# A liquid facewash for blemishes



## Astralmimi (Jun 4, 2014)

Hi all, I am posting  recipe I am playing with with currently for a facewash designed with keeping breakouts at bay. It is aimed at those with normal to dry skin. I admit I m slightly cheating, as I have bought organic castile liquid soap as opposed to making my own. (Still a huge newb at this home-made products thing!) 

I have used dried Thyme in this version after reading a new study that places it more effective at treating acne than prescription creames. (I love natural ingredients as much as possible!) Though I am unsure currently how much of its benefits will seep into the wash overall, I feel an oil extraction into witch hazel which is the augmented into the wash may be more effective. But it can't hurt aye?

Anyway, the basic ingredient list is as follows, measurements are in egg cups...you'll get used to my madness in time I'm sure. Makes just enough for a 200ml bottle. All ingredients I source are organic.

1 cup melted coconut oil 
1/2 cup Avacado oil
1 cup virgin olive oil
2 cups liquid castile soap
10 drops Bergamot oil
10 drops Patchouli oil
8 drops Eucalyptus oil
Sprigs of dried Thyme pushed into bottle.

There is no specific way or order to mix the ingredients, I just combine with a spoon and pour into the desired container. I find it has  lovely natural lemon sherburt yellow colour and with the dry sprigs of thyme poking through a look similar to those posh vinaigrette bottles you see in supermarkets.
Over time the oils will separate so I shake well before use. I am not sure on what the expiry date of this recipe would be, but as i have not used fresh herbs I would guess it would last a number of weeks at least.

I chose coconut oil as it is an absolute GOD at getting makeup off, I am a bit alternative in style and as I am sometimes known to wear heavy makeup I worried about what havoc it might be doing to my skin.  It also has a whole ton of other benefits I won't bang on about here. 

The avacardo oil for its antioxidant properties and sterolin which is known to reduce age spots and moisturize the the skin. The olive oil is mainly my blender oil, though it has its own set of virtues. It has a great high content of vitamins and minerals and is often used in anti-aging products. 

I very specifically picked the essential oils. Bergamot oil has been used for hundreds of years to treat skin conditions and has great antiseptic and anti bacterial properties. I must warn however that I have heard it may not be suitable for sensitive skin. Patchouli oil is also an anti bacterial but can add anti phlogistic properties (Which also made it popular as a skin treatment) plus insecticide and fungicide. Nobody likes fungus or bugs s as a rule. A fun fact for patchouli is it was also known as the hippy perfume, used instead of bathing. It has deodorizing effects as well as smelling awesome. Its also apparently an aphrodisiac...do report back to me on this one! Lastly I added Eucalyptus oil mainly because I like the smell. 

If anybody has any suggestions this one is still a work in progress.

Thanks

Astralmimi


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## FGOriold (Jun 4, 2014)

How do you get your oils to mix with the liquid soap since liquid soap is an aqueous product?


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## Astralmimi (Jun 5, 2014)

well this is what it looks like this morning, there is a small amount of separation between the oils but actually no where near what i was expecting. castile has  habit of holding onto ingredients which is great, however I do always give it a shake before use.


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## FGOriold (Jun 5, 2014)

Without an emulsifier, you will never get them to stay together.  I thought maybe the coconut oil might help as it is a solid but does not look like it.  

You can always keep your oils separate as a cleanser (oil cleansing method) and then use the liquid soap as a follow up to remove any leftover residue.  I make an all soft oil cleansing oil (it does have an emulsifier in it to make it easy to rinse with water - otherwise it can be difficult to rinse off since oil and water don't work well together) that I use as a make-up remover, then follow up with a very gentle cleanser.  I also have a facial scrub that uses my liquid castile soap with oils, but I use an emulsifier and it makes it into a thick cream type cleanser that allows the addition of the exfoliant. 

But if this one works for you and you don't mind having to mix it before each use, there is nothing wrong with that.


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## Astralmimi (Jun 5, 2014)

So far my product making has been very basic, I am keen to learn about emulsifiers as my last castile soap and avocado oil shower wash experiment failed due to total separation. The coconut oil in this has stayed liquid and seems to be keeping a lot of the product mixed for a long while after shaking. This makes it usable unlike my previously mentioned shower wash! 

I would really love to start adding exfoliants that don't just sit on the bottom of my bottle, and creams currently seemed to advanced for me! Do you have any suggestions for a newb on emulsifiers you use? Thanks x


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## seven (Jun 9, 2014)

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

it's a really good blog to read. lots of info, heck, i even learned to make lotions from that site. lots of useful posts on emulsifiers too.


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