This creamy Mint Julep Cleansing Oil came about as a bit of an accident. I had “Julep oil cleanser” on my to-do list as a recipe request, and without referring back to the original request, I got all excited about an oil cleanser that smelled like a mint julep. Bright, juicy lime and cool, fresh peppermint. Yum, right?! However, upon referring back to the original request, I discovered that Julep was the brand, not the cocktail. Whoops. Oh well—no reason I can’t do both!
For this cleansing oil I decided to try including a solid emulsifying wax as one of the emulsifiers—I had a few inquiries about it when I published my last cleansing oil recipe, and I wanted to give it a go. I opted for BTMS-50 as I loved the idea of a conditioning cleansing oil, but you could use a different complete emulsifying wax if you don’t have BTMS-50. Our other emulsifier is polysorbate 80. If you don’t have it, olivem300 (NOT 1000!) or Turkey Red Oil should do the trick as an alternative, though I would avoid Turkey Red Oil if your skin is sensitive as it can be irritating to the skin in higher concentrations.
To recap why we need emulsifiers in an oil based product—they are what makes this a cleansing oil. Our water phase is the water we are washing our faces with! The inclusion of emulsifiers allows the cleansing oil to work up into a lovely creamy cleanser when we wet it, and also allows it to rinse off cleanly and easily. It’s delightfully simple and wonderfully effective! The cleanser is also quite concentrated as it’s effectively water-activated, and you add the water at the time of use, making this Creamy Mint Julep Cleansing Oil a good choice for travel.
I decided to take advantage of the water-activated nature of this cleanser to add some water-soluble silk peptides; they’ll dissolve once the cleansing oil is blended with water, so we don’t have to worry about them being gritty as we generally do in oil-based products (they’re still gritty, they just won’t be when we use the cleanser). If you don’t have ’em, colloidal oats would be a neat alternative—otherwise, just leave them out. No biggie.
For essential oils we’re using a simple yet mouthwatering blend of bright, juicy lime and fresh, tingly peppermint. I didn’t include enough peppermint to get much of a cooling chill (the blend is definitely predominantly lime), but you could always add more if you decide you want a chilly, tingly pop in your cleansing oil!
Because we’re using a solid emulsifier in this cleansing oil you will have to heat it through to melt everything together, meaning it’s a bit more time consuming to make than my Grapefruit Deep Cleansing Oil. I did try to melt this together in a double boiler, but I never got all the way to fully melted, so I switched to a saucepan. It may just be the elevation here making the BTMS-50 less inclined to melt, but whatever the case, it’s easy enough to fix with a bit of direct heat. Just be sure to keep a close eye on the mixture so you don’t scorch it, which is a thing you can do without the insulating goodness of a water bath.
And… yeah. That’s it! Melt, stir, and you’re done! I think you’ll love this Mint Julep Cleansing Oil. I love how it has a bit of thickness to it so it’s easier to steer in my palm and isn’t as drooly as a fully liquid cleansing oil, and I think you’ll appreciate the inclusion of a more common emulsifier to keep the shopping list to a minimum. Happy making!
Mint Julep Cleansing Oil
10g | 0.35oz BTMS-50 (USA / Canada) or other complete emulsifying wax
20g | 0.7oz Polysorbate 80 (USA / Canada) or Olivem 300 (USA / Canada)
30g | 1.06oz rice bran oil
19g | 0.67oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
20g | 0.7oz grapeseed oil
0.5g | 0.018oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)1g | 0.03oz powdered silk peptides (wondering about substitutions?) (optional)
50 drops lime essential oil
10 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)Weigh the BTMS-50, Polysorbate 80, rice bran oil, castor oil, grapeseed oil, and vitamin E into a small saucepan and melt everything together on the stove top over low heat. Once the mixture is fully melted and transparent, remove it from the heat.
Stir the mixture as it cools; some wisps of thickening will start to appear quickly, so ensure you are stirring around with a  flexible silicone spatula to combine everything and keep that thickening well distributed.
Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in the silk and essential oils, and decant into a squeezy tube or bottle. I filled one 60ml/2fl oz bottle and one 30ml/1fl oz bottle, so I’m set for home and away!
To use, I like to wet my face a bit with a warm, wet washcloth, and then massage about 1/2 tsp of the cleansing oil into my skin. I’ll then rinse/wipe that off with the washcloth and follow up with some face cream.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this cleansing oil is 100% oil based, 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!). Kept reasonably cool and dry, it should last at least a year before any of the oils go rancid. If you notice it starts to smell like old nuts or crayons, that’s a sign that the oils have begun to oxidize; chuck it out and make a fresh batch if that happens.
Want to use a different carrier oil? Read this for information on how to make good substitutions.
I’m sorry if this is a question that’s been covered before, but I was wondering why you’re adding two emulsifiers? I’ve just placed an order for BTMS (although it’s being sold as BTMS varisoft, INCI: Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate), but don’t have any of the other emulsifiers (or suggested substitutions), so I was wondering if I could just increase the amount of BTMS, or if really would be necessary to have an additional emulsifier…
Thanks so much, and keep up the excellent work (i’m a bit of a fan!)!
The e-wax is to thicken it a bit, and the liquid emulsifier is to give us enough emulsifier for a good, clean wash off without further thickening the product. I really would recommend getting a liquid emulsifier since they are crazy useful for all things DIY! I would be very concerned you’d make a cleansing sludge instead of a cleansing oil if you do all BTMS, but keep me posted if you try it!
Any excuse for more ingredient shopping!
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply- I really appreciate it 🙂
Hi, Could I use glycereth-8 Olive Oil esters instead of Olivem 300 or Polysorbate 80?
I’ve never worked with it, but from my research it sounds like a yes!
Can you substitute all e-wax for the Polysorbate 80?
I would be very concerned you’d make a cleansing sludge instead of a cleansing oil, but keep me posted if you try it!
Haha cleansing sludge sounds a little contradictory. I’ve never used Polysorbate 80, and was hoping to get away without having to buy it because I already have everything else this recipe calls for, but maybe I will just have to pick some up.
I would definitely recommend getting a liquid emulsifier of some kind—Polysorbate 80 or olivem300 would be my top two recommendations 🙂 They’re pretty interchangeable, and both will do the job of Polysorbate 20, too 🙂 Happy making!
I love the looks of this! I’ve been asked by someone to make her a gentle cleanser. She has sensitive skin. Thanks, Marie!
But what am I missing? Why no water bath?
You’re missing paragraph 6 🙂 “I did try to melt this together in a double boiler, but I never got all the way to fully melted, so I switched to a saucepan. It may just be the elevation here making the BTMS-50 less inclined to melt, but whatever the case, it’s easy enough to fix with a bit of direct heat. Just be sure to keep a close eye on the mixture so you don’t scorch it, which is a thing you can do without the insulating goodness of a water bath.” Happy making and enjoy!
Ah! That’s a first for me. I’m usually the one sitting here mentally telling others to read the post! READ THE POST!
Anyway, I had my friend look over this recipe and she gave me the go. The lime alone, sold me.
Ha, no worries! It happens to the best of us 🙂 This one was pretty verbose, too! 😛
Can you use olivem 900?
No—it’s solid, while olivem300 is liquid. It sounds like it could be a neat ingredient to work with and develop a cleansing oil around, but you’d want to start from scratch with that 🙂
This sounds great, but I am still stocking up on ingredients and am only able to make balms at present. When I have tried out a few recipes, I hope to progress to lotions and cleansers.
I put in an order for a lot of oils on Soap Kitchen, but tonight I found another supplier in the UK, bayhousearomatics.com and they have some very reasonably priced stuff, especially hydrolats. Minimum order is £10.00, it’s soil association and ecocert. Just letting everyone know. I’ve also discovered a lot of oils from India on auction site which look very good quality although they import from all over, so oils from Europe are more expensive than here, whereas exotic ones can be expensive. Labdanum was quite reasonable and it’s freepost.
How interesting! Sadly not of much use to me, personally, but I’ve added Bay House Aromatics to the suppliers page so others in the UK can find them—thank you!
Sorry, exotic ones are cheaper. Nice explanations from an ayurvedic point of view and there are a few different sellers, so room to explore range of prices.
Yes, I’m obsessed now and I really wanted to start knitting again! I might leave that until the autumn, and just get on with making some lovely creams and lotions.
Ah, the problem of too many hobbies haha. I have about 300m of fabric kicking around the house that is/was destined to be some epic Edwardian and Regency costumes. Sigh.
I like the idea of adding ewax to make the consistency a bit thicker. My liquid oil cleaner sometimes end up dripping down my hand. I should definitely try this out next time. Thanks Marie 🙂
I am loving the thicker texture, it’s awesome! Once you add water it’s very workable, but it doesn’t drool out of your palm immediately 🙂
Hi, Marie!
Do you think I could swap the rice bran oil and parts of the wax with rice bran wax?
xx
Definitely no; rice bran wax is not an emulsifying wax, and rice bran oil isn’t an oil. That’s sort of like putting beeswax on your toast instead of honey ’cause they both come from a beehive 😛
Would you mind pointing me in the right direction for the research that says rice bran oil is not an oil? Every item I have read clearly states that it is an oil. I’m just confused, and would like to figure this out. Thanks.
Whoa, I’m not sure what was going on in my head when I typed that out LOL. I assume I meant to type that “rice bran wax is not an oil” or vice versa, as the original commenter wanted to use a solid product (wax) instead of a liquid one (oil), and that substitution would not work!
I made this last night and both my daughter and I are loving it on our faces this morning! I used 15 drops of peppermint oil, and it’s so refreshing. Thanks for the great recipe – I look forward to trying more. 🙂
Yay! I’m so glad 😀 Thanks so much for DIYing with me!
What resources would you recommend for learning about the different emulsifiers? So I can figure out which one is best to use for something I am developing and how much I need.
Point of Interest!
What would be the best substitute for rice bran oil? I’ve never worked with it, and I checked the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia first, but it seems there is not an entry on it yet.
For a cleansing oil, anything cheap that your skin likes 🙂 Olive, canola, safflower, sunflower, etc 😉
Okay, thanks Marie!
Olive has not a good reputation for cleansing oil (clogs pores for some), I use hemp, grapeseeds and tamanu without issue.
Olive oil is also inexpensive, and highly unlikely to clog pores in a wash-off situation where it’s on the skin for 30 seconds or less.
I made this several times without silk peptides because I didn’t have them and the recipe said it would be a-ok without them. But I did order some peptides because I was curious and wanted to try them out. I was pretty excited when my order arrived but feelings drastically changed once I opened them. I know people have said something about them having a bit of a smell. Well mine had the smell of death. They smelled like rotting potatoes with a tinge of mushroom. Yuck.
I persevered and used them anyway hoping they wouldn’t stink so much in the final product. Boy was I wrong. When I opened my bottle of cleansing oil the next morning it had a horrendous smell, something chemically/gasoline like that was very familiar. Took me half the day to put my finger (or should I say nose) on the smell, you know when you are about to board an airplane and you’re near the door and get that waft of jet fuel? That was the smell. I used the oil once and dumped the rest of it down the drain as I just couldn’t handle the smell. Luckily when trying new stuff I make only a half recipe so not too much waste but still disappointing.
Can someone please tell me if silk peptides always smell this awful or did I just get a bad batch? I ordered via the amazon link in the recipe. I’m scared to use peptides again, as the smell almost made me gag, but I know peptides make an appearance in several recipes and they are in the shampoo I use (not one I made) and it leaves my hair really soft.
YIIIIKES. You should definitely get in touch with the supplier and ask them what’s going on, because mine definitely don’t smell revolting. They have a smell, yes, but it’s soft and slightly sweet—not rotting anything and jet fuel! The nice thing about Amazon is that returns should be pretty straightforward if they don’t have a good answer for you.
I’m making this right now, but I subbed tamanu oil in place of Rice Bran and Grape seed. Can’t wait to use it.
Enjoy, and thanks for DIYing with me!
hello please can you give me the percentage of this recipe? i want to make a bigger batch
I’ve got instructions on how to convert it to percentages here 🙂
Is this one of your pre-low pH rule cleansers, or does it count as a face-friendly pH level cleanser? TIA!
This is still good 🙂
Thank you!
Hello,
I see that you have another very similar recipe here – https://www.humblebeeandme.com/gentle-calendula-cleansing-oil/
The Olivem 300 ratios are very different.
I tried the calendula cleansing oil recipe but the oil is slowly separating from the wax. I wouldn’t mind as a shake before use kind of thing except it really deposits and it’s not easy to shake.
Do you think this recipe with higher Olivem 300 ratio is better?
Thanks
Hey! Honestly, I would recommend you try one of my more recent cleansing oil formulations—those ones are much better than either of the ones mentioned here 🙂