Shine can be a wonderful thing—we love it in jewellery and bathroom faucets, lip gloss and silver. But faces? Less so. Kamila got in touch a few months ago asking for solution for oily skin. She told me she was having to re-apply her make-up halfway through the day and was very frustrated with the entire situation. So, I devised this translucent anti-shine powder, designed to be put under and over make-up, as a touch-up powder through the day.
The first ingredient in the powder is clay—something skin toned works great, as does kaolin with a wee bit of iron oxides to get it closer to your skin tone. First off the clay helps absorb excess oil and moisture, which is the primary purpose of this powder. As a plus, it helps detox pores, helping to prevent any acne that might be caused by the excess oils.
Arrowroot starch helps ensure the powder goes on translucent. It’s also absorbent and feels nice and smooth on the skin—apparently it’s used as baby powder in some countries!
Rosehip oil is a drying oil, meaning it won’t add to the greasy problem. Cucumber botanical extract powder is astringent, and is known to tighten and refresh tired skin. Lastly, a bit of optional tea tree essential oil, to help with acne, if desired.
Translucent Anti-Shine Powder
1 tbsp zeolite, white kaolin clay (USA / Canada), or Australian beige clay (or another smooth clay that is close to your skin tone)
1 tbsp arrowroot starch
5 drops rosehip oil
1 tsp cucumber powder
3–5 drops tea tree essential oil (optional)Begin by putting on your dust mask. Blend all ingredients together in your DIY coffee grinder. Let the grinder rest with the lid on for at least 5–10 minutes to allow the powders to settle before opening so you don’t inhale a cloud of dust.
Decant into a sifter jar. To use, lightly dust or pat over oily areas as needed.
Organic cocoa powder works great for color if you dont have the clay. Great for bronzer too! I just love your site. Keep up the great work!
Good tip—just be sure to work up to it, and keep in mind that it won’t have the same absorption powers as the clay. If you have a white clay, you could try blending in a wee bit of cocoa powder for a more complete swap 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Hi my name is Athanasia and i’m from Grecce! i read you blog long time…and it is amazing! amazing recipes! i think your blog is the best blog, if you want to learn how to make your own cosmetics, a simple and easy way and without spend a lot of money!! i ‘d like to ask you if you have a prescriprtion for eyeshadow primer, (beeswax) i would appreciate if you upload one in your blog because I can not find any in net although looked very. Thank you very much and greetings from Grecce!…Athanasia…
Hi Athanasia! Thanks for reading 🙂 I haven’t come up with a recipe for primer yet, but it is on my to do list 🙂 Stay tuned!
What can I substitute the Cucumber Powder with? ( just curious)
Hi there, so I have psoriasis and roseasa. I am looking for a chemical free solution going mostly organic and changing out most products.my skin and scalp need help. What do you suggest?
Hi Luisa! What kind of help does your skin and scalp need? I am guessing they are dry and flaky? My shea butter eczema balm is really great (and very easy to make), and I also love clay masks for helping increase circulation to an area and draw out toxins. You can also try incorporating aloe vera, bergamot essential oil, cedarwood essential oil, flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, neem oil, tamanu oil, and tea tree oil into your skin care products—all are said to be helpful against psoriasis. Good luck!
I have been trying to make cosmetics and was wondering if you could make a water based, radiant foundation ( an non matte one) and a water based concealer that has a sheer feeling but good coverage that doesn’t cause acne. This is a lot to ask and I understand if you can’t make them but could you also point me in the right direction for ingredients to make them. Thank you in advance!
Hi Danielle! I’ve been trying to make a liquid concealer for about 3 years now and have had no luck so far 🙁 Stay tuned, it’ll be here first if I ever hack it!
I love all of your tips! Thank you so much for sharing. May I substitute bentonite clay in place of kaolin clay in your Translucent anti-shine powder? It’s impossible to find many items locally. Thank you!
Heather
You can if your bentonite is very finely ground, and if it’s somewhat close to your skin tone—otherwise you will end up with an anti-shine powder that looks like dirt smudges 😛 You’ll also want to keep your bentonite away from metal as that (supposedly) de-activates it.
Thank you so much! I didn’t know about the metal, and I surely don’t want to look like I have used dirt on my face :/ Thank you again. I think I’ll wait for my order to arrive. I’m too impatient 🙂
Heather
🙂 Story of my life, it seems 😛
Hi Marie…I am going to ask a stupid question…I saw someone said that you could add cocoa powder as a bronzer…BUT, if your face got wet would it turn brown??? I got this horrible image of being caught in the rain and brown running down my face. LOL.
Also, could you add cocoa powder OR moroccan clay to the ingredients above to make it darker?? I am pretty olive colored…and I wanted choices for my mommy friends.
Lastly, is the cucumber powder necessary? And out of ALL the places I buy from…no one has it.
As always, thanks for your help 🙂
Hi Anna! I’m not a huge fan of using cocoa powder as a colorant since it’s quite unreliable in terms of shade and performance—it makes it hard to recommend to people as part of a recipe 🙂
You can feel free to use any smooth clay that’s closer to your skin tone rather than the ones I’ve mentioned. I really wouldn’t recommend cocoa powder—I’ve used clay because of its absorbent properties, which cocoa powder does not have.
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The cucumber powder is there because it’s astringent, making this a wee bit like powdered toner. Not strictly necessary if you just want a totally translucent, absorbent powder 🙂
oh and could you use this type of ingredients for more of a mineral powder make up look at all???
Why not just use my mineral make-up recipe instead? 🙂
Hi Marie – can you tell me where you source these particular cosmetic jars with the plastic inserts on top for powders (and which ones they are)? I’ve been looking on the sites where you do most of your sourcing and haven’t found anything that matches.
I bought these particular ones locally at a shop called Soap & More, but Saffire Blue sells similar sifter jars 🙂
Are any of the ingredients reactive with salicylic acid? I have had really good results with neutrogenas skin clearing mineral power and want to make my own version with out all the terrible things they put in there. 🙁
The ingredient I would be concerned about would be the cucumber powder. As a starting point you might consider making this recipe and replacing the cucumber powder with white willow bark powder/extract for a natural source of salicylic acid 🙂 Good luck!
Hi Marie.. This recipe is for oily skin.. I mean all the ingredients have good absorbing power and all.. How can I tweak this recipe for dry skin? Because i have very dry skin and not sure if this recipe will work for me. Or should I just apply moisturizer before applying this powder and it will work for me?
Hi Tejashri! This powder shouldn’t be drying to skin, but if you find it looks powdery on your face, you can either apply some moisturizer before applying the powder, or you can follow up with a setting spray 🙂
I love your site. Learning so much. Thank you. One question…just to be certain before I start this recipe. Would all of these ingredients be safe to use during pregnancy? Thank you.
Check out this FAQ article 🙂
Could I also include some silk- peptides in this recipy? thanks a lot for all these amazing recipes. Greetings from Ireland!
Hi Eweina! You can, but I do find they make powder recipes extra “poufy”, so you might want to add a bit of extra rosehip oil to it to help weigh the powder down so you don’t end up inhaling it (which is bad for you).
Hi! I love your site! Do you think there are any benefits or negatives associated with adding and/or substituting zinc oxide to your powder/foundation recipes?
Honestly, I wouldn’t. I’ve included it in a few recipes, but in most cases anything zinc oxide can do, titanium dioxide does significantly better. That would be the only thing you might consider substituting it for as they’re both opaque and white, but they really don’t perform the same way. I’ve had readers try to eliminate TD in recipes in favour of ZO and they’ve all reported that it did not go well.
Obviously you can do whatever you want, but in my experience you won’t get the best cosmetics possible. Let me know if you do play with it, but I would really encourage you to make the original as well to compare 🙂
Thank you so much for your response! Your page is def. my GoTo as I learn DIY. I read carefully what you said about DIY sunscreen & am still on the fence about that, so will be ordering TD to experiment. Maybe I will just add color to store bought so that I don’t end up looking like a mime, but am assured uniformity.
The oxides won’t ship to Italy from Amazon & I can’t find where to buy them locally, so am using spices. Sadly, ending up with some grittiness – guess I just have to grind with the coffee grinder /mortar & pestle longer?
My cream foundations leave my face fairly shiny (and gritty – but still blend & look better than any I have ever purchased-including the v. v. pricey brands!)- my powders end up sticking to it & looking cake-y so, I’m better off being shiny.
I really need to be more careful about following your recipes exactly! 🙂
I really appreciate your site & the level of detail and care you have put into it.
Thank you!
I really would warn you about being “on the fence” about DIY sunscreen. How would you ever prove your sunscreen was working for both UVA and UVB? By the time you have suffered enough invisible damage to develop melanoma it would be too late :/
Why not just put shop bought sunscreen underneath your homemade makeup? That’s what I do. Also, have you checked all the suppliers on my giant list of places to shop around the world? There are several in Europe that aren’t Amazon. Unfortunately I really can’t offer you any advice on adhesion/colour/texture/etc because you are using completely different ingredients than I am.
Happy making!
I have spent the past few days absolutely consuming your site and need to come up for air and make something. You use such big girl ingredients though! I’ve been solid oils-butters-beeswax-EOs that’s it. So although my carrier oils collection is impressive, it doesn’t contain rosehip…..according to your oils substitution tables, it would seem that grapeseed, apricot kernel, MCT, and macadamia nut might be good subs for the rosehip? But I also have one not on your list, so I’m not sure where it stands: andiroba. Would any of these be suitable for this face powder, do you think? I’m so anxious to get started, but would like to set myself up for success. Thanks for any tips!
I’d use MCT for this face powder as it has the longest shelf life 🙂 Happy making!
Came back to update….I’d already made it by the time I saw your reply, using jojoba. Not sure what kind of clay I had on hand, but it’s rather grey, so between it and the cucumber peel extract, my powder is a bit of an unappealing grey colour. However, I love it! Been using it daily since late August and have no complaints–especially for the price! I have since acquired rosehip oil, but I’m going through this batch so slowly that it’ll likely be a full year until I need to make any more….too bad, since the fun is in the making….
I’m so glad you are loving it!
The slow use-up speed of most skin care products is why I DIY in such small batches 😛
Hi Marie. I don’t know if it’s your settings or mine, but today (March 28) I just received notification of your reply on Feb 3.
I think it’s the plug in itself, which seems to be a bit janky these days. Thanks for the heads up!
Would this be fine for dry sensitive skin? I have been playing with the ratios of arrowroot and kaolin since a couple of months. I don’t wear makeup, but i want to look “fresh” all day long at office. This powder always dries my skin and makes my skin flakey after few hours and my skin feels like it’s being torn a little, when i smile. I still haven’t tried this ratio out, though. And again, i don’t want to skip powder. I can’t try the mineral powder, since i’m allergic to zinc oxide and don’t trust titanium dioxide. Please help me!
Love
Ira ♥️
If you’re finding your skin is really dry from the powder application I would use more starch and less clay. This recipe should be suitable, but you might want to swap half the clay for more starch. I’d also recommend focussing on hydrating your skin more, perhaps with something like this 🙂
Hello again! This ratio worked for me. Thank you, Marie! You are such an inspiration!
Hooray! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
I’m just made my second batch of this…not because I used up the first, but because I got some different ingredients! I had initially used a very grey clay, which along with the cucumber powder, gave it a curious tinge. Today I used kaolin clay and added some “medium translucent powder” from TKB to make it a bit peachier. I also used rosehip rather than jojoba like last time. And, I put it in a proper sifter powder container, rather than using the empty spice jar from last time. Upgrades all around!
Wahoo! I love it when you make something and the “hmmmmmm” wheels in the brain start turning regarding how to make it better 😀 It’s one of my favourite ways to learn and create! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Although, funny story, I kind of prefer my old grey powder to the new one. It might be the type of container….the new one is in a proper shaker top container from TKB Trading, while the grey one is in an re-used spice jar, but the spice jar works better. The shaker top is too messy somehow. In other news, I’m still getting email notifications of your replies *2 months* after you make them (see my previous comment). I’m patient, so it doesn’t matter to me, but it is weird.
Ha, how funny! At least you learned something? I’m sorry about the plug-in… I’m afraid it’s out of my hands as it’s a 3rd party plug-in and I’m pretty overwhelmed with other things at this time of year :/
Hi Marie!
I’m guilty of asking too many questions on humblebee and me, and that’s because you put in so much of efforts into whatever you make and post here, instead of giving random measurements off the top of your head, that one can find all over the internet. Not that I have anything against it, but that stuff almost never works for me. You are a breath of fresh air amongst the overwhelming clutter of recipes on internet (no offense to anyone but the ratios are so sooo important and it’s a huge disappointment when you invest your weekend into making these things and end up with something that just doesn’t work.) Your ratios always work for me and you have saved a lot of my time and ingredients over past few months.
I’m hooked to your videos and website and even though I make hardly a few beginner’s DIY things like a lip balm and this powder, etc., I have watched all your videos and have read lots and lots of recipes from the website! There’s just something addictive about what you have created.
So, I’m here with 2 more questions for you.
1. Can this powder be pressed into a compact using some more oil? I have read that some people do it, but the powder looks like a stiff disc of dough. What do you think? Would it work?
2. I want to buy ‘make it up’ ebook but I came across a few reviews on amazon/ goodreads about the stuff written on the images being blur and hence, some people were unable to read it. I wanted to ask whether it has been fixed, so I can place an order on amazon.
Love ♥
Ira ☺
Hi Ira! Your questions are always welcome 🙂 I’m so thrilled you’ve had good success with the projects I share and are having fun making stuff with me!
1. I’ve written this post on pressing powders. Generally speaking, I wouldn’t recommend it for this one as you need to add a fatty ingredient (something like Magnesium Stearate) + more oil, and that’ll decrease the oil-absorbency of the end powder—which is pretty much its main job 🙂
2. The publisher has fixed that! It’s been fixed for a couple of years now 🙂 I hope you love my book 😀
Happy making!
Hi Marie,
I can only seem to find cucumber peel* extract online (*specifically) Is that what you refer to when you write cucumber extract? I found it on etsy and it has the same colour as the one you put in your batch.
Also, do you know how well this powder behaves with contamination/ bacteria? I know that starches are loved by bacteria, but I also heard that so long a mix is anhydrous it won’t be contaminated so I am a bit conflicted. I’m curious whether the contact between my makeup brush and myliquid foundation with a tap of this powder would lead to any bacteria overgrowth in the long run. Also, would the oil not make the powder rancid in any way? Any help would be appreciated 🙂
Hello Maddie!
WOW! This is an old recipe! Anhydrous just means no water based ingredients and this product has no liquids in it. And just because this is an anhydrous product doesn’t mean there isn’t some sort of chance of cross- contamination. My suggestion if you are worried is make a very small amount, and use that before making more. This way you would also solve the problem of the rancidity of the rosehip oil.
Happy making!
Barb