How to make your own cosmetics in natural ways
For several years now, many women have been turning away from conventional cosmetics to start using homemade products. Driven by the Do it yourself (DIY) trend and by a desire to go back to nature, homemade cosmetics are accessible to all budgets and relatively simple to make.
To play the little chemist and prepare your personalized beauty products, certain ingredients and a minimum of equipment are essential. However, making your own cosmetics also requires you to follow certain hygiene rules and precautions to avoid any undesirable reactions. Pharma GDD takes a look at this growing trend and explains the steps to follow for successful homemade cosmetics. before getting to the heart of the matter, I recommend this website "takediy.com" in which you will find a lot of recipes and tips that you can make them yourself at
Why make your own cosmetics?
Making your own beauty products is above all a way to control the ingredients, whether it is their origin or their dosage. Indeed, some substances used by conventional cosmetic laboratories can cause undesirable skin reactions such as redness, dryness, tingling or itching. In some cases, switching to home-made cosmetics is a more respectful alternative for the skin and its sensitivity.
Homemade cosmetics are also the best way to provide customized care according to the needs of the skin and hair. Indeed, these evolve according to several factors (season, lifestyle) and are not the same throughout the year, which explains why some conventional products seem no longer suitable or lose their effectiveness. By opting for homemade cosmetics, you can choose active ingredients that correspond to your needs at the time, which is more effective but also more economical. You can also make all kinds of products: face cream or serum, body lotion, scrub, hair mask, soap, etc.
The decision to make your own hygiene and beauty products is generally part of a more global ecological approach and a desire to respect the environment by reducing the production of waste and returning to "raw" products that do not involve any polluting processing.
Finally, homemade cosmetics also involve a playful aspect that appeals to many people. Discovering new ingredients, manipulating different active ingredients and working with textures and fragrances until the desired product is obtained can be a source of real fulfillment and become a hobby in its own right.
The essential ingredients in home cosmetics
Homemade cosmetics are based on several principles, the main one being the selection of the right ingredients. For this, we recommend that you turn to products of natural origin and, ideally, certified organic. Choose versatile ingredients with which you can make several different products: vegetable and essential oils, floral waters, vegetable butters, clays... Below is our selection of essential ingredients to have in your cupboards if you want to make your own cosmetics.
The neutral bases
As their name indicates, neutral bases are preparations that serve as a base for the various beauty products that can be made. They are generally formulated without perfume and with very simple ingredients adapted to all like shea butter, vegetable oils, aloe vera and glycerin. Some bases contain surfactants and can be used to make a cleansing gel or shampoo. It is possible to add targeted active ingredients according to the needs of the skin and hair, as well as fragrances to obtain a sensorial care.
Vegetable oils
Vegetable oils are obtained from the cold pressing of fruits, seeds or nuts from oleaginous plants. Naturally rich in lipids, vitamins and fatty acids, they have multiple virtues and can thus be adapted to all skin types. Vegetable oils can be used in different ways to make your home cosmetics: alone or in combination with essential oils, in the elaboration of creams and scrubs for the face and body or in hair care.
We advise you to choose two or three vegetable oils that are suitable for your skin type so that your skin can benefit fully from their benefits. Our tip sheet "Recognizing and caring for each skin type" will help you determine yours. Here is a non-exhaustive list of plant oils commonly used to make homemade cosmetics: jojoba, apricot kernel and avocado for dry skin; sweet almond, apricot kernel and coconut for normal skin; jojoba, hazelnut and black cumin for combination to oily skin; argan, rose hip and evening primrose for mature skin.
Essential oils
Plants can also be used to make essential oils. After being harvested, they are steam distilled to release their aromatic essences. Essential oils are very powerful and concentrated active substances, hence the need to be very careful when using them and to scrupulously respect the recommendations. In home cosmetics, they are always diluted in vegetable oils or butters to bring a more intense care or a particular perfume. For safety reasons, their concentration should not exceed 2% of the final preparation for face care and 5% for body products. The table below presents some essential oils that you can use to make your own beauty products.
Floral waters or hydrolats
Resulting from the same process as essential oils, floral waters (or hydrolats) are the result of water evaporated during distillation. They are less concentrated than essential oils and therefore less aggressive. There are many floral waters to meet a wide variety of needs. They can be used to make face, body or hair care products.
We offer you a quick overview of the best known and most used floral waters in home cosmetics, to be chosen according to your skin type and its possible problems. Geranium floral water is balancing, astringent, regenerating and soothing. It is suitable for all skin types and has a very fresh and fragrant scent. Lavender floral water, very appreciated for its scent, is purifying, toning, healing and anti-wrinkle. It treats burns, redness and sunburn. Mixed to oily skin can turn to rosemary, tea-tree or peppermint floral waters which have purifying, regulating and astringent virtues. Cornflower hydrosol is generally included in eye makeup removers because it has decongesting, draining and soothing properties that are very effective on puffiness. Finally, rose floral water is perfectly suited to normal to dry skin. It soothes redness due, for example, to couperose or an allergic reaction. It is also invigorating and refreshing.
The vegetable butters
If you want to start making your own cosmetics, vegetable butters can be useful, especially for making body creams or hair masks. Vegetable butters are fats that have the same properties as oils but are in solid form. They are nourishing, repairing and protect from external aggressions. They can be used alone directly on the skin or hair or added to a preparation to thicken it and give it a richer texture. We recommend that you choose soft vegetable butters such as shea butter or mango butter as well as a "hard" butter such as cocoa butter, which is ideal for bringing more consistency to your homemade products.
Clays
Clay is an ingredient that is used in many home cosmetic recipes. There are different types of clay, in the form of powder or ready-to-use paste. It is especially recommended for making face or hair masks.
Green clay is mainly intended for mixed to oily skin prone to imperfections. It is purifying, clarifying and absorbs excess sebum. Softer, white clay is ideal for gently cleansing the most sensitive skin. Normal to combination skin that does not have any particular skin problems can turn to red clay, which restores radiance and reduces any redness. Finally, pink clay is soothing and softening and is suitable for all skin types.
Preservatives
The natural products recommended to make your own cosmetics do not contain preservatives, it is essential to add them when preparing your home care. Without this element, the conservation time in the refrigerator is three days maximum. Adding a preservative can increase the shelf life of homemade products up to 3 months and protect them from harmful agents such as bacteria, yeast and fungi.
Several preservatives are now readily available to home cosmetic enthusiasts. For example, we can mention wheat germ oil, vitamin E, naticide (of natural origin) or sodium benzoate (synthetic preservative authorized in organic cosmetics). Grapefruit seed extract is also a very good preservative, especially when integrated into preparations containing water and hydrolats. Vitamin E has an interesting antioxidant action to preserve products based on oils and butters in an optimal way.
The material to start in homemade cosmetics
Making your own cosmetics doesn't necessarily require a huge investment in terms of equipment, as the recovery and use of common utensils are largely sufficient to start. First of all, you will need to find bottles and jars of different sizes to pour your preparations into. Smaller containers (15, 30 and 50 ml) are ideal for face creams, while larger bottles are suitable for body products. To make the mixtures, bowls of various sizes, preferably in glass, are more than sufficient. Also invest in a protection kit (gloves, goggles, mask) that you will wear during the manufacturing of your products to avoid any reaction linked to certain components.
An electronic precision scale will be very useful to weigh each ingredient and to make your homemade cosmetics correctly. As for utensils, measuring spoons, test tubes and graduated pipettes will allow you to respect the dosages indicated in the recipes. A whisk and a spatula like a maryse are then sufficient to mix the ingredients and transfer the preparations into the bottles. A mixer can be useful to give a more pleasant texture. Finally, labels are essential to distinguish your homemade cosmetics and specify their use-by date.
Precautions and hygiene rules
If making homemade cosmetics is a fun activity, it also implies a certain number of hygiene rules and precautions to follow. Indeed, the environment is not sterile and this implies a risk of contamination of products by micro-organisms. Before starting to manufacture a product, it is important to properly disinfect all the equipment used as well as the work surface. If necessary, do not hesitate to boil the utensils before and after using them or use medical alcohol.
Always wear gloves and possibly a mask to protect yourself and handle the ingredients safely. You can use pipettes or a small spatula to take the doses you need without touching the whole product. As in cooking, make sure to respect the doses to obtain a product that meets your expectations.
As for the containers, choose them preferably airtight, opaque and made of glass. Keep the ones you don't use in a cardboard box or a closed cupboard to protect them from dust and mildew. Also, sanitize them before pouring in your homemade cosmetics.
Your basic ingredients should also be kept in a dry place, away from heat and light. Do not use them if they are past their expiration date or if they have changed in appearance or smell. Never use an unfamiliar ingredient without knowing the safety precautions, directions for use and recommended dosage. This information is usually specified on the technical data sheets or instructions provided by the manufacturers.
When your homemade cosmetic is ready, don't forget to label it with the date of production, the use-by date and the indication. Always perform a skin test before the first use by applying a small amount in the fold of the elbow. Wait 48 hours and, in case of reaction, do not use the product.
If you use essential oils to make your own cosmetics, always ask a pharmacist for advice beforehand. Indeed, some essential oils may be forbidden to pregnant or breastfeeding women as well as to children under a certain age. Essential oils, especially those derived from citrus fruits, can leave hyperpigmentation marks when exposed to the sun. A skin test should always be performed before using an essential oil to assess its tolerance.
Recipes for home cosmetics
To conclude this guide to homemade cosmetics, we offer you five recipes to make at home, following the precautions we have indicated.
The lip balm
Ingredients (for about 15 ml): 10 g of shea butter; 10 ml of vegetable oil (sweet almond, argan, coconut); 4 g of beeswax; 4 drops of preservative; 4 drops of sweet orange essential oil; 4 drops of orange flower water
Protocol: Melt the shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax in a water bath. Let it cool then add the sweet orange essential oil, the orange blossom water and the preservative. Mix the preparation well until you obtain a smooth and creamy texture. Pour it into a small jar previously disinfected. Place the jar in the refrigerator until the balm has set.
The body scrub
Ingredients (for 1 use): 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar; 1 tablespoon of coarse salt; 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (olive, hazelnut, jojoba); 3 drops of essential oil (orange, lemon, lavender)
Protocol: Pour the vegetable and essential oils into a small bowl and mix. Add the powdered sugar and coarse salt before mixing again. Then use on wet skin.
The moisturizing body balm
Ingredients (for 100 ml of balm): 25 g of shea butter; 25 g of mango butter; 30 g of coconut oil; up to 10 drops of the essential oil of your choice; 5 drops of preservative
The protocol: Melt the vegetable butters and coconut oil in a water bath. Mix until a homogeneous texture is obtained. Let cool before adding the drops of essential oil. Pour into a jar and place in a cool place to harden.
The face scrub
Ingredients (for 1 use): 1 teaspoon of rice flour; 1 teaspoon of baking soda; 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil of your choice; 2 drops of essential oil
The protocol : As for the body scrub, mix in a bowl the vegetable oil, the bicarbonate of soda and the rice flour then add the essential oils. Apply on the skin beforehand cleaned and humidified in circular movements.
The biphasic make-up remover
Ingredients (for 100 ml): 50 ml of vegetable oil according to your skin; 50 ml of lavender or cornflower floral water; 2 drops of preservative; up to 10 drops of essential oil (according to your needs)
Protocol: In a small bowl, pour the vegetable oil and floral water. Mix in the essential oils and the preservative and pour into a suitable bottle. The two phases do not mix, shake the bottle well before each use.
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