I’ve had my eye on some white willow bark for ages, due to its anti-acne properties thanks to its salicin content (grandfather to salicylic acid). You’ve probably seen store bought anti-acne products bragging that they “contain salicylic acid!”, and white willow bark is a great natural source of it. White willow bark is also anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal. It helps reduce redness and inflammation, and encourages healing, and I can’t believe I’ve never worked with it before.
I chose a toner for my first white willow bark project because they’re so wonderfully refreshing and so very easy to use. Just moisten a cotton pad, swab, and you’re done. Repeat if you’re feeling it.
The other ingredients in this toner include witch hazel (an astringent), and some essential oils to mask the scent of the witch hazel, which is oddly… sock-like. Hmm. Not my favourite. If you like it, though, you can feel free to leave out the essential oils.
The toner comes together about as quickly as a cup of tea. While the white willow bark steeps in some just-boiled water, you blend your essential oils with a bit of solubilizer and top off with the witch hazel. Then, strain the white willow bark mixture (it’s a good idea to line a fine sieve with a coffee filter to get out the majority of the particulates), and add that brew to the witch hazel mixture. And you’re done. Awesome!
White Willow Bark Anti-Acne Toner
1 tbsp white willow bark
70g | 2.5oz boiling water50g | 1.7oz witch hazel
5mL | 1 tsp vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)10 drops essential oil(s) of choice (anti-acne choices include tea tree, lavender, benzoin, and black pepper)
Equal volume of Polysorbate 20 (solubilizer) or Turkey Red OilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Measure the white willow bark out into a disposable paper tea filter or metal tea filter (I prefer the paper tea bag route here as it does a better job of containing all the bits of white willow bark), and place it in a heat resistant glass measuring cup. Pour the boiling water over the white willow bark and let the mixture steep for 10 minutes. (If you don’t have a tea filter of some kind you can step the herb directly in the water and use a sieve to separate the two after the steeping bit. It’s best to line a fine sieve with a coffee filter to get out the majority of the particulates as well as the large bits.)
While the bark is steeping, swish the essential oils and solubilizer together in the bottom of a 120mL (4 fl oz) glass bottle. Add the witch hazel, glycerin, and your preservative. Seal the bottle and shake to combine.
When the while willow bark is done steeping, strain out the solids and reserve the liquid, pressing the white willow bark to squeeze out as much liquid as possible (though be careful not to break the tea bag!).
Fill the rest of the 120mL (4 fl oz) bottle with while willow bark infused liquid.
To use, wet a cotton pad with the toner and swab it across your face. Repeat until the cotton pad comes away clean (you may need to use a few).
Yay, I was hoping you’d have an idea for how to use the willow bark soon 😀 Conveniently, I’m almost out of my last batch of toner. Merci buckets!
Booyah! Let me know how you like it 🙂
My last batch apparently took FOREVER to use up, apparently. Though to be fair, I’ve been slacking in regards to toner lately… All prepped to make this finally, but I see vegetable glycerine in the pictures even though it’s not in the recipe. Photo mistake or typo?
Good catch! ‘Twas an accidental omission, it has been remedied 🙂
What is the purpose of the glycerine? I purchased all ingredients except the glycerine (based on the originally published recipe) and was getting ready to make it, but now realize I’m missing the glycerine. Could I just skip it?
Glycerin is a humectant, and helps attract moisture to the skin. You can definitely leave it out, though—I always find I need to follow toner up with argan oil, glycerin or not 🙂
I am definitely trying this out soon! I just need to find a place to buy white willow bark. DO you know if it also comes in the form of an extract?
Thx for this great post!
New Directions Aromatics offers it, that’s where I got mine!
I ended up getting mine from Saffire Blue because it was cheaper ($3.48/75g vs. $9.53/100g) and because it came in larger bits, which I find are easier to use because they are easier to strain out of liquids. How do you find yours is? Do you have “grit” issues with it?
You can get it here, but I’m not sure it’s the best option for this toner. Because the extract isn’t very soluble, you end up having to strain it out anyways (as with the big herb chunks), but it’s a lot harder to do so because the particles are so tiny. I have a few ground/extract versions of herbs, and I usually end up wishing I had the larger version as they are easier to strain out of things. Just a thought!
Making a toner is on my ‘holiday to do list’! Can’t wait to try out this simple recipe.
Awesome! I love me some toner, you should check out some of my other favourite toner recipes as well 🙂
I love your recipes! You make them so simple and easy to make. I haven’t used a toner in my skincare routine ever, but can’t wait to try this one out.
Thanks, Sophia 🙂 I never really got into using toner before I started making it myself as it’s so overpriced in stores, but I just love it now, especially in the summer. It’s a fast, lazy way to wash my face and mix in a few beneficial add-ins as well.
This is awesome! I love white willow bark, did you know it also is the origin of aspirin? It has great pain relieving properties when taken orally. Such a wonderful herb, definitely am going to try this recipe out!
Kinda funny, but just the name sent me back to my fifth grade research project about pioneer medicine and the part about white willow bark as a pain reliever. Glad to know that some people still use the old natural medicine!
It’s funny how those old school projects stick with us, eh? I’ll probably never need half the tidbits I remember from elementary school, and yet there they are, kicking around in my brain. Ha!
I did! Super cool, eh? Nature is awesome 😀
I didn’t know a gram was a liquid measure. The conversion to fluid ounces gives very odd fractions. I’ll have to find a measuring device for grams, because the toner sounds great, and easy to do.
Grams aren’t a liquid measure, they’re actually a mass measure, but the awesome thing about mass is that everything has it, lol 😛 Using mass as a way to measure out ingredients means you just need a scale—no spoons, no cups, and almost no dishes! It’s brilliant 😀 I would highly recommend getting a scale, you’ll spend more time DIYing and less time doing dishes. Plus, for pretty much everything mass is more accurate than volume as a way of measuring because you don’t have air bubbles faking you out 🙂 You’ll love it, I promise.
Hi Marie,
You must be phsycic as I have just downloaded a recipe for herbal soap for blemished skins ( Lavender and Rosemary) for my many grand-children who are reaching the “spotty muldoon” stage . I will also get some Whie Willow bark (Salix alba) at our local herb store to make some anti-acne toner. I will use some Tea Tree oil as the EO as I have used it for years and it works well (especially for athlete’s foot) but I am not athletic these days. One of my favourite books on make your own cosmetics is a 1997 Neal’s Yard Remedies . I know you would love this book.
best regards
George
Ha! You sound like a super awesome, super thoughtful grandpa—you’ve got some lucky grandkids. My two biggest anti-acne recommendations are clay face masks and African black soap (which I imagine you’ll be able to find pretty easily!). Clay face masks really vacuum out your pores, and through increasing blood flow to the area, they also help heal existing blemishes faster. Even though I’m more or less out of the “spotty muldoon” stage, I still do one every single week. They’re amazing, spots or not. My mum loves them as well! As for the black soap, it’s just incredible. I don’t know exactly what it’s magical powers are from, but magical they are. Plus, it’s so cheap, there’s no reason not to try it, and it’ll probably be an easier sell on the guys.
I will add Neal’s Yard Remedies to my reading list! It is so very long right now, haha.
I made this for my brother. So glad you have a recipe for Willow Bark! I added a few vitamin C tablets and I didn’t have a solubilizer, and shaking it seems to work pretty well in a pinch. Thanks!!
Nice! I’d love to hear how it works for him in the long term 🙂
Hi! I love you blog and have been reading it a lot since I discovered it. I also experiment with my own beauty/soap recipes etc. – though not as extensively as you do. So thanks for all the recipes and ideas!
But for my question…I have found a few products that I like from other companies (such as Burt’s Bees) and am trying to figure out how to reproduce them for myself – since they are soo expensive. One in particular is an herbal facial blemish roll-on that is a mixture of essential oils/extracts and alcohol. But…how have you figured what percentages of each to use? Because I’m quite certain they are not all equal parts of each.
I noticed in another post you had made your own mixture of a headache ease roll-on based on another company’s product. I love the herbal blemish roll-on from Burt’s Bees (plus it works like magic for me) but am a little intimidated to try to make it myself.
If you could let me know how you figured out the percentages of essential oils that would be awesome!
And thanks again for all your inspirations.
Hi Eleni! Thanks for reading 😀 It’s much appreciated!
I’m actually currently working on an article on developing your own DIY recipes & dupes, so I’ll give you the cliff notes. For dupes, the first thing I do is look at the ingredients list. Since the ingredients are listed in descending order of quantity, that gives you an idea of relative amounts. For instance, if the ingredients read “water, grapeseed oil, emulsifying wax, essential oil”, you can be certain there is more water than grapeseed oil, more grapeseed oil than e-wax, and so on and so forth.
From there, I’ll research the ingredients and find out why they’re in the concoction. If it’s an anti-acne product, I’ll prioritize the ingredients with anti-acne properties. I’ll also take note if any of them are irritating, and add those to the “less” category.
After that I’ll draft up a basic recipe and go from there. If the first go works, awesome! If not, I’ll tweak the amounts based on my experiences with them (always get to know your ingredients on their own) until it works.
Is this the roller you’re talking about? I’m interested in adding this magical roller to my to-dupe list 🙂
Actually I’ve never seen that one before but it looks interesting as well. This is the one I’ve used.
http://www.burtsbees.ca/natural-products/face-treatments/herbal-blemish-stick.html
The ingredient list is simple enough – so I think I am going to broaden my creativity and experiment like you suggested. Because that tiny little bottle disappeared super fast and I’ve never had anything work that well for my face.
Thanks! Look forward to reading your post on that.
Awesome, that looks like a super fun project 🙂 Mostly essential oils from what I can see, dissolved in some alcohol for the drying effect. We’ll have to compare notes when we’ve both got a version—I’ve just added all the missing ingredients to my shopping cart!
I was wondering if the solubilizer is absolutely necessary? If so do you happen to know any alternatives to the product you have linked? thank you
You can learn more about solubilizer & emulsions here, but the short answer is no, you don’t need it if you are ok with the mixture separating (not ideal here as you will end up with very poor distribution of the EOs with highly concentrated & possibly irritating splotches) and no, I don’t have any alternatives yet, but I’m always looking.
I was wondering if you use any particular kind of lotions or moisturizers on your face that are anti-acne and or calming to the skin? Also what do u use to wash your face? Im 29, have sensitive skin and am very prone to acne…..I’d like to start making my own skin care products (most store bought products don’t work so hot for me or I can’t afford them long term and everything flairs up again after I stop using them) and am just curious as to what you would recommend trying! Btw I LOVE your blog! Just bought my first batch of ingrediance from new direction to start playing with some of your recipes!
Hi Torie! My favourite facial moisturizer is always argan oil. My friends and mum love it, too. It’s fantastic and very gentle (I’d leave out the EOs if you have sensitive skin). I tend to wash my face with black soap, a gentle clay scrub, and a face mask. I generally use the black soap maybe 2–3x a week, the clay scrub 2–3x a week (though really only the winter as I use it to buff off dry skin that’s really only a problem in the winter), and a face mask every 5–7 days. Black soap is amazing for anti-acne, and really cleared up my back. The clay scrub is nice and gentle, and delivers a bit of mid-week exfoliation. The clay masks are incredible. They vacuum out pores, help clear up previous blemishes, exfoliate, and boost circulation. They are incredible. If you are prone to breakouts I have heard that they can make things worse before they make things better, so be warned, I guess? I never had that experience but I am not that acne prone.
So, yeah. If you want to start building up a DIY anti-acne ingredient cabinet, I’d start with black soap, argan oil, and French green clay 🙂
Thanks for reading & DIYing with me! I really appreciate the support 🙂 If you have any other questions, feel free to get in touch!
Hi!
I came across your site while searching for acne remedies!! I’m 32 and still get crazy break out and am pretty much fed up. Store bought stuff has never worked well so I would love to try this recipe even though I’ve never made a DIY product.
What would be good to use on your face before and after this toner? Would you recommend this daily??
thanks!!
Hi Veronika! I’m glad you found your way over to my wee corner of the internet 🙂 I love using toner maybe twice a day, morning and night. I have quite dry skin & live in a very dry climate, so I’ll follow it up with some argan oil. I also can’t recommend clay face masks enough—they are amazing. They really help clean out your pores, exfoliate, and speed the healing of pre-existing blemishes. They are brilliant, so I’d definitely add those to your list as well 🙂 Good luck & keep me posted!
Hey Veronika – hope you don’t mind my chiming in. I’m 30 and used to get crazy break outs as well. My skin has cleared substantially since discovering this site and it’s lovely recipes. Marie is the one who introduced me to black soap, clay masks, and argan oil. I use the pore shrinking mask (recipe from here of course!) once a week, black soap once or twice a week, and toner followed by argan oil twice a day. Other than ‘that time of the month’ my skin is so, so much better. Still not a 100% but who’s is?
Just a tip -do not buy the black soap from Walgreens – it is not what you are looking for. I found some at my local hippy store but if you don’t have one than you can order it from Saffire Blue. The DIY world is a little scary but once you’ve got your feet wet you want to make all of the things!
Thank you so much for chiming in, Victoria 🙂 It is always wonderful to hear from readers about their experiences with my recipes—I’d hate to be the only person providing any sort of evidence of their efficacy. I am so, so thrilled to hear that what’s been working for me has been working for you as well! And a big thanks for the tip about Walgreens—I’d have had no idea since we don’t have them here.
Hello Marie – and Happy New Year!
I stumbled onto your site looking for a Tiger Balm substitute made without petroleum. Found it, thanks.
Now I’m scrolling through your site and getting many ideas (homemade Egyptian Magic?! Yay.) This toner recipe you’ve shared is one that I’ve been using for quite a few years. Although I use apple cider vinegar instead of witch hazel because witch hazel tends to irritate my skin. If witch hazel smells like socks, then apple cider vinegar is the foot within. Phew.
I also like you’re idea for reusable, washable cotton pads. I crochet little puffs out of unbleached cotton. Something like this: http://whatyousowblog.tumblr.com/post/47616543222/crochet-cotton-pads#.UWVfQZOkol8
Great blog Marie! Thanks for sharing your great ideas. All the best in the coming year. I’ll be back for more visits.
Hi Monique! I’m so glad you found my little corner of the internet, and that you found just what you were looking for 🙂 How funny that you’ve “invented” this toner as well—I guess great minds think alike 😉
Those crocheted puffs are so pretty I wouldn’t want to get them all dirty, lol! I should really learn to crochet… I’ll add it to the ever-growing list, haha.
Thanks for reading and see you around 🙂
Hi Marie,
I made this for my brother and I have to say it is awesome. I have the powdered white willow bark, and I have yet to invest in solubilizer (so I just instructed him to shake it a lot. 🙂 He has used all different types of products for his face -including some harsh prescriptions- and nothing has worked as well as this. He actually left a cotton bad on his face that was soaked in the toner and the next day a whole circular set of blemishes were almost gone! I am making him a second batch today. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
This is so exciting, Lauren Ann—thanks so much for reporting back with your results! It’s always nice to know my recipes work on people other than myself 🙂 Thanks for DIYing with me (and maybe see if you can convince your brother to try black soap, I LOVE it for acne).
Have you ever included apple cider vinegar in a toner? A few different sources recommend it, but I haven’t tried it yet. What about hydrosols? I see various ones recommended as toners, but it seems like that be kinda expensive compared to witch hazel… thoughts? And as a side note, ever had a tea based toner stain your sink? Lol… yeah… I had to rework that recipe a bit 😉
I haven’t, Abby—I guess I just don’t go through toner fast enough to have got there yet 😛 Hydrosols are definitely super pricey—I’d recommend making your own where you can. Lavender is inexpensive and easy to get, and if you have a friend with a rose bush in the summer, you can likely make off with a few blossoms and do up your own. Just keep in mind that the homemade floral waters tend to go off faster. You can also fake it fairly effectively with a few drops of essential oil from the plant in question 😉 And no, lol, never had a toner stain anything… though I’ve only ever used green tea for toners, never black 😛
Hi,
I have recently been using diluted apple cidar vinegar (1:3) as a toner currently and it has helped me so much with acne breakouts. Plus my skin seems less blotchy and even my pores seem a bit smaller.
I would love to try white willow bark but dont want to stop using the apple cidar vinegar as it has been working so well.
Do you think I could add apple cidar vinegar to this receipe? If so in what amount?
I love all your recipes, thank you!
Hmm… you might try replacing 10mL of the witch hazel with ACV and see how that works 🙂
I’ve been eyeing the white willow bark extract at NDA for awhile now, but I just never could bring myself to get it. Anyway, earlier today i was browsing around, looking at all my local health food store’s bulk goodies and I saw it and got a little to experiment with.
Well then i got to thinking how i could use it, and was thinking it would pair well with witch hazel for a toner. But how to turn the loose bark into something usable?…. At first my mind went to making a tincture but I wasn’t to sure of the strength I would end up with, so I googled “witch hazel and white willow bark toner DIY” for ideas and pop I find this wonderful recipe. Its exactly what I had in mind!! Great minds think alike? 😛
Finding this recipe then led to me reading more on your fabulous blog. You just have so many great ideas! And some of your recipes I kinda have made myself just with experimenting, give or take a few ingredients of course. Definitely gonna try this recipe, and I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog. 🙂
Great minds definitely do think alike, Molly 😉 It’s hard not to have some of the same ideas with so many fantastic ingredients and so much brilliance, eh? 😛 I’m so glad you stumbled over to my wee corner of the internet, thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I look forward to hearing about your concoctions in the future!
Have I told you lately that I adore you? I just made this tonight and I’m super excited – my previous toner came from LUSH and was hella expensive. This was much cheaper and so easy to make! My face has cleared up tremendously since you’ve introduced me to black soap, clay masks, and argan oil.
I am seriously extremely grateful to you. I’ve spent a bit over half my life (and I’m only 30!) battling acne and had basically resigned myself to the fact I just have bad acne prone skin. Switching to LUSH helped but it was way too expensive for way too little a change. In less than 6 months of discovering your site my skin is better than it’s been in well over a decade. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this blog and share your recipes, it is deeply appreciated.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Victoria, and even more for trying out my recipes! I am always thrilled to hear that solutions that have worked for me are working for other people 🙂 And I’m especially thrilled to have helped your acne—I know how infuriating it can be, and so many of the solutions out there are so expensive and/or somewhat terrifying (like accutane). Please keep me posted on what you’re trying and how it’s working!
I am itching to try this toner for my teenage son. Do you think I can use Rose water or orange flower water instead of just ordinary water? Will boiling it kill the benefits of it? I use Rose water with a little witch hazel on myself as a toner and love it, it leaves my skin so soft. Just not sure if rose water would benefit acne prone teenage skin. BTW: I saved up a dozen egg shells this weekend so I can make your “silver powder” in the hopes it will help his blackhead situation. I spent a small fortune on Paula’s Choice BHA and AHA products that are supposed to help and they did nothing, zero, zip, zilch, nada. Hoping these two in combination will help.
You definitely can use rose water instead. I would probably make a more concentrated white willow bark solution with plain water and then blend it with those rose water afterwards so you don’t have to boil the rose water… though you may want to check with your son and see if he’ll appreciate the scent of roses, haha. There’s no point if he won’t use the toner for fear of smelling like a bouquet 😛
In addition to this toner and the silver powder I’d also recommend black soap—it has done wonderful things for me. I’ve got my fingers crossed for you and your son—I hope what has worked for me will work for you as well!
Hi Marie,
Wanted to update you on my progress on the toner. I made it for my son and he has been using it along with the black soap (thanks for the tip) for a couple of months and his acne is so much improved. He still has the occasional breakout but he is a teenager after all. I added half the witch hazel and the remainder added rose water plus 10g of ACV to help balance the pH of the skin. I have been using the black soap myself and it has noticeably tightened my pores. Even though it is rather drying on my mature skin I find moisturizing with argan oil and oil cleansing twice a week is enough to rectify this. Thanks for your great recipe and inspirations. You are a great resource for DIYers.
Hi Ana! I’m so, so thrilled that you’ve found something that helps your son’s acne! What great news 🙂
Marie, I’m wondering how how it stays fresh without preservative and if you ever had problems before? Do you refrigerate it? Does your WHazel contain alcohol? (it may work as partial preservative, i guess).
Hi Veronika! Shelf life will depend on a lot of factors, including storage. It will last longer if you store it in the fridge, though I don’t (my room is pretty cold most of the time though, generally ~15°C). I’d recommend making this in batches that will last about a month, and watching closely for any signs of spoilage (mould inside the cap will probably be your first sign for something so thin). At any rate, it’s cheap enough to chuck & re-make as needed 🙂 And no, my witch hazel has no alcohol in it.
hi Marie,
I want to ask what do you mean by “equal amount of solubilizer”? is it also 10 drops?
Please enlighten me. I am doing your recipe tomorrow night 🙂
More powers to the goddess of natural beauty.
Thanks,
Chuckladdy of Malaysia
You want to use the same amount of solubilizer as oils in the recipe, so yes, 10 drops (if that’s how much EO you use).
ahaha!! too bad I didn’t know this earlier because I’ve just started to experiment with solubilizer (which is awesome) but made the mistake of adding too much my first time trying it. I had based that information on another website which said half and half water and solubilizer. Eeeek! it almost oily/slimy like in too high concentration. lesson learned! thankfully its easy to dilute 🙂
Yikes! Glad you were able to fix it 🙂 I’m betting you’ve got a lifetime supply of toner now, though 😉
Hello!
Does this toner require a preservative? What’s the shelf life on it?
Hi Rachel! I chat about preservatives in my FAQ 🙂 This toner did last for about 2 months without a preservative for me, though.
I was wondering this too since it seems like tea… (I made an herbal shampoo of castile soap + herbal tea… it molded. Not cool. Refrigerated shampoo is also not cool. Important life lessons, I guess?)
Is it two months at room temp, or two months in a fridge?
Two months at room temperature—I never remember to use things I keep in the fridge!
Hi Marie,
I’m really interested in making a willow bark toner, but was hoping to purchase a willow bark extract in place of boiling the bark … I’m a busy mom of twin toddlers and need to cut corners where ever I can 🙂
If I simply mixed the extract with my rose petal witch hazel, would that work? Am I correct to think that I don’t need a solubilizer if I’m not using an EO?
The extract I want to purchase is standardized to 10% Salicylic Acid. When formulating, the company recommends usage between 2.5% – 5.0% Salicylic Acid and they also recommend the use of a pH meter to ensure the finished product pH is no lower than 3.5 – 4.
I’ve just begun DIY-ing, so the above sounds a little intimidating to me! How worried should I be about following their recommendations??
Thank you for any help you can give me!!
Hi Lina! In my experience, plant “extracts” are still powders that need to be steeped and then removed from the final product if you don’t want it to have a bunch of powder drifting about in it. If that’s the case with the one you’re looking at, that will likely make your life more difficult as I find the powders are really quite time consuming to strain out.
If it is a liquid extract, though, you could just add it to your witch hazel. I assume it would be water soluble in this case. And yes, no EOs means no solubilizer is required.
My biggest concern with the concentration would be producing something so acidic you find it irritating to the skin (hence their pH warning). Start small, and see how your skin feels. If it’s irritated, dilute it down. If it’s not, and you aren’t noticing results, try adding a bit more.
Thanks so much for the reply, Marie, and the advice on the powders … I see I want to avoid them! I’m going to purchase a liquid extract and start small like you said. We’ll see what happens … 🙂 Thanks again!
🙂 Have fun!
Marie,
I’ve just ventured into the world of toner last week and made a pretty chamomile-infused aloe juice + rosewater + witch hazel one that I love. I usually spray that one on because I’m rushing. Could I do the same with this one?
Hi Jade! I can’t imagine why not 🙂
Marie, I am excited to make and try this! I was wondering about the importance of the glass bottle vs a plastic bottle. I am trying to figure out proper storage of my creations. Thanks!
Hi Heidi! In this one I chose glass as this toner is acidic and I didn’t want it to eat away at the plastic 🙂 I usually save plastic for projects that are mostly or entirely oils, or that have a fairly neutral pH.
As far as making your own hydrosols I want to say that they’re very difficult to make yourself! They’re the bi product of steam distilling EOs so it’s not just rose petals steeped in water – that’s a tea or infusion. A Hydrosol is the collected steam droplets – there are instructions for how to make your own online involving two pots, ice cubes, and a bowl to collect the droplets of steam, but I’d rather just buy it. If you buy by the gallon and stick to one or two different ones, it’s not too pricey and your non EO formulas can still smell divine. I LOVE rosewater and use it for all kinds of things. On my list to try is neroli water, mmmm 🙂
Marie, I have a question. I notice your hair rinses use the guar gum + turkey red oil as a solubilizer. Is there any reason I couldn’t use the same method for a toner? I was wondering if there was a specific reason you use traditional solubilizer only for toners, or maybe at this point you hadn’t tried the gg + tro yet?
You can definitely use the TRO/GG thing here—I just hadn’t devised it yet when I wrote this recipe 🙂 Just go easy on the GG so your final product is still liquidy, and not too thick!
Well I’ll try it and hopefully it will work! I’ve read turkey red oil can be irritating to skin but I’m pretty sure you used it In serum recipe right? And it’s a small amount just to emulsify the EOs or a little bit of carrier oils and you use it in your bath bombs so hopefully it will be okay. I know you’re busy so I’ll keep checking back and hopefully you’ll have time to answer soon! Thanks for all you do hope to hear back soon!
I’ve never found TRO to be irritating in concentrations this low 🙂 You’re right, though, it definitely is if applied neat!
Thank you so much for your many wonderful recipes! I try as many of them as I have time for! I have made the indigo acne buster roll on for my daughter and it works great, she loves it! I did have left over white willow bark extract from making this recipe though…so last night I made this toner and instead of putting the bark in steeping water I used the left over…besides adding alcohol to the toner, would there be any other issues by doing this?
Thanks so much
Hi Lori! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I can’t forsee any issues unless your skin is very sensitive to the stinging or drying effects of alcohol. I also have another recipe that uses that tincture you can use it for 🙂
I just came across this recipe, but I have white willow bark powdered extract (a very fine powder indeed) not the herbs per se. Any ideas as to how I might adjust the recipe so I can use the powder vs a decoction?
Hi Heather! Is the powder water soluble? If so, I’d use ~1/2 tsp of it and go from there. If it’s not soluble, I’d go with ~1 tsp and strain out the bits before continuing on 🙂 I find white willow bark is quite fluffy, so you’ll need a lot less than you would if you were using the dried up plant matter like I did.
Thanks Marie; I’ll give that whirl and see how it works out. I admit I’ve not bothered doing anything with it until I was certain it wouldn’t (1) be a waste of time, or (2) potentially damage my skin. I’ll let you know how it goes when I mix up a batch.
I look forward to hearing how it goes 🙂
Urk. So, as it happens I never did try and make the toner with the WWB powdered extract because (a) I found some of the herbs when I was at my local health food store, and (b) I can be kinda lazy. Honestly, probably more (b) than (a). However, I LOVE the toner and I made a double batch right away. And I just had to make a second batch last weekend. However, I was thinking that since I have the powdered extract, perhaps I could incorporate that into a clay mask for those icky summer months when I just need a deep-pore, suck-all-the-oil-and-sweat-and-grime-out kind of mask. Of course, that will have to wait a few more months…but I’m thinking ahead. Anyway…just wanted to (finally) reply. And thank you so much for doing all the heavy lifting on the coming up with such excellent ideas and then having the generosity to share them with the rest of us; I truly appreciate all the work you do.
No worries! I’m glad you love the toner, and your mask idea is a great one 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Can turkey red oil be used instead of the polysorbate 20?
Yup!
Dear Marie,
Thank you for this excellent recipe. You make formulating such fun. In fact, you’ve inspired me to dust down my old chemistry books and get serious about making natural products – just like Susan Barclay-Nicholls!
Thanks, Dorothy! Have fun 🙂
How much of the solubilizer should be used?
Sorry but I am a newbie equal volume to the rest of the ingredients means water + glycerin +witch hazel?
Hey Nina! The volume of solubilizer should always be equal to the volume of the things it’s “solubilizing”—that is, the oils and oil soluble ingredients. So you want a volume equal to that of the essential oils 🙂
Do you think I can by pass using water and just steep the willow directly into the witch hazel?
You probably could, though I don’t relish the idea of the smell of boiling witch hazel filling my kitchen 😛 And remember—witch hazel is still 99.9% water, so just because you are leaving out the one ingredient that is explicitly called “water” doesn’t mean you don’t need a preservative 🙂
Hi, Marie: what preservative did you use and would you use the same preservative for these toners — for OILY skin: 12 oz. organic aloe vera juice and 2 oz. distilled water. For DRY skin: 1/2 cup aloe vera juice, 1/2 cup rosewater and 2 tsp vegetable glycerin. I have combo skin and I think your recipe will help me more. Your knowledge about preservatives has kept me and many people safe. Keep up the great work. And, Happy New Year!
I’d still say Liquid Germall Plus, BUT I’d also be sure to make those toners in tiny amounts; they contain lots of bug food (aloe vera, rose bits, etc.) that are hard to preserve. Happy making!
Can I make this without all the preservatives and glycerine ?I was thinking if I can use willow bark extract (homemade) instead.Also,I am ok with making this every few day and keep in the fridge.I am not comfortable using the preservatives. Thank you. Have you heard about leucidal complete?Can we use it instead ,and how much?
You can leave out the glycerin, but lordy, DO NOT leave out the preservative! Are you more comfortable with a potential staph infection than preservatives? It looks like leucidal complete is a complete preservative, though my usual resource for learning more has nothing on it. Follow the recommended usage rate from the manufacturer, and make sure you are adjusting the pH to the required range.
Think of DIY products like raw fish; that’s how quickly they spoil. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it hasn’t spoiled; if harmful bacteria was always visible or odorous, nobody would ever get food poisoning!
If you don’t want to use preservatives, you can’t work with water unless it is for immediate use.
I have been making this toner since after I posted this comment. I make my infusion using distilled water and add a bit of calendula and chamomile too.As I am still not comfortable using preservatives (I see them as ultra pasteurized and homogenized milk-and we use raw milk :))) I add a few drops of colloidal siver,which btw is good for the skin too.
I make this toner in tiny amounts to only lasts about 3 days.I rather do this more often than using chemicals on my face.It works!!!
Thnx for the recipe.
Please remember that literally everything is chemicals. You are made of chemicals. Water is a chemical. This toner is completely chock-full of chemicals. “Chemical” is not a dirty word! It just means “made of elements”, which is literally everything on our planet (except for plasma, according to Susan). I really hope you don’t give yourself an infection making this unpreserved :/
I was so happy to come across your recipe… even 4 years after you published it 🙂 I had one thought/question… If I were able to either use a liquid extract, or the powdered extract dissolved into the witch hazel (if it would!) – there potentially wouldn’t be any need for water in the solution, and therefore not need a preservative? Do you think that could work?
Hey Erin! I see where you’re going with this, but take a moment to think about what makes witch hazel liquid 😉 (It’s water, haha). Witch hazel, hydrosols, milk, aloe vera juice, etc. are all almost entirely water, but with added botanicals for bacteria to eat, so using them instead of distilled water means you need a preservative even more than you did before!
Well, that makes sense! So what keeps my witch-hazel from going bad on its own?
Typically it’s alcohol, but there may be a different preservative in there depending on the brand 🙂
Hi Marie, I have no problems with using preservatives, but I have seen a lot of DIY blogs call for distilled water instead of a preservative. How does this work, and is it a viable substitute for the preservative? I’m assuming not based on your adamancy about using the preservative, so if it is in fact not a good substitute, why is it so frequently suggested? Thank you 🙂
Ohhhhh lordy, wowza. No, heavens no, distilled water is not an alternative to a preservative… I would stop reading those blogs if I were you! Distilled water is just water without minerals in it. It’s still water, and bacteria will still happily grow in its presence. I honestly can’t imagine why people would think it was a good substitute for a preservative… my best guess is that they are using the same train of thought as “if I use aloe vera juice instead of water I don’t need a preservative because aloe vera juice isn’t called water”, even though aloe vera juice is, of course, 99+% water. But, yeah, you are correct, it’s definitely not a substitute, and… yikes. I hope none of those bloggers get hurt! Thanks for asking 🙂
HI
I was wondering if willow bark could be soluble in witch hazel or apple cider vinegar instead of steeping in water.
Thank y
You can, BUT I would not recommend replacing all the water in the recipe with an infused version of either of those ingredients. The witch hazel would likely be ok, but the smell would be very strong. I’d be quite concerned the pH would be too low with that much ACV.
Wat are your thoughts on using liquid extracts for toners instead of brewing a tea. Also are the liquid extracts possible with any other solvent apart from alcohol or glycerine
Go for it! As for the solvent, that will depend on what you can purchase. Propylene glycol is quite common.
Hi
I have white willow bark extract(liquid form)with me. Can u please tell me how much to use to make rhis toner
I’ve written an FAQ on this 🙂
Hi Marie! Could I use polysorbate 80 instead of polysorbate 20?
Yup, that should work 🙂
Hi,
Can you tell me if the Willow Bark Extract from the lotion crafter website is the same as the willow bark that you use in this recipe?
I didn’t purchase mine from them, but their product should work equally as well 🙂
Hey Marie! I have a general question that’s kind of related to this formula. I see that you devised this toner formula using white willow bark, way back in 2013. I also see that recently, you’ve posted a couple of formulas that contain salicylic acid. So my question is, after so many years of formulating experience, do you still recommend the use of botanical extracts (in the form of “raw” bark or powders) in certain formulas, or do you now favour the “chemically pure” ingredients such as salicylic acid? I’m just curious. My daughter has suffered from cystic acne for years (she’s 32 now) and I would love to be able to make something to help her. She currently uses The Ordinary anti-acne products, including the 2% salicylic acid serum that you mention in one of your latest posts. I’m wondering if the “raw” Salix alba may be better? What are your thoughts? Thank you so much!
Hi Willow! Personally, I’ve had much better results with pure/refined actives, though some of that is likely because I’ve also improved as a formulator 🙂 Essential oils and carrier oils purported to help with acne did very little to nothing for me—it wasn’t until I started focussing on hydration, mildly acidic skincare, and refined actives at effective but non-irritating concentrations (niacinamide + L-ascorbic acid were HUGE for my skin) that my acne improved 🙂