This micellar water cleanser is the last in my recent series of all-about DIY face cleansers. While the recipe may seem quite basic, micellar waters are wonderful for leaving skin clean and sparkling!
Micellar waters are also really good for getting makeup off your face, as well as breaking up daily grime. While I wouldn’t say it’s better than a foaming cleanser, it’s definitely still good at the task.
I compare micellar waters to gel cleansers in this way, although sometimes gel cleansers can feel a little sticky on the skin. If this isn’t for you, micellar water is probably a better choice.
Great for Oily Skin
Okay, so I’ve read a lot of people say “micellar waters are great for dry skin” and this isn’t good advice. Micellar waters are comprised mostly of hydrosols and surfactants.
Hydrosols, and all waters for that matter, evaporate from your skin once their applied, taking with it the natural oils and lubricants that exist to nourish our skin.
However, micellar waters will work great for anyone with normal or oily skin. If you do have very oily skin, you may wish to try a foam cleanser instead. It just has a bit more of a kick to it.
Customizable To You And Your Skin
As micellar waters are water-based, there’s a whole host of different water-based botanicals we can make use of. The best are glycerites, but if your skin isn’t dry you could make use of a tincture.
This allows you to customize your micellar water to your own unique skin. Maybe you’ll want to add some anti-aging power to your cleanser, or maybe add something that helps to even out skin tone.
On the flip side, this cleanser doesn’t actually need a glycerite if you don’t want one. It’ll work just as well to cleanse the skin all by itself.
Ingredients
- 60g Lemon Balm Hydrosol
- 29g Lavender Hydrosol
- 6g Glycerine
- 4g Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- 1g Preservative
- Glass bottle with a spray pump
This should produce around 100g of product, with a shelf life of about 6 months.
Notes:
Hydrosols
Lemon balm hydrosol, also known as Mellisa hydrosol, is a wonderful ingredient. Not only does it have a calming and uplifting and aroma, but it’s also great for cutting through oily skin. It’s also anti-bacterial, so adds an extra kick for your cleanser.
Lavender works in tandem with the lemon balm, helping to fight off bacteria. The combination of these aromas is also wonderful. Furthermore, it helps to balance skin tone, as well as clear up nasty blemishes much more quickly.
Surfactant
Now, if you know anything about surfactants, you know they’re not the best ingredients for our skin. However, if you can make use of a more natural alternative to say, slsa, you’ll find they can be much more gentle on our skin.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is widely accepted as an ingredient in natural skincare, and we really can’t do without it in this recipe. Without the surfactant, we simply have a toner, not a cleanser. It adds an extra punch to the recipe that will break up layers of make-up and oil on the skin, as well as to help clear out pores. It really is quite important.
Method
Step 1: Start by measuring out both your lemon balm and your lavender hydrosols in a single beaker. I love this recipe because it requires very little cleanup, as we’ll be weighing all of our ingredients into this single beaker.
In order to stay accurate, I like to weigh each ingredient by resetting the scales. So, I’ll weigh out one ingredient then press the T button, then rinse and repeat.
Step 2: Go ahead and add the glycerine. This ingredient will make our cleanser more nourishing for our skin.
Step 3: Now it’s time for the surfactant. You’ll want to add this to the same beaker but do it very slowly. We don’t want to agitate it, otherwise, we’ll end up with lots of bubbles.
Once you’ve added it to the beaker, stir the liquid together very slowly until it becomes homogeneous. Again, it’s super important to stir very slowly. Patience is important here to ensure a good final product.
Step 4: Lastly we’ll want to add the preservative. This makes sure our product is long-lasting and safe to use throughout its shelf life of about 6 months. Without this, you run the risk of exposing yourself to nasty bacteria and fungi that can cause skin infections.
You can use a pipette to ensure you get an exact measurement.
Step 5: Now that our ingredients have been combined, we can go ahead and pour the mixture into our chosen bottle. For this product, I’ve chosen a glass bottle with a spray pump.
The cleanser can then be easily sprayed onto a cotton pad and applied to the face like any other cleanser.
