This project was inspired by one of the first bits of makeup I ever fell in love with. When I was growing up my mom made a point of taking advantage of those “spend $X and get this miraculous goody bag of sample-sized treats for free” at the Estée Lauder makeup counter at The Bay, meaning she’d often come home with a tote bag of things that she didn’t have much use for—so I got to inherit some of it! The thing that stuck out most was the cutest little tube (it might’ve been 3mL!) of something called Spotlight. It’s since been discontinued, but I remember being utterly smitten with its soft pink hue, hint of shimmer, and ability to make my still-amazing-because-I-was-12 skin look extra radiant. I liked it enough to actually attempt to purchase it, but 12 year old me nearly fainted when she found out it was a couple months worth of allowance, and decided she could do without it. Anyhow, for some reason I got to thinking about this product a couple weeks ago and thought “Hey! I could do that!”.
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The original was definitely an emulsified cream, but I’ve been playing with a really groovy new product from TKB Trading lately that made me decide to make my version an anhydrous oil serum. Said funky product is called Thickening Clay. It’s a vegan clay-derived fine powder with an INCI of Quaternium-90 Sepiolite (and) Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite (learn more here). It looks like clay, but no other clay will work in place of Thickening Clay!
Thickening clay works to thicken oil based concoctions and keep pigments in suspension. This means you won’t have to vigorously shake your concoction before every use to get the pigments back in play. Thickening clay also helps reduce the oiliness, helping the product lean towards a more matte finish (pssst… liquid lipsticks!). TKB recommends using it at 1–3%. I have found the higher end of that range can be drying, depending on the rest of the formula, so that’s something to keep in mind when you’re working with it. The level I’ve used it at doesn’t keep the micas in perfect suspension in perpetuity (I’ve found they’ll settle to about 90% of the depth of the liquid after a few days), but it does keep them from settling out solidly, and I didn’t want to use too much of the Thickening Clay and end up with a serum that was drying to the skin.
Since this is a facial serum, the bulk of it is two lighter-weight oils my face loves: argan and squalane. You are certainly free to choose others if you wish, but I do recommend sticking to lighter oils for the finish we’re looking for. For some skin perfecting, I’ve included some sericite mica. This fantastic ingredient helps diffuse the appearance of light on the skin, giving a smooth, airbrushed appearance without coverage—it’ll help disguise the appearance of fine lines and pores, basically. Woo! I’ve also included a touch of mica for some glow and shimmer. I made a more sun-kissed version and a more pinky-pearl version. You’re welcome to customize the micas you use to something that will work brilliantly with your complexion!
The making of is quite simple. You’ll begin by stirring together all the powders, and then blend in a small amount of the liquid oils to create a smooth paste (similar to create a roux) before slowly blending in the remaining oils. And that’s it! You’ll be rewarded with a silky, shimmery liquid that leaves your complexion glowing. Swoon.
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Center Stage Glow Serum
Powdered ingredients
0.3g | 2% TKB thickening clay
0.225g | 1.50% mica blend
0.75g | 5% sericite mica (USA / Canada)Liquid ingredients
9.15g | 61% argan oil (USA / Canada)
4.5g | 30% olive squalane (USA / Canada)
0.075g | 0.50% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)Weigh the powdered ingredients into a small bowl or beaker, and stir until thoroughly combine.
Add 2g (13%) liquid oil and stir to create a smooth, uniform paste. Once you’ve got a smooth, shimmery paste, slowly stir in the rest of the liquid oils.
That’s it! Pour into a 15mL/half ounce glass bottle with a dropper top. A clear bottle will really let the shimmer shine, but it’s certainly not necessary.
Mica Blends
The blog version used 0.1g artisan coral mica and 0.12g glimmer beige mica. The video version used 0.15g silver mica and 0.1g artisan coral mica.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this serum is 100% oil based, it does not require a broad-spectrum preservative (broad spectrum preservatives ward off microbial growth, and microbes require water to live—no water, no microbes!). Kept reasonably cool and dry, it should last at least a year before any of the oils go rancid. If you notice it starts to smell like old nuts or crayons, that’s a sign that the oils have begun to oxidize; chuck it out and make a fresh batch if that happens.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 15g.
- If you don’t have the thickening clay you’ve got a few options:
- Leave it out completely and replace that 2% with more liquid oil. The micas will settle and you’ll have to shake before use
- Leave it out and replace with white kaolin clay. The micas will still settle but you’ll get a bit of that more matte finish the Thickening Clay gives.
- Replace it with TKB GelMaker CC; you’ll probably want to use the GelMaker around 6% for a similar effect, so I’d recommend removing 4% from the argan oil to make room for it.
- You can use whatever blend of micas you like; I’d recommend sticking to the vaguely skin toned realm (copper/bronze/gold/pink/beige) but if you want to give green a go, who am I to say no? 😜
- You could use silica microspheres in place of the sericite mica, but I would use just 2% silica microspheres and make up the other 3% with more liquid oil
- You can use other oils your face loves in place of argan and squalane, just keep it on the lighter side
I can’t find any thickening clay in the UK, so will have to forego trying this one out 🙁 How is your new co-conditioner recipe going? Are you nearly ready to share Marie?
Have a great day.
I’m having the exact same problem Pauline 🙁 Which is shame as I used to love Spotlight!
Perhaps one of our suppliers will catch on and start stocking one.
Thanks Marie – great memories, I think my first Spotlight experience was a free sample too
I updated the substitutions list, you can definitely make this, you just might have to shake before use 🙂
We can always hope Linzi,it’s really annoying when you can’t source ingredients. Or when you can, but they are in huge quantities and damned expensive. We can’t win 🙁
Ah whoops! I forgot the substitutions section, d’oh—give it a read, you won’t have to miss out on this one 🙂 I’ve got the new CO drafted up and I’m planning on making it for the first time today with a beautiful new hydrosol—swoon!
Have just seen your reply Marie, for some reason I am not receiving notifications 🙁
I will get some silica microspheres and try this with some Kaolin clay, as I can’t find gelmaker here either 🙁 Thank you Marie and I LOVE the new co-conditioner:-D Always look forward to reading my emails on Monday and Thursday, you really are a little gem.
I have heard from a few people people that the comment notifications aren’t working terribly well—yet another thing for the ol’ to-do list, ha. Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
That’s weird I got a notification about this 1 hour ago! Thanks Marie – I’ll check it out – I have microspheres 🙂
Using non-skin toned colors, would this product work as a color corrector? E.g. You may not want to be green, but you want to tone down the red in your complexion? Perhaps using a pigment rather than a mica?
Maybe? It would depend a lot on the skin tone of the user and the strength of the mica used (some are much more pigmented than others). If you wanted to use a pigment you’d need to take quite a lot of care to distribute it evenly (pre-grinding it in a coffee grinder would be a good idea) to ensure you didn’t end up with green streaks on your face, ha, but I suspect that would be the more effective way to go! Good idea 🙂
This looks great, will give it a go. Have previously done something similar with jojoba, vit e and mica mixes from Aroma Zone but the addition of the clay is really interesting regards the final result. As others have said, we can’t seem to get this thickening clay in the UK but have some subs to use as per the sub section Marie has now posted. 🙂
Shimmery oils are so easy and so fun to make—I always wince when I see similar things at Sephora for a fortune! Fingers crossed somebody in the UK starts carrying the thickening clay, it’s very cool 🙂
Hi Marie! This looks really lovely! I love the idea of using thickening clay to help the pigments stay in suspension; I just wish thickening clay was easier to purchase here in Alberta though! 🙂 Maybe Windy Point will start carrying it sometime… By the way, happy birthday and I hope that the Edwardian dinner party went smashingly! 🙂 I feel like this serum is something that could be used by one of the lovely ladies in Downton Abbey, so it’s almost Edwardian as well… 🙂
I will definitely suggest it to Michele! Thanks for the birthday wishes—I had a lovely time dressing up for the dinner party!
Hi!!! I’ve the read the document you graciously linked for the thickening clay.
Through all of the reading I’m still unclear. Is this product mixed with a synthetic ingredient to making the thickening clay what it is?
I wouldn’t call it a “natural” product, but I also don’t really care that much about that sort of thing 🙂 Happy making!
If I want to make it more opaque like a liquid highlighter, what can I add?
I believe a higher concentration of pigment would help give you some opacity as well as a base such a kaolin clay would help, but that would completely change the ratios and the end results. It’d be pretty though!
A titch of titanium dioxide will give some whiteness, and more mica will make it more shimmery 🙂 I would recommend downsizing the batch as you can torch through pigments quite quickly with this amount of base and a desire for liquid highlighter levels of pigment. You should also check out my book! It has recipes for cream & powder highlighters 🙂
Thanks for all your wonderful insights, blogs, and videos, Marie! Very well done!
Wondering, could you use cetyl alcohol to help suspend micas in this lovely face serum or is this an ingredient you would not want on your face – i.e. is it comedogenic? From reading your blog on Cetyl Alcohol, it sounds like it might impart a lovely, non-greasy feel on the face…
I haven’t had the greatest results with this method; I find the cetyl alcohol tends to precipitate out over time. It sort of works, and does feel nice though 🙂 So, basically—kind of, ha.
Hi Marie, I left a message on youtube about trying these ingredients in the liquid foundation in your book. I added silica microspheres, cericite premium mica, neossance squalane and left out the thickening clay. It turned out amazing, you gotta try this! Seriously gorgeous, skin perfecting, blurring effect, omg! I think we’re onto something here, lol!
WOOHOO! I know I love the neossance squalane in foundation, I shall have to try decorating it a bit more 😀
Just got my order from TKB trading and made this. Beautiful. With a dust of the airbrushing powder (from your amazing book!) I am ready to face the day. Re your amazing book is there a place we can go to if we have any questions about the recipes? It definitely needs a fan club or a Facebook group of like minded crazy people rhapsodising about the wonders of carmine and mica!
I am so glad! WHEE! I do have a forum here on the website, but it isn’t terribly active. I’m hesitant to start up a Facebook group as they can require a lot of moderation, be very time consuming, and can get crazy over-dramatic :/
This will be my first time using mica pigments in a serum. I am wondering…is there a pigment you can suggest that is neutral for a range of skin tones – say an ivory/pinkish, Caucasian/apricoty, and olive? I am hoping for a subtle glow, a bit of perfecting, and a dash of blur. Thanks for any and all suggestions.
I generally like beigey ones—I’d recommend ordering a selection of samples from TKB Trading and seeing what you like. I’m really not great at broad recommendations for a wide variety of skin tones, sorry!
No worries! I ended up using TKB’s ivory lace and oriental beige and they turned out lovely. Next time I may tick up the amount of sericite mica & thickening clay – just to play.
Love, love, love!! I have made this twice now, with different color blends in each. The first one I made was awhile back, but I used different oils and some darker mica (think summery, copper shades). But now that summer’s over, I find myself wanting something a little lighter in color. Plus, the other one is smelling a little nutty….probably expired by now, but I’m having a hard time throwing it out because there’s still quite a bit left
Today I made a second batch. I just got in an order from Bramble Berry with some beautiful oils, among them Shea Oil and Squalane. I am absolutely in awe of how the Shea oil has softened the skin on my hands, so I incorporated it into this recipe in place of half of the Argan oil. And for the color, I riffed off of your lighter shade and did .15g. Super pearly white mica from BB, and .10g. cinnamon sugar mica from TKB. The color is perfect!!
Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. I can satisfactorily say that I am ‘happy making’ 😉