You can easily make many kinds of cosmetics from very fine milled colloidal oatmeal (Avena sativa). When making homemade cosmetics, you shouldn’t pay attention to formalities. Many cosmetic products made by big manufacturers could be much simpler. Maybe consumers want to buy products that contain many ingredients and naturally manufacturers want to make difference to their competitors by adding unnecessary components to their products.
Now, because we only make products for ourselves and people around us, we can focus on the raw material itself.
To begin with, you can make simpler oat products by adding few drops of oat oil to your favourite ointment.
You can also add some soothing extract of oat’s sprout to your creams. Many cosmetic series contain the extract of oat sprout among other ingredients. The cosmetics industry has also noticed its soothing effect on the skin. This extract is sold by many Online Stores and by A. Vogel.
As a facial skin cleanser, colloidal oatmeal products are unbeatable
Oats alone is already a beauty product. The oats just need to be very finely milled in order to treat the skin well. Oatmeal mentioned for baking contains grains of oats that scratch the skin. Do not use nutritional oats for cosmetics. Colloidal, very finely milled oats is a different thing. It is also suitable for the most sensitive ones like babies. You cannot make colloidal oats yourself. I’ve tried to do it. Preferably get it from the store.
Colloidal oats, or oat silk, can be found at least from online stores. Those stores are my source as well. It’s not very expensive.
You can use colloidal oatmeal as such for face cleansing.
Next, I’ll give you instructions on how to use colloidal oats for face cleansing. The instructions for cleaning your face with oats is very simple.
Ingredients for one portion of face cleaner
- 1 teaspoon of colloidal oatmeal
- 1 plentiful teaspoon of water
How to do the cleansing of your face with oatmeal paste
- Apply a teaspoon of colloidal oat on your hand and add about a teaspoon of water
- Use your finger to mix the ingredients into the paste and use like cleansing milk to swirl your fingers over your face for about a minute.
- I myself leave the oats on my face for a moment and do something else. The product also acts as a facial mask.
- Wash colloidal oat paste off your skin. You will now feel how caring product oats are. Oats leave the skin soft and moisturized.
I rarely add any oil or ointment to my face after washing oats off. You may have a slight feeling of tightening of your skin. Oats leave a protective film on the skin. The film contain oat carbohydrates called beta-glucans. You can read more about beta-glucans in my blog post.
Colloidal oatmeal easily makes simple cleansing milk. Colloidal oats are also useful when traveling. As a powdery and very lightweight product, it is easy to pack. In addition, colloidal oatmeal do replace many products:
- cleansing milk
- facial mask
- moisturizing cream
- rash ointment for itching
Oats also help with scalp and hair care
Oats contain a substance called avenanthramide. It has been found to be effective in reducing itching of the skin and scalp. The following recipe is a modification of the fermented rice water used in Asia for hair and skin care.
I like oat water and rice water for hair and skin care as they contain good features of grains but not any disturbing and messy ingredients. Have you ever washed your hair using rye flour? It’s an incredibly messy job. The bathroom needs cleaning after using rye flour.
Fermented oat water
You will need the following ingredients and accessories
- 2 tablespoons of organic oat grains. Do not use oatmeal but buy
whole grains.
- ½ litre of fresh water
- Strainer
- 0.75 – 1 litre glass jar with lid for fermentation
- Glass container of approximately ½ litre capacity for storage
Do this
- First rinse the oat grains thoroughly in water
- Pour oat grains and ½ litre of fresh water into a glass jar and mix slightly
- cover the can with a lid
- Place the jar in a warm place in the room for about 24 hours
- After 24 hours, the water should smell slightly acidic and have a few bubbles on the surface. If not, the mixture is not yet fermented. Then you can let the mixture stay for a few hours or until the next day.
- Once you have identified the oat water as ready and acidic, mix it thoroughly with a spoon for a while
- Now you can strain the oat water into a clean glass container
- Put the glass container in the refrigerator to complete the fermentation process.
- To use oat water, first take it to room temperature for a few hours to warm it up. Never use ice cold fermented oat water on your skin or hair.
- You can store fermented oat water in the refrigerator for about a week
How to use fermented oat water?
Oat water is especially suitable for hair care
Use oat water as a hair rinse after washing. Pour oatmeal into washed hair and leave for a few minutes. You can also extend the action time by up to 30 minutes by covering your hair with a towel. Longer treatment is better for scalp problems and itching. Finally, rinse your hair with regular water as usual.
You can also wash your hair with oats. Pour the fermented oat water into moist hair and rub the scalp thoroughly using your fingertips for 3 minutes. Rinse with regular water.
Fermented oat water is also good for body and face skin
Use oat water as a facial and body wash after washing and showering. It is suitably acidic and cares for the skin’s own bacterial balance.
Oat water soothes the skin
It suits well for eczema type skin and acne skin to soothe inflammation.
I really hope you get inspired to try colloidal oatmeal and fermented oats. I myself found the superior effect on my skin. Oats nowadays is often praised using too many superlatives. However, praising comes for a good reason. Oats is one of the best ingredients for organic skin care.
Thank you so much for your interest in my cosmetic oat recipes!
If you have some great tips on how to use oats in homemade cosmetics, please let me know!