Today I will tackle a few more of the requests from my mountain of requests for our Quick Gifts from Your Cupboard blog post! Following the post from yesterday, we are going to focus on facial moisturizers today. These are recipes that would also work as light weight body lotions. Let’s go take a peek at the recipes I’ve come up with!
LuAnn wrote, “My cupboard definitely isn’t empty, but I’m kind of stumped on a couple of recipes that I would love help with! I am looking for a good cleanser and moisturizer for acne prone skin. My daughter is headed to college in Eastern Idaho……very cold and very DRY! So I especially need a facial moisturizer that will not cause break-outs, but that will keep in the moisture.”
Before I move into my formulas for LuAnn, I would like to take a moment to share some information about acne with all of our readers. There are many types of acne, but I’m going to discuss three types. 1) Normal acne is simply acne that most teens and young adults deal with as they go through puberty. If you still have acne in your early twenties, it may not be normal acne. 2) Cystic acne is mostly very painful acne that is subterranean and lumpy. Cystic acne can often be a indicator of other health issues that are based in hormone imbalances. 3) Infectious acne is typically caused by staphylococcus epidermidis (staph bacteria) and is acne that reoccurs in the same spots and can be spread by touching different parts of the face. As someone who has suffered from infectious acne, I know how miserable it is to have acne that doesn’t respond to over the counter treatments. A dermatologist is someone that can best tell the difference and help consult for the best treatment routine. Now that I’ve explained a little about acne, let’s jump into the formulas!
If acne is light and periodic, then this formula will be wonderful! If the acne is heavier and/or constant, you can make this facial moisturizer, but I promise a dermatologist will be able to help the long term problem.
67.5% Water
15% Jojoba, Golden or Colorless
5% Conditioning Emulsifier
3% Cyclomethicone
3% Hydrovance
3% extracts of choice
2% Orchid Extract
1% essential oils of choice
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
Leslie said, “I’d love a light, and thin face moisturizer. I don’t like things thick or sticky on my face.”
This formula will definitely fit the bill for you. The only addition that I would recommend would be Orchid Extract as it is my favorite for skin on any face!
77.5% Water
8% Apricot Kernel Oil
7% Veggie Emulsifier
2% Hydrovance
2% Cyclomethicone
2% Avocado Oil
1% Calendula Oil or Orchid Extract
0.5% Liquid Germall Plus
I have still more formulas that I’m working on! If there is something you would like help with, please feel free to send us a message through the Contact Us page! I’m having fun with all the formulas!
Thanks for the recipes! I’m always looking for a good facial combination! I’d love to know WHY each of these ingredients was chosen/it’s purpose so to speak. That would really help me as I try to make my own formulas. For example, why is Orchid Extract a good choice for facial cream? Thanks again!
Well, I can try to help explain these ingredient choices, but they were first chosen as they were part of the supplies on hand for LuAnn and Leslie.
The facial moisturizer for LuAnn uses Jojoba as it is an ingredient that feels good on the skin and also doesn’t seem to block the pores as much.
I added Hydrovance as it is a long term humectant which I think is important for the skin.
Cyclomethicone adds a talc-like feel and spreadabilty.
Orchid Extract is a good choice for face creams because it has been touted to have reparative and protective properties, moisturizing, fighting free radicals, and reducing the appearance of fine lines. You can frequently find orchid and other botanical extracts in high end skin care products because of their superior profile, rich in minerals and moisturizing compounds.
I hope this helps!
Can’t wait for my stuff so I can make these!
You are going to love these recipes!
Thank you so much for the recipe!!! I am making it tomorrow, so I have a question about the extracts. I do have Orchid, so I’m excited to try it, but what other extracts do you think would work for the rest? I know I have horse tail from you guys, and from another supplier I have nettle, mallow, green tea, aloe, buckthorn, calendula, and dulse. I don’t need to use calendula, because my jojoba oil is infused with lots of it!! Also, for the essential oils, I’m a little stuck. Tea tree tends to dry her skin out if used too often, and it’s already in her charcoal soap. I was thinking rose geranium would work, with maybe some ylang ylang? I have a little chamomile, lemon, orange, litsea, bitter orange, petitgrain, rosemary, lavender…..and quite a few others. She doesn’t care for lavender, but I know it’s good for the skin. I also don’t want it to smell bad!!! Any ideas??
Thanks again!
P.S. I forgot to mention that I have some allantoin too…would that be helpful?
LuAnn,
I would use Green Tea, Aloe and possibly Mallow as the extracts. I think Rose Geranium and Ylang Ylang would smell wonderful, I would start with 3 parts of Rose Geranium blended with 2 parts of Ylang Ylang. If it needs a little balancing, try adding some Chamomile to the blend. Allantoin is also a good addition. Try adding 0.5% and dropping that amount from the water.
Good luck!