I ordered some powdered yucca root about six months ago, and I’ve been sitting on it (metaphorically, of course) ever since, wondering what to do with it. You see, yucca is full of natural saponins, meaning it lathers all on its own, just like soapwort and soapnuts. This isn’t the first thing I’ve made with yucca, but it’s the first thing worthy of publishing. This creamy, gentle face wash gets its cleaning powers from yucca root and clay, and I really like it.
This face wash has a lot more in common with lotion than soap. That’s probably because it is lotion, really, it’s just made with some yucca root and clay. Thanks to its lotiony roots, it’s nowhere near as drying as straight up soap, and it’s much more gentle on sensitive skin.
In addition to containing natural saponins, yucca also contains antioxidants, which is always a bonus. Don’t fret if you don’t get a lather when using the final product—the saponins are still working away, carrying away excess oils, regardless of the presence of bubbles.
Saponins at work!
Clay lends a hand here, helping to pull impurities from your pores and offering a wee bit of gentle exfoliation. I used white kaolin clay (USA / Canada), but you can use any gentle clay you’ve got on hand. French green and Fullers earth come to mind as great alternatives.
Gentle Yucca & Clay Face Wash
200mL | 6.8 fl oz boiling water
1 tsp powdered yucca root
4g | 0.14g vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)14g | 0.5oz complete emulsifying wax (not beeswax!)
16g | 0.56oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
20g | 0.7oz safflower oil3 tbsp white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) (or any other kind of gentle clay you have on hand)
3 drops bergamot essential oil
3 drops lavender essential oil
1 drop frankincense essential oil (optional)Broad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Pour the boiling water over the yucca root and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain out the yucca root and measure out 146mL of the yucca root water into a small glass measuring cup. Add the vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada) to the yucca root water to make 150mL and set aside.
Weigh the emulsifying wax, jojoba oil (USA / Canada), and safflower oil into a small saucepan and melt together over medium heat. As they melt, warm the yucca root water in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
Once the oils have melted, add the water mixture to the pan and heat through. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk constantly as the mixture cools until it thickens into a cream (the thickening may take a few days if you are using a different emulsifying wax from emulsimulse/ritamulse).
Whisk in the clay, essential oils, and preservative, and transfer into a 250mL (8 fl oz) jar.
To use, pat a thick layer onto the face. Let dry for 3–5 minutes before rinsing off.
Don’t have the oils called for in the recipe? Check this out.
That looks wonderful and sounds very interesting! I’ve never heard of yucca root before, need to check out if I could order it somewhere here. Does that clean make up too? I’ve been using my chocolate soap for washing make up away, but I’d like to try that one too.
I got mine from Saffire Blue, but I have also seen the fresh roots at the grocery store—perhaps you’ll luck out there? As for removing make-up, it does a great job (on my homemade stuff, at least). I’ll leave it on for a minute to sort of soften things up before splashing on water and wiping it off, and it leaves my skin soft, clean, and happy 🙂
I was looking for yucca root through internet yesterday, but no place I found delivers it to Finland. And we don’t have them in grocery stores here, it is almost impossible to find any “exotic” things from grocery stores when living in Finland…Any suggestion what might be good replacing yucca root??
Hmmm, darn! At least the substitute will be fairly easy—anything that lathers will do. Soap is an easy go to (liquid would incorporate best, or ground bar soap). Soap nuts would also work if you have access to them—I’d probably simmer them in water and then use that water in the recipe 🙂
This DOES look wonderful! I have all of the ingredients except the yucca root. Mmmm..looks as if I need to visit Saffire Blue this weekend.
Marie, you are bad for my wallet, honey 🙂
Thanks, Kristen! And hey… if you think I’m bad for your wallet, imagine how bad I am for my wallet!
This sounds awesome! I’ve been wanting something to wash my face with so I can get rid of my commercial stuff!
Yay! Let me know how it works out for you 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. This sounds great! Like the previous comments, I do not have powdered yucca root on the shelf. BUT, I have yucca growing wild in my (rural) yard. No pesticides or any other bad things have been applied. Can I use the fresh root? (I would think it would be like using grated fresh ginger root instead of powdered ginger.) When we’ve dug up yucca plants to reclaim an area, we threw them out because there was no good use for them. Each plant has a large root ball.
I would love to know other uses for yucca root…for the next time we dig one up. Thanks for all your great ideas!!!
Oooh, very cool! I can’t see why you couldn’t use fresh. I think the first thing I’d try would be soaking the grated up bits in water & then straining out the solids, but I’ve never tried it—you’ll have to let me know what you do & how it goes 🙂 Thanks for reading & DIYing with me!
Yucca is used for many things including food.
Instead of dipping your fingers in to this which you will never get clean enough you could do like the professionals do and use tongue depressors or just use a clean teaspoon each and every time you use it. It would make it last longer because it wouldn’t deposit the bacteria that your hands AND nails deposit in the cream. Any product whether handcrafted or store bought should be handled this way especially if it’s a product to dip in to.
Thanks, Cindy—I can’t believe I forgot to mention this, I’m usually very good about it. A wider pump-top bottle would also be a good choice as you won’t have to dip anything into it 🙂
I’m so excited you think this would work with liquid yucca extract?
I imagine it would—does the liquid yucca extract lather? If not, it probably won’t work.
Yeah it does. I bought it to make shampoo with 🙂
Sweet! Go for it, then 🙂
can you please share the yucca extract supplier please and thank you
I purchased some from Skin Chakra out of Germany on my last trip overseas 🙂
I’m in the U.S. and can’t afford to have “emulsimulse” shipped to me… sooo.. could you educate me on a good substitute or comparable product… I love, love, love your blog! To me, your blog is really a blog and laboratory… Creations, concoctions, experiments.. love it! So I call your blog a ‘BLOGATORY’ if that’s okay with you. 🙂 At first I was calling you a blaboratory…but it sounded like a bunch of cackling old hens sitting in the lab when I pictured it…lol. So Blogatory it is.. lol.
Anyway…I have beeswax and borax and found some natural recipes but one calls for the addition of soy lecithin and I refuse to use soy after researching the harm it does. So, I was looking at plant lecithin and was gonna make my own…but I’ve got so many recipes “on deck” waiting to be made…that I figured I’d just ask you for a good substitute for the one you use in Canada.
Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Oh, fyi – my household has been almost completely nixed of harmful chemicals due to your blogatories (articles from your blogatory)… Thank you for purifying my home and enabling me to bring a definitely healthier life(style) to my husband and children! I have learned so very much and you have your own folder in my emailbox, my computer desktop and on my external harddrive… Ms. Marie – you are a staple in my household. Thank you for all you’re contributing to our world! You are appreciated greatly!!!
Oh and I believe you feature your daughter in various blogatories if I’m not mistaken… CARBON COPY of you… both of you are so beautiful. Sorry, just had to tell you!
Take care and God bless!
Kim Lambdin
Pittsboro, IN
USA
Hi Kim! Thanks so much for your kind words and your support—it’s very much appreciated! And I love the term “blogatory”… much nicer than “blaboratory” lol! Too funny 🙂
You can use any complete emulsifying wax in place of emulsimulse—both polawax and emulsifying wax NF are good choices. Emulsimulse is also sold as vegemulse, which you might be able to find in the US. Most of these will have better ratings on Skin Deep than borax at any rate. Want to hear a sad story? I checked, and it’s only about $2 more to ship emulsimulse to the USA than it is to ship it within Canada 🙁 Our postage is so expensive here!
I am so thrilled to hear that I’ve helped/am helping you live a cleaner, more natural life 😀 That’s why I do what I do, so it’s always wonderful to hear that it’s working, haha!
And the reason my “daughter” looks so much like me is ’cause that is me 😛 You must have seen some of the shots of me from 5 years ago, where I definitely look younger than I do today (well, I think so, my boyfriend still says I look 16 on a good day lol).
Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me, and be sure to get in touch if you ever have any other questions 🙂
Another great recipe Marie. I was glad to read in the comments that soap nuts will work. I already have those. What is emulsifying wax? Is it anything I can pick up at the co-op?
Thanks, Mary 🙂 Emulsifying was is a waxy substance used for making fool proof emulsions. there are a lot of different types, made from different ingredients. All of these ingredients are usually derived from plants—mostly coconut (less than 1% omega-6 [source]) & palm (pretty omega-6 heavy, but worth avoiding for other reasons) because they’re very cheap. My favourite e-wax is Emulsimulse, and it is “a natural source self-emulsifier for oil in water emulsions. It is ECOCERT approved for use in Certified Organic products.” I have never seen emulsifying wax at an organic food store, but my local soaping/DIY shop sells it. It’s also very easily available online 🙂
Marie, I was wondering if there would be any natural preservatives that could be added to this recipe to make it last longer and less prone to mold? Also, would you keep this product in the fridge? I was looking on the ND site and they do list some preservatives. But one needs to know how to use them, when to add them, and how much of it to use.
Actually, would there be a general preservative that could be added to other products that would protect them? I was thinking of something as ‘natural’ as possible as I don’t really wish to use preservatives, but I want to make my concoctions as safe as possible. cheers
Hi Sarah! So, natural preservatives are a bit of a crap shoot. There are some more natural ones like leucidal liquid and elderberry phytocide. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve not experimented with them, though, because I generally prefer not to add preservatives, and just watch for signs of spoilage. I mean, that’s what I do with the food in my fridge—I keep in mind how old it is, watch for signs of spoilage, and make a judgement call when things start to head south. I am the type of person who will just scoop mould out of yoghurt and keep eating it, though, so I guess I’m not too squeamish. As far as I’m concerned, a wee bit of mould is far less toxic than most preservatives. Not all mould is the toxic mould that ruins lives, some of it is just cheese 😛
I don’t keep my lotions in the fridge, and I just watch for signs of spoilage. Though I love to photograph my lotions in jars, I usually store them in pump-top containers as that eliminates my grubby fingers from the mix, which helps the lotion last longer 🙂
I love your blog and all of your great ideas for natural skin care, like the above yucca and clay skin wash. I have always ordered products from NDA. I’ve tried other suppliers but the quality and cost (for what I do) is best from NDA. It’s very frustrating though now that they have set a $100 order minimum. Grr. Right now I’m doing this for my family and friends and with the minimum I can no longer just jump online and order the few things I need for a current project. I also can’t afford to order extra supplies just for the sake of getting one or two items. We do have a natural supply store and grocery here but don’t carry any extracts, like rosemary, or bergamot or rosehip EO’s. Most of the more expensive oils and supplies are not carried. Supplies NDA does carry… Do you have any suggestions of another equivalent supplier online for those of us who are ‘under the minimum’ and need something right away? I might need to check out Amazon for individual items but the there is deliver charge for that;-/
Regards, Liz
Thanks Liz! You’re not alone in your frustration with the $100 minimum from NDA. I’ve always found that the shipping costs functions as a minimum for me—it’s usually close to $20 no matter how much I order—so I’ll never place an order for just a handful of items as it’s just too darn painful. Anyhow, Saffire Blue (linked above) has no shipping minimum, and comparable prices and selection. You can also look at Mountain Rose Herbs and Lotion Crafter, though I’ve never ordered from either as they’re both in the USA—I have heard good things from readers, though 🙂
Thanks Marie. Lotion Crafter is one I have not checked out! Thanks for the suggestions.
Liz
You’re welcome! There’s also a thread on my Facebook page on different suppliers if you want to visit and scroll down to find it 🙂
I made this, and it is lovely, BUT (ha, ha) I used yuca powder from my local tienda rather than ordering online. Turns out that, just like “desert” and “dessert” aren’t the same thing, “yuca” and “yucca” aren’t the same thing! “Yuca” (Manihot esculenta), which is the root sold in grocery stores and sometimes misspelled “yucca,” is more commonly known as cassava; “yucca” (Yucca glauca, Yucca schidigera, Yucca brevifolia, Yucca filamentosa), the one you want, is a desert succulent that is generally an ornamental plant. The cassava water still resulted in a lovely, creamy–if not foamy–clay wash.;-)
Ha! Too funny (and also sort of too bad, darn!). A very good learning experience though, no? Darn those incorrect grocery store labels! Thanks for taking one for the team on this one 😉
This was so gentle and made my skin feel so soft and clean! Thanks for another excellent recipe!
Oooh, wonderful! I’m so thrilled this came together and worked so well for you 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me!
I just love this recipe. My skin has never felt so good!
My two daughters sing your praises everyday as their skin has been troublesome for years and has cleared up using recipes on your blog. I am thinking of making this again using different colour clays to suit other types of skin. We have some fabulous clays available in Australia. Will send you a pic when done. Thanks so much for your inspiration, it really makes me smile.
Fantastic! I always love hearing that my recipes have been able to help, especially in the super irritating anti-acne battle 🙂 I would love to see your concoctions—you can share photos with me on my Facebook page, though Instagram, or on Twitter. You can also just upload ’em and share the links here in the comments 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me & enjoy that Aussie sunshine 😉
I made this…and I goofed. I added the clays while the mix was still warm and it completely seized on me. I added about 1/4 c extra water but the mix was just too thick. I have used it more as a face mask than a cleanser. I’ll have to try again
Hmm. Perhaps try adding the clay slowly next time? What emulsifying wax are you using? And hey, masks are still awesome, so at least you don’t have to bin it 🙂
Thanks for another great one, Marie! This face wash reminds me of the one I used religiously from Burt’s bees called “Soap bark and Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream” – its such a gentle yet moisturizing face wash, and I missed it so much since I stopped using it. This post seemed like a simple way to recreate that kind of product that I had to give it a go! Since I don’t have any natural saponins, I substituted the yucca for some Dr. Bronner’s tea tree liquid castile soap – I find it’s great for acne but its WAY too drying for my skin, even when I dilute it. This seemed like a perfect way to make it more usable. I whipped it up fairly quickly using BTMS-225 as my emulsifier, and argan oil instead of the safflower oil and skipped the essential oils as tea tree is already in my soap. It worked really well to remove my makeup while keeping my skin nicely hydrated 🙂 It hasn’t felt this nice in a long time!
I’ve never used safflower oil before, nor do I have any on hand at the moment. Besides being much cheaper than argan oil, what other reasons did you have for including it in here? I think I’ll have to buy some in my next saffire blue order 🙂
Thanks,
Laura
Hi Laura! Your variation sounds just lovely 🙂 I used safflower oil here since it’s both light and inexpensive, which seemed like a good quality for something that would be mostly washed down the drain 😛 It’s nice in lotions as well for the same reasons.
Hi Marie,
I tried this recipe again now that I actually have emulsimulse, and again I tried it with dr. bronner’s castile soap at a 1:10 ratio to water. I think it must be incompatible with emulsimulse, as I didn’t get any thickening unless I put it in the fridge. I was really impressed with it last time I made a lotion so this is really disappointing – it hasn’t separated but it has a watery consistency, even with the clay stirred in. A google search isn’t providing any more info. Have you had any experiences where you used ingredients that weren’t compatible with it? Just as a future heads-up? lol
Laura
Hmmm, interesting. I’ve never had an emulsimulse concoction not thicken up :/ Has a bit of time helped matters at all?
Hi Marie,
It has thickened, but not as much as a lotion. I can’t tell either if it was because of time or because of the xanthan gum I added in a desperate attempt to save it lol. Either way, it is perfectly useable! I have found the clay in here to be amazing at shrinking my pores – I love it! Next time though I’ll stick with BTMS-225 as my emulsifier.
Thanks,
Laura
Well, phew! I’m glad you like it in the end and that it worked out well enough 🙂
I have been crossing my fingers that there would be an option for making soap without lye and am super excited to try this! Could you post more recipes like this, perhaps using soapwort as well? Also, would really appreciate it if you post a recipe that uses powdered yucca/soapwort for a whipped cream soap. I love the texture of whipped soap, just don’t feel comfortable with using both lye and potassium hydroxide. Thanks so much!
Just remember, this isn’t soap—it’s something that has one sort of soap-like property 😉 Kind of like how berry flavoured lip gloss is not the same thing as fruit salad, lol. There is still no such thing as making soap without lye. I have not found yucca root to be a very useful soap swap as it has almost nothing in common with soap. It’s a pretty weak saponin, and obviously lacks the body and texture of a bar of soap or of soap paste.
I think you can still make a bar of soap by infusing the yucca root in oil rather than water and it will turn out well hopefully! As for cream soap, the same infuse in oil and make sort of like a whipped body butter. I’m not saying that you should do this too- I just this it’s more natural and safe. The sound of lye just makes me shiver…
In my experience yucca root is not that strong of a saponin, and will likely not be able to rinse off the oils it is infused in. It is worth a try, though. But why are you so afraid of lye and so determined to avoid it? From your comments it sounds like you have never worked with it and have just read a lot of scary stuff about it. In the grand scheme of things I might do in a week, I definitely rank driving, riding my bike, and chopping onions as being more dangerous. I hurt myself cooking far more than I hurt myself working with lye! It’s really not that scary, and once it’s part of soap it isn’t dangerous at all, assuming you’ve calculated and measured properly.
It is not that I am afraid of it- I simply feel it is not as natural and definitely not organic.
Well, if organic is a concern, it’s worth noting that salt, baking soda, and water are also inorganic, whilst arsenic and methane are organic. When it comes to chemistry, organic is not a synonym for safe or good. NaOH is made using electrolysis with table salt and water (and you can do it at home). An older kind of lye (Potassium Carbonate) is made from filtering rain water through wood ash, which is pretty darn “natural”. Potassium carbonate is the lye used in African black soap through the inclusion of roasted leaves, and it’s the lye our great-great-great grandparents would have used to make soap on the homestead. However, from what I’ve read it’s not as easy to work with as NaOH and KOH, and can produce inconsistent results, even for experienced soap makers, due to it being weaker than commercially standardized lyes, and the production method leaving room for inconsistencies.
I am ok with water not being organic since Mother Nature supplies it so it fits the term of natural for me. Also, the only reason I insist on being organic is to limit pesticides which obviously doesn’t apply to water. I feel it is natural enough. As for baking soda and salt, I don’t plan on using them so I’m not concerned about it. Just wondering, are you talking about the term ‘organic’ in terms of chemistry?
When you stated you don’t like lye because it’s not organic I assumed you meant chemistry wise, as lye is completely inorganic—the farming definition of organic is completely inapplicable.
I assume you know that both sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate are also naturally occurring compounds, “supplied” by Mother Nature as it were. Sodium is required by our bodies for survival. Asbestos is also supplied by Mother Nature and is a naturally occurring compound. One should take more than just the origin of something into consideration before determining its safety.
Typically one is concerned with accumulation and inherent toxicity. If you look at something like Propylparaben (10/10 on the danger scale), which is something you’ll definitely want to avoid in skin care products, you can see there’s strong evidence for fairly insidious side effects—endocrine disruption and immune toxicity. Sodium hydroxide scores a 3/10, with the only risks being from physical contact with it in highly concentrated form. You’ll see no mention of studies implicating sodium hydroxide in anything like cancer or hormonal changes. It’s sort of like your stove—put your hand down on the lit element and you’ll get a nasty burn, but that does not mean that you should never, ever cook again. It just means that you should not touch very hot things. Did you know that titanium dioxide (also naturally occurring) presents a cancer risk if large amounts are inhaled in an aerosolized form? All this is to say that use, and the type of risk, must be considered when determining if something is truly dangerous, or simply requires responsible use.
I understand that salt is necessary and it comes from the sea, so that can be excused I guess. As for baking soda, I’m not sure I would use it that often. I don’t intend to use Titanium Dioxide or another naturally occurring chemical because it is still a chemical even though it naturally occurs. Water and as you stated, sodium chloride, is necessary for our bodies, so I feel like they can be excused.
I would encourage you to expand your method of determining something’s safety beyond physically requiring it to survive, or it being plant-based. We require iron to survive, but can still die of iron poisoning. Hemlock is plant-based, and also notoriously lethal. This is not a black and white issue, and I would really encourage you to research individual ingredients rather than writing them off simply because they aren’t organic or do not meet your personal definition of natural. It is fantastic to be aware and alert, but critical thinking and thorough research are necessary to make informed decisions.
Hi Marie,
I wish I’d seen this earlier, I placed an order with SB last week, my new favorite website ever
I know the feeling! We should start up a group—DIY Ingredients Anonymous.
I just whipped this cleanser up with some soapnuts on-loan from my sister! 🙂 She agreed to let me play with a few in exchange for half a batch of the lotion. I simmered them in the 200mL of water and used that for measure in the recipe. It seemed to come together perfectly even with the substitution. I’m glad I actually tipped in a few extra drops of eo, the soapnuts have a “unique” smell that I’m not sure I could handle on its own. I’m sure both my sister and I are going to love it. I appreciate your clear directions and fantastic photos! Thank you!!
Fantastic! Thanks for giving the soapnuts swap a go, I’m still looking for a source of my own to play with them 🙂 Enjoy!
i think canwax has soapnuts! i got some last week but i’m still unsure how i want to use them yet
They do! Very cool, thanks. I haven’t ordered from them in ages as their shipping is pretty steep and their prices aren’t that great compared to the competition.
From my understanding soapnuts need to be boiled/exposed to hot water to do their thing. If you want to use them to wash your laundry you’ll want to throw them in a muslin bag and wash with hot water.