How to Make Cleansing Balms: Great Winter Treat
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Cleansing balms may not be as exciting as some of the high-tech cleansers that remove makeup, exfoliate, nourish, scrub, erase wrinkles and sing Christmas carols in between. Thick, rich, fragrant butters only do what they were designed to do: lift up the dirt on our skin and exfoliate it with an organic cotton muslin cloth – the perfect exfoliating tool.
Here’s what you can use in your cleansing balm:
Shea butter (organic)
Jojoba oil (organic)
Beeswax (organic)
Peach kernel oil (organic)
Calendula macerated oil (ideally, organic)
Chamomile essential oil (organic, good for so many winter skin ailments)
Can you make a cleansing balm at home? I am sure you can! I have already done it. I used 1 oz olive wax (but you can use beeswax if you are OK with bees), 1 oz coconut oil (it is hard in a jar but melts easily) and 1 oz jojoba oil as a base. Melt the wax and butters in a double boiler and then add the oils you happen to have at home.
Note: add the oils when the mixture has cooled down to at least 40 degrees Celsius (convert if necessary to F)
Here are some suggestions, essential oil-wise: Rose, petit grain, lavender, bergamot, and neroli (in a base of organic sweet almond or similar oil) make great antioxidant, antiaging and very nourishing additions.
Tea tree oil is excellent if you have dry skin and acne, and chamomile makes wonders for sensitive skin – but only if you aren’t allergic to chamomile. Otherwise, stick with calendula or skip essential oils completely.
If you don’t add any water to your cleansing balm – and I am sure you won’t, why would you? – it will have very decent shelf life, for up to three months. Just enough to get you through the winter.
The cleansing balm melts well, smells great and does the same job as Eve Lom’s petrochemical cleanser does, minus the petrochemicals – and you surely don’t need them in your organic cleansing balm.
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