Pearl Sensation – Face Wash Recipe

So here is a new recipe for a face wash with a mild scrubbing effect.

I must admit I am not a great fan of scrubs: I find that sometimes (I am talking about the commercial scrubs) they are too harsh for my skin and when I want a smooth skin I simply use a good konjac sponge which gives me good results without irritation.
HOWEVER, I found these blue jojoba “pearls” on a website and I thought it would be a great “poetic” ingredient for a face wash.
I say “poetic” because these pearls don’t really scrub that much, at least not at the concentration I use them and not in a detergent (perhaps in a face mask they would scrub more)… but they look great in the detergent and they give it an extra texture.
Therefore these jojoba “pearls” are far from being essential but they seemed fun to me! 🙂

Enough blabbering I guess! 😀

Here is THE RECIPE:

Phase A:
Water to 100 – (click here if you don’t know what this means)
Trimethylglycine 2 – (also know an “anhydrous betaine”) – this ingredient is added to make the detergent milder and with a soft feel. If you don’t have it, you can omit this ingredient since this detergent is already very mild (however, if you do omit anything in the recipe, remember to re-calculate the amount of water needed).
Glycerin 5 
Xanthan Gum 1.2 – Actually adding Sclerotium Gum would have been better. If you have Sclerotium Gum use it instead of Xanthan, because it makes a more firm gel, with a better feel and Jojoba “pearls” would work so great with it. However, remember that the way of use of these two ingredients is different: xanthan is added to the glycerin and can be used cold. Sclerotium needs to be added to hot water
Sodium Lactate 5 –  (this is a cheap ingredient and it is very hydrating. If you don’t have this ingredient simply omit it: I suspect it doesn’t actually manage to work well in a detergent, since it is washed off immediately after being applied – nevertheless I thought it would be a nice ingredient for this one 😀 )
Preservative – Used at the needed concentration. Just because often I get asked this in the comments: I am using an eco-friendly preservative called “Cosgard” (this is the commercial name) which needs to be added at 0.6%. The reason why I don’t write “Cosgard 0.6” is that you might have another preservative that will do its job just as well as this one and you might get confused with concentrations. So: use the preservative you have, and use it at its specific concentration (you should find this data when you buy the ingredient).

Phase B: 
Lauryl Glucoside 6 – This, as the next 3 ingredients, is a surfactant; obviously needed to make a detergent! 🙂 But if you don’t have this one, you can try to formulate your own detergent after reading the posts about surfactants 🙂 You can find them in the “Site Index” of this blog).
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate 2
Disodium Laureth Sulphosuccinate 1 
Decyl Glucoside 2 
Fragrance Oil – a couple of drops. Absolutely use ONLY COSMETIC fragrance oils or essential oils.
Jojoba Pearls 1.5 – this is the “poetic ingredient” of this detergent (just because you might ask: I bought mine on THIS website).

Lactic Acid – a little at a time just to bring the pH to 5.5, only if needed 🙂

HOW TO:
Sorry I don’t have pictures of how I made this one but it is pretty simple and, if you want to see pictures of detergents, you could check my other recipes 🙂
Step 1) Measure Glycerin and Xanthan Gum, then slowly add the water and eventually all the ingredients of Phase A.
2) Give it a good mix with an immersion mixer and set aside.
It will look something jelly like this:

3) Measure all the surfactants of Phase B in a second becher. Mix with a spatula. When they are well mixed together, add the Fragrance oil and, eventually, the jojoba “pearls”. Mix with a spatula.
It will look something like this (except here there are no blue pearls):

4) Eventually pour the Phase A into the Phase B, a little at a time. You cannot mix with the immersione mixer anymore (or you would ruin the “jojoba pearls”) so add the Phase A slowly and stir well with the spatula, trying to make as little foam as possible.
5) Check the pH and adjust it, if needed, at 5.5.

That’s it 😀 😀 😀
Pour it in a nice bottle and there you have it: your PEARL SENSATION Face Wash 😀
Talking about the bottle you see in this picture: it was kindly sent to me as a free sample from this website: http://allinpackaging.co.uk/
They have a very good variety of cosmetic packaging! 🙂

NOTE: I took this picture right after mixing it (I had no time to take it after few days), so the detergent looks quite white but those are actually micro – and not so micro – bubbles! You see, I didn’t mix slowly enough 😀 I am not good with things that need to be done with patience 😀 so bear in mind that this detergent will be completely transparent and full of blue jojoba “pearls”! 😀

For more recipes click HERE 
To learn how to formulate cosmetics click HERE
For a list of online cosmetic ingredients suppliers click HERE 

That’s all for this, guys! 🙂
Hope you like the recipe!
Are there any recipes you would like me to try and formulate? 🙂