Aloe vera gel is one of the most popular cosmetic products

Aloe vera gel is a moisturizing product that is suitable for all skin types and ages. I would not use aloe vera on infant’s skin, but it is suitable for 3-year-old and older children.

Aloe vera moisturizes and soothes the skin. You can apply aloe vera gel directly to dry skin. You will immediately get relief from dryness and tightness of the skin. Aloe vera gel should not be used as a toner under makeup. It can cause makeup to roll.

Aloe vera gel treats irritated skin. It is the most famous after-sun product. The active ingredients of aloe vera have been known for their healing effects for thousands of years.

Aloe vera gel is also recommended for some skin problems such as acne and rosacea. Aloe vera gel can sometimes be suitable for eczema skin. It is important to remember that atopic eczema is not the same as dry skin. Atopy is an allergy-based disease. In this case, each product must be tested separately. Aloe vera contains many different plant chemicals. Atopic skin may react very violently to some of them or…not. It is worth testing aloe vera on a limited, unseen area of ​​the skin first.

Why is it worth making your own aloe vera gel?

Aloe vera gel is very easy and inexpensive to make yourself. It is one of the simplest cosmetic products.

Aloe vera gel is available in many different qualities. Most aloe vera gels are made from synthetic ingredients. They use strong preservatives, synthetic colours, and fragrances, and even plastic. Usually, there is not much aloe vera in the product itself, sometimes none.

When making your own aloe vera gel, you can only use ingredients of which you have reliable safety information. Leave out unnecessary chemicals, dyes and fragrances. Make a product that is right for your own skin, containing plenty of real aloe vera.

You need only a few ingredients

You don’t necessarily need many ingredients for aloe vera gel. Of course, you can increase the number of ingredients yourself if you want. My version only has the most essential ingredients.

Aloe Vera gel is a completely water-based product. It does not contain any fats or oils. Therefore, you cannot use essential oils or other oil-based ingredients in this product. If you want to scent the product, replace some of the water or aloe vera juice with hydrolate.

Aloe vera juice

The most important ingredient in aloe vera gel is aloe vera juice. Aloe vera juice can be purchased at health food stores. It is quite expensive and is sold in one litre bottles. If you have no other use for aloe vera juice, buying juice is not the best option.

Dried aloe vera powder is convenient to use. It is freeze-dried aloe vera juice. Just add water to the powder and you have aloe vera juice. To get 100 grams of aloe vera juice, you need 1 gram of aloe vera powder and 99 grams of filtered/distilled water. You can replace some of the water with hydrolate to give the product a pleasant scent. Aloe vera powder will be preserved for a long time, so you can always get fresh aloe vera gel. I made my own gel from the powder.

Aloe vera juice can also be made from the plant. If you have your own aloe vera plant, you can use the gelatinous part inside the leaf to make the juice. First, cut off all the green parts of the leaf, rinse the inside and grind it finely. Then filter the remaining pulp so that all the cell walls are removed. What remains is a clear, viscous liquid. The liquid is very viscous. I recommend diluting it with aloe vera juice.

Clear xanthan gum

This product specifically requires clear xanthan gum. Unfortunately, regular xanthan gum is not suitable for making a gel. Regular xanthan gum becomes a cloudy gel with clear clumps. Clear xanthan gum forms a smooth, clear gel that is pleasant to apply to the skin. So, take a little effort and look for clear xanthan gum.

Glycerol

Glycerol is a sugar alcohol. It is found in all oils and fats along with fatty acids.

Glycerol is first and foremost a moisturizing ingredient. It moisturizes the skin effectively, but not too effectively like hyaluronic acid. Glycerol is also included in this product because it makes it easier to use xanthan gum. Mix the xanthan gum first with glycerol and then with aloe juice so that it does not clump.

Glycerol is very well tolerated. Most glycerol in cosmetics is plant-based glycerol.

Preservative

This product is completely water-based. That is why it needs a proper preservative to preserve it.

Many online stores selling cosmetic raw materials offer preservatives that contain phenoxyethanol. It is not a preservative that meets the requirements of natural cosmetics and therefore I do not recommend it either.

I recommend everyone to use Geogard 221 (Dehydroacetic Acid (and) Benzyl Alcohol) preservative or a product with a similar INCI. Geogard 221 is quite suitable for this product, as it is water-soluble.

Making aloe vera gel

I made 100 grams of aloe vera gel. You can easily double the dose if you want. When making a product for the very first time, start with a small amount.

• 1 gr Xanthan gum, must be the clear version
• 3 gr vegetable glycerol

Mix these ingredients together thoroughly and set aside to wait

• 95 grams of aloe vera juice (buy ready-made or make it yourself from powder). If you are making aloe vera juice from powder, mix 100 gr of distilled water and 1 gr of aloe vera powder.

Then mix the xanthan gum-glycerol mixture into the aloe vera juice and mix thoroughly. Xanthan gum forms a gel. It takes about 15 minutes to form a gel. Therefore, mix the mixture calmly for about 15 minutes to get a smooth mixture.

Now add the preservative to the mixture and mix thoroughly again for a while.

Cover the mixture with plastic wrap or aluminium foil and leave it to set for about two hours. The mixture should now be clear and smooth.

Pack the aloe vera gel in a pump bottle or jar and label it. Aloe vera gel will be preserved for about 3–4 months at room temperature. I personally store the gel in the refrigerator. When cold, the gel soothes the skin effectively.

How to use aloe vera gel?

Aloe vera gel is applied directly to cleansed skin. The gel is very moist and takes a while to be fully absorbed. You can use the gel on your face and entire body. It is suitable for all skin types to moisturize and soothe the skin.

After the aloe vera gel has dried on the skin, apply a moisturizer. If your skin is naturally oily, you may not even need any lotions. Aloe vera gel is enough to keep your skin pleasantly soft.

Store aloe vera gel either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Keep aloe vera gel out of direct sunlight and close the package carefully after each use. It is best to dispense aloe vera gel from a pump bottle. If you have packaged the gel in a jar, always use a spatula or clean spoon to dispense.

Artikkeli How to Make Homemade Aloe Vera Gel julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

A small child may not need shampoo at all

The child’s skin is not oily at all. Very small babies often have a thick layer of sebum to protect their skin. On the other hand, 2 to 6 years old children’s sebaceous glands do not produce sebum at all.  They are dormant and are not properly activated until puberty. Therefore, children’s skin and scalp should never be washed with substances that remove sebum effectively. Fortunately, most children’s shampoos now use milder washing ingredients.

The hair of a small child rarely needs anything other than washing with water. You can also wash your child’s hair with egg yolk, buttermilk, applesauce, aloe Vera juice or another natural ingredient. Especially if your child has really fine hair, shampoo should not be used constantly. Now and then shampooing is of course ok.

A child’s scalp gets dirty in a completely different way than an adult’s. Especially in the summer, children’s hair can collect any kind of dirt like sand, modelling clay and other stuff. Parents know this, probably too well. The scalp can then be deep cleaned with oil as well. The oil can be washed out of the hair using mild shampoo.

Children’s shampoos contain harmful chemicals

Shampoos aimed at children are thought to be very mild. When I start looking at the INCI of a children’s shampoo, I immediately notice that very often it is not a mild and gentle product. Please do not misunderstand, I am not saying that shampoos contain toxic substances. Of course not, there are hardly any poisonous ingredients in shampoos, but there are ingredients that are too strong for children’s hair and scalp.

The biggest problem with children’s shampoo is the washing ingredients it contains, which are way too strong. For some reason, this problem has occurred especially in domestic products. I have written about sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) before. It is an ingredient that really effectively removes fat. SLS is even suitable for cleaning engines thanks to its effective grease removal ability. I really wonder what is the idea using such a strong detergent to clean children’s hair.

Preservatives

Another problem with conventional children’s shampoos is preservatives. Since shampoos are products that can be washed off, they can be used with fairer and more harmful preservatives than, for example, creams. What 5-Bromo-5-Nitro-1,3-Dioxane, Bronidox or Phenoxyethanol sound like when talking about shampoo mentioned for small children?  On the other hand, I do understand that water-based products must contain some kind of preservative. Otherwise, they will get spoiled quickly.

In this context, I can remind you that neither shampoo nor other detergents should be diluted with water (or any other liquid) in the bottle. The preservative does not work anymore as planned and the product immediately begins to spoil, forming moulds and bacteria. If you want to dilute a shampoo that is too strong, always do it to the required dose just before the washing process.

What ingredients do a gentle shampoo contain?

I have chosen washing ingredients for the gentle children’s shampoo, which also work in an acidic environment. The pH of the shampoo is very important. It should definitely be below 7 and preferably 5-5.5. That’s why you should definitely get pH strips to adjust the acidity. This is very important in this product.

Only water-soluble ingredients have been used in this product. No oils, essential oils or any other fat-soluble ingredient can be added to this formula.

Surfactants, the detergents

There are a lot of mild surfactants. Easily available ones are, for example, decyl glucoside, coco glucoside and Lamesoft, which is a mixture of coco glucoside and Glyceryl oleate.

These surfactants are made from either coconut oil or palm oil. If you want a palm oil-free option, choose coco glucoside. You get the best result when you combine two different washing ingredients.

The share of surfactants, meaning the washing ingredients, in the product is a very important factor. You can use detergent (coco glucoside and decyl glucoside) up to 30%. However, I do not recommend using such large amounts of any surfactant. Lamesoft is suitable for supplementing the effect and power of other surfactants. It is the so-called secondary washing ingredient. Only 1-5% of it is added.

Only 15-25% of the washing ingredient should be used in children’s products. I also think this amount is too high. I personally use only 7-10% detergent in shampoos. My own shampoos don’t lather the way shampoo is supposed to. However, remember that foam does not clean. The foam is only because of image of a cleaning product.

There are also other ingredients in shampoos than washing agents

In addition to washing agents, shampoos also contain a few other ingredients. The washing ingredient is diluted quickly, because for example Decyl glucoside and coco glucoside are very alkaline (pH about 11). They really cannot be used undiluted on the skin. Our goal is to create a product with a pH of around 5-5.5.

Hydrolates

I myself have diluted the washing ingredients with chamomile hydrolate. Chamomile hydrolate is very acidic and corrects the pH already strangely. Chamomile hydrolate is also a very gentle product that is well suited for children. Hydrolates have their own sophisticated scent. If you wish, you can also choose another hydrolate such as rose hydrolate or peppermint hydrolate. You can also make your favourite mixture of different hydrolates.

By choosing a hydrolate as the liquid, you do not need to use an essential oil to perfume the shampoo. If you want to use an essential oil in this product, you need to get a solvent (like Symbio solv Clear Plus). In this article, I will not teach how to use the solvent, so if you have not used it before, you should get a little knowledge about Symbio solutions and essential oils. Essential oils are also not recommended at all for products for small children (under 3 years old).

Emollients

One of my favourites is d-Panthenol, which is a hair and skin softener. Panthenol is vitamin B5. It is synthetically produced in a factory, but is a completely safe product that can also be used in children’s washing products. Panthenol brings moisture to the hair and forms a thin, protective film on the hair. It strengthens hair that breaks easily and gives more shine. Panthenol can be used in the product at 0.1-2%

Another moisturizing and hair conditioning ingredient is betaine. Betaine is an amino acid that is made from sugar beets. It binds moisture to the hair and gives it a silky feel and makes combing easier.

The third moisturizing ingredient is Natrium PCA, the sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid. Despite its name, it is a completely safe substance that makes miracles for the skin and hair. Sodium PCA binds moisture to the hair and helps the moisture stay in the hair as well.

The fourth moisturizing agent in hair products is glycerol. Glycerol is already familiar to many. You can read more about glycerol here.

You don’t have to use every possible moisturizing ingredient in your shampoo. Choose one suitable, easily available and use that one.

A thickener or gel former

Shampoo does not have to be gel-like. However, we are used to it. Gel shampoo is also easier to dose correctly. That’s why I support the use of gel. There are a lot of gel formers. One of the best and easiest to get is xanthan gum. We have often made products using xanthan gum. Xanthan gum should be mixed with glycerol to prevent caking.

Preservatives

All products that contain water need a good preservative. There are a lot of preservatives suitable for natural cosmetics, but their availability to the average consumer is quite poor. For this product, you should choose a water-soluble preservative such as Geogard 211 or Rokonsal BSB-N.

The preservatives I mentioned only work in a certain pH environment. Therefore, you should measure the pH of the product and, if necessary, lower it with citric acid. Rokonsal BSB-N is more accurate in terms of pH than Geogard 221. Rokonsal works best in products with a pH below 5.

Product colour

If you want to colour the product, pink for example, you can use hibiscus. Hibiscus is sold as tea. For tea, you need to heat the hydrolate or part of the hydrolate to about 80 degrees Celsius and pour the hot hydrolate over the tea bag. Let it stew for 10 minutes and cool to room temperature.

Gentle children’s shampoo recipe 200 grams

• Chamomile hydrolate 40%% 80,00gr
• Water 41,38% 82,76gr
• Decyl Glucoside 7% 14,00gr
• Lamesoft PO 65 3% 6.00gr
• Glycerin 6% 12,00 gr
• Xanthan gum 0.8% 1,60gr
• Panthenol 0.5% 1,00gr
• Geogard 221 1% 2,00gr

Do like this:

• First mix glycerine and xanthan gum. Set the mixture aside to wait.
• Mix the surfactants, Decyl glucoside and Lamesoft in a container. Try to avoid foaming.
• Measure the hydrolate into another container.
• Mix the glycerine-xanthan gum mixture into the hydrolate. Stir the mixture until it swells and the mixture becomes gel-like.
• Now add the surfactants to the mixture very carefully. Pour the surfactants as a thin strip into the mixture and mix gently without whisking.
• Then add the preservative and gently but thoroughly mix it into the shampoo. Avoid whipping to avoid creating unnecessary foam.
• Now measure the pH of the product. My product had a pH of 7. I lowered the pH to 5.5 with a citric acid solution (1 part citric acid, 9 parts water). I used about 20 drops of citric acid solution. After adding the citric acid, check the pH again. The recommended pH value is 5-5.5. However, a pH value below 6 is still within acceptable limits.
• Pack the product in a plastic bottle and attach a label. Glass bottles are not recommended in the bathroom, especially when there are children.

How to use mild baby shampoo?

This shampoo does not lather very well. However, foaming has nothing to do with washing performance. You need about a teaspoon of shampoo to wash your child’s hair. If you want, you can mix the shampoo with a splash of water.

Wet your hair thoroughly first. Massage the shampoo into the scalp and hair. Work the shampoo through your hair, but pay the most attention to the scalp.

Rinse the hair and scalp thoroughly under running water and dry with a towel. If the child’s hair is very dry and tangles easily, I recommend using a conditioner in addition.

Artikkeli Very mild shampoo for children julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

Making facial toner is quite an easy task

If you are afraid of unsuccessful cosmetic experiments, you should start with facial toners. At their simplest, facial toners are hydrolats. You can choose your favourite hydrolat as a facial toner or prepare your own mixture of two or three different hydrolats. Pack the hydrolate mixture in a pump bottle and use to moisturize your face

You can make a slightly more sophisticated facial toner using the same ingredients as a base. In addition to the hydrolate, you can mix hydrating ingredients such as glycerol and allantoin into your toner. I have written a post about glycerol on my blog. You should read them in order to get more knowledge about the benefits of hydrating the skin.

In the instructions below are the ingredients of the facial toner I prepared. If you want to add or change some ingredients, you are absolutely free to do so. However, check that the ingredients you use are water soluble. Fat-soluble and water-soluble ingredients cannot be combined in the same product without an emulsifier.

What are hydrolats?

Hydrolats are water-soluble substances obtained from plants by distillation. Hydrolats can also be called hydrosols or floral waters. There are also hydrosols that are made by adding essential oils and solvents to distilled water. These are not made by distillation. However, they can be perfectly usable products, but they are not genuine hydrolats.

If you want to make sure that the hydrosol, floral water or hydrolate you buy is made by distillation, check the INCI name of the product. For example, the ICI of rose hydrolate is Rosa Damascena Floral Water. A genuine hydrolate never contains water, but the product consists only of a water-soluble substance obtained by distilling plants and a preservative. Most hydrolats contain a preservative. That’s a good thing. Aqueous products get spoiled easily if they are not stored properly.

If the product is made of water and essential oils, the INCI of the product starts with the name Aqua, water, followed by the other ingredients used, such as essential oil; Rosa Damascena Floral Oil, as well as the used solvent and preservatives.

The hydrating floral facial toner contains a lot of hydrating ingredients

I made a facial lotion that contains a lot of skin hydrating factors. One purpose of facial toner is to moisturize the skin. That’s why it’s best to use ingredients that take care of the skin’s moisture only.

This facial toner contains glycerol. I don’t want to use very large amounts of glycerol in products left on the skin because glycerol makes the product easily sticky. Glycerol strengthens the skin’s protective layer. Without moisture, the skin’s protective layer dries up and the skin can no longer perform all its tasks. Glycerol helps the natural lipids in the skin to maintain their structure, which in turn helps the skin to stay healthy.

In addition to glycerol, I used allantoin in this product. Allantoin is a particularly hydrating ingredient that also takes care of the skin’s protective layer. It soothes the skin. The cosmetics industry uses allantoin in products for sensitive skin and to reduce skin redness. The problem with allantoin is its solubility. You cannot use more than 0.2% allantoin in the product. A larger amount of allantoin crystallizes in the product and forms sharp particles. The product becomes unusable.

I recommend you to get a precision scale. It is impossible to weigh small amounts without a good scale. A scale is also needed to weigh the preservative.

The acidity of facial water, the pH value

I know many of you are afraid of the letter combination pH. However, the correct pH value of the product is a must when making facial toner for many reasons.

One of the most important tasks of facial water is to restore the right acidity to the skin after cleansing. Acidity is measured by the pH value so that the value 7 is neutral, 6-0 is acidic and 8-14 is alkaline. The pH of products used on the skin should be between 4.5 and 5.5. Most preservatives also work at this pH level.

Hydrolats are naturally slightly acidic. However, the acidity of hydrolats varies greatly depending on the hydrolate and the preservatives used in the product. In my experience, chamomile hydrolats are more acidic than most other hydrolats. If you want to use just the hydrolat as a facial toner, it’s still worth checking a product acidity with pH strips.

Natural gums

The third very useful ingredient in this facial toner is xanthan gum. I have tried many other gums in the manufacture of cosmetics, such as konjac gum and Logust bean gum. However, xanthan gum is a very good, natural gum that is easy to obtain. Of course, you can also use a mixture of xanthan gum and Logust bean gum for this product. The mixture of these two gums is more stable than xanthan gum alone.

The purpose of gums is to increase the viscosity of the product. What is different about this facial toner is the viscosity. A higher viscosity makes the facial toner richer. It stays longer on the skin so that the hydrating ingredients can have longer time to affect. Of course, you must be careful that the toner does not become too thick (this happens easy). The purpose is not to make the product gel-like. Remember that the gums slowly thicken during next 24 hours. You will only know the final viscosity of the product after a day.

Preservatives

This product definitely requires a preservative, even if the hydrolats already contain a preservative. If you want a completely preservative-free facial toner, use only hydrosols without adding anything to them. Always store hydrosols in the refrigerator, despite the fact that they contain a preservative.

There are many different types of preservatives. A completely water-soluble preservative is suitable for this product. Geogard 221 is a completely water-soluble preservative. Its INCI name is Dehydroacetic Acid (and) Benzyl Alcohol. Other products with similar ingredients are available.

The ingredients you need for a hydrating floral toner

This portion makes 100 grams of facial toner

• Rose hydrosol 56,77gr
• Lavender hydrosol 20gr
• Neroli hydrosol 20gr
• Glycerol 2gr
• Xanthan gum 0.08gr
• Allantoin 0.15 gr
• Preservative 1gr

Manufacturing method

• Measure the hydrosols into the container.
• Add allantoin to the hydrosol and mix until the allantoin is completely dissolved. It may take some time as allantoin is not very soluble.
• Measure glycerol and xanthan gum into another container. Mix the ingredients evenly so that no lumps remain in the product.
• Add the glycerol-xanthan gum mixture to the hydrosol mixture and mix until the liquid is smooth. Now the liquid thickens a little due to the xanthan gum. The thickening of the product continues for the next day.
• Now is the time to measure the pH of the product. If you use a preservative that works over a wide pH range, you don’t need to adjust the pH so precisely. The best pH value for the skin is between 4.5 and 5.5. If the pH is too high, say 6.5, you can lower it slightly by using citric acid or lactic acid. The pH drops quite quickly, so just use one drop of lactic acid solution or citric acid dissolved in water (10%) and measure the pH again.
• Once you have adjusted the pH of the product, you can add a preservative. Remember that the preservative also lowers the pH. If acids have been used in the preservative, it is probably enough to lower the pH enough that you no longer need to lower it with citric acid or lactic acid.
• Pack the product in a pump bottle and label it.
• This facial toner can be stored at room temperature, protected from light, for 2-3 months. If you store the facial toner in the fridge, it will last maybe a month or two longer. Home cosmetics never last the same way as commercial cosmetics due to many things.

How to use the hydrating floral facial toner?

Floral facial toner is an ideal product when you want to refresh your skin after washing. Facial toner is always added to cleansed skin before serum and face creams. You can take a small amount of facial toner either on a cotton pad or in the palm of your hand. Use facial toner all over the face and neck area and let it dry without interruption.

If you want, you can add another layer of facial toner. After this, you can apply the serum and cream. if you want, you can leave only facial toner on the skin. It creates a velvety-like surface on the skin while hydrating, soothing and smoothing the skin colour.

Since no essential oils have been used in this facial toner, you can also use it around the eyes without any worries.

The hydrating floral facial toner smells wonderful. The combination of rose, lavender and neroli is a warm yet floral scent.

What did you think about this recipe? Have you added natural gums to your products before?

Artikkeli Hydrating Floral Facial Toner julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

The clay effectively absorbs impurities but also moisture from the skin. Most cosmetic clays are too drying for the skin. Only kaolin is suitable for everyone. You avoid this problem by using very little clay in the clay mask. People with sensitive skin should always mix clay with masks containing oils. Only 2% clay has been used in this recipe. It’s the suitable amount to make a gentle clay mask. In addition, the recipe contains plenty of skin-moisturizing ingredients to combat dryness caused by cosmetic clay.

Why are facial masks used?

Masks are quite popular these days. With Korean and Japanese cosmetics, the popularity of disposable fabric masks grew to its peak. Face masks have a very important role in skin care. With the help of a face mask, effective treatment substances can be brought to the skin. You can’t put so much active ingredients in serums and face creams because they stay on the skin all day. Face masks can also include ingredients that cannot be used in face creams at all. Such ingredients include, for example, cosmetic clays, minerals and other herbal powders.

The mask can also include nourishing, active ingredients that require time to be absorbed into the skin. That’s why face masks are kept on the skin from 10 minutes up to 20 minutes. Some face masks are recommended to work for up to 30 minutes. The effect time depends entirely on the ingredients used in the face mask.

Gentle facial mask

This clay facial mask is great for sensitive skin, dry skin and aging skin. Many facial masks are too effective for sensitive skin. Even for aged skin and dry skin, most facial masks may cause problems. Especially many fresh masks contain acidic ingredients that sting the skin. The pH of clay masks is always higher because clay is naturally alkaline. A clay facial mask made from only clay and water is therefore too strong for most skin types. In this facial mask made of green clay, the facial mask base consists of a simple emulsion cream. When we only use a very small amount of clay in the emulsion, the pH of the product does not rise too high.

Moisturizing facial mask

Most facial clay masks dry out the skin. The reason is the excessive amount of clay I mentioned above. Clay facial masks also often lack moisturizing ingredients. I have added moisturizing ingredients to this clay facial mask to bring more care. There are many moisturizing ingredients in cosmetics. I personally prefer more natural alternatives such as moisturizing herbs, seaweed and silk protein. Silk protein is not a vegan product. If you don’t want to use silk protein, you can replace it with seaweed extract. Natural ingredients are better for homemade cosmetics than industrial compounds. They are easy to use and you don’t have to be so careful when dosing them.

Ingredients of Clay Facial Mask

I have tried to keep the ingredient list very minimalistic. Only the necessary ingredients are included. For example, I didn’t want to add essential oils to this rinse-off product. The product gets its scent only from hydrolats. By varying different hydrolats, you can create your own pleasant scents to the clay mask.

Green clay

Although the name of this mask is green clay, in reality there is only 2% green clay in the product. However, it is a sufficient amount to bring the positive effects of the clay to the mask.

There are at least two different types of green clay. Illite clay is green in colour. It was found in the USA, Illinois, and that’s where its name comes from. Not all Illite clay is green. There are also yellowish illite clay grades.

French Green Clay

French green clay was discovered for the first time in France, but it is also currently mined in the USA and China. In addition to this, there are mixtures that include kaolin and some green clay. In this product, I used French green clay, which originates from France.

French green clay is highly valued in cosmetics. Its beautiful, light green colour comes from iron oxide and decomposing plant matter. French green clay effectively absorbs oil and impurities from the skin. It also has a brightening and firming effect on the skin. I myself have noticed it clearly when using French green clay.

Clays are minerals that are very sensitive to the environment

Always store clay in plastic containers or glass jars. Clay should also always be handled with a plastic spoon, not a metal spoon. During the preparation phase, the glass rod is the best tool for handle clay cosmetics. The ability of clay to absorb impurities is due to its electromagnetic charge. If the clay comes into contact with the metal, the charge changes.

You should be very careful when purchasing clay. Clays consist of different minerals. They can differ greatly in composition, even if the colour of the clay is almost the same. When you finally find good quality clay, don’t hesitate to stock it up. Cosmetic clays will last forever if you store them in a plastic box with a lid, protected from moisture and light.

Seaweed extract

Seaweed extract is full of all your skin’s favourite vitamins and minerals. Seaweed extract helps the skin to calm down. It softens the skin and reduces its sensitivity. Because seaweed cells are surprisingly similar to skin cells, it protects and maintains your skin’s natural balance and protects it against irritation. Seaweed accelerates the skin’s natural regeneration ability. And most importantly, seaweed is a super skin moisturizer. You can read more about the skin care effects of seaweed in my article.

Seaweed extract contains many nutrients including fucoidan, cysteine, lysine, asparagine, glutamine, proline, methionine, tryptophan, arginine and ornithine. Seaweed extract makes the skin look radiant and rosy. Seaweed has an antioxidant effect, it fights free radical attacks and thus prevents signs of aging. I have purchased seaweed extract for this product. Seaweed extract is also available in gel and powder form.

Silk protein

Silk protein is made from cocoons made by silkworm larvae. Silk protein is not a vegan product, but it is not made from animals either. You can replace the silk protein extract with seaweed extract if you wish.

Silk protein exists as a liquid extract and as a powder. You can make silk protein extract from silk protein powder when you mix it with water (1:9). Liquid extract definitely needs a preservative.

Since silk is a protein fibre, it is chemically very similar to human skin. This makes silk protein an ideal ingredient to use in skin care. Silk protein is a very moisturizing ingredient. In skin and hair care, silk protein has many other good properties.

Glycerol

I included glycerol to add moisture to the product. It works well with other moisturizing ingredients. You can read more about glycerol on my blog.

Marshmallow root

Marshmallow root is my favourite of moisturizing herbs. The herbal marshmallow root has very good moisturizing properties. In addition, it soothes the skin and prevents inflammation. The root of the herbal marshmallow is so gentle that it can even be used on eczema skin.

There aren’t many moisturizing herbs. That’s why, as a person with dry skin, I always keep dried marshmallow root at home. It is sold as pre-dried, small, light-coloured cubes. You can buy it, for example, a stock for two years use. It does not spoil or age easily. It can also be used in stomach-soothing drinks.

Make a decoction of the herbal marshmallow root for cosmetics

Measure 5 decilitres of water and 2 tablespoons of dried marshmallow root into the pot. Heat the decoction up to boiling temperature and let it boil slowly for about 10 minutes. Strain, cool and use for cosmetics. This makes quite a large amount of liquid. It is difficult to prepare a smaller portion. You can use the rest of the decoction as a hair conditioner.

Oils

I chose rice bran oil and argan oil for this product. If you want, you can change these oils to what you happen to have in your closet or which oils suit your skin best.

Rice Bran Oil

I have previously written an article about rice bran oil on my blog. I have used it in many recipes. Rice bran oil is a mild and balanced oil that is suitable for many skin types. It does not clog pores and does not irritate sensitive skin. Rice bran oil can withstand heating, which is important when we prepare emulsions.

Argan oil

Argan oil is an ecological and ethical oil, about which I have also written a comprehensive article on the blog. Argan oil contains more than 200 different active ingredients. It is a very therapeutic oil with great antioxidant properties. Argan oil is a rich oil that feels quite greasy on the skin. Therefore, it should not be used in large quantities. High-quality argan oil is also quite expensive. Argan oil is one of those oils that is widely counterfeited. That’s why I recommend spending some time when purchasing argan oil.

Argan oil is only added to the emulsion during the cooling phase. This way you ensure that all the valuable active ingredients of the oil remain unchanged.

Emulsifier Olivem 1000

Olivem 1000 is a familiar emulsifier that is easy to obtain. Olivem 1000 emulsifier is also one of the most stable and easiest emulsifiers. It suits well for a beginner. In this product we use a little more emulsifier than usual due to the clay. Remember that Olivem 1000 emulsifier continues to emulsify for about 24 hours. The next day, the product is clearly thicker than immediately after completion. That’s why I recommend that you put the clay mask jar in the fridge overnight to set.

Why here Is there no preservative in the recipe?

Clay products are really challenging in terms of preservation. Conventional natural cosmetics preservatives cannot reliably keep microbes away from clay products. There is also another shelf-life problem with my recipe. As the name suggests, silk protein is a protein, so it is easily perishable. That’s why you need an effective preservative if you want to keep the face mask without any worries at room temperature for a longer period of time.

In my case, I solved the problem very simply. I only made a very small batch of green clay facial mask that I only keep in the fridge for about a week. I also took care of hygiene very carefully during the preparation phase. I sterilized the jar and all the preparation tools very carefully.

However, if you want to use a preservative in the product, you should choose one that is not a natural cosmetic grade. Do you really want to absorb, for example, phenoxyethanol into your skin? I leave this matter to you to decide.

Ingredients; Moisturizing facial mask containing green clay

This recipe makes 50 gr of facial clay mask

Oil phase

• 7.5 gr Rice bran oil
• 2.5 gr Olivem 1000

Aqueous phase

• 19 gr Herbal marshmallow root decoction
• 14.5 gr Chamomile hydrolate
• 1.5 gr Glycerol

Add after the cooling phase

• 3 gr argan oil
• 1 gr French green clay
• 1 gr Silk protein extract (not vegan) or Seaweed extract (vegan)

Prepare the Green Clay Facial Mask as follows:

• Measure the ingredients of the oil phase into a heat-resistant container
• Measure the ingredients of the water phase into a heat-resistant container
• Place both containers in a water bath and heat to over 70 (72-75C) degrees Celsius
• Pour the oil phase into the water phase gradually, stirring gently all the time
• Remove the emulsion from the water bath and continue mixing until the mixture has cooled down below 40 degrees Celsius
• Add the ingredients of the cooling phase one at a time. Mix carefully so that there are no lumps in the product. After mixing, let the mixture to cool down.
• Pack the face mask in a jar and label it. Put the jar in the fridge overnight to set.

How do I use the Green Clay Facial Mask?

This facial mask is intended for face and neck skin. Always apply the clay facial mask on cleansed skin. Use a reasonably generous layer of the clay mask. Spread it evenly over the entire face area and, if desired, also on the skin of the neck. Avoid the eye area.

Leave the facial mask on the skin for about 20 minutes. Wipe the mask off the skin with a tissue paper and rinse the skin with water to remove any remaining traces of the facial mask.

After this facial mask, you may not need any moisturizer at all. The skin on the face feels cared for and moisturized. The colour of the skin also brightens.

You can use Green Clay Facial Mask once or twice a week.

What did you think of the guide? Share your opinion in the comments!

Artikkeli Moisturizing and soothing green clay facial mask julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

The benefits of sunflower sprouts for the skin

Sunflower seeds are particularly rich in vitamins. They are rich in vitamins A, B3, B5 and E. In addition, sunflower seeds are rich in minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron.

Sunflower seeds contain particularly skin-friendly linoleic acid. Linoleic acid is suitable for all skin types. It has antibacterial effects. Linoleic acid helps fight rashes and infections on the skin. When you germinate sunflower seeds for a while, they get twice as much useful ingredients.

Sunflower sprouts produce a lot of so-called secondary metabolic products such as strong antioxidants (flavonoids) and saponins. Of all sprouts, sunflower sprouts contain the most antioxidants. That’s why I chose sunflower sprouts for this product.

Sunflower sprouts are ideal

• for skin numbed by winter
• to enhance sun protection; sunflower sprouts have ingredients that strengthen the outer matrix of the skin cell. In this way, the skin’s collagen, eastin and other proteins are better able to withstand bright UV radiation. Sunflower sprout extract is not an actual sunscreen but a skin-strengthening ingredient.
• for aged skin to fight oxidative damage and slow down the skin aging process

How to grow sunflower sprouts?

I will also include instructions for growing sunflower sprouts here. It’s such a nice and easy thing to do. I really recommend trying it.

You will need the following supplies

Get black (others will do), sunflower seeds with brans. Peeled seeds will not germinate, nor will salted, processed seeds. You only need 15 grams of them.

You need a ceramic or glass pie dish as a growing container.

Some soil for cultivation, choose organic soil

Do like this:

• Place 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds in a glass jar and pour lukewarm water over it
• Soak the seeds in water overnight
• Pour off the soaking water and rinse the seeds with lukewarm water.
• Leave the seeds in the jar to germinate. Rinse with lukewarm water 2-3 times a day.
• When the seeds have germinated (takes 2-3 days), sprinkle them in the soil.
• Spread the soil in the pie pan and sprinkle the seeds on top. Cover the seeds lightly with soil.
• Place the growing container in sunlight, for example on a windowsill.
• Keep the dish and soil in it sufficiently moist but not wet. A spray bottle is the best way to water micro-farming dish.
• At some point you can see how little cotyledons rise from the soil.
• The sprouts are ready when the cotyledon has opened and the seed coat has fallen into the soil.
• Now you can harvest. Enjoy sunflower sprouts in salads or on top of seaweed, or use them in cosmetics like we’re going to do now.

What is glycerite made from sunflower sprouts

I was thinking about the best way to extract all the active ingredients from the sunflower sprouts. I ended up with glycerite. Glycerites are plant extracts that can be prepared yourself from almost any plant. The other main raw material of glycerite is glycerol, the glycerine. Glycerine is a sugar alcohol that has a very moisturizing effect on the skin. Glycerine attracts moisture and keeps it in the skin. You can read more about glycerol in my article; Moisturizing glycerol

In addition to glycerol, we use fresh sunflower sprouts for this glycerite.

Glycerites are cosmetic semi-finished products. They are not used as such, but as one ingredient in the cosmetic products. Glycerites containing plant power can be used in all cosmetics as an active ingredient. Glycerite is an effective way to get the active substances of plants into the product. You can always use glycerites instead of glycerine. Good uses for glycerite are:

• Facial lotions
• Emulsion creams
• Face masks

How to make sunflower sprout glycerite?

• You need a small jar with a lid. Baby food jars are perfect. Prepare only a small amount of glycerite at a time. 30 ml is a good amount.
• 30 ml of glycerine
• 2 tablespoons chopped sunflower sprouts

Do like this:

• Pour the chopped sunflower sprouts into a glass jar
• Pour over the glycerol
• Mix the sunflower sprouts carefully with the glycerol and close the jar with the lid
• Put the jar in the dark (protect from light), cool place or in the refrigerator to brew for about 4-6 days.
• Strain the glycerite through a clean filter fabric and pack in a clean bottle.
• Label the glycerite showing the ingredient and date of manufacture
• Glycerite can be stored in a cool place or in the refrigerator for about 6 months.

You can use this instruction to other glycerites as well. Good glycerites are made from fresh wild herbs or fresh store-bought herbs. You can also make interesting extracts from berries and fruits with the help of glycerol. It is recommended to use fresh plants, berries and fruits for glycerite. Dried plant parts do not dissolve properly in glycerol.

Glycerites should only be prepared in small quantities. Just a small amount of glycerite is enough for the products. About 5% of glycerol is usually added to cosmetic formulas. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol that easily makes the product sticky if you add it too much.

What did you think of this guide? Are you excited to try it? Let me know what plants you have used to make glycerites.

Artikkeli Prepare glycerite from sunflower sprouts julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

Should I do a ceramide-rich salve or an emulsion?

The difference between a salve and an emulsion is clear; Salve is a water-free product, only oils and beeswax are used to make it or, alternatively, some other wax is used to solidify the oil. In the preparation of an emulsion, both water and oil are needed, as well as an emulsifier to connect these two ingredients together.

I decided to choose an emulsion-type cream for this product. Moisturizing the skin is not possible without liquid. Of course, you can moisturize the skin in advance, before applying the cream, and then add the anhydrous salve to the skin. The emulsion is just so convenient to use. With one treatment, the skin gets both hydration and protection. Making an emulsion cream is not difficult at all. If you have never made an emulsion cream before, you can find the basic instructions for making an emulsion cream on my website; This is how a homemade emulsion cream is created.

You can read more about ceramides here; Ceramides; dry skin rescue. Cholesterol should also be used in creams together with ceramides, as it supports the effect of ceramides. However, cholesterol is a very difficult ingredient to process. I haven’t worked with the cholesterol myself precisely because of its challenging nature.

Moisturizing ingredients for ceramide cream

The purpose of this cream is to moisturize the skin and protect the skin from drying out. The purpose of ceramides is specifically to protect the skin. In order for the cream to work by moisturizing dry skin, moisturizing factors must be added separately to the cream.

This cream contains three moisturizing ingredients that work in different ways. Of course, you can leave out some of the moisturizing factors if you don’t have them available. However, it would be important to use at least one of the following ingredients.

Marshmallow root

Marshmallow root is very moisturizing. It is usually used in hair care because it leaves a nice texture in the hair and adds volume. The herbal marshmallow root is also suitable for skin care. It’s a mallow plant. If you have mallows in your yard, you can also use their roots. The roots of mallows are very much more delicate than the roots of the marshmallow’s root. That’s why only the leaves and cores are often used. The roots and leaves of burr are also suitable for this purpose.

Marshmallow contains a lot of skin and hair moisturizing mucilage. There are a lot of mucilage substances in the whole plant, but most in the roots. The herbal marshmallow root is sold in herbal shops in small light cubes. The cubes are boiled in water and the broth is used for making cosmetics. Marshmallow roots are completely non-toxic. The first marshmallow candy was a vegan delicacy. They were made from marshmallow roots (marshmallow) and sugar.

Allantoin

One of the most moisturizing ingredients is allantoin. It is a white powder that dissolves very easily in water up to 0.5%. Allantoin is therefore dosed very moderately. If you don’t have a scale accurate enough, dose allantoin like adding carefully just a little more salt on food.

Allantoin exists in both plant and animal sources. Allantoin is a salt of uric acid that is secreted by mammals. It is also obtained from plants like horse chestnuts and wheat germ. Many wild plants such as buttercups also contain allantoin. However, buttercups are slightly toxic, so they should not be used in cosmetics.

Since allantoin is a quite natural product, the skin tolerates it well. Allantoin has many good properties, so it should be included in the cream formula.

• Allantoin moisturizes the skin very effectively
• Allantoin works like keratolytic, which means it removes indurations from the skin.
• Allantoin increases cell renewal and promotes skin healing
• Allantoin reduces skin irritation
• Allantoin soothes the skin and reduces inflammatory reactions

Glycerol or glycerine

Glycerine is an old, familiar friend to the readers of this blog. Lipids, like oils, consist of fatty acids and glycerine. Glycerine is isolated from vegetable oils. Glycerine is a colourless and odourless liquid. The taste of glycerine is very sweet. Glycerine is a completely non-toxic substance that is also used in the food industry as an additive. It mixes well with water and oil.

Glycerine is used in cosmetics mainly because of its moisturizing properties. Glycerine binds a lot of water. Glycerin takes water from its surroundings like from the skin.  Glycerine helps the moisture to stay in the skin. If there is no moisture in the skin, glycerine will only harm the skin. That’s why glycerine is used in water-based products like emulsions.

You shouldn’t use too much glycerine in the product because it easily makes the skin sticky. It’s a sugar alcohol. Glycerine also requires plenty of water around it. A suitable dosage for glycerine in cream is about 2-5% of the total weight of the product.

You can read my article about glycerine here; This is how miracle-making glycerol helps in the treatment of dry winter skin.

Excipients for ceramide cream

In this cream, I also used the familiar Olivem 1000 emulsifier derived from olive oil and the Geogard 221 preservative, which is ECOCERT approved. You can also use familiar Eco preservative, which is a very safe and versatile preservative system. It is absolutely necessary to use a preservative for products containing water. Otherwise, your wonderful cream will be spoiled in a few days.

Skin softening oils

I have chosen a light base oil for this product, which is easily absorbed by the skin. The protection of the cream is achieved with ceramides, which means that the oil can be very light and easily absorbed. That’s why I used safflower oil for the cream this time. Grapeseed oil is also light enough for this cream.

To complete the oleic acid profile of safflower oil, I chose nourishing blackcurrant seed oil. Blackcurrant seed oil contains a lot of gamma-linolenic acid, which is not found in base oils. Blackcurrant seed oil is a special oil that only a very small amount is needed in the product.

Prescription; moisturizing Ceramide Cream

You can use the moisturizing ceramide cream perfectly on your entire body. I personally use this after a sauna or a shower on the whole body. The cream is also suitable for children and especially for elderly people.

This dose may be too small if you want to use the cream all over your body. If you like cream, double or even quadruple the dose like I did.

This emulsion cream becomes very thin, milky and light. I think the cream moisturizes better if there is plenty of liquid in it. If you want a firmer, thicker cream, reduce the amount of liquid but keep the ratio of oil and emulsifier the same.

Formulating cosmetics is fun but challenging. If you want to test the structure of the cream, don’t use expensive ceramide and your finest oils. Make your training version with just water, cheap cooking oil and an emulsifier.

You need these:

• A double boiler or a standard flat boiler
• Two heat-resistant dishes; one for the water phase and the other for the oil phase
• A small whisk or glass stirring rod
• Thermometer
• A scale that measures tenths of a gram
• Pump bottle for packaging

Ingredients

First, you need to prepare the marshmallow root decoction.

Marshmallow root decoction;

• 2 tablespoons of dried marshmallow root
• about 4 decilitres of water

Boil the marshmallow root slowly in water for about 15 minutes. Filter the decoction and use it in the water phase of the cream or as a hair conditioner.

• 70 gr of marshmallow root decoction
• 10 gr of safflower oil
• 2 gr blackcurrant seed oil. Nature by Amppu sells particularly good quality blackcurrant seed oil
• 2.5 gr of glycerol/ glycerine
• 2 gr ceramide pellets, I used Limepop’s Ceramide NP III Eco product
• 0.3 gr allantoin
• 3.5 gr Olivem 1000 emulsifier
• 0.7 gr Geogard 221 preservative

Do like this:

• Put water in the empty pot
• Measure the marshmallow root decoction and glycerol in another container and mix.
• Measure safflower oil, ceramide pellets and Olivem 1000 emulsifier into another container
• Place the both phases in a water bath and heat them to over 70 degrees Celsius.
• Stir the oil phase from time to time so that the emulsifier and ceramide melt completely
• Combine the phases by carefully pouring the oil phase into the water phase while gently mixing
• Remove the emulsion from the water bath and continue mixing until the temperature has dropped below 40 degrees
• Add blackcurrant seed oil, allantoin and preservative. Mix thoroughly
• Pour the emulsion into a clean pump bottle or other container. The storage containers should first be cleaned carefully with clear, strong alcohol.
• Label the bottled product with a list of ingredients and the date.
• The product remains usable for about 3-4 months at room temperature, protected from light

This is how you use a moisturizing ceramides cream

Apply the cream on moist skin. Best timing is at the end of a shower or sauna. Apply the cream to the skin by massaging lightly. You can use ceramide-rich emulsion cream for both your face and body.

Let the cream soak in for a few minutes so that the moisture in the cream can be properly absorbed into the skin. After a while, the skin feels very soft and moisturized, but not greasy at all. Ceramides do not remain on the surface of the skin but are absorbed deep into the skin, creating a natural moisturized feeling. A pleasant feeling remains on the surface of the skin.

The gentle, moisturizing ceramide cream is suitable for the whole family.

Let me know what you think about this cream!

Artikkeli Moisturizing Ceramide cream julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

These recipes are quite simple even for beginners. Glucomannan conveniently gives you more texture to your products. Start with a low dose of glucomannan first. You can then easily add it if needed. However, keep in mind that glucomannan needs time to form a jelly. Let the mixture swell for at least an hour but recommendation is even three hours. Time will show the final thickness of the product.

Moisturizing and caring facial toner

Ingredients:

• 100 gr of distilled water
• 25 gr of floral water (hydrolat), rose water or chamomile water (for sensitive skin) goes well
• 12 gr of dried calendula
• 0.7 gr of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to bring acidity to the toner. You can measure the pH value of toner with the strips. My water’s acidity was 4.5-5 after adding ascorbic acid.
• 0,19 g of glucomannan powder
• 1 gr preservative (Geogard 221 or preservative Eco)

Do like this:

• Measure water into a pot and heat it to boiling
• Pour boiling water over the dried calendulas and let them infuse for about 20 minutes
• Filter out the calendula petals and let the liquid cool down below 40 degrees Celsius
• Add the hydrolate to the infusion and mix.
• Add glucomannan powder by sprinkling it on the surface of the liquid in the same way.
• Mix properly, the liquid will thicken a little. This may take some time
• Allow the mixture to thicken more for about an hour, stirring from time to time
• Add ascorbic acid powder to the cooled liquid. Ascorbic acid lowers the pH of the product to a level suitable for the skin.
• Mix with ascorbic acid powder into the toner base.
• Add a preservative like Geogard 221 or Preservative Eco. In this way, the product can be preserved for up to 3-4 months.
• Pack the product in a pump bottle and label it with date.
• Store in a cool place, away from light.

How to use prebiotic calendula facial toner?

This toner is suitable for use on cleansed skin in the morning and evening. Moisten a cotton ball with toner and pat thoroughly on the skin of the face and neck.

Allow the toner to dry on the skin for a while, then apply the moisturizer.

This toner is not suitable for layering. If you want to layer this toner, put on just a couple of layers. Polysaccharides such as glucomannan deposit on the surface of the skin if used extensively.

Glucomannan hand lotion

Glucomannan works great in hand lotions. Glucomannan acts as a thickener with the emulsifier. It gives a slightly gel-like (but not stretchy) structure to creams.

Glucomannan brings moisture-retaining properties to the product. When moderately applied, glucomannan does not appear to accumulate on the skin. Instead, a pleasant, not at all greasy-like feeling remains on the surface of the skin. This is useful if you need a hand cream for office work.

I also used Calendula in this product. Calendula is a well-tolerated and skin-gentle herb. Calendula can be added to the product as an infusion or oil extract. I added both to this product. In this way, all the active ingredients of the plant are accurately utilized.

To add a moisturizing effect, I added sea buckthorn oil to the hand cream. Sea buckthorn oil smells wonderful. The strong colour of the sea buckthorn goes well with the Calendula.

This moisturizing hand lotion is what dry hands really need, namely moisture. Grease or oil alone does not moisturize the skin. Greases and oils only protect and prevent moisture from evaporating.

To add a moisturizing effect, I added sea buckthorn oil to the hand cream. Sea buckthorn and palmitoleic acid in sea buckthorn oil lock moisture in the skin. Sea buckthorn smells just like candy. This is what one person who tested the hand cream said. The strong colour of the sea buckthorn goes well with the calendula.

Moisturizing Calendula – sea buckthorn hand lotion

Calendula-sea buckthorn hand cream; ingredients for 100 grams of cream

• 78.25 gr ready-made calendula infusion. The basic instructions for the infusion can be found here
• 0.25 gr of glucomannan powder

Do like this:

Mix the glucomannan powder into the calendula infusion and mix well. Let the mixture form a gel for about 2-3 hours. Stir from time to time so that the coagulation takes place evenly.

Measure the following ingredients

• 78.5 gr of previously prepared glucomannan-calendula infusion
• 12 gr calendula oil extract, you can find the instructions for making the oil extract here
• 3 gr glycerol
• 2 gr sea buckthorn oil
• 3.5 gr Olivem 1000 emulsifier
• 1 gr Geogard 221 preservative

Do like this:

• Mix calendula- glucomannan infusion and glycerol in a heat-resistant container
• Measure the oil-soluble ingredients into another container; calendula oil and Olivem 1000 emulsifier.
• Place both containers in a water bath and heat them to over 70 degrees Celsius. Mix the phases during heating
• Make sure that the Olivem emulsifier is completely melted.
• Combine the phases by slowly pouring the oil phase into the water phase. Mix gently all the time.
• Stir the emulsion until it cools below 40 degrees.
• Now you can add sea buckthorn oil. Carefully mix the sea buckthorn oil into the emulsion.
• Finally, add the preservative and mix thoroughly.
• Preferably pack the cream in a pump bottle and add a label with a date
• The cream will be preserved very well in the pump bottle for up to 3-4 months, provided you used a preservative. Keep the hand cream cool place and protected from light.

How to use Calendula – sea buckthorn hand lotion?

Calendula – sea buckthorn hand lotion is a really moisturizing and protective one. Apply the lotion about ½ teaspoons to your hands and forearms. This moisturizing hand lotion eventually absorbs well, although it doesn’t seem to do that right away. At first, it feels like the lotion stays on the surface of the skin. However, continue rubbing and the cream will begin to sink deeper into the skin.

Now your hands have a pleasant moisturized, silky feel. The lotion does not leave a greasy layer on the skin precisely because of glucomannan.

Personally, I really like this hand lotion. Even though it is not a super-nutritious and greasy lotion, it works incredibly well on dry hands.

Artikkeli Calendula toner and moisturizing Calendula – sea buckthorn hand lotion julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

How can I make an effective aloe vera and papaya cream at home?

You only need a few ingredients for this cream. If you do not know how to make emulsion creams you can study it here. I have written a simple how-to-do guide for everyone. It is definitely worthwhile to learn the technique of making an emulsion cream. You can easily include most of the natural ingredients needed for skin care in the water-based lotion.

Aloe Vera is a familiar ingredient to many

Now we use aloe vera for a slightly different purpose than usual. Aloe Vera contains hundreds of active ingredients. That is why it is a very common ingredient in almost all cosmetics. In this cream, we take advantage of aloe Vera’s ability to really moisturize the skin. Many, very highly effective moisturizing serums are based also on Aloe Vera. This tells a lot about the effectiveness of Aloe Vera.

Papaya is full of antioxidants

Papaya contains many of the same active ingredients as carrots. In addition to carotenoids, Papaya contains incredible number of vitamins and minerals.

• Papaya provides the skin with potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.
• Papaya is rich in vitamins such as A, B & A, C, E and K.
• Papaya brightens the skin, smoothest the skin’s pigment and helps maintain moisture in the skin.
• Papaya also helps to reduce small wrinkles on the skin as it is rich in antioxidants and vitamin C.

Papaya is commonly used in peeling products because it contains an enzyme called papain. Papain exfoliates the skin enzymatically without rubbing. Most papaya is found in raw papaya and also in papaya skin.

Now we are not using raw papaya or papaya skin but the flesh of ripe papaya. I have prepared a fast glycerite based on ripe papaya flesh. In glycerite, the skin care agents of papaya are transferred from papaya to glycerol during extraction. This way we can also include papaya in our lotion. Glycerol itself is already a very moisturizing ingredient. However, it is not a good idea to add it a lot to the cream because it easily makes the skin surface sticky. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol and has some disadvantages of sugar.

Here’s how to make papaya glycerite

you need:

• A glass jar with a lid
• 50 ml of glycerol
• about 1 tablespoon of chopped papaya
• preservative (Geogard 221)

Do like this:

• Put the pieces of chopped papaya in a glass jar and pour glycerol over it
• Let the glycerite prepare in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Do not let the glycerite stand for too long, as the papaya will form gel quickly
• Strain the papaya out of the glycerite and add 1% preservative (Geogard 221)
• Pack the glycerite in a small glass jar and label it
• Store the jar in the refrigerator.
• The shelf life of the product is 4-6 months. Personally, I always store glycerite as cool and dark as possible, always in the refrigerator.

Rice bran oil has special anti-aging effects

I use a lot of rice bran oil. It is a very mild, beautifully yellow and odourless oil. It is also a well-tolerated oil. Only very few people are allergic to it.

Rice bran oil is suitable for aging skin. It is especially rich in vitamins E and B, coenzyme Q10 and ferulic acid. Ferulic acid is an antioxidant that reduces skin wrinkles and protects the skin.

Shea butter protects the skin

I’d love to add some shea butter to creams in falls. It protects the skin from drying out. Although the skin is still moist and bright after the summer, it dries quickly in dry, heated indoor air. You can read more about Shea butter here.

For moisturizing Aloe Vera and Papaya cream you need

• 15 g of aloe Vera juice
• 54 gr of boiled or distilled water
• 15 gr of rice bran oil5 grams of shea butter
• 3 gr of papaya glycerite or plain glycerol
• 5 gr Olivem 1000 emulsifier
• 2 gr Preservative, Geogard 221 or similar
• 1 gr of essential oils

Do like this:

You need a double boiler to make the emulsion. The easiest way to prepare it is to use a flat pot into which water is poured. The water phase and the oil phase you put in the water bath, both in their heat-resistant containers, must be placed on the bottom of the flat boiler. You need two heat-resistant containers for the water phase and the oil phase. For mixing, you need mixing sticks (glass) or a spoon.

You also need a thermometer and an accurate scale, which you can use to measure very, very small quantities.

Prepare the emulsion cream like this

• Measure aloe vera juice and water into a container
• Measure rice bran oil, shea butter and emulsifier into another container.
• Heat up the mix until the emulsifier and shea butter melt. Both phases should be heated up more than 70 degrees Celsius in order to get the emulsification done.
• Now combine the phases by draining the oil into the water phase and mix gently
• Take the container out of the water bath and continue mixing gently until the cream cools down.
• Cool the mixture down to 40 degrees Now add the papaya glycerite and mix it into the cream
• Now you can add a preservative and essential oils to the emulsion cream
• Pack the product in a clean glass jar, label and store in a cool place, away from light
• The cream will last for about 4 months if you always use a dispenser (spatula or spoon)

How to use aloe vera papaya cream?

Aloe Vera and papaya nourishing cream is suitable for the whole face as a night cream and for day use. However, avoid the eye area. Apply a small amount of cream to the tip of your finger to use on the entire face, neck and chest area. Massage the cream into the skin in smooth, circular motions. You get the best result if you use the cream on moisturized skin.

This cream is a wonderfully rich and moisturizing cream. It is very suitable for dry and mature skin. For all of you who want aloe vera in your cream, this recipe is really worth trying.

Please tell us about your experience with this cream recipe. You can comment either in the comment section below or on the Helenatur Facebook page or Instagram @ helenatur10.

Artikkeli Creamy Papaya and Aloe Vera Lotion julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

Making emulsion cream at home is reasonable

Many industrial creams contain countless raw materials which effects on the skin and the environment are not exactly certain. Nowadays, most creams also contain microplastics. The use of plastic should be avoided as much as possible. The plastic contained in cosmetics is transported into waterways and through food chain into fish and other organisms.

Certified natural cosmetics like ECOCERT and COSMOS -certified products do not contain any plastic at all. The other ingredients of natural cosmetics have also been chosen very carefully. Natural cosmetics only contain ingredients that are as natural and harmless to the environment as possible.

You can hardly find simple basic creams in the natural cosmetics series. That’s why I always prepare the base creams myself. They are easy and inexpensive to make.

Even though this blog is dedicated to the raw materials of home cosmetics, it is still appropriate to summarize a few basic manufacturing methods. Emulsion preparation is one of them and perhaps the most feared. However, there’s no need to panic about making an emulsion. It is very easy and understandable process as long as you learn a few basics things.

Why is the preparation of an emulsion feared?

The most decisive moment in emulsion production is the emulsification process itself. In the emulsification process, water-based ingredients are emulsified into oil-based ingredients so that they no longer separate into their own phases. How emulsification is done depends on the emulsifier, the substance that unites the water molecules to the oil molecules. Beginners should stick to a familiar and safe emulsifier such as Olivem 1000.

What could go wrong in emulsification process?

1. The emulsion breaks down

There are many different reasons for the breakdown of an emulsion. The emulsion can break down if you haven’t heated both phases to 70 degrees. The emulsion breaks down if you put too much essential oil into it. Many emulsifiers are also affected by clay, magnesium and various salts. The emulsion can also break down if it is mixed too much, too vigorously or too little. Each emulsifier has its own quirks, others require high-speed, strong mixing. This time we are dealing with an emulsifier that only needs moderate mixing.

2. The emulsion never solidifies

It may be that the cream base looks very liquid when it is still hot. After cooling down, the cream solidifies well. It can easily become too solid. If you think the emulsion is too liquid, reduce the amount of water phase but keep the oil phase and the amount of emulsifier unchanged..

3. The emulsion have to be mixed an hour before it solidifies

That’s how I’ve been taught long time ago. In practice, the familiar Olivem 1000 and emulsifiers comparable to it are easy and do not require a long mixing time. Of course, there are different emulsifiers, with which working is different from the Olivem 1000 emulsifier.

4. A lot of pots, bowls and measuring devices are needed

A few tools are needed to prepare the emulsion. The tools are simple and quite easy to obtain. You can use the same tools for years. I think the most important thing to get is a precision scale. You have to weigh such small quantities that it would not be possible with a normal scale. A thermometer is also a must, because you need to know exactly when the temperature of the phases are suitable.

5. A certain temperature is needed before an emulsion can form

The temperature needs to be so high that the emulsifier and all the waxy ingredients dissolve. This usually happens at 60-70 degrees Celsius. The actual emulsification only takes place when both phases have reached a temperature of over 70 degrees Celsius.

6. The production of emulsion cream requires a lot of special equipment

The same equipment as for the preparation of waterless salves is sufficient to make an emulsion cream.

What equipment do I need to make the emulsion cream?

You will be fine with a few simple tools. You don’t need any additional equipment at this stage, apart from the hotplate. As I told you, the same tools are also used to make water less salves and lip balms.

Equipment list for the preparation of cream

• Flat-bottomed, shallow pot
• Small heat- and boiling-resistant containers or glass beakers for the water phase and the oil phase
• Glass stirring rods or a small mini whisks
• Precision scale, 0.01-gram accuracy that weighs at least 500 grams
• Thermometer
• Small rubber/silicone spatula
• Small, clean glass jars for packaging creams. You can also pack creams in cleaned baby food jars or other used glass jars. You can also buy new nice lotion jars online if you want.
• Labels for jars

The supplies list is easy, isn’t it.

In general, almost everything you need is easily found in your own home. I recommend getting a good scale. Measuring small quantities is otherwise impossible. A suitable precision scale weighs up to at least 500 grams with an accuracy of 0.01 grams.

Store all the tools used in the production of cosmetics in their own, covered box. They should not be used for food preparation or any other purposes for hygiene reasons.

This is how a homemade emulsion cream is created; the basic raw materials of emulsion cream

This time we make a very basic version of the emulsion cream. I really want you to learn the secrets of making an emulsion at once. You can later familiarize yourself with the different raw materials that can be found on this blog and elsewhere on the internet.

What raw materials are needed to make emulsion cream?

Only a few ingredients are needed to make a simple emulsion cream. When practicing making an emulsion, always choose simple ingredients. If the emulsion fails, as it sometimes does, it is not a big loss. Spoiled emulsion is often impossible to repair and must be thrown away. Fixing is easy in water less creams.

Water phase

You can only use distilled water, water purified by reverse osmosis equipment or boiled tap water for the simple water phase. I usually use reverse osmosis purified water because I happen to have a reverse osmosis device available. Another very good option is to use boiled tap water. I personally always use it when I can’t get purified water.

After gaining experience, you can use hydrolate for the water phase.

Oil phase

You can use the oil of your choice for the oil phase. However, I recommend starting with a cheaper oil. For example, sunflower oil is very good and suitable for most people’s skin. The incredibly good properties of sunflower oil have been reported on my blog before. Another good oil is safflower oil. In the past, you could get safflower oil from stores, but nowadays you also have to order it online. Safflower oil absorbs well into the skin and is a very neutral and well-tolerated oil.

As an oil, you can also use herbal oil prepared to base oil. You can also replace a small part of the oil with herbal oil. After gaining experience, you can try different oils and vegetable butters in your emulsions.

Emulsifier

In this post, I will not dig deeper into the mysterious world of emulsifiers. I will give you only one proven emulsifier that keeps you going, namely OliveM 1000 (Cetearyl Olivate and Sorbitan Olivate).

Olivem 1000 is a very balanced emulsifier. It is suitable for most creams. As the name suggests, OliveM 1000 is made from olive oil. It is skin-friendly and also very nature-friendly. It is also PEG-free and has an Ecocert -certificate. Olivem 1000 meets the requirements of natural cosmetics.

Olivem 1000 is very easy to use. It is sold as small waxy chips that are melted into oil in a water bath.

Preservative

Emulsion cream always contains water. In products containing water, a preservative is mandatory. If you don’t want to use a preservative at all, the product will only last a few days in the refrigerator. Preservatives can be avoided by making only water less products. Check the dosage of your chosen preservative on the package. Usually, the preservative is dosed at 1-2%.

I have often used Geogard 221 preservative, which is a natural cosmetic-grade, safe and effective preservative. Another favourite of mine is Preservative Eco.

Preparation of emulsion cream; basic recipe

Here is a basic recipe for making emulsion cream. Feel free to switch between different oils as long as they are liquid. You can use either distilled or boiled water. Care must be taken when using essential oils. They should not be added to the product in large quantities, as they can break the structure of the emulsion in some cases. Facial products should contain maximum of 1% essential oils.

You need these

• 100 gr water
• 20 gr sunflower oil
• 5 gr Olivem 1000 emulsifier
• 1 gr Geogard 221 preservative (or similar)

Emulsion cream manufacturing process

Now let’s try how the preparation of emulsion cream goes. Collect all the necessary materials and accessories on the (kitchen) table. Make sure all equipment are clean. Spray another layer of 70% alcohol on the surface of the tools to eliminate microbes.

Place the pot on the hotplate and put just enough water in it so that your small vessels stay upright.

• Measure water into the first bowl
• Measure oil and emulsifier into another bowl
• Place the bowls into the pot and turn the plate on
• Mix the phases from time to time to see how the melting progresses
• Do not let the water in the pot boil
• Once the emulsifier has melted into the oil, start measuring temperatures. Both phases should be 70 degrees or slightly more. It’s hard to get both at exactly 70 degrees at the same time. However, the temperature must not fall below 70 degrees. Otherwise, emulsification does not occur or occurs incompletely.
• When the correct temperatures have been reached, pour the water phase into the oil phase while stirring gently.
• Lift the bowl out of the pot and keep on gentle mixing until the temperature of the emulsion is below 40 degrees.
• Now add the preservative and mix the emulsion thoroughly

Using a spatula, pour the cream into small glass jars and label them. Write the name of the cream, all the ingredients and the date when made on the label. I myself have sometimes left creams without a label. It’s really hard to remember afterwards what a jar contains and when it was made without a label. If you make a lot of different creams, a labeling is an absolute must.

The cream can be stored at room temperature for about 6 months. The cream’s shelf life depends very much on the level of hygiene. Your cream may well last longer or shorter. A lot depends on how many microbes are in the cream. Therefore, always dispense the cream with a spatula, never with your fingers. Do not store the cream exposed to sunlight.

Now you have a simple, finished emulsion cream

You can use the cream as it is. This simple emulsion cream is suitable for all skin types. It is suitable for children and even babies if you haven’t added any essential oils to it.

This basic cream is suitable for the whole body, including the face and around the eyes. You don’t necessarily need to add any active ingredients to it. By varying and mixing different oil qualities, you can tune the product following your own taste.

If you change the oil to herbal oil, you will also get the active ingredients contained in the herbs. Calendula oil or carrot oil are herbal oils worth trying.

Are you excited to try the cream?  Please share your experience!

Artikkeli This is how to make a homemade emulsion cream julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

Baking Soda

In peeling creams, baking soda is a class of its own. Baking soda has the ability to remove dead tissues from the skin. Baking soda is good for removing acne-left sloughs from the skin. Calluses on the hands and elbows are easy to remove, when using baking soda to soften them first.

Green Tea

In this next recipe I have laced baking soda with green tea. Green tea is highly antioxidant and skin-brightening. It also cleans skin pores from sebum and dead skin cells. Green tea removes excessive redness from the skin and soothes the skin. It prevents very effective the signs of aging.

Epsom Salt

Epsom salt contains high levels of magnesium. Magnesium is able to penetrate through the skin to the muscles. Your muscles will be relaxed wonderfully during peeling. Blood circulation system can carry much more easier toxins away and bring the nutrients to the skin in relaxed muscles. Epsom Salt also has sulfur and oxygen. Sulfur is commonly used treatment of acne and eczema. Even if you do not have these problems on your skin are sulfur and oxygen still in many ways useful for your skin.

Olive Oil

For oil I chose olive oil, which is rich in antioxidants and is very suitable for body treatments. Olive oil is a favorite of many and therefore it happens to be in most people’s fridge.

I have written More about olive oil Here.

For brightening green tea baking soda scrub you need

• 40 gr Baking Soda
• 27 gr Epsom salt
• 10 gr green tea powder
• 25-30 gr Olive oil

How to do

• Grind the green tea into a fine powder or use pre-ground Japanese green tea powder.
• Mix epsom salt, baking soda and tea powder in a bowl
• Rub the powder very evenly so that all lumps disappear. If necessary, you can use mortar. However, the mortar generates a problem: Epsom salt no longer remains suitably coarse.
• Add the olive oil gradually, stirring constantly
• When the mixture is even, pack the scrub in a glass jar and label it
• Use only to exfoliate the body. This product is not suitable for your face.
• Use as massage cream on damp skin after showering. Massage the whole body or just the skin areas you want with circular movements.
• If you want, you can let the scrub work on the skin for a while before you wash it off. Use only mild detergent.
• Since the scrub containing baking soda and epsom salt is alkaline, remember to return your skin’s pH to acidic after the scrub, for example with an apple cider vinegar rinse.
• Measure 5 deciliters of lukewarm water and 0.5 deciliters of apple cider vinegar into a plastic bottle. Shake the mixture and then apply it on your skin. Leave it on for a while and quickly rinse off. This is how you help your skin recover

This scrub is an anhydrous product, so it does not need a preservative. Prepare only a small amount at a time, as the exfoliating agent intended for use in the shower is easily contaminated with water. As soon as there is a drop of water in the product, it starts growing microbes. I therefore recommend dosing the product only the necessary amount for use at one time. If the product is kept clean and water-free, it will keep well for about 3-4 months.

This peeling brightens the skin and removes dead tissues from it. If you have acne on your body you can gently rub our acne area and let the scrub to treat acne. If olive oil is unsuitable for your skin you can change the oil to say sunflower oil.

How to make bath bombs

The backing soda instructions cannot be shared without giving you the instructions of DIY bath bombs. It is perhaps the most common cosmetic product that is produced from backing soda. I’ve actually made a few times the bath bombs with different instructions. Unfortunately, I have not notified the original instructions I have been using in my bathroom. However, it is not possible to make bath bombs in many different ways. All the bath bomb instructions are confusingly similar.

Bath bombs are everyone’s luxury. They are also useful because you can use a bath bomb to give yourself an instant foot bathing. Backing soda will detach the soles of your feet and it will be easier to rasp them smooth. In the bath the bomb works in the same way and detaches the dead tissue from the whole body.

The secret of making the bathroom bombs is the moisturizing of the powders. The powder mixture begins immediately fizzing If you put too much water on it. So, use only the spray bottle from the beginning to moist the powder. Only very little water is needed.

I have used witch hazel water. Also, plain water can be used but witch hazel water keeps better the powder ingredients together.

Flower petals and food colouring are a luxury that can be left out. You can also use only flower petals. Remember that the petals of flowers bought from a flower shop should not be used because they contain high quantities of harmful chemicals.

There is no need to use any essential oil unless you want the bath bombs smell. If you use bath bombs in your baby’s bathtub, consider using essential oils carefully.

 For bath bombs you need

• 250 Gr Baking soda
• 125 Gr Citric acid powder
• 10-30ml Witch hazel water in a spray bottle
• 5-10 Drops of essential oils according to your preferences, optional
• Dry flower petals, a handful or two
• 2-3 drops of food color that fits the colour of the petals of the flowers, optional
• Vinyl gloves
• Mold of ice cubes or chocolate-confections, silicon is the best

How to do

• Put on vinyl gloves
• Mix with great care citric acid powder and baking soda
• Add if you want a few drops of essential oils and food coloring drops
• Stir the drops carefully into the mixture
• If you want to add food coloring drops: do it only at the end, “carelessly”, this way you get a very natural colour for the bath bombs
• Now follow the hardest part: start spraying gently Witch Hazel Water into the mixture
• The mixture starts fizzing immediately, but do not bother
• At the same time, mix very quickly dry and wet powder together, so that the fizzing would end as quickly as possible. I do the mixing by hand. This gives me the best touch of the mixture and I can work fast enough.
• Continue spraying and mixing until you can squeeze the powder and it stays together.
• Now add flower petals and Food coloring drops (if any)
• Stir and add the mass tightly into molds
• Let the molds dry for 24 hours and detach bath bombs from the molds.
• Now the bath bombs are completely dry and can be stored in a sealed glass container.

The bath bombs will be preserved well when protected from light in a dry place.

Use bath bombs in the bathtub or on foot baths. Self-manufactured bath bombs are a great gift idea and a souvenir.

Tip: You can also use the same recipe to prepare air fresheners for toilet. Use 20-40 drops of blue food coloring as well as 40 drops of essential oils for one dose. The best odors for toilet-fresh fruits are lemon, lime, eucalyptus and conifer scents. Witch hazel water is not needed so much. Store ready-made air fresheners in a glass container with a lid. Their odor is otherwise quickly lost.

Artikkeli Green tea salt scrub and bath bombs julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

Spruce tips are very antibacterial and regenerates the skin. Spruce tips also contains slightly the same ingredients as spruce resin. Therefore, spruce tips should be used in skin care to regenerate the skin.

Spruce is ​​also really rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C is a very important vitamin for the skin and is especially suitable for toners.

Spruce tip glycerite

For facial toner, you need spruce tip glycerite. You have to make it yourself, because spruce tip glycerite or hardly any other spruce products can be bought ready-made. I think that’s pretty strange. After all, we live in a land covered with forests full of spruce. Find here the recipe to spruce tip glycerite.

Glycerite is needed in facial toner for 5%. Glycerine aka glycerol is a very moisturizing ingredient but only if it is mixed with a sufficient amount of water or other liquid. The rule is that at least as much water as glycerol should be in the product. Otherwise, the glycerol begins to absorb moisture from the skin and the effect is drying.

100% water-based ingredients

When you start making a facial toner, you should first think about what could be the water phase to which you make the toner. I recommend you to choose distilled water instead of tap water. Distilled water differ from tap water in that all minerals have been removed.

An herbal infusion can also be prepared as a base liquid for facial toner. See instructions for making an herbal infusion here.

Choose the hydrolates you like

Boiled water and glycerol alone make a very useful facial toner. Personally, however, I hope for a little more cleansing feature from the toner. That’s why I like to use only hydrolates to make facial toners. The hydrolate added to the facial toner should be 20-100% of the total volume of the product. The product is much better preserved if you only use hydrolate. Most hydrolates already contain a preservative.

For spruce tip toner, I wanted to use birch hydrolate. Birch hydrolate, as a product from a tree, somehow feels like a very natural choice. Of course, you are free to choose lavender hydrolate or rose hydrolate, for example.

Ingredients for spruce tip toner

In this recipe, the ingredients are calculated for a 100 gr dose only. Of course, you should first make only 100 gr because you still can’t know if the product suits you at all. The dose is easy to double in the future if you like the toner.

You may not need any preservative at all if you make only a small amount of toner and store it in the refrigerator only few days. However, if you want to store the toner in room temperature, you should add a natural, safe preservative like Preservative Eco.

ingredients

• 5 gr spruce tip glycerite
• 53,5 gr birch hydrolate
• 40 gr distilled water
• 1 gr Preservative Eco.
•  0,5 gr essential oil to scent, optional. When glycerite is present in the toner, the essential oils are well soluble in the liquid.

Measure all the ingredients into a larger bottle and shake well. Personally, I always like to mix all the toners in a bigger bottle properly and then pour the toner to a smaller bottle using a funnel.

You can pack facial toner in a spray bottle, if you want to apply it directly to your face. The spray bottle is also handy if you want to get a layer-type moisture.

However, keep in mind that when layered, the toner should be very mild. So, if you are going to spray toner, for example 5 times in a row, dilute the toner with water so that one bottle becomes 5 bottles of toner. If the toner is not diluted, there will be 5 times the amount of strong plant chemicals on the skin. This can irritate and sensitize the skin.

How do I use a spruce tip facial toner?

Apply spruce tip facial toner in the morning on cleansed skin. I think this facial toner suits best for daytime use. You can wipe your face and throat area with a cotton wipe gently moistened with facial toner. Also try spraying facial toner on your face. Allow the toner to be absorbed deeper into the skin to bring in the desired moisture. Then apply a day cream to protect your skin.

In this way, fresh and skin-treating toner is easily created from natural products. I hope you liked the guide and got excited to give it a try.

Tell us again about your experience, how this toner has worked for you!

Artikkeli Refreshing and soothing facial toner from spruce tips julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.

There are several different hair care methods. Most of them emphasize gentleness and natural care. Three subsequent shampoo washes, which were praised by famous hairdressers around the world are now history.

Very important thing in hair care is the acidity of the product, i.e., the pH value. The idea is to wash your hair with a neutral or slightly more alkaline product and then use a more acidic conditioner.

Plants suitable for washing hair

Your hair may not need shampoo or any other alkaline, washing product. Water washing alone is enough for many. Especially for children as well as the elderly, washing hair with water alone is a highly recommended. Young people with very oily skin due to hormonal activity may need surfactant.

Let’s see what natural ingredients you can use in hair washing

You can use the following plants for hair washing as they contain saponins. Saponins are alkaloids that foam like soap. Plants containing saponins have been used for thousands of years for all washing. Saponins are toxic to fish and ruminants. Therefore, never use saponin-containing plants when taking a bath in natural waters. However, you can wash your hair at the cottage with saponins if you soak the used water in the ground and not directly into the water.

Soap nuts

Many of us are familiar with soap nuts (Sapindus Mukorossi) aka reed berries, for example from laundry. Wash nut is also a very common ingredient in Indian haircare products. Their washing effect is based on the saponins contained in the berries.

Use of soap nuts in hair washing

The saponin contained in the soap nuts is water soluble. The best way to utilize the saponins is to boil a walnut decoction.

• You will need 3 nuts and 5 decilitres of fresh water.
• First soak the Soap nuts in water overnight
• Cook the nuts gently for 5-15 minutes
• Strain the broth and use as a shampoo

Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is an example of a plant that is not a well-known soap plant but contains a surprising amount of saponins. Aloe Vera is highly recommended for hair care as it is an acidic, hair moisturizing plant that also has a gentle cleansing property. Thus, Aloe Vera alone can perform three different functions in hair care; cleaning, moisturizing and acid rinsing. In addition, aloe vera gives your hair more volume if you don’t rinse it off completely.

Although I would like to prefer domestic plants I have not found as diverse a plant as aloe vera is. I fully understand why Alexander the Great spread it everywhere he went to conquer. He simply couldn’t get along without aloe vera.

I have often heard the claim that aloe vera should not be used unless it is obtained fresh from the plant. The reason is that some plant chemicals are destroyed quite quickly. This is both true and false. Aloe Vera contains hundreds of active ingredients. All of the active ingredients in aloe vera are not known. It is also not known with certainty which of the hundreds of plant chemicals in aloe vera are the most effective. Even if a few aloe vera ingredients were destroyed immediately at the harvesting time, hundreds would still be left. Factors important for hair and skin care, such as acidity and saponins, also remain unchanged in freeze-dried aloe vera powder and bottled juice.

You should try aloe vera for haircare yourself. I think you are convinced of its effectiveness. Aloe Vera is definitely my personal favourite in hair care. Aloe vera is a moisturizer for hair. It is suitable for both oily and dry hair. Aloe Vera both cares for and cleanses the hair.

Use of aloe vera in hair care

You can use either ready-made aloe vera juice or powdered aloe vera gel for hair care. Both have the same washing, moisturizing hair and therapeutic effect. The gel made from powder is easiest to use in hair washing.

• Prepare the gel from the powder according to the instructions on the package or use the finished juice.
• If necessary, strain the finished juice through a gauze cloth. The juice sometimes contains nasty flakes that stick to the hair.
• Pour the aloe Vera juice into a bottle that is easy to apply to the hair
• Wet your hair well and pour a bottle of aloe Vera juice into the scalp evenly in parts
• Foam the hair as in shampooing but leave on for 10-20 minutes before rinsing
• Then rinse your hair
• I actually add some aloe Vera juice after rinsing to be left in the hair to give the hair more volume.
• Aloe Vera also works well as a light hair conditioner.

Moisturizing hair rinse, here are suitable plants

Acids are needed to rinse hair. It is very easy to find acidic plants in the plant world. Most plants contain some acid.

Another function of a hair rinse is to moisturize the hair and scalp. Many moisturizing products are not acidic. If you want a moisturizing rinse on your hair, you should choose plants that contain mucus.

If you have washed your hair with an alkaline surfactant, you will definitely need an acid rinse. If you also want moisture for your hair, make a mixture of acid rinse and moisturizing rinse. Only aloe Vera alone takes care of washing, moisturizing and acid rinsing.

Moisturizing hair rinse is created from the following plants

Marshmallow root

Althaea officinalis is a truly magnificent mallow plant. Mallow grows well everywhere, but herbaceous rose does not really like Nordic, cold climate. Other mallows can be used for this purpose but they have really small roots compared to the marshmallow.  You can also buy marshmallow roots from online shop.

I myself have bought marshmallow root from England. It can be obtained very cheaply from foreign online stores. The dried marshmallow root preserves very well, so you can buy a bigger batch it in stock.

How to use the marshmallow root?

• Measure 2 tablespoons of chopped, dried marshmallow root into a pot
• Pour on 0.5 litres of fresh water and cook for about 10-15 minutes.
• Strain the liquid while hot and cool it down. Plants containing mucus are difficult to strain when cooled.
• Use as a hair rinse to moisturize hair. You can let it stay for 10-20 minutes before rinsing.

You can also leave a decoction of marshmallow root slightly in your hair to give volume.

Fenugreek seeds

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is one of my favourite hair washes. I found a recipe from a popular organic haircare blog called Hairbuddha

The site has plenty of Indian hair care tips. I have tried some and this fenugreek seems to fit well into my hair. Many of Hairbuddha’s guidelines are suitable for coarser, Indian style hair type.

Fenugreek gives the hair a wonderful shine and extra moisture. Lack of moisture is the factor that damages the hair.

Preparation of fenugreek rinse

• 2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds
• 5 decilitres of fresh water
• Soak fenugreek seeds in water overnight
• Pour off the soaking water and add 5 decilitres of fresh water
• Boil the seeds for 15 minutes
• Strain the broth and use as a hair rinse

Flaxseed gel

Flax seeds (Linum usitatissimum) contain the same mucilage as marshmallow root. Mucilage moisturizes the hair and at the same time give it volume. Flaxseed mucus is very tough and also acts as an organic hairspray.

I first heard about the use of flax seeds in hair care on Henriette Kress’s herbal therapy course. She advised the use of flaxseed mucus as a hairspray and for hair styling. If you want to make safe cosmetics for children for their beauty plays, flaxseed mucus is a very good hair gel.

Prepare the gel this way

• 2 tablespoons of flax seeds
• 3 decilitres of fresh water
• Boil flax seeds in water until you have only 1-1 ½ decilitres water left. You can decide the strength of the gel yourself.
• Strain the gel immediately when hot, as the flax seeds will no longer separate from the cooled gel.
• Use a gel such as a hairspray. If you want real sprayable hairspray, leave the gel more liquid. You can apply a thicker gel to your hair with your fingers.
• This gel is good when you want to lift your hair up from the scalp.
• Flaxseed gel comes off the hair unfortunately easily when the hair dries. Simply brushing removes the gel easily.

You can get also a very caring hair rinse from flax seeds. The hair rinse is prepared like a gel but use 5 decilitres water and 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds.

You can let the flaxseed gel act on your hair after washing for 10-20 minutes.

If you want extra volume in your hair, you can leave a little flaxseed gel into your hair.

Other hair moisturizing plants

There are other moisturizing plants as well. You can make broths from all of these and use as a hair rinse.

This time I am not suggesting vinegar. I am not in favour of vinegar in hair care. Vinegar may be too dry for many. For some, vinegar suits well.

• Hibiscus juice is a very moisturizing but at the same time red colouring ingredient.
• Sage is very moisturizing and is reported to remove grey hair from dark hair
• Lavender is a neutral hair moisturizer

Acid rinses for hair

There are many very useful plants in nature for hair rinsing. The plants also contain several minerals as well as antioxidants that are beneficial to the scalp. If you want to ferment plants, you also get very useful probiotics from them.

Nettle is a very good hair conditioner

Nettle (Urtica dioica) is a very diverse plant. It is rich in silicon which is good for hair. Small nettles are best for food. Overgrown nettles should instead be used as a hair rinse. They have enough oxalic acid for acid rinsing. Nettle is also a highly antioxidant plant that also treats hair and scalp.

Nettle gives the hair a wonderful shine. The only limitation to the use of nettle is its suitability only for dark hair. Clearly, blonds should not use nettles in hair care.

Prepare the nettle decoction like this

• It is worth making a nettle decoction
• Collect about a litre of nettles. In terms of acid rinsing, bigger nettles are best
• Rinse the nettles, put in a pot and pour 2-3 litres of fresh water on top. You can adjust the amount of acidity with water. More water, less acidity.
• Boil the nettles for 20 minutes
• Allow the broth to cool down and strain it
• Use the broth as a hair rinse

Nettle has a darkening effect on the hair. To try the darkening effect, pour nettle soup several times through your hair.

Thank you so much for your interest and thank you for reading my entire post.

It would be really great if you would share your own natural hair care tips with me and other readers of my blog!

Artikkeli Hair moisturizing and caring herbal rinse; how to prepare it easily by yourself julkaistiin ensimmäisen kerran Helenatur.