How to Make Natural Homemade Face-Wash with Castile Soap and Essential Oils
Now more than ever, the world is trying to live more simply. All of a sudden it’s been much harder to get hold of basic necessities, so it’s wonderful to see lots more people looking for ways to make things at home instead. And to keep things easy, it’s great to be able to make lots of things from the same basic ingredients.
Now that I can buy castile soap in bulk from our local zero waste shop, Phil jokes that I use it for everything. And that’s partly true, because it really can do 1,001 things! We’ve used it for cleaning products for a while now, and it’s all I use for bathtime with the kids, but I’ve been exploring more ways we can use it too. At the same time, I’ve always been a bit of a skincare junkie and it’s an area where I used to produce quite a lot of waste. Plastic tubes, glass bottles, that sort of thing. All used once and then tossed. And after a little bit of research, I realised castile soap makes the perfect face-wash.
Even if you can’t get castile soap in bulk, it’s easily available in large bottles via Amazon from some lovely all-natural brands like The Soapery. Or there’s always the wonderful Dr Bronners. If you can, try to buy one that doesn’t include palm oil. A one litre bottle will last you a couple of months, even if you’re using it for both cleaning products and toiletries.
A few things to bear in mind
1. This recipe makes a small batch. That’s partly because you won’t need very much. But it’s also partly because without the usual preservatives that go into a lot of skincare, you want to make sure you use it up before it goes off. Making a small batch also means you can tweak the recipe if needed, or add different waters and essential oils for variety.
2. If you don’t have any flower waters to hand, you can use cooled boiled water or distilled water instead. I like to get my flower waters and essential oils from Oils4Life, because they’re sustainably sourced and pure.
3. If you’re going to add essential oils, make sure you’re diluting them sufficiently, by adding no more than 8 drops in total. You can use 8 drops of one essential oil or a total of 8 drops of a few different oils. My favourites are lavender, frankincense and sandalwood.
Making a small batch means you can tweak the recipe if needed
The Recipe
You will need:
50ml liquid castile soap
1 tbsp carrier oil (such as sweet almond, olive, or jojoba)
2 tbsp flower water (such as neroli, rose, lavender, chamomile)
Optional - 6-8 total drops of skin-safe essential oils
Combine the ingredients in a pump dispenser and shake vigorously.
Before each use, shake the dispenser well, pump a small amount into your hand and apply to the face, being careful to avoid the eyes. Remove with reusable make-up pads and then rinse your face with water.
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