Clay Cleanser - Emulsifier Needed?

[Nat]

Hi! I just have a quick question. I'm hoping to make a cleansing grains of sorts using mainly bentonite clay, activated charcoal, and baking soda. I want to make it including a carrier oil, so it has a creamy, moist consistency. Would this need an emulsifier? I'm just worried that the dry ingredients will eventually separate from the oil.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[DeeAnna]

An emulsifier does not necessarily do what you want it to do -- keep a powdered ingredient in suspension. An emulsifier would be useful mainly in a product that contains oil-soluble ingredients and water-soluble ingredients. Your proposed recipe has no water-based ingredients in it so the emulsifier is pretty much non-functional as an emulsifier. I would use some kind of thickener, wax, or solid fat to create a soft paste or salve consistency, so the clay and AC can stay in suspension.

The only advantage of adding an emulsifier is if you want the product to wash off cleanly as the person washes their face with water after using your product. Search SMF for emulsifying sugar scrub and you'll find threads that talk about this. That's basically what you're making -- a sugar scrub except the AC and clay take the place of the sugar. Here are a few recent ones:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59775
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=580947
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=60629

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A very good idea - I was amazed by how well the emulsifying sugar scrub washed off. If you're using an oil for a face product I would second DeeAnna's idea.

Also, baking Soda? Sounds interesting. What sort of amounts are you adding in of these ingredients? Scrubby but not too scrubby? Is the plan that the baking soda reacts with the water when it's washed off?

 

[DeeAnna]

I had kind of blanked on the baking soda. I'm concerned it might be irritating to facial skin due to its alkaline nature. If you're making this just for you, then you be the judge of whether to use it or not, but if it's for anyone else, I'd advise caution. Just the AC and clay might be plenty good enough.