Making your own shower gel is great fun and very rewarding. You can easily make your own wash products for your family using ingredient available from Naturallythinking.
Making your own shower gel is great fun and very rewarding. You can easily make your own wash products for your family using ingredient available from Naturallythinking.
What is in this recipe?
This is a great cream to use on feet or on your hands after a hard day’s gardening. It has deep moisturising abilities from the oils and the butters will help lock in the water to moisturise your skin for an long time.
Glucosides (Caprylyl Capryl, Coco & Decyl) are detergent ingredients derived from sugar. They are biodegradable and much better for the environment than other, less natural surfactants. They are used to wash your skin and hair, but they are kind and gentle to the skin and provide great foam.
Cocamidopropyl betaine is a mild surfactant used to help wash the skin. It also provides foam and some lather to the product for that great smooth feeling.
Pomegranate Oil is enjoying an increase in popularity for skin care. It is full of antioxidants and vitamins. It is great for the skin and is great feeling, light oil
Sweet Almond Oil is one of the best cleansing oils available, and is great for the skin. It leaves a soft, moisturised feeling on the skin.
Vegetable glycerine is a natural by product of soap making and is a humectant. It attracts water to the skin to add moisture and keep the skin supple for longer. (Want an alternative? Use honey to replace glycerine, but remember your product will no longer be vegan friendly)
Vitamin E is an antioxidant. When oils are exposed to air they start to oxidise and form peroxides. These are damaging to the skin and can contribute to ageing skin. Using Vitamin E is recommended in all products containing oil, and is now a legal requirement in some instances.
Recipe:
Preparation time
20 mins
Making time
20 mins
Ingredients
Water
Glycerine
Coco Glucoside
Caprylyl Capryl Glucoside
Decyl Glucoside
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Pomegranate Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Phenoxyethanol & Ethylhexylglycerin
Equipment you will need
You will need:
Scales
2 x Bowls
Spoon/spatula
Funnel (to decant to a bottle)
Bottle
Method
Mix the Glycerine and Xanthan Gum together in one bowl until there are no lumps left
Mix all glucosides and oil together in the second bowl
Add glycerine/Xanthan gum mixture to the second bowl and stir until no lumps are visible
Add water to the second bowl and stir
Note: If you are unable to stir all glycerine/xanthan gum mixture into the second bowl or you notice later on that some have remained this is not a problem. Leave the product covered over night and 12 hours later they will all naturally dissolve into the mixture.
Applying
You can use your hands to apply to your feet or take some into your hands and rub together. You can also use your hands to apply to your body, especially straight after a bath or shower.
Hi,
You haven’t provided any weights for this recipe and in the ingredients list there is no mention of xanthan gum.
Regards,
Sam
Hiya, weights will appear on the articles in the next couple of days.
Thanks,
Dan
Can’t wait to get the quantities to order the ingredients! Can we add any essential oils? Looking forward to try this one..
Many thanks 🙂
Hiya,
Yes the essential oil blends can be changed… just be careful not to put too much in, so not to irritate your skin.
Dan
Hello,
Thanks for all the recipes, great ideas, to make it even better it would very useful to know the shelf life for all the products. This is one piece of information which often stops me from making some of the recipes.
Thank you
Stephanie
Hiya, If you do not put any preservative in, then most products will only last a week. If you use preservatives at around 0.8%, for most products (this isn’t an exact answer), will last up to 3 years. It is hard to be precise, because in part in relies on how clean all the equipment used to create the product is… but is a good rule of thumb.
Dan
Hi,
Could you use wheat germ as your source of Vitamin E? Or does it have to be something like tocopherol?
Thank you,
Kate
To be honest, Wheatgerm isn’t quite good enough in a shower gel blend to do the job of stopping the essential oils oxidising.
Dan