After falling madly in love with my gentle cleansing balm, I just had to keep playing with the idea. Sabine mentioned that she liked to wash her face with my DIY Egyptian Magic, and that sounded like the perfect place to start playing. Cleansing balm + Egyptian Magic = Egyptian Magic cleansing balm. Sounds good to me!
I no longer recommend making this formulation as it contains soap, which has a pH that’s higher than we want to use on our faces. Please read this and this for more information. For an alternative + better formulation, check this out!
The sudsy base of this cleansing balm is some undiluted homemade liquid soap paste. I like to whip up a batch and keep it on hand for all kinds of projects—everything from liquid shampoo to body wash to this cleansing balm.
Instead of softening the soap paste with water, as you would to turn it into liquid soap, I’ve blended it with the key ingredients in Egyptian Magic—minus the beeswax, which likes to hang around afterwards and leave your skin unpleasantly sticky.
Olive oil thins the paste out a bit and adds a nice dose of moisture to the balm, and some clay adds a bit of extra scrubbing and cleansing power. Some added soy lecithin keeps the olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) from oozing out of the mixture—I don’t recommend eliminating it unless you want your cleansing balm floating in a pool of olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada). It also brings added moisturizing and softening properties to the balm.
Pollen, propolis, and honey bring all kinds of bee goodies to the mix. Pollen is loaded with vitamins and minerals, and propolis is a powerful antiseptic—great for cleaning and healing. Raw honey is a powerful antibacterial, loaded with beneficial enzymes.
The final cleansing balm is soft and smooth, and cleans the skin gently. If you love Egyptian Magic, you’ll love this Egyptian Magic cleansing balm.
I no longer recommend making this formulation as it contains soap, which has a pH that’s higher than we want to use on our faces. Please read this and this for more information. For an alternative + better formulation, check this out!
Egyptian Magic Cleansing Balm
30g | 1.05oz liquid soap paste
30g | 1.05oz olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
1 tbsp white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
½ tsp bee pollen
10 drops Bee propolis tincture (you can also make your own from raw propolis)
½ tsp raw honey
14g | 0.49oz liquid soy lecithin or sunflower lecithinCombine the liquid soap paste, olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada), clay, pollen, propolis, honey, and lecithin in a bowl and beat together with electric beaters until thoroughly and uniformly blended.
Decant into a 60mL/2oz container. To use, massage into damp skin and rinse off.
Lecithin is an oil-soluble emulsifier that keeps the olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) from oozing out of the soap paste as well as adding conditioning properties. At this time I know of no suitable alternatives.
Ohh , I love it!! I don’t have soy lecitin, can I use something else?cheers :1)
Sorry, I don’t know of any swaps at this time!
Maybe Xanthan gum instead?
Hi, I would love to try this recipe, since I have already done a batch of liquid soap paste and is waiting to be used!!!
I have never used soy lecithin…so is this liquid, powder? What is the purpose of it? Could it be replaced?
Thank you for your feed back!
Hi Irene! Mine is a thick, viscous liquid. It’s an emulsifier (otherwise the olive oil seeps out and pools). At this time I know of no replacements, sorry!
Thank your very much! I’ll let you know how I resolve.
🙂
Hey Marie….what is KOH?…. in the base soap paste recipe
Potassium Hydroxide
🙂
Potassium Hydroxide, the other kind of lye we use for making soap (liquid soap).
You can also opt for sunflower lecithin that is non GMO. Now Foods carries it in a powder, liquid or gel caps. I use that in place of soy lecithin due to possible GMO contamination.
Great tip, thanks Patricia!
Sooo very excited to do this as this cold Chicago winter approaches and I worry that using African Black Soap day and night will dry my face out. Quick question–could I add E.O’s like helichrysum, or is there a reason why you left them out? Also a related request! With it being fall and all do you have any ideas about a face wash using pumpkin? I’m always reading about the lovely enzyme properties of it and I gotta figure out how to get it on my face! Thank you for all your recipes they are fantastic and have totally changed my life!
Jade
Hi Jade! The only reason I didn’t include any EO’s is because the original Egyptian Magic doesn’t have any. You are more than welcome to include some of your favourites 🙂
Have you checked out my pumpkin pie soap recipe? I rather doubt the enzymes will still be alive and kicking in that, though. You could try blending a bit of pumpkin puree with some liquid soap and clay and using that as a cleanser, but you’d want to be mixing it daily, just before use so it didn’t mould.
Thanks for reading!
How long will this last? Could you use Argan oil instead of Olive?
Hi Deedra! My original cleansing balm from May is still going strong, and I assume this one will do the same as I haven’t added any water to the concoction—so that’s at least six months, though I imagine it will last longer than that. And yes, you could use argan oil, but considering you’ll be rinsing it down the sink in short order it seems like a pricey choice.
Also, would it be possible to use castile soap?
The closest thing you could use instead would be a castile soap paste from somewhere like Brambleberry—we need it before lots and lots of water has been added 🙂
on the lecithin, is yours liquid? I have it in granules, so was thinking of melting it in the olive oil, what do you think?
Hi Patrizia! Yes, my lecithin is a thick, gooey liquid. From what I’ve read the granules are not oil soluble, and have rather low solubility in water. Here’s some advice on how to dissolve them for use.
I’ve made this balm but it was too oily for my combination skin 🙂
But I really like it so i used it as a shave cream. Amazing rezults.
I usually use your citrus shampoo bar as my all in one soap, but this cleansing balm felt so great on my legs 😉
Awesome! If you’re going to use it exclusively as a shaving cream you might want to try adding some more clay for even better slip 🙂
Where can I find Soy lecithin?
If you scroll up to the big box above the comments you’ll find links to my suppliers 🙂
Hi Marie,
I can’t wait to try this Egyptian Magic inspired cleanser! You know I’ve had amazing results using the Egyptian Magic on my face and I just know this cleanser will hit the mark too.
I’ve ordered some ingredients I didn’t have and await that glorious little box from the supplier. I’ll mix it up in a few days and let you know how it goes for me.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for inspiring this project! I had a lot of fun whipping it up, and I’m really enjoying using it as a gentle facial cleanser 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think when you make it!
Well, it’s been a few weeks and I am in lurve with this concoction! It feels so very luxurious, and my skin is soothed and very soft. Thank you! (It’s tasty too.)
Woo! I’m so thrilled you love it 🙂
Hi Marie,
If I’m having trouble with the oil separating out should I just add more soy lecithin?
Thanks!
Hi Jade! That’s exactly what I did 🙂 just go slow and take notes for next time!
What does soy lecithin look like? I was in the grocery store some days ago and I saw a jar of brown goo labelled as Soy lecithin. Is this the stuff to use?
Hi Alma! You can buy it in crystals or in a thick, bronze/brown gooey liquid. I used the gooey liquid 🙂
Hi Marie,
First Happy Holidays and a Happy New year to you and your business.
Ok, I admit that I am nervous in making the soap paste. My wife keeps telling me the dangers of the Pot. Suf. so I was wondering if I could make a paste from pure castle soap (liquid and cake) mixing them together? I realize the ingredients to these products more complex than your base paste, but would this work you think?
Hi Jess! I’m not sure what Pot. Suf. is (potassium sulfate?), but Potassium Hydroxide (what you should be using for liquid soap) isn’t any more dangerous than Sodium Hydroxide. The soap paste truly isn’t scary at all!
That said, if you really can’t work up the nerve, I’d recommend getting a liquid soap paste pre-made from somewhere like Brambleberry. That’ll be mucho closer to what you want (though maybe not 10lbs of it!) 🙂
Thanks Marie, sorry, I was confusing the PH with PS, which is an garden amendment I use for our organic garden.
OK, I will try this out now that the Christmas rush is over.
😉 As long as the confusion doesn’t reach the kitchen! I look forward to hearing how your batch comes out 🙂
I am not set up yet to make my own soap. I at this point by the base soap melt it add my own herbs, EO’s, absolutes, ect. I have found several recipes on your site I like to incorporate to mine. So since I cannot make the soap bars or the soap paste as of yet. Could I use the base soaps I by to make some of the recipes you have by shaving the bar soap into water diluting it?
Hi Tanya! The soap paste that forms the base of this recipe is made using a different type of lye (KOH instead of NaOH), which gives it a completely different texture and consistency. You won’t be able to achieve the same thing by softening NaOH soap. If you can buy some liquid soap paste, though, that would work (I believe Brambleberry sells it).
Have you ever made Egyptian magic in a bar soap? Brambleberry has a honey melt and pour starter soap and I thought about putting all that bee goodness in it. Would that work? Love all your recipes. Thanks
I haven’t, just liquid soap 🙂 I’d love to make a bar one day, but something I have wondered about is what the saponification reaction would do to the ingredients—the raw honey, for example, wouldn’t be raw anymore. Obviously that’s not a problem with melt & pour, but that’s not my style 😉 You should definitely give it a try, though, I think it should work!
Actually, because of all your Egyptian magic lotions and potions I did make an Humblebee & Me Egyptian Magic inspired soap! One was just my go to recipe (neem, Oliver oil, Shea butter, lard, castor oil) and the other was a potent smelling bar with the same oils only neem at 35% superfatting at 10%
To 1kg of oils:
4 heaping table spoons of bee pollen powder
3 tablespoons of honey
2 heaping tablespoons of Royal jelly
1 tablespoon bee propolis
I read your maple syrup soap post again and decided to put the loaf into the fridge and left the indivual molds out. I did notice the ones left out were warmer, but the ones in the fridge were fine. No cracked tops or anything.
I do notice that the soap leaves my skin feeling nicer and smoother.
I say go for it!
OOoh, sweet! I think I will have to 😀 Minus the royal jelly, though… still don’t have that haha! And I am on an ingredient diet right now, gotta use up what I’ve got! Thanks so much for sharing 😀
Hey Penny what are your percentages on your go to soap recipe? I have a bunch of need oil and want to give it a try.
Wonderful…gone in my DIY wish list.
A small clarification, so do you recommend soy lecithin extract for gentle cleansing balm and exfoliating creamy cleansing balms as well as the oils may separate from the soap..
Hi Priya! I did find the oil separation was not a problem with those other two cleansing balms; only this one oozed apart. So, you shouldn’t need the lecithin there 🙂
I’ve never heard of Egypcian Magic but this seems great. I just want to clarify something about the liquid soap paste. Are we supposed to use the soap paste before diluting it or after?
Thanks so much!
Hi Stephanie! Liquid soap paste = undiluted, liquid soap = diluted 🙂
How would this work minus soap plus e-wax I wonder? I love the cold snap cleansing balm but am looking for more ways to make it with some extra goodies like honey!
Probably! I can’t really see why not 🙂
I can’t really make soap paste myself due to physical limitations, and its really hard to find a commercially produced one where I live. Do you think I could maybe substitute some black soap paste instead? My neighbors family bought her some black soap paste from Ghana and she gave me a small pot to try. I love the smell and think it’d go quite nicely with the honey, do you think it would work in the recipe though?
Check out this recipe 🙂
Can you use a surfactant or melt and pour soap instead of your liquid soap? Thanks!
Knowing what I know today, I would recommend an emulsifying wax powered version instead—like this 🙂