Homemade Organic Cleansing Creams
March 7, 2008 by Jennifer
Everyone has to wash their face at some point. Here are two nice recipes that cut down on packaging and harmful extras like colors and preservatives.
Cleansing Milk:
You’ll need to choose one of the following – 2 or 3 tablespoons of fresh or dried organic elderflowers, chamomile, lime blossom, or sweet violets. (I’ve personally used fresh chamomile and sweet violets).
1/2 cup organic whole milk – I was told to use creamy milk – I was never quite sure what that meant but whole milk seems to work good. I use Straus Milk because it’s really creamy. I suppose you could try something thicker like cream. Stay away from whipped creams, you’re not making a sundae 
Make: Heat the ingredients together in a double boiler for about 30 minutes. Try to avoid the milk boiling and you cannot let it form a skin. Remove from heat and allow it to infuse for 3 hours. Strain.
Use: Apply with fingers (or cotton – but that’s sort of wasteful). Remove excess with a washcloth. You do need to keep this in the refrigerator and use it within about a week. I like this cream, but it’s best for dry or sensitive skin. Also, it smells a wee bit milky to me so I tend to add a drop of tea tree oil.
Orange-Flower Cleansing Cream: good for normal or dry skin. I got this recipe from The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs – an excellent book, but I adapted it a little after trying it out.
You’ll need:
- 2 Tablespoons organic soy oil
- 2 Tablespoon almond oil (I used apricot before too)
- 1 oz cocoa butter
- 1 Tablespoon beeswax
- 2-3 tablespoons orange flower water
- 1/2 tsp borax (I’ve also used grated natural soap, powdered soap, and liquid soap – the texture is different, but it works )
- 6-7 drops neroli essential oil
Make: Mix and warm the almond and soy oils in a small pot on low heat. Melt cocoa butter into the oils – stir well. Melt beeswax and then beat into the oil mix. It works better to add a bit at a time. Warm the orange water and dissolve whatever soap you’re using into it. Add this to the main mix – beat well and let it sit to thicken. Before it’s totally cool and thick, stir in essential oil.
Once cool, you can spoon it into small pots. I’m not sure how long this mix lasts, but there’s nothing questionably perishable in it, so as long as you use it within months, I’d say it’s fine. Use like any basic cleansing milk.
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very cool…I just use organic coconut oil for cleansing and moisturizing..simple and effective.
Great face recipes! I recently started using almond oil for baking and I love it. I can’t believe I never tried it earlier.
Marye, I never though to just use something plain – guess I’m too fancy
in a messy hippie kind of way.
Peggy, almond oil is amazing for baking – but is also one of the best body oils. Versatility – gotta love it.
Jennifer, yes I do love almond oil, but it didn’t take the vinegar smell away from my cleaning solution. I just tried it on a whim I guess.
I’ll try lemon juice next! I’m attempting to perfect a recipe if possible. Michael hates the vinegar smell.
I used the almond extract for chocolate cinnamon shortbread with almonds. I’m getting hungry. Guess I should go to bed so I can eat breakfast.
A standard for organic in regards to body care does not exist. The only organic standard there is right now in the US is for food. Therefore, any body care product that is showing a USDA certified organic logo, must meet the food standard for organic.
95% or more organic ingredients, excluding water, salt, minerals. The remaining 5% cannot be a synthethic or a genetically modified ingredient and it is still highly regulated what that 5% or less can be.
I recently just tried an Aloe & Jojoba Crème Therapy from the Made from Earth skin care line…. I love it. . .it feels just like pure Aloe Vera straight from the plant. And if you look at the ingredient list (which is displayed right on their website), if shows you that Aloe Vera is the number 1 ingredient. No preservatives or chemicals. Its preserved using Vitamin E.. . .its made my skin really smooth, and Ive even seen it have an effect on my cellulite… you can find it at http://www.madefromearth.com
Good luck everyone!