How to: Green Beauty Soap-Free Facial Cleanser
Lise
We're going to be making a soap-free facial cleanser today. Even if you've never tried making your own skincare products before, this cleanser might be the perfect project to start with. And if you are a practiced artisan, you may still want to give it a whirl because it's such an effective and skin-pampering cleanser.
The green beauty cleanser features green clay, spirulina, green tea, and chamomile and is great for normal to dry skin types. I'm betting it also may perform well with combination skin.
Here's how to make 100g.
LisaLise's Green Beauty Soap Free Cleanser
| Phase | Ingredient | % / Grams |
|---|---|---|
| A | Cocoa Butter | 8.0 |
| A | Refined Palm Oil | 24.0 |
| A | Castor Oil | 31.0 |
| B | Green Clay | 12.0 |
| B | Chamomile Powder | 8.0 |
| B | Green Tea Powder | 8.2 |
| B | Spirulina | 8.0 |
| C | Broad Spectrum Preservative* | 0.8 |
*I used phenonip, but preservative can be optional - read more below
Method
Slowly melt phase A ingredients over a water bath until they are thoroughly melted
Remove from heat
Add Phase B (dry ingredients), stir to combine thoroughly
Add phase C (this can be optional - read more below)
Pour into container
Chill for 15-30 minutes until set
Add a label (remember the date)
Store at room temperature
Use with unabandoned joy
About the Ingredients
This combo of fats and oils works beautifully on my (mature) skin, and also usually makes the perfect texture (not too runny and not too stiff), but you can replace these with your preferred combination of fats and butters. If you do make substitutions, expect to do a bit of tweaking to get the texture and spreadability to what you like.
The same goes for any clays and dry ingredients you want to replace. In cleansers of this nature, the dry ingredients are going to behave differently depending on what you are using, and the texture of the final product can change dramatically.
You'll have to experiment with what works best for you, but if you're brand new to making this kind of cleanser, I recommend trying the original formula first and then making any desired adjustments or changes in the second batch.
If you have no other options but to substitute one ingredient with another, replace with ingredients that have similar density and/or weight. Example: the refined palm oil might be substituted with illipe, sal or shea butter.
TIP: Be prepared that almost ANY replacement can affect the final texture.
Here’s the cleanser right after pouring up.
Preservative in a Water-Free Product?
Even though this is an anhydrous formula, I chose to add a preservative because of the intended use of this product: moisture does have a chance of being introduced to the mixture during use - most especially if you dip wet fingers into the jar.
If you are willing to be meticulous about using and storing the face cleanser so that no moisture gets in the jar, feel free to leave out the preservative.
I wrote a post about how to know when to use a preservative right here if you want to read more about this.
Using the Cleanser
For a single application, use approximately 1 teaspoon of cleanser
Apply to moistened skin
Massage gently using circular motions
Wipe away with a moistened cloth or cotton rounds
Because there is no emulsifier in this formula, trying to rinse the cleanser away with nothing but water is going to be a bit of a chore (and won't do your water pipes any favours either). For best results, gently wipe off, then finish with a spritz of skin mist.
In my experience, using non-emulsified cleansers allows for a few extra (precious) moments of self pampering, and that just makes the whole cleansing process an enjoyable ritual.
Do Tell
Have you ever made and used a soap free cleanser? What did you think of it? PLease feel free to share in a comment below.
If you’re interested in making self-preserving cleansers and your own self-preserving glycerine extracts, you might be interested in the bundle offer below.
Course Enrolment for Emulsions Essentials at Tisserand Institute now open!
Classes start August 30th, so be quick as a bunny and click the button below to sign up and join me for this 4-week course on hand-stirred emulsions!
