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Making foaming face washes couldn’t be easier. This DIY is light, gentle and smells so fresh! It literally takes minutes to make! My DIY face wash recipe works nicely for every skin type. Whether you have oily skin  or dry skin, this face wash is the perfect addition to your skincare routine. It is so cheap to make and will save you so much money in the long run.

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The natural ingredients in this homemade facial cleanser will help heal and nourish your skin. I formulated it for my daughter but have ended up using it myself for a convenient cleanser when I don’t oil cleanse!

My daughter is exhibiting the early warning signs that a tweenager is about to emerge. She’s counting the days to be able to wear lip gloss to school, starting to care about fixing her hair and now picks out her own clothes. With all this growing up she’s insistent upon, I figure it’s time to start teaching her how to take care of her skin now before the hormones start taking their toll! 

With my daughter in mind, I also created witch hazel toning wipes which I continue to remake over and over and easy to use cleansing wipes. I haven’t remade the cleansing wipes because after using one, I feel like I need to rinse which defeats the purpose. However, if you don’t mind that, they are a very easy way to cleanse the skin. Plus, they smell amazing!

Why Make Your Own Face Wash:

Often face washes are high in soap which leads to the overproduction of oil and possible irritation and sensitivity. 

Our skin’s pH level is between 4 and 6.5. Soap is extremely alkaline and goes towards the other extreme. Soap upsets the pH balance and acid mantle of your skin, causing skin conditions to worsen.

This easy diy face wash recipe has just enough castile soap to get the job done but not to strip the skin thanks to the aloe vera and hydrosol also included in this recipe. Since there is only a tablespoon of soap, this is a gentle face wash that can be used for all skin types and skin issues.

Other issues with conventional face wash are their ingredients. Ingredients like sulfates, Parabens and fragrance can be detrimental to your skin and even your overall health. 

Sulfates are what are used to make your soap bubbly and sudsy. Sounds great except they can be hard on the skin stripping it of it’s much needed oils. 

Parabens are used to prolong the shelf life of products. However, they are endocrine disruptors and can irritate the skin. 

Fragrance can contain up to 3000 chemicals to make one scent. Plus, phthalates are added to make the scent last longer which can cause substantial behavioral and cognitive issues. 

Ingredients in DIY Face Wash

The 2 ingredients a foaming soap requires is water and soap which makes foaming cleansers incredibly cheap to make. Did you know you can take a small amount of your regular hand/body/face soap, add it to a foaming bottle with water and now you’ve made an effective foaming soap? It’s a great way to dilute harmful fragrances and ingredients that are in soaps so you don’t have to throw out and waste a product that might not be as natural as you’d like. 

You’ll want to check out my foaming hand soap recipe. I never buy hand soap anymore and making this simple recipes saves so much money.

• Castile Soap

Liquid castile soap is affordable and easy to find. Dr. Bronner’s castile soap is a great brand that is most likely at your local grocery store. I’ve seen it at Walmart! They have a gentle formula which is great for sensitive skin but my favorite is their Lavender soap. Mountain Rose Herbs castile soap is very affordable as well. 

I purposely added very little natural soap in order to keep this cleanser from being harsh. Therefore, it’s not the most efficient when it comes to taking off makeup. However, you can use a warm washcloth to up it’s ability to remove makeup. I wanted to keep this natural face cleanser gentle yet rev up it’s effectiveness by choosing powerful essential oils. Skincare products work best when they are free of harsh chemicals and have simple ingredients that don’t irritate the skin. 

• Hydrosol

I use a hydrosol instead of distilled water mainly because of bacteria (most hydrosols are already preserved) but also because of all the added benefits you can add in to DIY Skincare effortlessly. Hydrosol can deliver extra nourishment to the skin! My favorite is Helichrysum hydrosol but Rose water is also great and an easy to find option.

Mountain Rose Herbs is the best place to find high quality hydrosols. Most of their hydrosols are certified organic and they have a huge variety. Amazon is few and far between when it comes to organic. I did find a certified organic rose water on Amazon though.

• Aloe Vera Gel

I love adding aloe vera gel for calming and healing. Plus it adds light hydration keeping the Castile soap from being too drying. 

• Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerin is a humectant meaning it will draw moisture to the skin. It also helps give this cleanser a silky slip so that it glides gently on the skin. It isn’t 100% necessary if you don’t have it on hand. You could replace it with an oil like sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil,  jojoba oil or even olive oil.

Glycerin or oil will help keep the pump from sticking as well. 

• Essential Oils

I chose the blend of lavender, cypress and juniper berry because they smell good together and I’ve been wanting to use more juniper berry because of it’s skin benefits!

Juniper berry essential oil deeply cleanses and purges the pores of impurities. It works to repair and strengthen the epidermis. Juniper berry helps to regulate hormones and improve skin conditions caused by hormonal imbalances. It is the perfect essential oil to add to this cleanser. Juniper Berry has strong anti-inflammatory properties which can relieve puffiness. It is also full of antioxidant power!

Cypress essential oil is great for tightening the skin so if making this for a teen, you could omit it and add tea tree essential oil instead. 

Lavender essential oil has antibacterial properties and is very healing to the skin.

Tea tree oil is one of my favorite essential oils to use on skin problems and is another great essential oil option especially if you have acne-prone skin, combination skin and/or deal with excess oil. I did not add it in this recipe but you easily could. 

Leucidal Liquid Preservative

In this recipe I decided to add a preservative as an optional ingredient. Leucidal liquid is approved for use as an ingredient in ECOCert Certified Organic products, a broad spectrum preservative, gentle on the skin and naturally derived. It is also very affordable and great to keep on hand for all your water based DIY products. 

What You Need to Make DIY Face Wash:

• 20 drops Lavender Essential Oil (find it HERE)
• 15 drops Juniper Berry Essential Oil (find it HERE)
• 5 drops Cypress Essential Oil (find it HERE)
• 1 tbsp Castile Soap (find it HERE)
• 1 tbsp Aloe Vera Gel (find it HERE)
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Glycerin (find it HERE)
• Foaming Soap Dispenser (find it HERE)
• Hydrosol (find it HERE or HERE) or Distilled water
• 2 tsp. Leucidal Liquid (find it HERE) *optional

Top off with any hydrosol of you choice! You can also used distilled water instead of hydrosol but you’ll want to use your DIY face wash quickly. It’s shelf life will be less than 2 weeks without a preservative. 

*I recommend using a preservative. However, if you are using all ingredients that are already preserved individually and you use this product up in no more than a month, you most likely can get away without the leucidal liquid. 

I have and recommend THIS foaming soap dispenser. It gives a rich lather but the pump can start to stick. I chose these particular pumps because they were cheap and come in a 3 pack. I was switching all my store bought hand soap for my homemade foaming version. There are most likely nicer ones if you’re in the market for them. 

How To Use DIY Face Wash:

1. Pump 2 pumps into your hand and massage the skin in circular motions.
2. Rinse with warm water or for removing makeup, remove soap with a warm wash cloth. 
3. Repeat if necessary.
4. Follow up with a toner and moisturizer.

To be honest, I much prefer using an oil cleanser to thoroughly cleanse my skin and I recommend the oil cleansing method for every skin type. Whether you have normal skin or problematic skin, oil cleansing is a gentle yet a detoxing tool you should try. However, I keep this face wash in my shower for quick, convenient cleansing. My daughter uses the cleanser morning and night. Let’s face it, it’s difficult to get a 10-14 year old oil cleanse!

You might also be interested in my easy eye makeup remover recipe.

This natural face wash recipe is such a great refresher and prepares the skin for toner, a moisturizer, then makeup!  It’s beyond easy to make as well!

xx, Jenni

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