Experimenting With Emulsified Oil Cleansers

[IrishLass]

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

 

[beckster51]

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.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

... 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.

... 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

 

[IrishLass]

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

 

[Zany_in_CO]

...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!

 

[amd]

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.

 

[beckster51]

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?

 

[amd]

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

 

[IrishLass]

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

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

 

[amd]

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.

 

[beckster51]

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

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.

 

[navigator9]

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.

 

[IrishLass]

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.

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

 

[asmita]

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

 

[Mobjack Bay]

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 !

 

[DeeAnna]

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.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

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.

 

[IrishLass]

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