Tips on Facial Soaps?

cursivearts said:

... Of course, these are the same women that will freak out if you tell them lye is in soap.

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"But, but,but... there's no lye in Bronner's!"roblem:

CaraCara said:

Hmmm..flax seed. ...Wonder how fast it would go rancid if it was finely ground.

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For something like flaxseeds, I think it'd be more a question of going stale vs going rancid. Flax oil (aka linseed oil) has a short shelf life, but I think something dry like the seeds would go bad in other ways....

I dunno, Bicycle. A lot of seeds and grains have a pretty decent shelf life. I think most seeds purchased as food items are thoroughly dried to prevent germination and, well, rot. As long as the seeds are fully dry, there shouldn't be too many problems, no more than there are with poppy seeds or what-have-you. If you have a dehydrator, you could dry them a little further just to make sure.

Yeah they should last a really long time, but when they do go, they'll likely go stales (ie, become too dried out). I used to make a lot of bagels, and the poppy seeds definitely became stale after a pretty looooong time. The sesame seeds, thankfully, we use in other recipes,so no worries there.

If the flaxseed soap is successful, I'll follow it up with a sesame oil/sesame seed effort. See how that goes. Sesame oil smells too strong IMO, but I reckon it might be appropriate when "sesame" is the theme....

My favorite (so far) recipe for my face is just my regular soap formula wih green clay and equal parts tea tree and peppermint oil. It doesn't dry too much, and it really seems to calm my skin. I have sensitive skin, and I've had issues with adult acne since I was about 25. My breakouts have lessened and healed more quickly since I started using it.

Would also be interested in hearing how the flaxseed goes. It's very popular here as a hair gel / conditioner. Wonder how the mucilaginous quality would come across in the soaps. But then maybe if it was added ground at trace it wouldn't have time to get gloopy. Interesting . . .

For facial bars I really like the sound of green tea and clay.

Bicycle, try flax seed oil. And you are correct it is very trendy for some reason. The seeds would scratch.

Miz Jenny; for a face butter in addition to adding the cocoa butter add some shea butter. It will stay hard with your sweet almond and other ingredients, but I find too much cocoa butter to be drying, at least for my skin. Of course you could try adding just a bit of beeswax, but I think that would make it heavy and hard to apply. Just my experiences with body butters with oil.

I made my castile face soap this morning (lavender/tea tree EO with green clay for additives). Now I just need to wait until Christmas to try it...lol

Bicycle808 said:

"But, but,but... there's no lye in Bronner's!"roblem:

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Yeah, but there really isnt any castile in bronners either...

I might have to try a flax soap too, im liking that idea. Thanks bicycle.

For an all purpose facial soap, i like nice clay or charcoal.

CaraCara said:

Hmmm..flax seed. ... Wonder how fast it would go rancid if it was finely ground.

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For eating, once flaxseed is ground its good for only about a day.

i just bought some alsi (flax seed) at my favorite grocery tonight. 400gm for $1.99. I already have the oil, bought for a similarly cheap price at the same place about a month ago.

I'm gonna prolly grind it up and soap with it tomorrow. Someone up-thread said that the ground flax seed will be scratchy; that's ok, some folks like stuff to be scratchy. (Coffee grinds are good.) So long as it doesn't make me bleed... :shock:

I'll post up a thread once it's done. Maybe other flax enthusiasts will do the same....

Giving yourself a home facial treatment is not difficult and can do wonders for your complexion. If you can follow a few simple directions and facial tips, there is no need to spend your hard earned money on expensive treatment procedures and products at your local salon.


A daily home facial procedure to clean, tone and preserve moisture level is crucial to prolonging healthy facial skin. Clean your skin soundly at least twice a day and exchange your pillow slip frequently. Especially important is the nightly washing, which gets rid of collected skin oils, makeup, and grime.


Washing Tips
If you have oily skin, apply a liquid or bar soap developed for your skin type; rinse off thoroughly. Dry skins flourish on super fatted soap, creamy washes, or purifying creams; normal skins can call for a mild soap or cleansing agent. Thorough washing is vital.


Most skins, except extra sensitive or very dry types, call for occasional exfoliation . Conduct this with a scrub cleanser or by working across your face very lightly with a rough face cloth or an scratchy puff dampened with soap.


Toning Tips
Freshen up the skin following cleansing and get rid of any left over impurities by passing over your face with a cotton ball drenched in skin freshener; avoid the sensitive eye area. If your skin is greasy, use an alcohol-base astringent. Dry skin profits from a mild, herbal toner, which frequently is all the cleansing required in the morning. A freshener ought to make your skin tingle and feel tight. If it stings, it's too potent.


Moisturizer Tips
Normal and dry-skinned faces, also dry regions on an oily face, benefit from a thin layer of moisturizer put on after toning and prior to makeup. If your skin is very dry, or if you reside in a frigid or dry climate, apply an emollient ointment to your skin right after the nighttime wash.


Do It Yourself Home Facial Treatment
To get rid of deep-seated impurities and perk up circulation, you can give yourself a facial treatment.

1. Boil some water, adding 2 chamomile tea bags for an herb fragrance.
2. Remove all makeup and cover up your hair with a shower cap.
3. Pour out the water into a washbasin, drape a towel over your head to entrap the steam, and hold your face roughly 1 foot above the water for about 10 minutes.
4. Daub your face dry, than put on a mask. Don't apply the mask too near to your eyes, mouth or hairline. Leave on as instructed; remove it, and then rinse off with cool water and put on moisturizer.

My favorite face cleanser is simply equal parts coconut oil and baking soda. You'll only need a little bit, it is a great face scrub. I use it 2-3 times a week (at night) then use coconut oil with vitamin e as my "facial cream". On the othe days I use my soap and my lotion bar for moisture. Most people think I am in my late 20's, which I am not.

On facial soaps: My advice? Don't

Having made soaps for years, I tried to perfect a facial soap - never worked. I studied, and tried every cosmeceutical soap bar on the market. Didn't work. I tried it on oily faces, and on mine, very dry, mature. I've researched, studied, and formulated products for troubled skin and aging skin for years; and work with cosmetic chemists, as well. The pH of the skin is very delicate, and the cleanser must be pH balanced. You CANNOT measure that with a solid soap.

A daily solid facial soap does not exist that's good for the skin (note the emphasis on daily.)

Yikes, :thumbdown:is all I can say when using castille soap on the face especially aging skin. We're in the age of cosmeceuticals, guys, take advantage of it! I do!

A once a week soap, perhaps, made with clay, essential oils, sure. I made one myself with french pink clay, a little rhassoul, cupuacu butter, lots of other amazonian oils, butters, camellia oil (great for mature skin) rose geranium and rose essential oil (yes it was EXPENSIVE, I only made 4, and I KEPT ONE!! hee hee!) but would NEVER use it as a daily facial soap.

That being said, there's simply no way of getting around the best cleansers of all - those with alpha hydroxy and beta hydroxy acids, and you cannot get them, or enough of them, or the right balance of them, in bar soap.

I make a foaming cleanser, using fruit acid alpha hydroxys, and beta hydroxys (great for acne, because they can get deep into the pores, clearing them out, and create a sterile follicle). Someone here mentioned blackheads around the nose. These are exactly what BHA's are for.

Moreover, as a foaming cleanser (no one with mature skin should use a milky cleanser), I'm able to add extracts, botanicals, therapeutic essential oils, because the alpha/beta hydroxys enable them to travel deep into the pores, acting as a carrier - balancing the skin, or healing the skin, further. So, you also have a cleanser that can multi -task too. For instance, a cleanser formulated for dry skin with acne.

I have written EXTENSIVELY about AHA's/BHA's for anti-aging, and anti-acne (http://etesianplantaceuticals.tumblr.com/day/2013/06/14 in my "Alpha/Beta: Separating Hydroxy Acid Truth from Myth and Skin Care Health" as well on the subject of Beta Hydroxy Acids: "Salicylic Acid: Natural vs. Synthetic and Why It’s Important".

In fact, I'll post my before/after photo from a teenage test subject with severe acne who used my 5 part DermaDefense Acne Kit over 3 month period. Now, TO BE CLEAR, it was not the BHA/AHA cleanser alone in which these results were achieved, as I said in the former sentence, but a result of 5 products working together.

A year and a half ago, I had given him my bar soap cleanser. The actives were: active manuka honey, goat milk (lactic acid), salicylic acid, citrus essential oils, peels (exfoliation), tepezcohuite, and more. It certainly had been a best seller for me - and still have people asking for it, but barely achieved any results.

I went back to the drawing board. I studied, worked with cosmetic chemists, with a crash course on skin chemistry, and 4 months later, formulated a natural liquid cleanser, with the fruit acid AHA/BHA's. The BHA part was salicylic acid from Aspen Bark. Some of the ingredients from the soap made it in to liquid - the tepezcohuite, active manuka honey, citrus essential oils (and 10 more). the results were incredible; as you can see from the photos.

The other one I make is for mature skin (with a tendency towards breakouts) and I use it everyday. I can totally feel the difference when I skip a day.

Again, I still get customers who request the citrus soap, but I won't make it. I've just learned too much about the skin's function. And while it's a great body soap, I fear my customers would use it as a facial soap, even if I caution against it, and I don't want to be a co-conspirator, albeit an unwilling one, in the long term damage it will cause.

That's my input on soap as a daily face cleanser, from my in depth, 4 year, trial and error, educational experience on the subject.