Facial Cleanser Formulations

Looking to make some sort of facial cleanser? I've got free formulations for foaming cleansers, cleansing oils, cleansing balms, and more!

Don't have a certain surfactant?

I've made a table detailing all the different surfactants I work with so you can compare their attributes and choose one that works for you!

Why do you no longer recommend high pH cleansers?

Soft Velvet Cleansing Oil

Soft Velvet Cleansing Oil

Today we're whipping up a velvety cleansing oil that's great for all kinds of facial cleansing, but especially brilliant for removing makeup. I created it with waterproof eye makeup in mind, as it likes to hold onto my lashline for dear life! This cleansing oil has a...

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White Chocolate Peppermint Cleansing Balm

White Chocolate Peppermint Cleansing Balm

This cheerily swirled White Chocolate Peppermint Cleansing Balm is just the thing for morning face-washing. With a refreshing pop of peppermint essential oil and gorgeous slippy texture, this cleansing balm melts quickly on the skin and rinses off readily, leaving...

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Calendula Rose Foaming Cleansing Powder

Calendula Rose Foaming Cleansing Powder

Today we're creating an herb-and-clay-based powder-to-foam facial cleanser. It's a pretty simple concept, and easy to customize and tweak based on what you have on hand. It's been quite a while since I shared a cleansing powder—it seems I really liked them in...

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Lavender Facial Cleansing Bar

Lavender Facial Cleansing Bar

Today we're creating a gentle Lavender Facial Cleansing Bar—a solid foaming facial cleanser with a skin-happy pH, creamy lather, and a lovely lavender scent. Several bees have sent in requests for another solid facial cleanser, with references to products from Cerave...

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Pemberley Foaming Facial Cleanser

Pemberley Foaming Facial Cleanser

This gentle Pemberley Foaming Facial Cleanser boasts the loveliest dense, creamy lather and a mouth-watering scent blend. It's bright, sweet, and slightly spicy with deep rose and juicy citrus notes. Making-wise, it comes together so quickly that I suspect it'll take...

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Sweetgrass Micellar Water

Sweetgrass Micellar Water

Today we’re continuing our sweetgrass series with a simple Sweetgrass Micellar Water that comes together in a flash and really lets our stunning sweetgrass hydrosol shine. This gentle facial cleanser requires no heat to make—simply weigh everything into the bottle you...

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Sweetgrass Facial Cleanser

Sweetgrass Facial Cleanser

I'm loving this simple, glossy, honey-and-sunshine scented facial cleanser right now. It uses a new product that Windy Point has recently started carrying—a surfactant blend called Iselux Ultra Mild. Pre-blended surfactant products makes creating foamy/lathery things...

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Mango Mango Cleansing Oil

Mango Mango Cleansing Oil

I am so in love with this simple, vibrantly orange cleansing oil. It smells wonderful, works beautifully, and is so dang easy to make that it feels a bit like cheating. Compared to my other cleansing oils I think you'll find this one lighter, perhaps a bit more satiny...

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Gel Micellar Water

Gel Micellar Water

The inspiration for this Gel Micellar Water came from two places. The first was a gelled micellar water sample I got when I made a purchase. The second was a leaking bottle of non-gelled micellar water in my travel bag. Given I’ve already got a micellar water...

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Micellar Water for Waterproof Makeup

Micellar Water for Waterproof Makeup

Today were taking something really simple (DIY micellar water) and amping up its cleansing power so it easily removes waterproof makeup. It's a super simple modification to a more standard micellar water recipe and I think you'll be pretty stoked about the results!...

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Soothing Cleansing Balm

Soothing Cleansing Balm

Our Soothing series continues with this lovely Soothing Cleansing Balm. Up until now all of our soothing projects have included a water phase, and many of our awesome soothing ingredients (cucumber distillate, chamomile hydrosol, urea, etc.) live in that phase. This...

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Soothing Micellar Water

Soothing Micellar Water

Today we're continuing our soothing series with this formula for a gentle Soothing Micellar Water. You'll find many of the same soothing ingredients we've been using throughout the series, creating a soothing and softly scented facial cleanser. Micellar water is a...

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Winter Solstice Facial Polish

Winter Solstice Facial Polish

After the annual colourful craziness of Christmas DIYs I've really been enjoying dreaming up something solstice-inspired these last few years. We've got a face cream, a soap,  and a mask, and now we've got a star-studded charcoal-infused facial polish. This facial...

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Clementine Facial Cleansing Milk

Clementine Facial Cleansing Milk

Today we're making a gentle, low-foam, creamy Clementine Facial Cleansing Milk. It comes together just like a lotion, with the addition of a few grams of surfactants in the cool-down phase for a titch of cleansing power. If you've been looking at making your own...

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Sea Buckthorn and Charcoal Cleansing Balm

Sea Buckthorn and Charcoal Cleansing Balm

This striking Sea Buckthorn and Charcoal Cleansing Balm stars two potent ingredients to create a perfect-for-Halloween cleansing balm. The inspiration for this came from wanting to create something for Halloween—in past years I've done lots of pumpkin spice things...

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Oil Cleansing Gel

Oil Cleansing Gel

When I was in Montreal last year I visited Coop Coco, a local DIY supplier, and poked around, looking for things I didn’t have that would fit in my suitcase. I ended up picking up a bottle of Sucragel, a cold-process emulsifier I’d never worked with before, brought it...

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Eucalyptus Mint Soft Cleansing Balm

Eucalyptus Mint Soft Cleansing Balm

This soft, squeezable cleansing balm is rich and creamy, melts into a stunning cleanser once you start working with it, and leaves your skin feeling refreshed and just a touch minty. I love it first thing in the morning to help me hit the ground running! Want to watch...

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Lemon Rose Facial Cleansing Drops

Lemon Rose Facial Cleansing Drops

I seem to be on a bit of a "concentrated" kick, partially inspired by my recent trip to Australia. I brought shampoo bars with me (that also ended up doubling as body wash), and found that all the use (aka getting wet) and the lack of time to dry between moves meant...

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Lavender Gel Facial Cleanser

Lavender Gel Facial Cleanser

This fun, softly purple Lavender Gel Facial Cleanser is another thing I've devised as part of my Formula Botanica coursework. It's a wobbly, silky semi-solid facial cleansing experience that I probably find entirely too amusing 😝It's simple to make (no heat...

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Rose Micellar Water

Rose Micellar Water

I'm pretty excited to finally be able to share a micellar water formula I'm happy with. I've been experimenting with micellar water formulations quite a lot over the last year and while the concept is simple enough in theory, it took quite a lot of fiddling and...

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Eucalyptus Mint Cleansing Oil

Eucalyptus Mint Cleansing Oil

This silky smooth Eucalyptus Mint Cleansing Oil is really quite lovely; freshly herbal and minty, with a touch of a cooling tingle that definitely helps perk one up first thing in the morning. I tried a new solubilizer and I really like it—the cleansing oil rinses off...

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Ginger Oak Moss Solid Facial Cleanser

Ginger Oak Moss Solid Facial Cleanser

This Ginger Oak Moss Solid Facial Cleanser is the sister to my Ginger Oak Moss Cleansing Balm Stick; the two accompanied me all around New Zealand last December, and did brilliantly. The inspiration for this came from a product I stumbled across while perusing...

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Ginger Oak Moss Cleansing Balm Stick

Ginger Oak Moss Cleansing Balm Stick

I love this fragrant, creamy stick of cleansing goodness. I took the first version with my to New Zealand, where I spent much of my time on the road, camping somewhere new each night, and this stick was brilliant. I was so happy to have something I could use quickly...

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Forest Cleansing Balm

Forest Cleansing Balm

I'm happy to report that Danny has been loving the Forest Facial Cleanser I made him (I'm loving it, too!), so I thought I'd extend the collection. And guys—this is the best cleansing balm I've ever made. It has the most amazing creamy consistency, beautiful rinse...

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