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 off, and is all kinds of silky and smooth and downright decadent. I think I’m hopping back to cleansing balms from cleansing oils with this Forest Cleansing Balm recipe! For now, at least… I never can leave well enough alone!
Want to watch this project instead of read it?
This cleansing balm ticks a thing I’ve been meaning to try off my to-do list—a cleansing balm thickened with stearic acid and cetyl alcohol instead of a wax, and incorporating a liquid emulsifier along with the emulsifying wax, like I do with my cleansing oils. I chose stearic acid and cetyl alcohol instead of wax for the wonderful kind of thickening they offering—plain ol’ “just like a butter” thickening, without any of the waxy coating that often comes with wax. Adding an additional liquid emulsifier allowed me to use less emulsifying wax for a softer final texture without reducing the cleansing power or rinse-off.
I found the stearic acid was a bit stubborn about melting; I would think everything was all melted through and then on closer examination there would still be tiny particles of stearic acid still dancing around. Once the clay has been incorporated it is pretty much impossible to see if there are any teensy bits of stearic acid, so for this reason I recommend melting everything through before adding the clay, and then adding it and heating that as well (clay is always a potential source of contamination, so heating and holding it is a good idea to help reduce that).
Once everything has melted, leave it to cool before incorporating the essential oils. I tried to speed this along by putting the container in the freezer, but I didn’t love how that turned out—a cold water bath, or simply waiting and letting it cool at room temperature would’ve been a better option. Because the freezer chilled the glass measuring cup, I ended up with solid chunks that had touched the glass in an otherwise liquid base, leaving me to do lots of semi-frantic stirring and mashing to try to keep the final consistency creamy instead of lumpy (especially so the essential oils would be thoroughly distributed). That’s definitely not the way to do it!
When the Forest Cleansing Balm is all set up and ready to use, prepare to swoon. The final texture is decadently thick and creamy, but unlike a wax-thickened balm, it quickly softens up in your palm, easily blending with a splash of water. As you massage the water and balm together you’ll end up with a palmful of a low, rich, white lather that smells like the forest. Massage that into your face, and rise it off with a damp microfibre cloth for a clean, happy face. Aaah.
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Forest Cleansing Balm
5g | 0.18oz complete emulsifying wax (not beeswax!)
4g | 0.14oz Polysorbate 80 (USA / Canada)
21.75g | 0.77oz fractionated coconut oil
5g | 0.18oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
9.5g | 0.34oz stearic acid (USA / Canada / UK)
2.5g | 0.088oz cetyl alcohol (USA / Canada)
0.25g | 0.0088oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)1.5g | 0.053oz French green clay
5 drops spruce essential oil
10 drops fir essential oil
2 drops oak moss absolute
2 drops cardamom essential oilPrepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a small saucepan.
Weigh the first seven ingredients into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in your prepared water bath to melt everything through.
Once you’re certain everything has melted through (watch out for teensy specks of stearic acid!), add the French green clay, stir to combine, and heat for another twenty minutes, taking care not to let your water bath simmer dry.
Once twenty minutes has passed, remove the measuring cup from the water bath, dry it off, and leave it to cool, stirring it occasionally. Once it has the consistency of thin pudding and the outside of the measuring cup doesn’t feel hot anymore, add the essential oils and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a wide-mouthed jar; I used this 50mL screw-top plastic jar from YellowBee. Enjoy!
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this cleansing balm does not contain any water, 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!). Be sure to keep it dry to ensure it lasts as long as possible—don’t let any water get into the container and it should easily last a year (use a dry finger or popsicle stick to dip into the container). If you plan on giving this cleansing balm away or taking it into the shower/bath with you, please include 0.5% liquid germall plus.
Substitutions
- You can use Olivem300 (not 1000—it’s solid, not liquid!) instead of Polysorbate 80
- You can use a different inexpensive, relatively light oil instead of the fractionated coconut oil. This is also a good place to use up liquid oils that are nearing the end of their shelf lives.
- You can reduce the amount of castor oil and make it up with more fractionated coconut oil to slightly reduce the cleansing power.
- You can use a different lightweight clay like kaolin or a different French clay instead of French Green—do not use bentonite or rhassoul
- You can use a different blend of essential oils or leave the balm unscented
- Use a different recipe if you want to use wax instead of stearic acid and cetyl alcohol
- You can likely replace the cetyl alcohol with more stearic acid, but I wouldn’t try the reverse
I’m so glad I subscribed to your blog, this recipe is fantastic, love it! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Jade!
This sounds gorgeous! Stop giving me ingredient lust, foul temptress!!
Sorrrrrry 😛
Hi, Marie
Great recipe, thank you. If you do not have green clay, may it be substituted with Kaolin clay? I love the other cleaners made with it.
Also, the video recipe reads castor oil versus fractionated coconut oil as the highest percentage oil part, just wanted to let you know.
Thanks again. Hugs from Louisiana
Definitely, sub away! And thanks for the heads up on the YouTube copy, I’ve fixed it 🙂
Hi Marie,
I ordered the orange wax so I could make the body scrub, oh my goodness that is one yummy smell and I just loveeee that scrub! Now I look forward to trying this recipe. I have everything except the oak moss, I have no idea what it smells like, any idea what I could use instead? Again that you for your amazing recipes, your ideas and keeping us informed on important issues.
Glad you’re loving the orange! There’s really nothing like oak moss, but benzoin is a pretty good alternative 🙂
Thank you I will try that and hopefully I can eventually get the oakmoss
It’s definitely worth a wee bottle if you find it 🙂
Looks lovely! I should try it as I anticipate my favorite consistency based on the picture. Next weekend is vack to formulating… can’t wait!
Btw my current shampoo sports this forest blend of yours! Love it 🙂
Oooh, lovely! I can’t wait to hear what you think 🙂
Hi Marie
This looks wonderful, probably will try it tonight. I do have a question and hope this is an appropriate place to ask it. Maybe someone else out there may be able to advise me as well. I am trying to become a patron and I get to the part where it wants me to log in on face book but also offers an email option. I don’t do facebook but also can’t seem to be able to use the email option.
Thanks for any help
Thanks, Lynne! I see that you got it figured out—thank you so much for becoming a Patron! I really appreciate it 🙂
What purpose does the polysorbate 80 serve? Just nerdy and curious 🙂
It’s a liquid emulsifier that is best suited to emulsifying oils into water—it’s part of the cleansing power here 🙂
I made a batch last month but found that there are oil keep separating from the balm…..I m thinking it’s the polysorbate 80. So I make another batch with cromollient SCE, same thing happened but less oil leaking. Any clue?
Hmm—how hot is it where you are? Have you left out any of the thickeners?
I have the same problem. I don’t add clay as I’m not a fan of it. I love how well this works but it’s messy to use when it separates. I live in tropical Australia so it’s pretty hot here. Would increasing the e-wax and thickeners help?
To raise the melting point you’d just need to increase the thickeners (cetyl alcohol & stearic acid) and reduce the liquid oil. Leave the e-wax as it is as more ewax makes for a stronger end product.
I had the same problem. My store gets a bit warm from time to time. I made some adjustments to the formula to make it better for removing makeup and make it a bit more shelf stable.Coconut Oil-76 (TKB)16.73% / Castor 8.58% / Steric Acid 16.3 % / Cetyl Alco. 4.29% / Poly-80 6.86% / E-wax 8.58% / BHT (butylated hydroxy-toluene) .02% / Gelmaker CC (TKB) Hydrated Hectorite 17.16% / Cyclopentasiloxane 3.43% / Cyclomethicone 13.73% / Dimethicone 1.5 3.43% / Silica Dimethyl Silliyate (Fumed) .86% / Tocopheneryl (Mixed) 10 Drops / Cap-2 12 Drops. Turned out very similar to Clinique’s take off the day cleansing balm. Cyclo’s are great for melting waterproof makeup and not sensitizing around the eyes. It breaks super fast and turns to a gliding oil that customers seem to find very fascinating.
Thank you so much for sharing, this looks and sounds fantastic!
oh awesome. your post came just in time. I wanted to make a creamy exfoliating balm and i think this will be a great base to add my ground pumice to 🙂 Thank you.
Ooooooooooo! Grand idea! I love her cleansing balms better than any other and adding pumice is the icing on the cake.
Great recipe, as always, Marie. And great idea, Vanessa.
Thanks, Cristie!
How lovely! Enjoy 🙂
Made this last night. Smells heavenly. I’m so happy I ended up ordering Oak Moss. Thank you, Marie!
YAY! I’m so thrilled 🙂 Oak moss is just divine, I’m surprised it took me this long to find it and fall in love with it—mmmmmmmm 🙂
Isn’t thickening with cetyl alcohol the bees knees? I have to admit I’m a little bit of a snob and am not a fan of stearic acid as the feel just doesn’t seem right.
The combination of both liquid AND solid emulsifiers? Well lovely lady, that’s the best of both worlds in this cleanser! I can’t wait to try this but will have to wait until after the Europe trip. It’s currently at the top of a very long list!
I am really loving the occlusive feel of stearic—I can’t wait to play with it more!
Great recipe! I was wondering why do you say it would be possible to replace the cetyl alcohol with more stearic acid, but not the other way around.
Think of it like this—if you had a bread recipe that called for 5 cups white flour and half a cup whole wheat, you could use more white flour instead of whole wheat, but if you suddenly changed the entire recipe to use whole wheat it would drastically impact it. Does that make sense?
Thanks for your reply Marie! It makes sense because I know how differently white flour and whole wheat flour behave. In this case I never worked with either of the two ingredients. With my question I was trying to understand what’s the difference between them in properties/characteristics, how the swap would change the recipe or if you have a guess about it. I only do this DIY stuff as a hobby and I like to try new things, but since I only use small amounts I try to keep the ingredients in my pantry to the minimum. So I try to find a very good reason before buying every new ingredient, otherwise it ends up being a bit of a waste of space, money and the ingredients themselves…
I’ve done two experiments to acquaint you with their awesomeness 🙂 Cetyl alcohol and stearic acid! Both are so inexpensive that if you can purchase 100g of each I would recommend it 🙂
I’ll have a look at your experiments 🙂
Hey Marie, this is an unrelated comment but I found that someone’s selling your honey and cocoa butter truffle recipe from your free course on listia: https://www.listia.com/auction/40128430-recipe-for-honey-cocoa-body-truffles?li_source=other&li_medium=search
-Anna
P.S. This cleansing balm looks great! I really want to try working with cetyl alcohol.
AGGGGGH people, man. Thank you for finding this, I have reported it. Hopefully it is removed ASAP! I really appreciate you watching out for me 🙂
You’re welcome! I was absolutely appalled when I saw that. How could you sell something that wasn’t yours and sleep at night?
Sadly, some people just suck :/
Hi Marie! I wasn’t sure where to leave this comment so I’m just commenting here! I live in New Zealand and its reaaaally hard to find some good places to buy. These are some of the best places to ingredients in New Zealand so if you added it to the ‘Where to Buy Ingredients’ list I think it would be really helpful!
http://www.purenature.co.nz/
http://www.candlecreations.co.nz/
https://zendesigns.co.nz/
http://www.lotusoils.co.nz/
Thank you so much, Laura! I’ve added these to the shopping page 😀 Muchly appreciated!
Thats great! Hopefully it will be helpful for others!
this sounds soooo good. i literally have every ingredient except the polysorbate 80. i do have polysorbate 20, though, would that work? if not, could i leave out the essential oils, and skip the polysorbate and still have the same product you made? i’m so excited for the smooth creaminess you speak of!
So… kind of and no. You can use olivem300 instead of polysorbate 80. You can try using polysorbate 20 instead, but it is not well suited to emulsifying lipids with water, and that’s what we’re doing here, so it’s not a great alternative. Leaving out the polysorbate 80 and the essential oils is pretty much exactly the same thing as just leaving out the polysorbate 80, which will negatively impact the cleansing power and rinse-ability of the cleansing balm. I’ll probably be doing a cleansing balm using just e-wax sometime in the future, though, so stay tuned for that 🙂
I would like to make this, but can I use powdered herbs like green tea powder instead of clay.
It’s worth a try!
I am developing a bad habit where I’m like “oh I HAVE to make this for my S.O. as a gift so I HAVE to by the ingredients and make this right now.
Keep the forest stuff coming! Just waiting on my amazon deliveries! Also will bayberry wax be making a comeback any time soon with all this foresty stuff? I want my man smelling like the log cabin retreat I wish I was at! Maybe a manly deodorant soon?
OOooh, bayberry wax! Shame on me, I actually forgot about it—eep! Now I have to think up some more foresty things that aren’t already in the schedule LOL 😛 I love the deo idea, but I’m trying to figure out something sans baking soda and I’ve got nothing that works at this point 🙁
Would I be able to just use liquid germal plus for the preservative?
Yup! Thanks to the emulsifiers it should incorporate just fine 🙂
Marie,
My question refers to both the original Forest Facial Cleanser and this Forest Cleansing Balm. In terms of usage, is it one or the other? In other words, do they perform the identical function of cleansing the face? Of the two, I’m more inclined to try this Cleansing Balm because the texture looks fabulous. I just saw you post about a Forest Lotion…love this theme. I haven’t had a chance to look at the Lotion yet but if it’s light, like a moisturizer, I’m all in. Thanks for all you do to help us understand.
Hey Marley! These days I’m double cleansing—starting with an oil cleanser (like this balm), then following up with a foaming cleanser (like the forest facial cleanser) before moving on to the rest of my skin care routine, and it’s been working brilliantly for me! You definitely don’t have to use both, but I did design them as a pair because I do 🙂 And yes, the lotion is lovely and light! After testing it myself I gave it to a friend of mine who ended up smothering himself in it as he’d got a rather awful sunburn and he spoke very highly of it 😛
Marie,
Is there a way to make a hybrind of the forest cleaning balm and the forest cleansing wash? Like a creamy surfacent blend? I have a bag of SCI and bottle of Cocoamidopropyl Betaine and was wondering if it could be added to the cleansing balm
Definitely, though the hybrid would be more of a texture of the cleansing balm + cleansing from surfactants. The end product would be very concentrated, though, and I would worry that the soft consistency might encourage over-use given the active surfactant matter in such a product. Hmm. It’s definitely worth playing with!
Hello, Marie;
Thank you for this lovely recipe! One question similar to another that was asked – I have Polysorbate 60 for another recipe you shared, can it be used instead of Polysorbate 80?
Cheers,
Ruth
I’ve never worked with Polysorbate 60 as an isolated ingredient, but according to Lotion Crafter their HLB values are very close, so they should be interchangeable 🙂
Thank you:)
Hi Marie! This looks luscious and I look forward to trying it out. I was wondering if it would be possible to either leave out the castor oil or to sub it with something? I realize that may change the texture a bit. Would it still cleanse in spite of the change?
The reason I ask is that the last time I incorporated castor oil into my skincare, I broke out pretty bad (though correlation is not causation). Maybe it’ll be okay this time, since it’s combined with other ingredients (including emulsifiers, etc.) and in a smaller amount?
Thanks for any advice you can give!
Hay Laura! You can definitely use a different liquid oil in place of the castor—just keep it cheap! Happy makign 🙂
This cleansing balm is perfection! I am officially addicted .. Thank you Marie!
YAY!!! 😀 Thanks so much for sharing and for DIYing with me!
Hi Marie! Can I subsitute cetearyl alcohol for the cetyl alcohol? If so, would the cetearyl alcohol replace just the cetyl alcohol or both the cetyl alcohol and stearic acid? Thanks!
I’m afraid I’ve never been able to find isolated cetearyl alcohol to work with, so I don’t know. You might as well try it, but you are not very likely to get the same texture as I had to work quite carefully to create a balance between stearic and cetyl to get the right consistency. The chances that you can replace both with something entirely new and get an identical result are pretty much zero, but it shouldn’t be awful.
I do have stearic acid! 😉 I was considering trying stearic acid with the cetearyl, instead of stearic acid with the cetyl, but wasn’t sure if doing so would effect the amount of stearic acid needed. I actually purchased the cetearyl from the same folks that make the cetyl alcohol you have linked ;). I guess I’ll just have to get the cetyl because I want to be sure it will come out right 😉
My links are all American ’cause ~80% of my readers are American, even though I’m not 😛 Windy Point says they are planning on getting some in, though!
I made it with cetearyl and it turned out perfect!
Great idea, Marie.
Thanks.
Hooray! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi Marie,
Hi, I had left a comment/question regarding whether I could subsitute cetearyl alcohol in place of the cetyl alcohol (I’m sure I can, but I guess I’m wondering if you’d recommend it? I don’t have Cetyl on hand but plenty of Cetearyl;)….) But I’d also like to ask/add Can I use Neossance Hemisqualane in this formulation? (I recently purchased that and the pentsia powder via your recommendations and links, and I’m dying to use them!)
I have not had an opportunity to work with isolated cetearyl alcohol so I can’t comment there.
You can use Neossance Hemisqualane in place of all or some of the liquid oils 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi Marie,
Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving. My hubby and daughter were in a Turkey coma last night (lol!) , so I took advantage of the free time and whipped a batch of this together last night! I just used it now upon waking, love, love, love! I used cetearyl alcohol in place of the cetyl, and I didn’t have cupuacu butter on hand, so I used Kokum butter in it’s place (it’s quite similiar). It came out great and looks just like what is pictured and the texture matches your description. I’m very pleased with the results! Ps. I infused my oils (I used 50/50 blend of castor and jojoba), with a few fir balsam tips to add to the fragrance of the wonderful blend! It also adds a bit of astrigency, antibacterial and antifungal properties, win win!
I did have a lovely Thanksgiving, though back in early October as I’m Canadian 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying this! I’m not sure where the cupuacu butter mention comes from (there is none in this recipe), so it might not actually be this that you’re enjoying, but I’m glad you’re liking whatever it is, haha 😛
Thank you! 😉
Happy making! 😀
Woops, Sorry Marie, commenting on the wrong recipe! I used the eo blend in this recipe, so that’s probably how my stars got crossed….. lol
Ha, no worries! It is a lurvely EO blend 😀
Okay….Forest
Cleansing Balm….. I am on the right recipe. Lol. But what I should have said was I replaced the stearic acid (not cupuacu butter) with kokum butter. I don’t know why I wrote cupuacu butter lol, I guess I had it on my mind. For a moment I thought I must have written a different cleansing balm recipe down from here, and used the eo blend from this one…..but no it was this recipe, I just had cupuacu butter on the brain because I’d just ordered some via your recommendation. So anyway yes, I replaced the stearic acid, *not cupuacu butter*, with kokum butter as an alternative for stearic acid(it’s naturally high in stearic acid, as I’m sure you know). I slightly increased the amount of kokum butter I used, and slightly decreased the fractionated coconut oil. I also tempered the kokum butter first, and I cooled the entire balm in my fridge overnight to prevent graininess (or blooming) with the kokum butter. Sorry for the mix up lol!
LOL, no worries! Thanks for clarifying and DIYing with me 😀
Oh Marie, this is just heavenly, thank you so much for the recipe! I made some last night and used it this morning and it feels amazing! I don’t have any of the lovely foresty essential oils (yet!), so I used benzoin and lavender, and used up some calendula infused sunflower oil that I’m sure is on its way out, and it smells wonderful.
Yay, I’m so glad! I definitely want to play with this lovely creamy consistency more 😀
Have you tried making skincare products with fermented flowers and fruits?
Nope; I’d be quite concerned about preservation in particular.
Hi Marie, I love all your recipies and have enjoyed great success which each of the ones I have tried. I am commenting on this one as I noticed the preservative recommendation if you were to gift this item or wished to use preservative was Phenonip and I remember reading something about Polysorbate 80 and deactivating Phenonip. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2010/10/preservatives-phenonip.html
Anyhow, it might not apply to this recipe given the amounts used but I thought I might share. 🙂
Again, I just LOVE your blog, your videos and your book. Thank you for your awesomeness! Take care.
Yes, absolutely! Whoops! I definitely knew this somewhere in the depths of my brain, but those bits at the end of the recipes regarding shelf life are typically copy/pasted from a larger document and I obviously neglected to ensure everything about that particular copy/paste was applicable here. Thank you, I’ve fixed it!
Hi Marie, would it be possible to put this balm in one of those squeezy silicone bottles instead of a jar or is the consistency too thick?
Thank you for all your work, love your blog!
It’s far too thick for anything other than an open jar 🙂 Happy making!
Hello and thanks for sharing these awesome recipes!
I personally find poly 80 drying. Do you think I could up the amount of emulsifying wax in place of the poly? Do they work the same?
No—you typically can’t use a solid ingredient in place of a liquid one, especially in a product where the end consistency is so important. Please refer to the substitutions list at the end of the recipe 🙂
Hi Marie. I was wondering if I could use Polawax instead of buying all the ingredients separately? Polawax contains polysorbate 60, cetyl alcohol ans stearic acid and emulsifying wax NF. It’s just that the proportions of Polawax to lipids seems a bit of the chart.
I’m not sure where you’re getting the ingredients list for Polawax, but it’s not correct—the precise ingredients of Polawax are a trade secret.
And basically, no—we want a small amount of emulsifier in a large amount of fats, butters, and other ingredients to create a gentle cleanser. Don’t use a pure emulsifying wax—the consistency will be awful, and it would be quite unpleasant to use on the skin.
Think of it like this: a spice blend contains many of the critical ingredients in a curry, but you’d never try to eat just the spice blend to get around making the entire curry 😛
Hii Thank you for sharing your recipe, I’m planning on trying it out but what is the shelf life of this cleansing balm? and what preservative can I add to it 😀
Read the italic part of the recipe 🙂
Just wondering why you don’t recommend bentonite clay in this recipe?
Watch this 🙂
Hi Marie, I absolutely love this cleansing balm! My skin has gotten very sensitive in the past few years, and I found the french green clay to be slightly too abrasive for everyday use, so I made a second batch replacing the clay for colloidal oatmeal. It worked out great! One thing though, I’m finding the balm to be ever so slightly drying on my skin. I believe reducing the amount of castor oil may help, but I think I read somewhere in the comments that polysorbate 80 can be contributing to the dryness as well. Have you ever worked with PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil? If so, do you think it’s less drying than polysorbate 80, and would you substitute it at a 1:1 ratio? I tried searching for the answer online, but haven’t had luck so far. Thanks Marie!
Oh yay! I’m so glad you’re loving it 🙂 If you want to make it gentler, I would simply reduce the polysorbate 80 and replace it with more liquid oil, rather than a different emulsifier. That will reduce the cleansing power of the balm, which will make it less drying 🙂 Happy making!
I made this a few months ago and loved it! Now I am making a batch to bring to my nieces in Washington. I made mine with Yuzu essential oil because I adore the scent. Just wanted to say thank you for a great recipe.
OOoh, lovely! Where did you find yuzu essential oil? I’ve only found it as a FO, but it sure smells amazeballs 😀
Marie, In a comment about the emulsifying wax above, you said do not use a “pure emulsifying wax”. What is the difference between a complete ew and pure ew? The emulsifying wax I have is labeled natural & pure (milliard brand).
My ingredients are still melting…. have I just botched this batch?
Hey! Read the parent question/comment for context: the reader wanted to eliminate several ingredients and use only e-wax in place of them. Don’t do that 😛 By “pure” I meant “purely” or “only”. Probably could’ve been worded better, though!
Just wanted to add – I’ve been using the cleansing balm for the month of June & I’m loving it! Less oily & heavy compared to a oil cleanser, rinses well (my wash cloths are happy), and perfectly refreshing during hot weather.
Thanks for the lovely recipe!
I’m so thrilled—yay!
Hi, Marie
I’m wondering that this product can be use around the eyes area?
Thank you
I wouldn’t use it to remove eye makeup, but if you are using it to wash your face you don’t need goggles or anything 😛
Hi Marie I am new to your blog and I have to say your work is awesome .
I already tried a few of your recepies and I am loving them. However, I have a question about this balm. I find it little bit drying for my face but I loveeee the texture of it compared to the cleansing oil. I was wondering if I could use a little bit of besswax in it instead of cetyl alcohol, in this recipe . I read a few comments about reducing polysorbate 80 but I was reading the ingredient list for few balms sold at Sephora and they had beeswax in it
What is your recommendation …..
Also can I add soy lecithin in it …..
You could if you wanted to; I’d likely remove some of either a soft butter or liquid oil to make room for it.
The comments you read are correct; reduce the polysorbate 80. The cetyl alcohol has nothing to do with the cleansing power of the balm, and adding beeswax will simply decrease wash-off and make for a stickier end product.
Hi Marie! As I’m typing this, I’m waiting for my cleansing balm to cool off and I really cant wait to see the outcome. Anyway wanted to stop by to ask do you sterilize your tools and equipment? How about the plastic bottles / containers? if yes, how? Thanks Marie!
I clean everything in the dishwasher, which gets super hot (I might hand wash it before the dishwasher to ensure everything comes off). You can generally assume containers come clean from your suppliers, but if you aren’t convinced a mist or swish with some 70% isopropyl alcohol + leaving them to dry will do the trick 🙂 Enjoy the cleansing balm!
I would like to make a balm that would take off makeup around eyes (as well as clean my face). Is this recipe safe to use around eyes? If this isn’t it and you tried a different recipe on this site, could you please recommend one?
Well, I just found a comment above that this balm is not recommended to remove makeup around eyes. Please let me know if there are others (posted here) that you use for this purpose. I’d like to remove makeup and clean my entire face (including around eyes) with one product (if possible).
LOL. I just keep talking to myself 🙂 I am wondering, if I skipped the clay and the essential oils, would it make this OK to use around eyes? I know, I know I am boring… But?
I make it without EOs and eithout clay and it’s awesome for removing eye makeup!
No need to skip the clay, just skip the EOs 🙂
It’s fine as long as you remove the essential oils 🙂
I’d use this to remove eye makeup without the EOs 🙂
Thank you, Melanie!
Hi im from indonesia, i love all your super creative skincare recipes! Anyway i want to ask, can i use VCO instead of fractionated coconut oil? Or any alternatif instead of fractionarted coconut oil. AND, i will only use one scent essential oil, so how many drops should i put following your recipe? Thanks!
Hey! Check out the encyclopedia entry for fractionated coconut oil to learn more about substitution options, and give this FAQ a read for adding/changing EOs 🙂
Hello Marie, can Polawax be replaced by more cetyl alcohol and stearic acid? If this is done, will it affect the cleansing of the balm or just the texture?
I don’t recommend it as it will impact both the cleansing (it will lessen it) and the texture 🙂
I’ve tested many cleansers during past few years, but this is (with btms25/btms50) my boyfriend’s no 1 shaving balm and he prefers this over anything!
I’ve made this about ten times. Ratios are same, but I’ve used jojoba, castor, avocado and ~2 % coconut oils most. Some other guys have liked this too, for shaving. No texture or any other issues here – very stable from ~ 20-30°c. Great texture, amazing slip, emolliency, rinses of best with polysorbate 80. But olive/shea glycereth-8 esters work in this recipe too, if I use a bit more of them. Thanks!
Btw, very small % of spirulina powder/green tea powder + clay gaves slightly more darker “forest green” color (our green clay is more gray). Charchoal has worked great too.
Ahhh, what wonderful feedback, thank you so much for sharing! I love the idea of using this as a shaving balm with the addition of a cationic element—brilliant! Like a conditioner bar (which I usually shave with), but so much more malleable—LOVE IT! WOOHOO *Friday happy dance*
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This is real magic.
The texture feels great, you rinse it off very easily with a little water, and it smells divine.
Very impressed!
Thanks Marie!
Woohoo! I’m so thrilled that you’re enjoying it 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making!
Can you substitute fractionated oil with something else, or would it change the formula too much?
Please refer to the second point in the substitutions list 🙂
My all-time favorite!
Wonderful, Marie. Thank you so much.
I’m so thrilled! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi! I love this formula, but it stings my eyes. I left it unscented, so I’m wondering if there is an ingredient/s that could cause the stinging (that I could swap out), or if you have another formula that is gentler than this one? Thanks!!
I’m sorry to hear it! For an alternative—I’ve been using this cleansing oil to remove my eye makeup for months now and I’ve noticed no stinging 🙂 Perhaps give that a go?
Wowza! I really liked the creamy clay cleansing balm and was about to make more when I decided on a whim to try this one. I’m glad I did. This rinses off beautifully, no washcloth needed! I still like the clay-heavy aspect of the creamy clay balm and I’ll probably make it again at some point, but I’m glad I decided to try the forest balm too.
The EO blend sounds amazing, but I only have a few EOs, so I used one drop of Winter Wonderland fragrance oil from Nurture Soap and less than a drop of cardamom EO (not a precise measurement, but way below the maximum usage rating for rinse-off products for both of them).
Hi Marie! I admit to being a teensy bit confused (this is not unusual). Your formula calls for fractionated coconut oil. I remember you wrote about the difference between MCT and FCO. But the oil I purchased from New Directions Aromatics says “MCT 60/40 Fractionated 100% Coconut Oil”. So is it MCT, or FCO? And what do I put as the INCI for this ingredient? Any relevations from your superior brain would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Willow! It doesn’t matter which you use for this formulation, and the INCI would be whatever NDA has specified for the product you have 🙂