# Experimenting With Emulsified Oil Cleansers



## IrishLass (Apr 22, 2018)

I'm starting this new thread in which to post my experiments, at the request of Zany , who recently posted her own emulsified oil cleanser formula *here*. Please feel free to jump into my thread with your own experiences and experiments with this type of cleanser. 

I'm fairly new to the world of emulsified oil cleansers, only recently having experienced their wonderfulness earlier this month soon after Zany graciously shared her formula with us, which I promptly made and used to see how it fared at removing my full-overage foundation, to which I'm also fairly new to as well.

My journey into these two new worlds all began when my lovely, make-up enabling niece took me out to Sephora last month to color-match me. Long story short- she's got a natural talent for spot-on color-matching (much better than the people that work there)....... and I absolutely love the full-coverage foundation she picked out for me.... but by golly it's not exactly the easiest stuff to wash off! You can read more about my full-foundation facial-cleansing journey *here*, where I talk about having found that the shave soap that I make for my hubby works surprisingly well at removing my foundation in a gentle manner without the need for scrubbing or hot water. 

Anyway, a few days after I started using my hubby's shave soap,  Zany posted her emulsified oil cleansing formula, which I found to my delight worked just as well without any scrubbing or hot water-  but is so much simpler and quicker to make (instant gratification!)-  and it sent me on a web-reading quest to find out more about it.

I don't know what rock I've been hiding under, but unbeknownst to me this type of cleanser has been around for quite some time........ but boy-  the brand-name companies making this type of cleanser sure charge a lot for their product! Thankfully, recipes for making your own far-more-reasonably-priced versions abound on the net, and the ingredients are easily obtainable thanks to LotionCrafters and the Herbarie.

Okay, enough chit-chat.  Here are some links to a few of the recipes that I've found:

*https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/olive-cleansing-oil-face-wash.63933/
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/formulary/Olive_Cleansing_Oil.pdf
http://www.humblebeeandme.com/gentle-calendula-cleansing-oil/
*
While Zany's formula utilizes PS80 as the emulsifier part, the recipes in the above links utilize other emulsifiers, namely Cromollient SCE and Olivem-300, and according to all I've read, they each can be subbed for the other.

I have lots of PS80 on hand, but until yesterday I had neither of the other 2. I ended up buying 8oz of each from LotionCrafter (which I received yesterday) and I proceeded forthwith to whip up a batch of Jen's Olive Oil formula from LotionCrafter (the second link of the above 3) , only I tweaked it a little bit. In place of the olive oil %, I used a combo of hemp oil, castor oil, borage oil and apricot seed oil. Everything else in the recipe remained the same, only I also added a little rosemary oleoresin (2 drops), and I made a small 1-oz batch of it instead of the huge 16-oz amount.

Results:  After applying it to my face and massaging all around for about a minute, I applied water to my hands and continued massaging, which made it go all milky/foamy, and then I splashed lukewarm water on my face to rinse off. All my make-up all came off cleanly, but my face looked a little red/irritated right after for some reason. The only things I suspect that could have been the cause of that are either the cromollient, or the hemp oil or the rosemary oleoresin (all ingredients I've never used before), or maybe it's all the pollen that's been flying profusely in the air around here the past few days. I'll do some investigating.

IrishLass


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## IrishLass (Apr 24, 2018)

Well, I used the hemp/cromollient batch again that I made the other day to wash my face last night, and all went well, i.e., no redness/irritation. It must've been something else that was going on that night.

I'm going to make another little 1-oz batch today using this:

12% Olivem-300 as the emulsifier
10% castor
1% Vitamin E T-50
and the remainder of the 77% will be made up of HO safflower, FCO and borage oil. I'm thinking something like this:   

32% high oleic safflower oil 
30% FCO
15% borage oil


IrishLass


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## amd (Apr 25, 2018)

Irish Lass, do you have specific reasons for the oils you use? Just curious if it was a benefit or just oils you have on hand 

Did you notice any difference with the squalene/cromolient compared to the PS80? I'm curious to hear the comparison using Olivem300 as well. I'm currently using Humblebee's recipe (the third link on IL' original post) but subbing in PS80 for the Olivem-300. I've been debating if it would be worth investing in O-300, but haven't done a bunch of looking into what it is and if there are benefits to using it. (I'll be hitting the Google machine later today for that adventure, so don't worry about filling me in. I'll catch up!)


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## IrishLass (Apr 25, 2018)

Hi Amd!  Mostly it's because of what I have on hand (I've been looking for a good way to finally use up that 4oz container of borage oil I bought for an experiment I never got around to trying, lol).

Having said that, though, there is a little bit of rhyme to my reason at least as far as the castor oil and hemp oil are concerned. I keep hearing from the folks in the OCM crowd that castor is a cleansing oil that is particularly good for de-clogging pores, and that hemp is particularly good for acne-prone skin. I myself don't particularly have a problem with clogged pores or acne-prone skin, but my lovely niece battles with them. The recipes I'm experimenting with are mostly with her face in mind (she's my willing guinea pig), while my own face is tagging along for the ride and enjoying their gentle make-up removing powers, lol.

I'm glad you brought up Humblebee & Me- I ran into her site several times over the past few weeks during my reading binge on the subject at hand, and I'm really enjoying it! Last night, I ran into her  *Let's Talk About 'Natural'* article and wanted to give her a big hug after reading it, but she could prove to be a danger to me, though......... after reading some of her  emulsified oil cleansing recipes that include a little Polawax to thicken things up a little, I'm feeling quite enabled to conduct even more experiments! 

I haven't made the Olivem-300 cleanser yet. I was going to do so yesterday, but got sidetracked. I need to make it today, though, because my niece is coming over tomorrow for my piano lesson (she teaches piano and voice) and I want to have a sample bottle ready for her to take home.

As far as differences go between the PS80 cleanser and the Cromollient cleanser, I'm really liking the feel of the Cromollient cleanser once I add water to my face, i.e., it doesn't produce that initial sludgy feeling when first applying water to my hands to emulsify it on my face like the PS80 produces,  although adding more water makes the PS80 cleanser glide smoothly out. That's the only difference I've been able to detect so far. Other than that, they both emulsify and clean gently and thoroughly. At this point, I can't see enough of a difference that could justify me spending more for the Cromollient than the PS80.

I'll keep you updated with how the Olivem feels and performs!


IrishLass


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## madison (Apr 27, 2018)

Following !


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## Zany_in_CO (May 13, 2018)

^^^^^ Me too!


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## DeeAnna (May 13, 2018)

An unobtrusive way to "follow" a thread is to simply click the button labeled "Watch thread." Find this button at the top of your browser screen, right below the thread title. If a person wants to make a post, the thoughtful approach is to say something useful that contributes to the conversation.

I have not made an emulsifying oil cleanser, but I have been following this thread with interest because I have made an emulsifying sugar scrub that works very nicely.  A couple of threads on this topic for those who might want to create a scrub that pairs nicely with this type of cleanser --

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/face-scrub-recipes-please.63362/
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/sugar-scrub-info.58468/


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## madison (May 13, 2018)

Thank you DeeAnna for the information. I am not following to be obtrusive, I wasn't aware of of the watched thread button though. I do have my own exterminations, but my free time to develop my own product is almost coming to the end very soon, I'll be very busy for the next 5-6 weeks. I wanted to be sure that I don't lose this thread in case I couldn't finish my emulsifying oil cleanser experiment to my liking. As for the emulsified sugar scrub I worked on mine, I like the final product, it works for my skin the way I wanted.
Thank you for the links and for taking time to reply.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (May 13, 2018)

I don't think that DeeAnna was saying that you were following to be obtrusive, just that there is a way of following a thread without having to make a post, which would notify all followers of the thread that there is a new post, but when they check it there isn't actually anything new. 

I do like the idea of this. I have some dry areas but also some areas prone to blackheads (tmi?) so I've been torn between trying oil cleansing instead of soap. But I didn't want to have too much oil left on the skin, so this sort of cleanser might work out really well


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## DeeAnna (May 13, 2018)

You're welcome, Madison. A lot of people aren't aware of that button, since I think it's a new addition in the latest update of the forum. In the previous version of the forum, a person could always subscribe to a thread in the drop-down menu right below the thread title, so this option has long been available, although it's been a little hard to locate.

I know typing "..." or "f" or "following" to subscribe to a conversational thread is a common practice on Facebook, but not so much here and that's awfully nice. Even a short but constructive comment is a useful contribution!

And with that ... I'll say thanks to IL and apologize for hijacking her thread.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (May 13, 2018)

I have a question which might be a little left field - could this be used for the hair? If oils can be good cleansers, and this will emulsify to make it easier to wash out, what sort of effect might it have?

I know IL has a lot of experience with hair, so it would be interesting. I had thought that it could be like adding lotion to the hair, but this sounds less lotion-y than a usual lotion


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## Saranac (May 13, 2018)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> I have a question which might be a little left field - could this be used for the hair? If oils can be good cleansers, and this will emulsify to make it easier to wash out, what sort of effect might it have?
> 
> I know IL has a lot of experience with hair, so it would be interesting. I had thought that it could be like adding lotion to the hair, but this sounds less lotion-y than a usual lotion



I had the same thought after seeing Zany's thread for cleansing oil with polysorbate 80.  I worried about using that much oil in my hair, so I tried making a liquid shampoo with 15% PS80, water, a little ACV to bring the pH down, and some FO.  It was thin, didn't lather, but I liked the results; my fair was clean, soft, and seemed less frizzy.  Unfortunately, after a week or so, my hair started to get greasy much sooner than when I started.  I don't think the PS80 is strong enough to remove enough oil from ones hair--let alone with added oil!  I can't speak for the other emulsifiers that IL is testing, but in my limited experience, PS80 needs a little help to cleanse hair.


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## Joni Whitfield (May 13, 2018)

IrishLass said:


> Well, I used the hemp/cromollient batch again that I made the other day to wash my face last night, and all went well, i.e., no redness/irritation. It must've been something else that was going on that night.
> 
> I'm going to make another little 1-oz batch today using this:
> 
> ...


Have you tried either of these with ps80?
I have just gotten into making natural bath and body products about 3 months ago and have already spent a fortune on all the oils and such. As far as presertives I have ps80, phenonip, and emulsifing wax nf. Do you/does anyone know a few main presertives that would work on the majority of the products without buying all the (SO) many ones that are on different recipes? I have done some researching on substitutes but cannot find an answer to this...
Thanks for any and all help!


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (May 13, 2018)

Don't get preservative and emulsifier mixed up. Ps80 is an emulsifier. This particular product won't need a preservative as you don't have water or water based ingredients in the recipe


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## BattleGnome (May 13, 2018)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> I have a question which might be a little left field - could this be used for the hair? If oils can be good cleansers, and this will emulsify to make it easier to wash out, what sort of effect might it have?



I did try a similar recipe on hair, using 25% PS80 and the oils I had on hand. It wasn’t strong enough for the amount of cleansing I want but I could work. (I’m trying to fade some semi permanent crayon colors right now). 

If you look up the “no poo” or “conditioner cleansing” methods they rely on surfactants and emulsifiers. Swiftcraftymonkey did have a few articles on making your own, but if I remember right she uses a more traditional hair care method so her musings were slightly more theoretical than from experience. The last google search I did on PS80 cleansing methods sent me to clarifying and fading unwanted dyes. 

In short, the trial and error of the right oil mix should work.


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## DeeAnna (May 13, 2018)

Gent -- I agree with BattleGnome that the idea is do-able. For an "oil cleanser for hair" I don't know if you'd want to have as much fat as is in a facial cleanser, but I think the idea is worth taking seriously.

I make a solid conditioner to go with my shampoo bar -- it's mostly conditioning emulsifier (generic BTMS) which is a decent but no-frills conditioner for hair all on its own with some fats, cetyl alcohol, and minor additives. When you rub it on wet hair, it emulsifies and forms a thin coating of lotion on the hair. It works fairly well for me, although it might not be for everyone. An "oil cleanser for hair" might work better to deep condition the hair, whereas my solid conditioner is more of a light daily-use product.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 14, 2018)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> - could this be used for the hair? If oils can be good cleansers, and this will emulsify to make it easier to wash out, what sort of effect might it have?





Saranac said:


> I don't think the PS80 is strong enough to remove enough oil from ones hair--let alone with added oil!



Straight PS-80 without anything added is great as a clarifier before shampoo or as a gentle cleanser between shampoos. It rinses clean as a whistle.  Here are some links:

PS 80 as shampoo
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/shampoo-bars-again.64936/#post-664547

PS-80
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/fun-with-polysorbate-80.69670/

I've also tried shampooing with the Deep Cleansing Oil made with PS-80 linked above (Post #1). It works for hair, but not as well because it does leave a little moisturizing oil behind. For blemishes, maybe add sugar 2:1 - Sugar to DCO. Just be sure to massage gently until the sugar dissolves. Rinse with warm water 5 times before blotting with a washcloth.


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## dibbles (May 24, 2018)

IrishLass said:


> I haven't made the Olivem-300 cleanser yet. I need to make it today, though, because my niece is coming over tomorrow for my piano lesson (she teaches piano and voice) and I want to have a sample bottle ready for her to take home.
> 
> I'll keep you updated with how the Olivem feels and performs!
> 
> IrishLass



Have you tried the Olivem-300 yet? I'm going to be placing an order with LotionCrafters soon, and am wondering if it is worth adding to my order.


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## IrishLass (May 25, 2018)

Yes- I have tried Olivem-300.  As a matter of fact I just washed my face with the cleanser I made with it. 

To be completely honest, after using each of these cleansers the past weeks to wash my face once a day (rotating them each day), I really cannot tell a difference between the ones made with the PS80, the Comollient or the Olivem......other than the initial sludginess of the PS80 cleansers when first applying water to my face to lather it up, that is (which completely smoothes out with the addition of more water). 

They each cleanse well at 10% usage rate in my formulas and they each leave the same after-feel to my face (i.e., @ 10% usage rate  neither of them make my face feel more thirsty or less thirsty when compared to each other). For what it's worth, if I wait too long to apply moisturizer after cleansing my face with any kind of cleanser apart from just plain old water, my face always starts to feel thirsty. Once the moisturizer is on, all is well and my face is happy.

Having said that, though- there are levels of thirstiness that go up or down in direct relation to the amount of emulsifier used in the formula. For example, the formula I made with 50% PS80 made my face scream loudly for moisturizer when I waited more than 10 minutes to apply moisturizer, but the one made with only 5% PS80 made my face let out only a small yelp. The 10% one is somewhere in between.

I find that I really like using a 10% amount of emulsifier. It works very well at removing my make-up 100% in just one go-around of washing/rinsing, while the cleanser I made with just 5% needed a second application to get everything off. For what it's worth, my make-up is one of those full-coverage/long-wear types. If I were wearing a short-wear/light coverage makeup or none at all, the 5% would do me just fine.

Once I run out of my Olivem and Comollient, I'm just going to stick to the less expensive PS80.


IrishLass


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## dibbles (May 25, 2018)

Thanks IrishLass. I have plenty of polysorbate 80, so you have saved me from ordering something I don’t really need.


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## IrishLass (May 27, 2018)

I was just doing some more reading about these oil cleansers and ran into some posts over at the Dish by a very knowlegable gal named Liz who has always ranked up there with Swiftycraftymonkey in my mind. I was reading in *this particular thread* about things such as skin biochemistry, fatty acid irritation, barrier damage, etc..., and something I'd never heard of before called TEWL (transepidermal water loss),  specifically in posts #22, 43 and 46. And as a result, I am off to whip up another experiment........this time using 80% mineral oil, 10% squalene and 10% Cromollient. Yes- mineral oil. I know that there are some that find the thought of using mineral oil to be anathema, but I'm going to try it out since I always keep some on hand, and also because I personally have no reservations about it.

According to other information Liz shared in regards to certain fatty acids and skin barrier damage and/or irritation, I feel like I'll at least be able to formulate with my plant oils in a more focused way than I have been doing so far. Next on my list will be one made with 70% meadowfoam oil, 10% borage oil, 10% squalene, and 10% emulsifier (with some rosemary oleoresin added in for the borage oil).


IrishLass


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## beckster51 (May 28, 2018)

I, too, am interested in TWEL, since my understanding is that this phenomena is what contributes to visibility of fine wrinkles and lines.  When I let my face get dried out, all my wrinkles are accentuated.  My problem is that I have a lot of trouble finding oils and moisturizers that are not comedogenic for me.  I had a dermatologist tell me that nothing was better than Crisco for creating a barrier, but it makes me break out.  Women at my age should _not_ have acne.  Acne and wrinkles should not appear on the same face!  All this to say that I am very interested in seeing how this mineral oil experiment turns out.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 28, 2018)

IrishLass said:


> ... as a result, I am off to whip up another experiment........this time using 80% mineral oil, 10% squalene and 105 Cromollient. Yes- mineral oil. I know that there are some that find the thought of using mineral oil to be anathema, but I'm going to try it out since I always keep some on hand, and also because I personally have no reservations about it.


I have no reservations about using mineral oil either -- I once read that it is the primary ingredient in over 50% of the most popular OTC moisturizing lotions and creams. My favorite lotion before I made my own was Vaseline Intensive Care. The problem is, I haven't been able to figure out how to dupe it!  I'm interested to see what you come up with. 



beckster51 said:


> ... When I let my face get dried out, all my wrinkles are accentuated.  My problem is that I have a lot of trouble finding oils and moisturizers that are not comedogenic for me.


Hiya Beckster.  
For wrinkles, you might like this Face Firming Gel - post #9 in this thread:   https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/wrinkle-and-face-creams-some-questions.68871/

For Acne, the Deep Cleansing Oil, 3-4 times per week, might work for you.

HTH


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## IrishLass (May 28, 2018)

Zany_in_CO said:


> I have no reservations about using mineral oil either -- I once read that it is the primary ingredient in over 50% of the most popular OTC moisturizing lotions and creams. My favorite lotion before I made my own was Vaseline Intensive Care. The problem is, I haven't been able to figure out how to dupe it!  I'm interested to see what you come up with.



My favorite hand lotion to use (whenever I'm out of the emulsified butter I make using Lotioncrafter's Body Butter Bliss formula) is Vaseline Intensive Care's Cocoa Radiant lotion, which is basically an emulsified body butter containing cocoa butter and shea butter, petrolatum, water and emulsifiers. My hands love it-  it leaves them beautifully hydrated without any greasy after-feel, or powdery-ness at the other end of the spectrum. 

Actually, the Body Butter Bliss formula, when tweaked using a reduced amount of the Lotioncrafter LC995 ingredient (aka cyclomethicone)- 2% instead of 3%-, leaves the same kind of hydrating non-greasy/non-powdery feel to my hands as the Vaseline Intensive Care Cocoa Radiant lotion. In comparison, Lotioncrafter's normal recipe amount of 3% cyclo leaves things feeling just a bit too powdery to me. I add the leftover 1% to the water amount.

Lotioncrafter formulated their recipe to be a dupe of The Body Shop's body  butter, but darned if it isn't also a pretty good dupe of the Vaseline Intensive Care Cocoa Radiant lotion, if I do say so myself.  


IrishLass


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## Zany_in_CO (May 28, 2018)

IrishLass said:


> ...My favorite hand lotion to use (whenever I'm out of the emulsified butter I make using Lotioncrafter's Body Butter Bliss formula) is Vaseline Intensive Care's Cocoa Radiant lotion, which is basically an emulsified body butter containing cocoa butter and shea butter, petrolatum, water and emulsifiers.


Ah, yes, Lotioncrafter's Formulary is the best, isn't it! The last time I ran out of my lotion stash, I bought a pump bottle of VIC's cocoa butter lotion -- not sure if it was "Radiant" or not, -- but I gagged on the fake CB fragrance and took it back. Whatever happened to the original (plain & unscented) formula? I hate it when something I love disappears and it's happening more and more often lately.  Sheesh!


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## amd (May 30, 2018)

Did you try making the cleansing oil without castor oil? I have dry acne prone (cystic acne, specifically) skin that I have to be really careful with. The only things I found that didn't break me out were using handmade soap to wash and argan oil to moisturize. That is until last week when I made a batch of cleansing oil without castor oil (I subbed in RBO). I still use my argan oil afterwards, but this stuff is nice because it will take off my makeup too. I've been using it for a week now and no breakouts. I did get one very small whitehead on my cheek, but it went away in a day. I found the cleansing oil with castor oil to be too drying for my skin. Side note: Argan oil is too expensive to use in a wash off cleansing oil, so Imma keep it for long term application only.


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## beckster51 (May 30, 2018)

I must have missed that one.  I have been using Neutrogena to wash my face lately.  I use cleansing oil in the winter months, alternating with Neutrogena.  I would love to find a cleaning oil that works and leaves my face feeling a bit moisturized so that I can avoid moisturizers.  My facial skin just does not like  moisturizers, and if I am honest, I don't like the feel of it on my skin every night.  The pores on my face are very small and get clogged easily.  DHC cleaning oil or its dupes dry my skin too much.  Is that recipe on this thread?


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## amd (May 30, 2018)

The first post of the thread has links to several recipes, the second post has IL's recipe that she has been experimenting with.


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## IrishLass (May 30, 2018)

amd said:


> Did you try making the cleansing oil without castor oil?



I recently made 2 without any castor: One contains 80% mineral oil/10% squalane/10% Cromollient and the other contains everything the same, but with Olivem-300 as the emulsifier instead of Cromollient. The past 2 days I've been using the one made with Oliveem-300, and so far this one has made my face feel the least amount of thirst right after washing with it. I just washed my face with it about 10 minutes ago and purposely did not put any moisturizer on, and it's still not whining for any yet. My face doesn't feel as full-on hydrated as when I put lotion on, but it actually feels content- i.e., soft and smooth, instead of tight/dry. I'll wash with the Cromollient version tomorrow to see how they compare. I should probably make one more version of this formula, but with PS80 as the emulsifier and see how it compares.


IrishLass 



beckster51 said:


> DHC cleaning oil or its dupes dry my skin too much.  Is that recipe on this thread?



Zany posted her dupe of the DHC cleanser on a different thread, which I linked to in my opening post. Her dupe was actually the first one I ever made/tried and it works wonderfully well....but it makes my face scream for moisturizer if I wait to long to put any on. Her dupe uses an equal amount of oil to emulsifier.

I've found that the lower the amount of emulsifier in your formula, the less drying it is......but you may want to keep an eye on how well it cleans as you proceed with lower amounts of emulsifier. Hopefully you can find the right balance where it cleans you well, but doesn't leave you feeling high and dry.

So far, I've found 10% emulsifier in my formulas to be quite sufficient at removing all my make-up in one go and not make my face scream, "_Hurry_- put lotion on me quick you slow poke!". lol

Five percent works well, too, although I didn't think so the first time I tried it at 5%, but it turns out I wasn't diligent to apply the cleanser all the way to the outermost edges near my hairline. Some make-up got left behind on my cloth as I dabbed my face off afterwards, which made me think it didn't clean as well, but it wasn't the cleanser that failed......it was actually me not being thorough enough to get to those edges.

I need to conduct more experiments with 5% emulsifier.


IrishLass


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## amd (May 30, 2018)

Ooooh! Good info about the emulsifier. I had castor oil pegged as the culprit for drying out my skin. I may go back and tinker when I use up this bottle.


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## beckster51 (May 31, 2018)

IrishLass said:


> Zany posted her dupe of the DHC cleanser on a different thread, which I linked to in my opening post. Her dupe was actually the first one I ever made/tried and it works wonderfully well....but it makes my face scream for moisturizer if I wait to long to put any on. Her dupe uses an equal amount of oil to emulsifier.
> 
> I've found that the lower the amount of emulsifier in your formula, the less drying it is......but you may want to keep an eye on how well it cleans as you proceed with lower amounts of emulsifier. Hopefully you can find the right balance where it cleans you well, but doesn't leave you feeling high and dry.
> 
> ...




Excellent information, IL!  I will take all of this into account when I make more cleansing oil.  I am on a kick to use up what I have these days, so I am going to do that first, then the experiments shall begin.  DHC and its dupes also make my face scream for moisturizer.  They clean a little bit too thoroughly for my dry skin.  I find my face likes RBO and squalene so far, so that may be my beginning point.  How did you find the borage oil?  Could you tell any difference in  using that in yours?  Thanks again for all the information.  It's priceless.


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## navigator9 (May 31, 2018)

Hi IL, I started the thread in the first link you posted, and I have to say that since then, I've pretty much exclusively switched to the cleansing oil for washing my face. It just feels so nice, it's so easy to make, and cheaply, too! I'm still using olive squalane afterwards as a moisturizer. I don't use it in the cleansing oil, for me, it's just too expensive to do that. I'd rather apply it after and leave it on, instead of washing it off. Since I love avocado oil for my skin, I used it instead of olive in the cleansing oil. My recipe is very simple, in case anyone is interested.
75% Avocado Oil
12% Fractionated Coconut Oil
12% Cromollient SCE
1% mixed tocopherols
Cleansing oils seem to be becoming more popular, not sure when people started using them, but the commercial ones are SO expensive, it really pays off to make your own. And yes, it's quite a revelation when you start using them and discover how well they work, and how nice they make your skin feel. And by making them yourself, you can use your favorite oils and totally customize them to your liking.


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## IrishLass (May 31, 2018)

beckster51 said:


> How did you find the borage oil?  Could you tell any difference in  using that in yours?  Thanks again for all the information.  It's priceless.



My pleasure! I bought my borage oil from LotionCrafters. I really can't say whether it has made a special difference in my cleanser or not (i.e., nothing sticks out to my skin as being noticeable one way or the other in any obvious way). I'm just glad I'm finally getting some use out of it. lol

I _have_ been noticing a difference with the use of mineral oil, though. My face feels more hydrated with the 2 mineral oil formulations I've made....... which brings me to an update on the after-feel of the mineral oil/squalane/Olivem-300 cleanser that I washed my face with yesterday. I ended up not putting any moisturizer at all on my face for at least 4 hours after washing, and my skin did not whine one bit in all that time to me that it was thirsty. I'm impressed! 

The other formulations that I've made so far using the different oil combos do cause a little bit of a whine if I put off applying lotion, and much sooner than 4 hours! This is making me think that the castor oil in those formulations may indeed have a certain amount of a deep cleansing effect going on......either that, or the humectant nature of the castor was causing a bit of dehydration to my skin (I live in a very arid climate which cause humectants to have an opposite effect to the skin than they do in more humid climes). This is all quite an interesting learning experience for me!

I used the mineral oil/squalane/Cromollient version today to wash my face. I had things to do/places to go today, so I did not have the luxury of waiting as long as 4 hours before putting on moisturizer and make-up, but I was able to wait as long as about 20-30 minutes. Results?: It cleaned my face well, and my face did not whine at all in that space of time for me to put on lotion. So far, so good!

I still need to make a mineral oil version with PS80. I think I shall do that this evening.



navigator9 said:


> Cleansing oils seem to be becoming more popular, not sure when people started using them, but the commercial ones are SO expensive, it really pays off to make your own. And yes, it's quite a revelation when you start using them and discover how well they work, and how nice they make your skin feel. And by making them yourself, you can use your favorite oils and totally customize them to your liking.



Precisely! 


IrishLass


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## asmita (Jun 15, 2018)

Waiting to hear about your experiment of mineral oil + PS80.


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## Mobjack Bay (May 29, 2019)

Great thread, as is the linked one started by Zany. It’s too bad that it’s taken many decades for me to discover that I can formulate my own facial products.  I’ve suffered through everything from OTC to high end products.  I once found a sensitive skin cream by Clinique that actually felt good on my face and then they discontinued it! Before it all disappeared from the planet, I drove to an outlet mall 3 hrs from my house to buy close outs after contacting Clinique customer service about where to find some.  I’m looking forward to trying a cleansing emulsified oil based on all the great info in these two threads. Thanks @IrishLass and @Zany_in_CO !


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## DeeAnna (May 29, 2019)

I went to get my new glasses today and looked in the mirror on the counter while waiting for my glasses to be adjusted. I've been skimping on the moisturizer lately ... and that mirror under the bright lights showed every fine line in embarrassing detail. That was a harsh reminder that I need to take better care of my skin. 

I think I'll do a riff on this cleanser and see if that helps too. Maybe 5% PS80 rather than 10% since I don't usually wear makeup so makeup removal isn't too much of an issue with me. The lotions I've been making lately have rosehip seed oil, meadowfoam, and squalane, and I've been pleased with how my skin feels and looks. I might have to try mineral oil too, but probably more for wintertime use.


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## Zany_in_CO (May 31, 2019)

DeeAnna said:


> I went to get my new glasses today and looked in the mirror on the counter while waiting for my glasses to be adjusted. I've been skimping on the moisturizer lately ... and that mirror under the bright lights showed every fine line in embarrassing detail.



Have a gander at this *Face Firming Gel*. 

I've been using it for years. It's subtle but your near & dear ones will notice the difference. The next time you look in one of those darn "close-up and personal" mirrors, I think you'll be pleased.


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## IrishLass (May 31, 2019)

asmita said:


> Waiting to hear about your experiment of mineral oil + PS80.



Yikes- it's been over a year since you posted and I never got back to posting my results, but for what it's worth, I made the PS80/mineral oil formula and it worked perfectly fine. 

To give y'all an update........  After a year of consistently washing my face with my various, experimental emulsified cleansing oil formulas on a day to day basis and becoming more acquainted with them/acclimated to them, if you will, I want to report that I have slightly different impressions than the initial impressions I posted on page 1 about me not being able to feel much of a difference between the emulsifiers. While all work great and get the job done gently (provided I don't go too high on the usage rate), I find that I'm really liking the feel of the Olivem over the other 2. It's not a starkly obvious difference, mind you, but all things being the same, my face just subtly feels more hydrated with the Olivem, and so I'm thinking of ordering some more once I run out.

In regards to oil combinations, I gave up on using all the various oil combos I was experimenting with, and I now just use mineral oil with the emulsifier.....oh- and 10% squalene, too. My face just seems to prefer the mineral oil over all the oil combos I've tried (less parched/more hydrated in comparison). 


IrishLass


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