A while back Jane wrote to me to tell me about a cleansing milk/toner she’d been using. “It’s basically a creamy citrus-scented toner that you can use as a single step instead of cleanser AND toner if you don’t wear tons of makeup. I realized since it’s such a basic ingredient list, it must be fairly simple to make, but the closest thing I’ve ever made to this is salad dressing. It’s not SUPER expensive to buy, but when you actually use it you go through it super fast—and I figure there’s got to be a better way. They also have a “one step” cleansing milk, which I haven’t used but think is basically the same thing with more oils and less alcohol, and may have more beneficial qualities for all I know.”
From my perusal of the ingredients of the two products Jane mentioned, it looked like both of them used an included emulsifier to do the bulk of the cleaning, making them similar to micellar water. I loved her mention of a creamy toner + cleanser + cleansing milk, so I decided to aim for a hybrid of those three ideas and see what happened (spoiler: it’s good!).
The bulk of the cleanser is a blend of water and astringent witch hazel, with some added hydrating glycerin. The witch hazel brings that fresh, toner feel to the cleanser, which is quite lovely.
To that I’ve blended in a mix of jojoba oil (USA / Canada), turkey red oil, and soy lecithin. The TRO and lecithin are the emulsifiers, and do the bulk of the cleaning as well as keeping things from separating too quickly. Please don’t ask about leaving them out. They need to be there for this to be a cleansing milk. Read this to learn more about soy lecithin. There are other emulsifiers you could use (like polysorbate 20), though they’re less natural.
I chose a blend of vanilla-like benzoin and lavender for the essential oils, and I love how soft and lightly sweet they smell. The original used citrus essential oils, but it’s not a great idea to put citrus essential oils on your skin and leave them there due to photo sensitivity concerns, so I went in another direction.
Hello! This recipe is really old, and I no longer recommend making it 🙂 If you are looking for a better facial cleanser, check out this one!
Lavender Cleansing Milk
40g | 1.41oz just-boiled water
55g | 1.94oz witch hazel
5g | 0.16oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)5g | 0.17oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
10g | 0.35oz turkey red oil
10g | 0.35oz soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin2 blobs benzoin
10 drops lavender essential oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (Why?)
Weigh everything except the essential oils and preservative out into a heat resistant measuring cup and heat through in a water bath.
Once everything has warmed through, thoroughly blend the mixture together using an immersion blender (the extra power ensures the soy lecithin thoroughly incorporates and helps form a better emulsion). If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could also just pour the entire lot into a normal blender and blend it in there. Add the essential oils and preservative and blend again.
Decant the cleansing milk into a 120mL/ four fluid ounce bottle. To use, shake the bottle and pour some of the cleansing milk onto a cotton ball (I love the jumbo ones for stuff like this). Wipe it over your face and enjoy your fresh, clean, hydrated skin!
I guess you mean liquid witch hazel in the recepie? I only have dried witch hazel. Any input on how to do with the dried one?
I do mean liquid 🙂 You could make your own infusion (like a cup of tea) from the dry stuff, but do be aware that’ll shorten the shelf life of the final product as that version will contain more bacteria food than the purchased liquid stuff. You might want to make a half batch and you’ll definitely want to include that preservative!
How long is the shelf life?
You should easily get a year out of it—I’ve got more info on shelf life here 🙂
I only have guar gum…can that be used instead of the soy lecithin? Love your site btw!
I’m not certain as I haven’t tried it. It might work as a co-emulsifier (it won’t have the conditioning benefits of lecithin), but I can’t offer much guidance on how much to use. Let me know if you give it a go!
Thank you!!
I’ll start with a huge tantrum, because I do not have turkey red oil. 🙁
With that over, this is the kind of product I LOVE. It’s me! One step beauty. I don’t wear tons of make up, I use minerals.
Thank you Jane for requesting it.
Thank you Marie for concocting it.
(So you’re saying my recently purchased polysorbate won’t cut it?)
I know! You said don’t ask about replacing ingredients and I’m not…putting that in parenthesis meant I was grumbling aloud and behaving.
So I’ll get the proper red oil and lecithin cause I must make this.
Awesome post today, Marie! Absolutely going to make this. In about a week. 😉
Hey Cristie! Polysorbate 20 would do the trick instead of TRO! I’ve just generally stopped mentioning it as most readers want a more natural alternative (like TRO, haha). Happy DIYing!
Girlfriend, I love you!! Now mind you, I did NOT ask. I grumbled, but kept to the rule. Sorta.
I’m now going to make this tomorrow.
And I do like natural too, but I realize that I have lived an entire life with unnatural and even now, as I try to rid myself of them, they’re everywhere. Chemicals are impossible to avoid.
Every time I think, wow I just rid ourselves of another chemical ridden product, another product rears its ugly head out of a cupboard and laughs. Oh well, tomorrow I shall have cleansing milk!!!
Happy DIYing!
And yes, regarding “chemicals”… everything is a chemical as far as chemists are concerned. There’s definitely something to be said for doing some research into the safety of things rather than choosing things based on how natural they are 🙂
Oh no. I would actually like a few more recipes with Polysorbate 20! I have a huge tub of it to use up. A friend of mine returned to China and brough me 500g and I still have 980mL of TRO to use. Hey, are they interchangeable?
Pretty much yes—you want to use a 1:1 / 1:2 oil:poly20 ratio when incorporating oil soluble things into a watery base. Less poly20 isn’t good, but more tends to make for a better, more stable mix. I tend to consider poly20 to be more versatile than TRO as TRO is still lipid based, so in things like a hair mist it can add fat where you don’t want any.
Wait, does benzoin smell like lavender or vanilla? Because I’ve heard it both ways.
I was wondering the same thing. I love vanilla, but the smell of lavender gives me horrific migraines.
If you don’t like lavender then chamomile is a great alternative, I buy mine here https://www.tenderessence.com/products/chamomile-roman
Every version of it I’ve ever smelled has been vanilla-y, and not lavender-y in the slightest 🙂
methinks you have a typo… it’s this paragraph here:
I chose a blend of lavender-like benzoin and lavender for the essential oils, and I love how soft and lightly sweet they smell. The original used citrus essential oils, but it’s not a great idea…
Yikes! I wonder what my brain was doing when I typed out that completely incorrect statement haha. Thank you so much, it’s been fixed!
Great recipe and product. I have some witch hazel glycerol extract, will that do or do they need to be used separately? If it is ok, how much do you think I’ll need?
Hi Jane! Do you have a link to a product page I could take a look at?
Sure, it’s from a uk website http://www.aromantic.co.uk/home/products/botanical-glycerol-extracts/witch-hazel-glycerol-extract.aspx
According to the product page the recommended usage is 3-6%, so I’d probably use 5g of that extract and 90g of water instead of the water/witch hazel blend 🙂
HI, I AM CURIOUS ABOUT THE RED TURKEY OIL AND THE REASON YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE IT IN THIS PRODUCT.
THANKS,
It is a gentle natural emulsifier (it naturally self emulsifies with water) and as such, also a cleanser 🙂
Which broad spectrum preservative is the most gentle for your skin?
I’m afraid I really can’t say, having not tried every single one. From my research, NataPres or GeoGard would be the first two to look at 🙂
Thank you very much, Marie!!!
🙂
I am allergic to witch hazel. What could I use in its place?
You can just use plain distilled water, or a weak green tea (though the tea will shorten the shelf life as you’re adding more tasty bacteria food) 🙂
Would [diluted] apple cider vinegar work as well? I find it works lovely as a toner by itself…
I think so! Diluted is definitely best, though—I’d be afraid the low pH might effect the emulsion 🙂 Let me know if you give it a try!
Just following up to see if EMily tried the ACV and how it turned out?
Just a quick reply to fool my plug in (http://www.humblebeeandme.com/faqs/receive-comment-reply-notification-email-theres-no-comment-reply-site/)—sorry I’m not Emily!
Hi Marie,
I know, I know. You said not to ask if we can leave lecithin out. So I’m asking if there is a suitable substitute like maybe guar/xanthan gum?? The reason I’m asking is that I have every ingredient except the lecithin.
Thanks for everything you do.
Claudia
I’m afraid I haven’t tested for alternatives; both you’ve mentioned are water soluble, and lecithin is oil soluble. Guar gum has some emulsifying properties, but it’s also a thickener. Polysorbate 20 would likely work for the emulsifying end of things (though not the skin conditioning), but it’s the opposite type of emulsifier (small amounts of oil in large amounts of water vs. small amounts of water in large amounts of oil). This is all hypothesis, of course—let me know if you’ve tried it!
Thanks Marie.
It’s just that I always seem to be missing 1 or 2 ingredients. Just today I received my very first order from Saffire Blue with TRO among other things. But no lecithin.
I think for now I will make some of your recipes where I have all the ingredients handy (or at least can make simple substitutions), I, unlike you am not good at experimenting.
Thanks for everything you do, especially the fact that you keep things as natural as possible.
Claudia
Happy DIYing! 😀
Does one use soyalecithin granules or a liquid?
The liquid 🙂
Hi Marie,
I love this product, thanks so much for creating it. I was wondering, the name brand version says “grapefruit extract” as a preservative; however, this is not a TRUE preservative.
What is your hypothesis of what they are using to preserve this product? I want to use something that is more eco-friendly and natural.
Honestly, I don’t know. My chemistry is not that great. Perhaps they’ve shifted the pH so it’ll self-preserve? I know LUSH has been tweaking some of their formulas to be self preserving so… that?
Could I also use this just as a makeup remover for both corrections and full removal (mainly for the eyes)? I was going to email you saying I found a recipe that has just witch hazel and olive oil as a makeup remover and that works okay, but was still looking for something that does a better job. This looks like it may be promising!
Hey Kerri! You definitely could, though if you want to use it around the eyes I’d recommend dropping the EOs 🙂
Hi Marie,
Would you mind providing an example of the quantity of preservative required for this recipe & your personal choice of preservative for this type of product. I make my own lotions etc, but I also know different types of product require diff. preservatives. I would find it helpful if you would provide a guideline. I love all your recipes 🙂
Kind regards – Linda
I have one in the FAQs 🙂
Where do I get soy lecithin anyone. Isn’t turkey red oil the same as red palm oil?
Hi Linda,
I’ve never purchased soy lecithin but it looks like Amazon sells granules as well as liquid lecithin. Turkey red oil is actually sulfated castor oil.
Just a quick internet search shows that http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com sells both Turkey red oil as well as soy lecithin. Have ordered from them but am not affiliated with the company.
I think you may even be able to find lecithin in your grocery store since it can be used in baking. However, I do not know if that is the same as used in these types of recipes.
Hope this helps.
Claudia
Thank you for your reply. I do remember RTO being castor lol my mind. I will check the health food store and grocery store 1st. I hate to pay shipping Ha doesn’t everbody.
I totally agree about the shipping costs. I do try to avoid it when possible. Hope you can find it locally.
Claudia
If you can find polysorbate 20 locally you can use that instead of TRO, but it’s definitely less natural 🙂
Thanks, Claudia!
I got my lecithin from Saffire Blue. Turkey Red oil is sulfated castor oil, and not at all related to palm oil 🙂
Is there anything I can use instead of the soy lecithin? I don’t use any type of soy at all.
Thanks!
Aimee
Sunflower lecithin would be the only good alternative I could recommend 🙂
Thank you so much for this great recipe! You are a modern day alchemist just brimming with spectacular ideas! I really enjoy your blog, trying you recipes and enjoying their benefits!
Thanks so much, Jeanne! 🙂
hi marie
I have no red turkey oil, don’t know if I can get it in switzerland….
Is it possible to replace it?
best, yola
You could use polysorbate 20 instead 🙂
How long is the shelf life on this? And would keeping it in the fridge help prolong it?
There’s no way for me to accurately predict the shelf life (somewhere between a day and a couple months?) as there are far too many variables. How clean is your kitchen? How clean are your bowls and spoons? How fresh are your ingredients? Where/how are you storing it? (Those are hypothetical questions—answering them won’t help me give you a better answer haha). The fridge will help, but a broad spectrum preservative is necessary.
oooh. i have everything to make this. i’ve been reading your blog for a year and you’ve turned me into a diy addict, marie! i’ve easily spent upwards of $2500 on diy materials. at one point, i was ordering anything you’d mentioned that i didn’t have whenever i saw a recipe that i wanted to try. lol! you can imagine how annoyed my boyfriend has been.
i’ve also learned how to diy my favorite products from brands like lush and small local brands by following your cue re: ingredients list. whatever is at the beginning of the list, is used in the largest quantities. i have made some things that i like better than the originals!
question: have you heard that benzoin is a skin sensitizer? i was actually looking for info about using benzoin as an anchor in cp soap, and i came across lots of different people saying not to use it as it irritates the skin. i’ve used it in other recipes like the coco mango body butter and i think it made me feel itchy. though i’m not quite sure if it was the benzoin or the calendula leaves. i didn’t have chia seeds but still wanted to add extra benefits so i infused the oils with calendula. it was my first time using calendula & benzoin, thats why i’m a bit confused on whether it was the herbs or the benzoin that caused the irritation.
can’t wait for the book, i will be purchasing it. diying with you has become my favorite hobby!
Hi Mimi! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 😀 I’m so stoked that I’ve got you hooked, this is such an addictive hobby! And congrats on developing your own recipes and replacing things you used to buy; there are few things more satisfying in my opinion 🙂
I have head that benzoin is a skin sensitizer, but so are many other essential oils (lavender included); it’s all about the dose. I’m no aromatherapist, but in really low amounts, it should be ok for most people (obviously if you think it’s not working for you, stop using it!). I can’t comment on whether it would’ve been the calendula or the benzoin that might’ve made you itchy as neither has ever made me itchy.
Thanks again for reading and for all your support!
Hi Marie,
I know you said there’s leaving out the soy lecithin, but is there an alternative to it? I’m allergic to soy and everything soy. Believe me, I’ve tried to use soy lecithin, soybean oil, etc in various products and still have a really bad reaction to it.
Thank you!
Cathryn
Hi Cathryn,
there is a sunflower lecithin that is soy free. I’m sure there are various sources like amazon.com etc. I found some liquid sunflower lecithin here.
http://www.nowfoods.com/Sunflower-Liquid-Lecithin-16-fl-oz.htm
I do not know if this lecithin acts exactly the same as soy lecithin. It will work as an emulsifier though.
Hope this helps.
Claudia
Claudia!
You are a life-saver! Thank you very, very much!
Cathryn
You’re welcome. 🙂
I really hope this will work out for you.
Claudia
Thanks, Claudia!
Sunflower lecithin would be the only good alternative I could recommend 🙂
Hello. I’ve recently been dabbling in creams versus the lotions I usually make. I’ve been trying to figure out what the best emulsifier to use when making products that have small amounts of water and lots of butters/oils. Would soy lethicin be the way to go?
From my reading and experience, yes! 🙂
Hi Marie,
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Going to try it out but wondering if I can use something like emulsimulse instead of the soy lecithin, as allergies to soy and everything else are acute in spring!
Thank you!
Goldie
Sunflower lecithin would be the only good alternative I could recommend 🙂
Linda on February 29, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Reposting this, as it seems to have been overlooked)
Hi Marie,
Would you mind providing an example of the quantity of preservative required for this recipe & your personal choice of preservative for this type of product. I make my own lotions etc, but I also know different types of product require diff. preservatives. I would find it helpful if you would provide a guideline. I love all your recipes 🙂
Kind regards – Linda
You haven’t been/weren’t overlooked; please remember that at any time I usually have well over 200 people to get back to and I don’t have endless time in my life to reply to comments and emails 🙂 Please check the FAQ before you ask, too, that’s a great way to get your answer instantly!
I made this today and WOW! – It was amazing at how well it took off my makeup…thanks for a great recipe!
Woohoo! Enjoy your lovely clean face and thanks for DIYing with me!
Hi Marie,
Does turkey red oil have another name. I can’t seem to find it in the UK and after a Google search the closest equivalent is called hydrogenated castor oil from newdirectionsuk.com is this the right thing? because I would love to make this cleansing milk.
Hey Emma! Turkey red oil can also be sold as sulfated castor oil. It’s definitely not hydrogenated castor oil, which is castor oil that’s been hydrogenated to make it solid. If you can’t get TRO, polysorbate 20 is a good alternative 🙂
Hi Marie:
It’s not easy to find turkey red oil (wish NDA sold it). I’ve read some not so great reviews on polysorbate 20. Is it ok to use? They do sell that on NDA. I found TRO on a few sites and am still trying to find it locally (haven’t found any yet).
Hey Jeannie! Polysorbate 20 and Turkey Red oil can generally be used interchangeably, with polysorbate 20 being the more useful emulsifier. Since TRO is still a carrier oil (more or less, it’s irritating if used on the skin in high concentrations) it contains lipids, which polysorbate 20 doesn’t, so TRO is good for a bath oil base where polysorbate 20 isn’t… but in most recipes you can use one or the other. I do use polysorbate 20 and have been happy with it (I usually choose TRO first because readers always ask for something more natural when I use polysorbate 20) as an emulsifier and mild surfactant. You can read up on its safety on Skin Deep and see what you think 🙂 It would work as an alternative in this recipe to TRO.
Thanks Marie. I guess I’m going to have to use polysorbate 20. I have called every store around (within 40 miles) and nobody carries either, so I’ll have to order online. I had a 2nd comment (below) about Mystic Moments (a company in UK) to see if you’ve heard of them and if they’d be ok to buy from. I’ll wait to hear from you before I purchase on Amazon. They did get good reviews online (besides on Amazon).
The back end of my blog separates out comments that haven’t been replied to, so I always know when I haven’t replied to a comment yet 🙂
A question for you re: suppliers of polysorbate 20. Have you heard of a company in the UK called Mystic Moments? I found polysorbate 20 on Amazon that is sold by Mystic Moments. Checking to see anyone’s heard of them, are they reputable?
Thanks!
I’m in Canada so I’ve never used them, but other UK readers have recommended Mystic Moments 🙂
Thanks!
Hi.
In recepies that calls for soy lecithin is it possible to replace it with lecithin from sunflowers? I’m allergic to soy.
Yup, that should work 🙂
Marie — I made this recipe yesterday and LOVE the smell! One question — should you rinse this or cleanse and apply moisturizer? It doesn’t leave my face feeling dry and stripped of moisture like normal soap/water does.
Thanks!
Hey Jeannie! I’m thrilled you’re loving the cleanser 🙂 I might splash my face with a bit of water or follow up with some Argan oil if my skin is feeling a bit dry, but if you don’t feel the need to you certainly don’t have to 🙂
My face didn’t feel dry at all, it felt moisturized. That’s why I asked if I should apply a moisturizer. I did use eye cream. The cleanser I made is a little darker than the one pictured in your recipe. Benzoin is the stickiest stuff ever! Thanks Marie – this is definitely a recipe I’ll make again and again.
Honestly, if your skin is happy, you’re doing it right! Enjoy 🙂
Hi Marie, I know you’ve already recommended polysorbate 20 as an alternative to the TRO, but do you have any other recommendations? I find that castor oil irritates my skin, and would rather not use synthetic ingredients like the polysorbate 20.. Thank you!
I’ve read that this should work, but it’s certainly not very natural. There aren’t very many “natural” emulsifiers out there, especially for the type of thing we’re making here, where we want a small amount of oil dispersed in a large amount of water—TRO is the only thing I’ve found.
I can’t get these to emulsify. It totally separates. I have all the right ingredients and did it twice with the same results. Any suggestions?
Thank you!
It will separate out if left undisturbed for a few days, but once shaken it’ll stay emulsified for several hours. If you are really concerned with it staying emulsified all the time you can add some Polysorbate 20—try about 10g 🙂
Thank you!
🙂
Hi Marie
Sorry if someone has already asked this! But what can i use instead of the soy/sunflower lecithin?? I’m in the UK where it costs an arm and a leg!
Thanks
Grace 🙂
Do a search on the page for the word “instead” to see all the different replies on this 🙂
Well, I have done some looking and dreaming and thinking and now I need to experiment I guess. I asked my husband to pick up some lecithin so I could play and I have a great big container of granules and a lot of information on how they don’t dissolve. Have you ever played with the granules or do I just have the wrong thing? I am going to fiddle around with it, but I’m hoping you know a secret I don’t:)
I’m afraid I haven’t! I did some reading on both before buying and quickly concluded I wanted nothing to do with the solid ones lol; most of what I found was about how hard they are to melt and work with haha.
Well, after much internet browsing and a desperate desire not to waste what I was given, thrifty soul that I am, I soaked the grains for 24 hours and used the resulting slurry, which turned out magnificently. I love the smell of this one!
Lovely! Did you soak them in water or oil?
I used water, which I know decreases the shelf life, but I added powdered germall as per your handy dandy calculator, so we will see. It had to soak for 24 hours, there was no liquid left, just a syrupy goo. I only added enough to cover the lecithin kernels. Apparently it won’t dissolve in alcohol or oil…water alone can create the syrupy gold :)This cleanser btw smells absolutely divine, it makes me want to go and wash my face a couple times a day, lol. Between this and the mattifying moisturizer, I am falling head over heels for the smell of benzoin as a complimentary fragrance.
Ah, innnnnnnteresting. Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you are loving the cleanser and benzoin—seriously, that stuff goes in nearly everything I make these days 🙂
Will regular castor oil work??
Nope, not even close! Castor oil is to turkey red oil as a raw egg is to a souffle—there are some added ingredients and chemical reactions that make them VERY different despite having one ingredient in common. Try polysorbate 20 or 80 instead 🙂
Hi, I love this recipe but am just wondering if I can omit witch hazel and had more water. But I will still use other ingredients. Will like your response if it will still be okay.
It’ll still be ok, it just won’t be astringent 🙂
Hi Marie just wondering what can i use instead of benzoin?
You can just leave it out 🙂