Makeup remover basic recipe?

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kellyincville

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Something that I use everyday at home and haven't seen a recipe for anywhere (yet) is a soap free makeup remover. Looking at ingredient lists online for commercial products they seem to have the same ingredients as many lotions and I would like to make my own if possible.

Maybe along the lines of this:

Water/floral waters: ?
Alcohol/witch hazel: ?
Light oils (jojoba/sweet almond oil/similar): ?
Glycerin 2%
Various extracts that are suppose to soothe, reduce redness and other face friendly goodness: 1%
Thickeners (cetearyl alcohol/xanthan gum/etc): as recommended
Sometimes clay: ?
Fragrances: 1%
Preservatives: as recommended

Any thoughts/ideas on a water phase to oil phase ratio that would be good to start with on this? Would it be 80:20 like a light lotion?

The alcohol? Wouldn't that be pretty drying for the face? I was surprised to see it as the 2nd ingredient on a couple higher end brand products.

And witch hazel? Doesn't that kinda negate the purpose of using a toner if witch hazel is in the cleanser?

Looking forward to seeing what you all think!

Kelly
 
In the link, the second ingredient is alcohol. I'm sure it's there for its preserving properties, but I would think that would make the product extremely drying.
 
Sounds like fun to formulate! I personally would probably put about 25% oils in it--or even more. cold cream (basically the same idea, but a very heavy version made with beeswax in the cleanser) has something like 75% oils in the recipes I have seen for it.

cruise around at the herbarie or lotioncrafters, They have all sorts of ingredients (of course) and you can read what they do and usage rates. Lovely hydrosols, vitamin A, E and B, aloe vera, etc that would be wonderful in something like you are making.

Swiftcraftymonkey has lots of good formulas, but I have not seen one for a cleanser without surfactants. But something like one of her facial moisturizers might be of interest.

If you have not read about the Oil cleansing method, you might want to google that. It would talk some about the rational of cleansing with an oil, which might be of help to you in your formulations.

HTH!

.
 
soapbuddy said:
In the link, the second ingredient is alcohol. I'm sure it's there for its preserving properties, but I would think that would make the product extremely drying.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw that. So bizarre for a product that is supposed to be a gentle cleanser for all skin types! :shock:
 
Thanks Toni! That definitely helps a lot. I plan to experiment a bit and I'll report back how it goes.
 
I will look forward to hearing how your experiment goes. I was thinking about it more last night. I like Oil Clean Method in the winter, but have never found something I like for the summer. I wonder this would be a nice fit.

The thoughts wandering around in my head are:

You want it thin, so it spreads easily? I wonder if you even want a thickener in there. I guess I am imagining a cross between a toner and oil, as if you are doing the OCM.

Does witch hazel fit in there? Astringent to close the pores, but do you want them closed while you are trying to clean?

I think aloe and a nice hydrosol would work really well, emulsified with a light oil.

Anyway, I will be really interested to hear what you come up with!
 
i have taken rose petals and infused them in witch hazel for a while then strained them out, then added a bit of glycerine and some oil, i used grape seed oil, and put it all into a container.

i shake it up really well before i use it and i use it to take off my make up with a cotton ball. then i put a bit more on another cotton ball and wipe down again. it leaves me clean and soft and moisturized.
 
Here is one

This makes 1.5oz
1TBS of canola oil
1Tbs castor oil
1Tbs light olive oil

Mix together and pour into a clean container. Pour small amount on to a clean cotton pad or cotton ball. Wipe over your eyeslashes and lids.

HTH
 
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