Today we’re whipping up a velvety cleansing oil that’s great for all kinds of facial cleansing, but especially brilliant for removing makeup. I created it with waterproof eye makeup in mind, as it likes to hold onto my lashline for dear life! This cleansing oil has a gorgeous, velvetty skin-feel and rinses off beautifully, leaving skin clean but not dry and squeaky. You can easily customize it to use up any older carrier oils you need to get through quickly, too! With just five ingredients (and it could be 4!), this Soft Velvet Cleansing Oil could hardly be easier. Let’s dive in!
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I’m trying two new things with this formulation. Thing #1 is using PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil as the solubilizer. In the past, I’ve used Polysorbate 80, Olivem 300, emulsifying waxes, and Cromollient SCE to give cleansing oils their rinse-off-ability, and they all work well, but I’ve had some PEG-40 hydrogenated castor hanging around for a while and figured it was high time I used it in something. I found some sample formulations using it as the rinse-off agent in cleansing oils and thought that would be a great place to start! The usage rate (3%) was also a lot lower than I’d usually go for when making a cleansing oil (generally around 10%), so that was another interesting thing to dabble with! You can learn more about this ingredient (and PEGs in cosmetics) here.
Thing #2 was the inclusion of isopropyl myristate (IPM). I’ve added isopropyl myristate (IPM) to products before to make them feel lighter/less greasy, but in my research, I also found it is used as-is as a pro-level makeup remover, especially for prosthetics. I’ve been wearing more makeup lately, including waterproof eyeliner, and that stuff can be a beast to get off. I’ll think I’ve done it and still wake up the next morning with dusty dark smudges under my eyes. So, I decided to include some isopropyl myristate (IPM) in this cleansing oil, though at a much lower rate than 100%! It helps give the cleansing oil a lovely, light, silky feel and also boosts the makeup-taking-off powers.
The rest of this cleansing oil is a blend of two inexpensive, lightweight carrier oils—safflower oil and fractionated coconut oil. I chose those two because I have lots of both! You can easily customize this formulation to use something inexpensive and lightweight that you’ve got a lot of. This is also a good way to start powering through older oils that you’re worried will go rancid soon—cleansing oils and balms use up oils really quickly. That’s not only because the formulations call for lots of oils, but also because you’ll likely be using the product twice a day (unlike a body butter, for instance).
I opted to leave this Soft Velvet Cleansing Oil unscented as I knew I’d be using it to remove eye makeup, but it’s pretty easy to make some room for an essential oil or fragrance oil if you want to include one. Simply drop 0.3–1% of one of the liquid oils, and voila, you’ve now got room for 0.3–1% of something that smells pretty!
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Soft Velvet Cleansing Oil
Heated phase
44g | 40% safflower oil
34.65g | 31.5% fractionated coconut oil (USA / Canada)
27.5g | 25% isopropyl myristate (IPM) (USA / Canada / UK / Aus / NZ)
3.3g | 3% PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil (USA / Canada)Cool down phase
0.55g | 0.5% Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)Weigh the heated phase ingredients into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in your prepared water bath to melt everything through.
Once the PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil has melted, remove the measuring cup from the heat. Let it cool, and then stir in the vitamin E oil.
Pour the cleansing oil into a 120mL (4 fl oz) bottle and you’re done!
To use, dispense a nickel-sized amount of cleansing oil into your palm, and work it up with a bit of warm water. Massage that into your face before wiping it off with a damp microfibre cloth.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this cleansing oil 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.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 110g, which fills a 120mL (4 fl oz) bottle nicely.
- To learn more about the ingredients used in this recipe, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
- You can use any lightweight, inexpensive carrier oil in place of the safflower and/or fractionated coconut oil. This is a good way to use up liquid oils that are getting close to their expiry date!
- I don’t recommend swapping out the isopropyl myristate (IPM). You could use C12-15 alkyl benzoate instead.
- You could try Cromollient SCE, Polysorbate 80, or Olivem 300 instead of the PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, but you might want to increase the amount. I usually use closer to 10% than 3% for those ingredients in a cleansing oil, so you might want to dial back the safflower oil to make room for more solubilizer.
- You can add an essential oil or fragrance. I intentionally left it out as I know I’ll be using this to remove eye makeup.
Gifting Disclosure
The safflower oil was gifted by Essential Wholesale.
Are you using Tocopherol T-50 or vitamin E Acetate?
MT-50; it’s now linked in the post 🙂 Happy making!
Hi – this looks great. Thanks for sharing! Do you ever have any concerns about frequent use of using oils, like coconut oil, going down your sink or bath pipes or drains when using a product or the clean up after making products? Any recommendations for new DIYers?
I haven’t had any problems with it in normal usage of finished products—oils that go down the sink are usually blended with emulsifiers, which helps them rinse away and down the drains nicely. When cleaning up I always wipe greasy things down with paper towels before getting hot water & detergent involved so there are no big blobs of fat on anything. You definitely don’t want to be sending melted wax, solid fats, etc. down your drain 🙂 Happy making!
Hi Marie, I have a question about the peg40 castor oil…
Do you think it could be used to solubilize some d-limonene into vinegar and water to make a cleaning spray? I’ve been thinking about using polysorbates, but don’t really want the stickiness. Also I think c/c glucoside can be used as a solubilizer? But I don’t know if that would make everything too soapy. Thoughts?
I also wonder if you might help me with a question I keep bumping up against: how do you know what percentage of a solubilizer will completely solubilize x amount of a given oil? I never know where to begin formulating something myself. It keeps stumping me!
It’s certainly worth a try! In theory, it should work, so it’s just a matter of if it works in practice 🙂 For “how do you know what percentage of a solubilizer will completely solubilize x amount of a given oil?”—experimentation. I usually start with 5x more solubilizer than the thing I’m solubilizing to see if that works, and then dialling up or down from there to get where I want to be. Happy making!
Oh wow ok I was thinking like 15% d limonene or so! Definitely some experiments to be done.
Thanks!
Marie- I have the Peg-40 in liquid form. Should I still heat up the oils so that the molecules can bind? Or is it ok to just mix everything?
You shouldn’t need to heat it at all! Happy making 😀
Marie, what pH meter would you recommend to do cosmetic formulating? I thought you did a video with it, but I can’t find it.
I’ve updated this post to include my pH meter!
I only have IPM and no hydrogenated castor oil. I checked with my nearest supplier & they only sell in bulk. Can IPM with oils work as a make up remover using a cotton pad & not a wash off?
I’d recommend swapping out the PEG castor oil with one of the substitutions listed in the post—removing it will result in a much lower wash-off product. Oil + makeup without washing it off = raccoon eyes, in my experience. Happy making!
This won’t rinse off as a milk, right? Do you have a cleansing oil that actually rinses off (I imagine it would have emulsifiers) rather than needing a cloth to remove? Thank you!
It will! Have you watched the video? There’s a demo 🙂 Also, in the post, I discuss the PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil as the solubilizer, which means its the thing that offers that milk-ifying rinse-off 🙂 Happy making!
I have some isopropyl myristate but I would have never thought of using it in a rinse off product, I’ll need to give it a try.
Let me know what you think 🙂 Happy making!
I just made this using 8% polysorbate 80 instead of PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil as suggested and replaced half of the fractionated coconut oil with almond oil. I can’t believe how silky my skin feels right now! Thanks for this incredible yet simple recipe, Marie.
I’m so thrilled you’re loving it! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi Marie. Since isopropyl myristate is a penetration enhancer, are there any concerns about using synthetic fragrances in this formula?
Nope. I wouldn’t include fragrance because I use this for eye makeup, though 🙂
I love this stuff!! I’m so glad you came up with something for waterproof makeup. That’s the only kind that stays on my lashes. I love using the same product for double duty!! I had some polysorbate 80 buy didn’t want to mess with the calculations. I just bought the castor oil. Thanks again Marie!!
You’re so welcome! And really, there’s nothing hugely special about this cleansing oil for removing waterproof makeup over any of my other cleansing oils or balms, other than the lack of essential oil/fragrance oil. I included isopropyl myristate (IPM) as an experiment because it’s commonly sold as a makeup remover on its own (it’s apparently also useful for head lice, as I saw at the pharmacy yesterday…), but in general I find oil cleansers (liquid or solid/balm format) tackle waterproof makeup far better than foaming ones as oil breaks down the film formers that make makeup waterproof. Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi Marie,
Fantastic post, as always!
Do you think you could make this more of a balm by replacing some of the liquid oil with mango/shea butter, or similar?
I have easy access to the isopropyl and peg 40, but want more of a balm consistency. I haven’t ever used solubilisers or emulsifiers before, so I don’t have any idea if just adding a butter would work 😀
I have looked at your other balm recipes, but the solubilisers or emulsifiers you’ve used in those aren’t quite as easy to get- or I would just start there!
Thanks so much!
Hi, I made this with safflower oil and without the isopropyl and there is a thread like consistency at the bottom. Do you know what that would be? Thank you!
I’d guess it’s the PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil not fully dispersing; this didn’t happen in any of my batches, so I suspect your elimination of the isopropyl myristate (IPM) is part of why that has happened. Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
I tried something like this without IPM (just sunflower oil instead) and with both 3 % and 6 % natural solubilizer clear plus (hlb 16 or so) – it doesn’t work. It doesn’t blend in but forms sticky clumps. I also noticed that it also doesn’t like heat. I think It’s allright solubilizer for eo’s in watery things and that end result feels non sticky but foams likely. Water content is possibly troublesom thing in emulsifying body scrub or clay cleansing balm but I’m testing one scrub. PEG’s are difficult to replace “naturally”/ ecocert accepted way. I like good old polyglyceryl-4 oleate. Just my opinions!
PS. I see some questions here and I do ask things often. This small experiment took me about hour to run (+ sanitizing part) and didn’t cost much. Have fun! xx
Thank you so much, Johanna! And your “PS” is right on point—yes, just try it! It’s so important for learning 🙂 Happy making!
Aaaaah this is to die for! I made this, and added some fragrance and its absolutely what my skin needed! Im tempted to add oil soluble green tea or fruit acid in the next batch, love the feeling it leaves on my skin. It really is velvety, thank you so much for another cracking recipe.
I am so glad you are enjoying it! I’m still using this one to take off my eye makeup and it makes quick work of the sturdiest waterproof eyeliners 😀
This must be amazing! I was inspired by this recipe and started playing with lower amounts of polyglyceryl-4 oleate + mct oil. I ended creating eye makeup remover with 5 % pg4-o and rose wax. I’m honestly surprised that it works as facial cleanser too! I’m not totally convinced that this emulsifier, often marketed gentle, is gentle and best option for eyes. My other cleansing oils contain 10 %. It has a bit velvety feel. But oilgels are great as eye makeup removal!
Hi!
I’ve been looking at all your oil cleansing formulas and I really love them! I wanted to discuss some more specific formulas with you and noticed you have an option for 1 on 1 consultations, but it’s all booked up! Do you know when a spot will open up for that? I am so interested! Let me know 🙂
Hey Heena! There’s a spot or two open right now ❤️
Can you please post a link for those long silver spoons/scoops your using in the photos I love those! Thanks!!
I can’t link to the exact ones as they were a gift, so I didn’t buy them, but these ones look similar 🙂
Hello again,
I made this and it is absolutely fabulous for removing my waterproof eye makeup! I had been using Lancome BiFacil for years and loved it like nothing else, but this is my new fave since I can DIY! I did use Polysorbate 80 since I had no PEG40. I would like it to be more rinse-off-y though. Could I increase the Polysorbate 80 (and less safflower) until I can get a hold of some PEG40?
Regards,
Pat