A few weeks ago I watched a shockingly lengthy Lisa Eldrige video tutorial on her beauty regimen on long flights. I watched it mostly out of curiosity, and was not surprised at all to find that she uses more beauty products on a plane ride than I use on a normal day. Out of all the things she used (and there were many), I was quite intrigued by the transparent moisturizing mask she used.
The masks I’m used to are thick, clay-based things that make you look like a martian while you wear them. Lisa’s, on the other hand, was perfectly transparent. Sort of like spreading hair gel on your face (from the video, at least). She spoke reams of praises about the benefits of the mask, so I decided I should try my own. First off: check the ingredients of the original: Dermalogica’s Skin Hydrating Masque.
Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Squalane, Dimethicone, Leuconostoc/ Sorbus Aucuparia Fruit Ferment Filtrate, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Codium Tomentosum Extract, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Seed Oil, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Tocopherol, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Extract, Beta-Carotene, Salicornia Herbacea Extract Triethylhexanoin, Carrageenan, Fructose, Glucose, Sucrose, Urea, Dextrin, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Hexyl Nicotinate, Sodium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Trideceth-10, Behenyl Alcohol, Cocamide MIPA, Glyceryl Oleate, Calcium Citrate, Hexylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sea Salt, Sodium Carbomer, Potassium Hydroxide, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate.
Oh my. Well, let’s see what’s recognizable/attainable out of that list. Water, glycerin, conditioning organic alcohol, compound similar to the skin’s original oils, silicone byproduct, something to do with mountain ash, something to do with fireweed, no idea, seaweed something, tomato seed oil, cucumber extract, soybean oil, vitamin E oil, carrot extract, vitamin A, something to do with glasswort, a thickener, sweetener, sweetener, sweetener, conditioner, scent masking agent, conditioner, humectant, conditioner, conditioner, emulsifier/stabilizer, solvent/conditioner, emulsifying agent, emuslifier/conditioner, emulsifier/viscosity controller, emollient/fragrance, pH controller, fragrance/solvent, skin conditioner, salt, stabilizer/gel maker, lye (!?), preservative, and another preservative.
Ok. That’s quite the list. I obviously have water and vegetable glycerin. I think I’ll use some bioplex instead of butylene glycol. For squalene, I have jojoba oil, which is said to be very similar in composition. Ignore silicone byproduct. I’ve got seaweed, and I’ll use some mango extract and witch hazel to attempt to duplicate cucumbers astringent/vitamin-y attributes. I’d rather use something other than soybean oil… perhaps argan or just more jojoba. I’ve got vitamin E oil and vitamin C, so I suppose that will do for the vitamins and various fruit & vegetable seed extracts. I’ll use bioplex and phytokeratin for the lengthy list of chemical conditioners/emollients/humectants. I’m also going to add some bee propolis for it’s natural healing/antibacterial properties, silk peptide for its moisture management benefits, and essentials oils of tea tree and lavender for their antibacterial and pretty-smellingness. After that, I can only think of adding some xantham gum for thickening as everything else appears to be pH or texture adjusters. Phew. That’s a lot of ingredients, eh?
Now, since I’m not making this in a lab, this isn’t going to be perfectly clear in the bottle. Because I’m using both water and oil based ingredients, this is going to have to emulsify somehow. I have solubilizer, so that will do. And even though the mixture will be a bit milky in the bottle, it will be perfectly transparent on the face.
The end result is a thick, mostly water-based solution similar to hair gel in texture, though far less sticky. It’s packed with all kinds of good things, and it feels wonderfully refreshing on the face and sinks in quickly. It does leave you a bit shinier than usual and a wee bit tacky, but you are supposed to rinse it off, so I can live with that.
I no longer recommend making this recipe—it’s quite old and no longer lives up to my quality standards.
Intense Vitamin Mask
3 tbsp aloe vera juice (or distilled water)
2 tsp vegetable glycerin
40 drops bee propolis tincture
2 tsp witch hazel
1/8 tsp bioplex (optional)
1/8 tsp phytokeratin (optional)1/16 tsp vitamin C (or a crushed vitamin C tablet)
¼ tsp powdered honey, or ½ tsp honey
¼ tsp mango extract (optional)
¼ tsp silk peptide (optional)
1/8 tsp seaweed powder¾ tsp solubilizer
¼ tsp vitamin E oil
½ tsp jojoba oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil¼ tsp xantham gum
Whisk together the aloe vera juice, vegetable glycerin, propolis, witch hazel, bioplex, and phytokeratin on a bowl. Then whisk in the vitamin C, honey, mango extract, silk peptide, and seaweed powder.
In a small bowl, mix together the solubilizer, vitamin E oil, jojoba oil, and essential oils. Once they’re thoroughly combined, whisk the oils into everything else.
Slowly whisk in the xantham gum, keeping in mind that it works somewhat slowly, so the mixture may look a bit thin at first, but when you come back after five or ten minutes, it will have thickened nicely. You won’t want to add more (like I did…) or you’ll end up with something that’s a bit thicker/goopier than you’ll want. Decant into a small bottle.
To use, start with about half a teaspoon of the solution in your palm. Rub your palms together and spread across your face. Let sit for as long as you like, though I would definitely recommend wiping your face down before applying make-up or argan oil.
Love your website! And I love New Directions Aromatics too, I have a small addiction to their many wonderful products. However, I noticed they don’t have bee propolis, or bioplex (anymore). Where can you find liquid propolis – would a bee farm have that? There are a few around here I could check with. Keep up the great work, I love your recipes and the fact that I have many of the ingredients on hand.
Thanks for visiting! I’m glad you like my blog 😀 I never got bee propolis from NDA, I bought it at a place in Calgary called The Beehive. I’ve also found it in Toronto at the St. Lawrence Market from an Ontario bee farm, though not in liquid form. I guess the original form is a sort of clumpy brown solid. When I run out of my liquid propolis I’ll probably soak the solid stuff in some warm water, mash it up, and pass it through a fine sieve. I’d guess you can get some propolis at a bee farm, but let me know how it goes!
Heya from an Ontario beekeeper. Propolis is a tree resin product the bees modify so it does not dissolve well in water -in fact they use it to weatherproof their hive. So, low/no solubility. You can put bits of propolis in an oil of your choice, gently warm it and turn it into a thick infusion, or make a thin tincture by dissolving it in alcohol or spirits. (I like oil, it looks so rich). You can probably get propolis bits off a local beekeeper when they scrape it off the hive (consult local beekeeping club) but commercially you will see it in salves or likely as a tincture.
Hey Jessica! I have some straight up propolis and it’s definitely not terribly useful in that form (though it does smell great!). That’s why I used it in tincture form in this recipe (and in most recipes) 🙂
check out http://www.aromantic.co.uk
Thanks for the tip, Marie—I often find it hard to recommend suppliers to readers outside of North America. Have you ever tried the UK New Directions? I order most of my stuff from their Canadian branch.
I might try this mask to change things up a bit 🙂 This seems like it makes quite a bit, though… Do you really only need 1/2 a tsp per application? I’ve tried to save excess clay masks spiked with seaweed powder, and they rarely last more than a week before they go from slightly tolerable beach smell to smelling like a rotten seaweed beach no one would dare frequent. What would this mask’s shelf life be, and how often do you apply it? I’m thinking if it’s not TOO sticky once it dries, it could be left on overnight and washed off in the morning. Hmmm…
You’re right, I ended up throwing out quite a bit of this. It would have lasted longer if I’d kept it in the fridge, but as it is, it lasted about 3 months sitting in my bedroom. You could do this mask as often as you like as it isn’t at all drying, which is why I don’t do the clay masks all that often. Plus, as a bonus, you don’t look anywhere near as dumb with this mask on 😛
What else can I use that is similar to bioplex? NDA no longer carries it or has changed the name. Thank you 🙂
Dangit, NDA! You could use the multifruit BSC or phytokeratin (especially since it’s so useful to have around for hair), or just leave it out.
Hi Marie,
Just wondering if I could use guar gum in place of xanthum? If so–same amount? Thanks!
You definitely can, Jade 🙂 I’d start with the same amount, see what you think of the thickness at that point, and go from there—you may end up needing more as I find xantham gum tends to to stronger than guar gum.
I love love all your diys . U r awesome. Can u pls tell me where you got phytokeratin and bamboo bioferment. I didn’t find it on NDA . THX .much love.xoxo
The phytokeratin is from NDA, and the bamboo bioferment is from Saffire Blue (link in the big box above).
I love the way you came up with this… just looking at the ingredients and then making you own with somewhat similar ones. 😀 I made a similar mask, keeping general proportions but making substitutions, adding stuff, and subtracting stuff (I lack so many of these ingredients…). The amount of xantham gum is perfect! Warning to others: seaweed, green tea, tea tree EO, lavender EO, peppermint EO, and rosemary EO combine to make a unique ammonia-like smell that’s slightly less than pleasant. 😛
Ha! I have definitely made similarly malodorous concoctions 😛
I love your recipes. I have made some lip balms, the lavender cream and some hair recipes. Everything is very good. Thank you for being so amazing and nice. I made last night this vitamin mask and didn’t came out that good. The propolis didn’t dissolve and you can see little black ball in the cream. I kept the propolis in the refrigerator after I bought it, about a 3 wks ago. Do you think that might be the reason? Thank you again for taking the time to make this great recipes.
Hi Nancy! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 It sounds like you used pure, raw, straight-from-the-hive propolis (which looks like dirt clods) instead of the tincture, which is what I used. It wasn’t super clear in the recipe, so sorry about that. You can make your own propolis tincture from your dirt clods really easily—here’s how 🙂
I love Lisa Eldridge. I don’t do something as advanced as her, but I do think of trips as mini pampering excursions and will often bring a travel candle (I make one that’s cedar and vanilla, my favourite. Bought it at cold spring apothecary and can’t get enough), a face mask, and some extra moisturizing stuff. something about it just makes me happy.
She’s amazing, eh? I’m imagining you using that candle on a plane… I figure you probably don’t, though 😉
I wonder if you could recommend a preservative to add to this, either to keep it longer for myself, or sell it to potential customers, as I don’t see how I could keep it in the fridge.
I’m going to try this after a get a few of the more exotic products that I don’t already have. Thank you. I just love your experiments!
Honestly, this is a pretty old recipe, and knowing what I know now, I’d recommend saving your ingredients for something else. The vitamin C will oxidize well before the mask spoils.
Dear Marie,
Thanks for this post! Will you be giving advice on how to make versions of products just as you have done here in your new book?
Yes, the book is packed with stuff like that! Loads of suggestions for customizing things and lots of bases + colour blends to choose from 😀
I know this is an old post but this mask caught my eye so I thought I’d mix up a batch! I have everything but the bioplex and New Directions stopped carrying it.
Can you please tell me what it was–ingredients/function?
I also found it in another recipe, it think it was a hair serum?
Anyway, clearly it’s something you liked so if I know more about it perhaps I can find a reasonable substitute 🙂
Honestly, don’t bother with it. Just because I used something twice doesn’t mean I was all that impressed with it—you’ll probably notice it hasn’t appeared in a recipe for several years! I don’t even really remember what it was for, and I certainly wouldn’t seek it out again. Meh.
Whoa Marie, it’s cool to see how your knowledge on formulations has definitely increased over the years! 🙂 I’m so glad science-focused diying is making a resurgence.
No kidding! There’s definitely quite a few of these old recipes from 5+ years ago that make my progress very obvious LOL.
Hi Marie,
I know this is an old post, but I have made this mask quite a few times and I love all the goodies in it. I would be interested in an updated version of it with all the knowledge you have now (if you have time, I’m sure you are super busy with other requests)
Thank you!
OOoh, good call! This one is SO old haha. Glad you’re enjoying it 🙂
Hey Marie!
My 18 year old daughter has been commenting on the smoothness of the skin on my legs and bemoaning her current skin texture, etc. I used to make all the skincare she used until she came under the sway of ipsy and influencers. At any rate, I offered to make her some skin care products and she mentioned a mask that I used to make that had some black flecks in it (propolis never dissolved or emulsified for me like it had for you). Figuring the black flecks were the propolis, I did a search and found this. We have pretty much settled on this as the recipe she misses.
As a long time follower of yours, I know your recipes have really evolved over the years. It has been awesome to make this journey with you and enjoy the upward curve. However, is it ok to use this now? I suspect some of the vitamins are inactive by the time it will get to my face, but is there anything detrimental? And, would you be willing to give this recipe a redo? My daughter found it to be effective and wonderful. I can’t imagine how amazing your could make this recipe now.
Whatever the answer, thank you for the years of happy making you have enabled!
Hey Kathie! Wow, this is definitely an oldie 😀 Looking at it, the things I’m wondering about are the usage rates (since nothing is in percents) and the general efficacy of things like the peptide complex (bioplex) and the vitamin C given there’s no discussion of pH. The lack of preservative is also concerning, and I feel like I remember this being a bit… boogery… thanks to the xanthan gum. I don’t think there’s anything detrimental in here provided you include liquid germall plus at 0.5% and use it up relatively quickly. That said, if I were to re-develop this idea into something newer and shinier, I think I’d start with a sheet mask sort of idea with an aloe/glycerin/witch hazel base and then perhaps add some hyaluronic acid as an added hydrating treat. Some hydrolyzed protein, honey, propolis, and a botanical extract would probably be next. I’d drop the seaweed ’cause I remember that smelling putrid, ha. From there I’d probably use something like Olivem300 to solubilize some tiny amounts of essential oils, or perhaps choose hydrosols with added aloe concentrated powder instead of aloe juice. Hmmm. I will keep a re-development in mind! I think it could be helpful & educational to go through the “don’t do’s” from this post and the whys behind them 🙂 Thank you so much for your ongoing support, and happy making!