Leucidal complete might work. It’s used at 2-4% and helps extend the shelf life of products. A 4% dilution would be 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of leucidal in this recipe. You can get it here. https://www.amazon.com/Leucidal-all-natural-Preservative-Skin-Perfection/dp/B01LYI82KS?&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=224ca750cde8403cb671251dcd7d2be5&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Most rose waters (hydrosols) come already preserved with a preservative. Rosemary extract could work, but you would need to be sure it’s one that’s water soluble. The ones I’ve found are all oil soluble and would only work in a water soluble product with an emulsifier. It’s also not a broad spectrum preservative as it slows oxidation but doesn’t prevent microbe growth like a true preservative. Optiphen is nature identical but it is synthetic and not a natural substance.

Is organic rose water better alternative to distilled water. Otherwise you can use natural preservative like Optiphen or Rosemary extract if you use distilled water.

Any liquid carrier oil will work. Sweet almond, avocado, fractionated coconut, etc.

The original recipe used 3 TBSP of shea butter and omitted the carrier oil. It also used only candelilla wax (with a beeswax option) instead of also using emulsifying wax. The new recipe is less greasy feeling, absorbs faster, and holds together better without seperating, but you can always use the older version if preffered.

The recipe has a total of about 7,500 mg of magnesium.

If I buy the topical magnesium through the link, will that also have a short shelf life? If yes, i am thinking maybe I should share it with another person.
Unrelated to the magnesium, I thought I heard you say that progestin is better than taking estrogen-as it doesn’t cause cancer. I heard on antihero podcast that progestin has side effects and should be avoided. Am 62 and have issues with hormonal imbalance but don’t know what specific blood tests to do. (The podcast is Naturally Nourished-how to naturally increase your progesterone.)

You could try reducing the candelilla wax (not the emulsifying wax).

You might be able to use the magnesium oil instead of the flakes dissolved in water (which is essentially just making your own magnesium oil). Maybe 1/2 cup of the premade magnesium oil would work here?

The magnesium flakes need dissolved in water since they’re water soluble. The emulsifying wax is what combines the water and oil soluble ingredients together to make a lotion consistency.

Products that contain water need a preservative. Please, be careful. If you don’t see mold in it after a few days it doesn’t mean the product is safe from microorganisms like bateria that grow in products that contain water. You can use a natural preservative like Euxyl K 903. Keeping the product in the fridge will make it last probably a couple weeks.

You could try 1 teaspoon and see if that helps.

Since it contains water it may cause certain metal containers to rust.

Generally you would have the vitamin E be 1% of the recipe. In this case that would be about 1/2 teaspooon of vitamin E oil.