Rose & red clay cleanser
This fabulously rich and decadent cleanser can be used morning and night to remove make-up and give your skin a pampering treat. It is suitable for dry, sensitive, and aging skin, so if you have an oily or blemished skin, this one may be a bit too rich for you. When blended with patchouli, rose absolute (or, even better, rose otto) is a fabulous anti-aging oil. It is, however, quite expensive, so if you can't stretch to rose, then add a few drops of geranium bourbon essential oil instead.
The role of the jojoba wax here is as a thickener to hold the whole cleanser together. If you do not have jojoba wax, you could just as easily use beeswax, olive wax, or almond wax instead.
Clays make a fabulous additive to cleansers and come in a variety of colors, which all have different minerals and healing properties. The red clay gives the cleanser its gorgeous deep rose color but it is a bit messy to use, so if this is a problem for you, just leave it out or replace it with a different-colored clay depending on your skin type.
Ingredients
10g cocoa butter 20g coconut oil
10g shea butter
10g jojoba wax
4 teaspoons (20ml) calendula oil
2 teaspoons (10ml) manuka honey
10g red clay
3 drops rose absolute
2 drops patchouli
Equipment
double boiler
metal spoon
airtight 3½fl oz (100ml) jar
to use
Run a clean face cloth or muslin cloth under hand-hot water and place over your face to open the pores. Take a small amount of the cleanser and massage thoroughly into the skin to loosen any make-up and debris. Remove the cleanser with the cloth. For an extra-deep clean (especially if you are wearing make-up), repeat the process.
1 Melt the cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter, and jojoba wax in the double boiler.
2 Once all the solid ingredients have melted, add the calendula oil and honey and stir gently with the metal spoon until everything is liquid. (The honey will not dissolve fully but will mix into the blend when you add the clay in the next step.)
3 Remove from the heat and add the red clay, stirring the mixture gently as it cools to mix in the clay.
4 Add the rose absolute and patchouli, and stir well. Pour carefully into the jar and seal.
Variation
A simplified cleansing balm recipe using your store-cupboard basics:
15g cocoa butter
20g coconut oil
15g shea butter
10g beeswax
2 tablespoons (30ml) almond or jojoba oil
2 teaspoons (10ml) runny or manuka honey
5-10 drops essential oil
Alternatives to rose absolute and patchouli essential oils that you could use are:
Oily skin: lemon, lavender, tea tree
Normal skin: geranium
Dry/Aging skin: neroli, rose
Follow the steps on the left to make this cleanser.
Coconut & oat cleansing lotion
Oats are a fabulous ingredient to use on skin, as they produce mucilage when added to water that brings out their soothing and softening properties. Most oat skincare products bought over the counter use a standardized oat extract. Natural or organic skincare companies are likely to use oat (Avena Sativa) tincture or C02 extract, because using an oat infusion would adversely affect the life and stability of the product and warrant a huge amount of preservatives.
Oats are very nutritious for bacteria and fungus as well as to us humans, so make a small amount, keep it in a pump dispenser (so you don't have to keep dipping your fingers in it, which increases the chance of contamination) in the refrigerator, and use it up quickly. Without a preservative, the shelf life of this recipe is minimal (a week in the refrigerator at the very most).
When making a cleanser, it is good to use the more fatty oils as they will not sink into the skin as quickly as some of the drier ones and will be easier to remove. I use food-grade solid coconut oil, which has an amazing aroma, but you could replace it with almond or macadamia oil, which would give a much runnier texture. I have used mandarin essential oil in this recipe as it is very gentle for all skin types and works especially well if you are using coconut oil that retains its natural aroma-it smells good enough to eat!
Ingredients
Oil phase
20g coconut oil
2 teaspoons (10ml) castor oil
7g emulsifying wax
Water phase
4 tablespoons (60ml) oat infusion (see below right)
Cooling phase
20 drops vitamin E oil
20 drops preservative (or according to the manufacturer's instructions)
10 drops mandarin essential oil
Equipment
cup
tea strainer
double boiler
small glass jug
small saucepan
metal spoon
thermometer
electric (or battery-operated) milk frother (see equipment chapter) or stick blender
bowl of cold water
3½fl oz (100ml) bottle with pump dispenser
To make the infusion
Put 2 teaspoons (10ml) oats in a cup or bowl and pour on 3½fl oz (100ml) boiling water.
Cover and leave to stand for 15 minutes so that the oats infuse the water. Strain through a tea strainer.
to use
Massage into the skin in order to loosen any make-up or dirt. Remove the cleanser with a damp cotton pad followed by a quick wipe with a floral water or toner. If, like me, you prefer to rinse your face with water, the cleanser can be removed with a warm damp washcloth or muslin.
1 For the oil phase, put the coconut and castor oils in the double boiler along with the emulsifying wax.
2 For the water phase, heat the oat infusion in a second double boiler or in a glass jug in a pan of hot water.
3 Heat until the oil phase ingredients have melted and both the oil and water phase have reached the same temperature of 167-176°F (75-80°C).
4 Remove the water phase from the saucepan of water, taking care not to burn yourself. Always hold with a cloth.
5 Place the milk frother or stick blender into the oil phase, which should still be in the double boiler. Turn on to a low setting, taking care to keep the blender in contact with the base of the pan so as not to introduce too much air into the cream.
6 In a steady stream, pour the water phase into the oil phase while continually blending with the milk frother. Continue for approximately one minute.
7 Place the jug or pan containing the lotion into the bowl of cold water and continue to blend until the mixture thickens slightly.
8 Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the vitamin E oil, preservative, and essential oil.
9 Pour into the pump-dispenser bottle. Make sure you label clearly with the date and ingredients used.
Macadamia & jojoba cleansing oil
I'm sure you are wondering why I called this "Macadamia and Jojoba" when the largest ingredient is, in fact, castor oil. Well, the simple fact is that "castor oil" doesn't sound very appealing, and this is an example of why skincare products are often named after their most exotic-sounding ingredient(s) rather than their largest ingredient. However, the manufacturers are not trying to con us, as such, just entice us!
Despite having such an unglamorous name, castor oil is an extremely effective cleanser: it attracts dirt and grime to itself and is very slow to absorb into the skin. It is quite viscous, so it needs to be blended with other oils to allow it to spread more easily; choose other slow-to-absorb oils such macadamia, apricot, or avocado. I have also included jojoba in this cleansing oil, as it is good for all skin types and does not block the pores.
If you intend to use the cleanser to remove eye make-up, then do not add essential oils, because they can irritate your eyes.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons (30ml) macadamia oil
1¼fl oz (40ml) castor oil
5 teaspoons (25ml) jojoba oil
1 teaspoon (5ml) vitamin E oil
10 drops essential oil (optional):
Normal/Dry skin: chamomile, sandalwood, geranium, rose
Oily skin: tea tree, lavender, lemon, cypress, juniper
Equipment
small glass or metal jug
metal spoon
airtight 3½fl oz (100ml) glass bottle with pump dispenser
1 Add the oils, one at a time, to the glass jug.
2 Add the essential oils, if using, and mix thoroughly.
3 Carefully pour into the glass bottle and seal.
to use
Massage into the skin in order to loosen any make-up or dirt. Remove the cleanser with a damp cotton pad followed by a quick wipe with a floral water or toner. Alternatively, you could remove with a face cloth soaked in warm water or a damp muslin cloth.
Lavender & witch hazel skin freshener
Skin fresheners, or toners, are something we were all encouraged to use in the past as part of a cleanse, tone, and moisturize routine, and although they seem to have fallen out of favor, I have included a couple of different options for you here.
If you take a look at the ingredient listing of most good-quality natural toners, they are mainly...
