (You could replace the shiitake water infusion with reishi if you’d like – just simmer the reishi in water for about 1 to 2 hours to create a tea.)

For more about foraging and using reishi mushrooms, or easily growing reishi in your home, check out these articles at our family site, Unruly Gardening:

chopping pieces of antler reishi
Visit our family’s site – Unruly Gardening – to learn how to easily grow or forage reishi, plus storing, drying, and using tips!

For this recipe, we’re going to combine a hot water extract with an oil extract, in an attempt to capture beneficial polysaccharides, triterpenes, and ganoderic acids from the mushrooms. (The water extract will be more powerful, so if you only have enough reishi for one infusion, go with the water extract, and use plain or herbal-infused oil instead.)

We’re also adding rosehip seed oil, a quick absorbing oil that’s helpful for weathered, damaged, scarred, or wrinkled skin.

The inspiration for this reishi face cream comes from Herbal Academy’s Mushroom Course, Unit 4, Lesson 6: Mushroom Preparations. ?

The Infused Oil

To make the reishi oil infusion, fill a small jar with 2 tbsp coarsely ground dried reishi pieces. A coffee grinder works well to pulverize them.

If you don’t grow or forage reishi, it’s also available for sale online:

The slices can usually be snapped in half, then ground in a coffee grinder to make a coarse yet fluffy powder, or the purchased reishi powder can be used, just be sure to stir frequently during the infusing time.

Cover with 1/2 cup of carrier oil. I’ve given some oil suggestions below – feel free to use one oil, or a combination of oils.

Place the dried reishi and oil in a heat proof half-pint canning jar. Place the jar down into a saucepan containing several inches of water and place the pan over a medium-low burner. Heat for 2 to 3 hours, keeping a close eye that the water doesn’t evaporate out. The heat should not be so high that the water bubbles or simmers.

After this time, remove from heat. You can strain and use right away if you’re in a hurry, but I like to let the oil infuse for another several days to 2 or 3 weeks, to ensure a stronger infusion.

Once infused to your satisfaction, strain the oil into a clean jar, cap, label, and store in a cool dark place. Shelf life should be around 1 year.

coarsely ground ganoderma mushroom in a tablespoon

The Water Infusion

For the hot water infusion, place 2 tbsp coarsely ground dried reishi in a small saucepan. Cover with about 1 1/2 cups of water.

Bring to a simmer, cover to prevent evaporation, and heat at a low simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Check water amount periodically, to make sure it doesn’t evaporate out. Strain. If needed, add distilled water to the reishi tea, in order to make sure you have 105 grams needed to make the cream.

If you’re not going to use it right away, refrigerate the tea for 1 to 2 days, or freeze for longer storage.


For an in-depth resource about making lotions and creams from scratch, plus loads of helpful information about the best oils, butters, essential oils, herbs, flowers, and other natural ingredients to use for your skin type and needs, be sure to check out my Handmade Lotions & Creams eBook Collection!

image for handmade lotions and creams ebook collection

Ingredients Needed

You will need an accurate digital scale that measures in grams to make this recipe. Check in the kitchen gadgets section of local stores, or I use and love a Jennings scale I bought from Lotion Crafter.

Oil Suggestions

I used a combination of organic apricot kernel and fractionated coconut (MCT) oils to make the infused oil for this batch, but you can use pretty much any other type of carrier oil instead.

Some oil ideas include:

  • Sweet Almond Oil – protects damaged or itchy skin, absorbs at a medium rate
  • Jojoba Oil – for all skin types, absorbs quickly
  • Grapeseed Oil – for oily or acne-prone skin, light and non-greasy
  • Apricot Kernel Oil – revitalizes aged or dry skin, quick absorbing
  • Fractionated Coconut Oil – absorbs very quickly, makes products feel less greasy (don’t confuse this with regular coconut oil which is solid at room temperature and heavier)
  • Sunflower Oil – helpful for eczema, sensitive skin, nourishing
jar of face cream stirred by fork

How to Make

Weigh out the reishi tea into a canning jar or other heatproof container. Cover this jar with a lid, to keep the tea from evaporating while it heats.

Weigh out the infused oil and emulsifying wax in a separate heatproof jar or container. If using rosehip seed oil, wait to add it after the wax has melted, since it’s more sensitive to high temperatures.

Place the two jars/containers down into a saucepan containing a few inches of water, forming a double boiler of sorts. Turn the burner to medium low and heat until the wax is fully melted. (About 20 to 25 minutes.)

When the wax has melted, turn off the burner, but don’t remove from heat quite yet.

Add the rosehip seed oil to the jar filled with melted wax and infused oil. Stir well, then remove from heat.

Carefully – since the jars are hot at this point! – pour the hot water infusion into the jar of oils and stir, stir, stir.

I often use a fork to stir, but you could also dump the two mixtures into a wide mouth canning jar, and mix them with one beater of a standard hand mixer.

Stir frequently until the cream starts to thicken as it cools. To speed things up, I usually set the jar down into a bowl of ice water while stirring – once the jar has cooled down a bit. (Don’t plunge a piping hot jar into ice water though, or it may crack.)

Once cooled to below 104°F (40°C) , stir in the preservative. Pour into containers or jars. Depending on your brand of emulsifying wax, it will probably thicken up even more over the next 24 hours.

Recipe Notes

Even with a preservative, because of the water extract (tea), it’s a good idea to make small batches and use this cream up within a month or two, to make sure it stays nice and fresh! For that reason, I don’t recommend doubling or tripling this recipe.

If you don’t want to use a preservative, refrigerate and use within two to three days.

Related Article: 10 Natural Preservatives for Homemade Skin Care

All of my recipes are designed with the home hobbyist in mind, and are not formulated or tested for commercial use. If you sell skin care products, you may wish to consider reformulating with a standardized commercial mushroom extract instead. ?

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Sources & Further Reading

Cheng, Poh-Guat, et al. Polysaccharides-Rich Extract of Ganoderma lucidum (M.A. Curtis:Fr.) P. Karst Accelerates Wound Healing in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine; Volume 2013 |Article ID 671252 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/671252.

Kurtipek, Gulcan Sylam, et al. Resolution of Cutaneous Sarcoidosis Following Topical Application of Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi Mushroom). Dermatology & Therapy, 2016 Mar; 6(1): 105–109.

Wang, Ju, et al. Emerging Roles of Ganoderma Lucidum in Anti-Aging. Aging & Disease; 2017 Dec; 8(6): 691–707.

Wu, Yuanzheng, et al. Mushroom Cosmetic: The Present and Future. Cosmetics; 2016, 3(3), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics3030022

Yin, Zhuming, et al. Preventive and Therapeutic Effect of Ganoderma (Lingzhi) on Skin Diseases and Care. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology; 2019;1182:311-321. doi: 10.1007/978-981-32-9421-9_14.

Zeng, Qinghai, et al. Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides protect fibroblasts against UVB-induced photoaging. Molecular Medicine Reports; 2017 Jan;15(1):111-116. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2016.6026. Epub 2016 Dec 12.

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14 Comments

    1. Hi Kathy! You can’t replace water with oil, or oil with water in this recipe, but you could choose to just infuse the oil, or just infuse the water.
      You just want to keep the oil amount the same – or substitute with other oils. (Plain or infused.)
      And keep the water amount the same.
      I hope that helps, but let me know if I didn’t understand your question correctly! :)

      1. Hi :) so this means we can replace the 105 g reishii water infusion (70%) with 105 g of oil instead of the water?

        1. Hi Alice! No, you need to keep the water amount the same. If you don’t want to use an infusion, just use plain water instead.
          I see in the comment above that I didn’t understand the question correctly & answered the wrong way which gave the wrong impression – oops!
          Sorry about that! I’ll go fix my phrasing right now to be more clear. :)

  1. Hi Jan,
    Thank you for this cool new hobby you have inspired?.
    Can you please advise the proportions of Apricot kernel oil to fractionated coconut oil that you use.
    Cheers
    Suzanne

    1. Hi Suzanne! I just eyeball the amount, but probably about 3/4 of it apricot kernel oil, and 1/4 of it fractionated coconut oil.
      I usually use less fractionated coconut oil in blends – just a small amount gives you that light non-greasy feeling, an leaves plenty of the more nourishing & beneficial oils for your skin. :)

      1. I’m trying this tonight but there’s too much water infusion and it’s just not combining fore. Any hints

        1. Hi Deirdre, So sorry to hear that’s happening! (And also for the delayed reply! If you send a message through my contact form, we can answer you a lot faster!) :)
          https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/contact-me/
          My best guess is your type of emulsifier. Some aren’t complete emulsifiers, so if you’re still having trouble with lotions not mixing, feel free to email us more information about your emulsifier and we’re happy to help!

  2. Hi Jan! Thanks for sharing this incredible recipe. I was trying to use the infused oil for a daily serum, do you think that the 18% in formula is ok? I made some testing and seems to be too strong for a face serum.

    1. Hi Miel! If it feels too strong as a straight oil serum, then I’d definitely dilute it down with other oils so that it feels good for your skin type. :)

  3. Hello, thank you for this awesome recipie! I was wondering if you could use fresh reshi or do you recommend drying it first.

    1. Hi Pam! You can use fresh reishi for the water portion, but in general I like using dried plants/mushrooms for oil infusions. :)

  4. Hi Jan,

    For clarity, when making the water infusion is that where the commercial mushroom extract can be used to replace the reiki tea? Also, does that extend the self life

    Thank you in advance!

    1. Hi Reed! Yes, you would add the mushroom extract to the water portion of the recipe. (That’s where most powders usually go when making lotion so the water will dissolve them, and you can experiment with this idea with different mushrooms/powders.)
      As far as I know, mushroom extracts won’t extend shelf life; for that, you’d need an organic approved or ‘natural’ preservative.
      Here’s my article on those:
      https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/natural-preservatives-for-skin-care/

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