DIY: Orange Dreamsicles Cleansing Balm

Hello my name is Barb, and I have a problem. A serious one. I can’t seem to leave well enough alone. And my skin is cheating on me with oranges.

I was on the phone with a friend of mine talking about the CCCB. My original recipe contained oodles of kaolin clay, coconut oil, wheat germ oil, candelilla wax and some other goodies. To use it, you take a scoop of this goodness out of the tub, rub it between your hands and add some water and watch this fingernail size ball of baby poo coloured goodness lather up in an amazing thick and foamy goo and then to feel that silken goodness on your face?

Bliss. Heaven. Nirvana. I never thought that that sensation of the CCCB could be beat.

Then I had a phone call with Belinda. We talked about our various CCCB recipes (she uses babassu oil whilst I use coconut oil), and she began telling me how she made her latest batch with stearic acid (which is a thickening or a hardening ingredient commonly used in soaps and scrubs). Which got me thinking that if I used stearic acid instead of the candelilla wax, would it be squeeze tube-able? Now wouldn’t that be a treat? It was about ten seconds after that, the only thought in my head was, must. Have. Squeeze. Tube. Cleansing. Balm. Must. Have.

just some of the incarnations of the squeezable CCCB 

So I danced off to the kitchen to make it. Fail. So I made it again, this time cutting the thickening ingredients in half. Fail again. Cut them by 25%. Fail. I had a long line up of new squeeze tubes full of product but nothing coming out! I squeezed and squeezed and squeezed. I grunted and groaned like a constipated sailor.

Then I had the brain fart. Get rid of as much as I can and only leave in the liquids.

Holy cannoli it worked! I was left with a bunch of rice bran oil, which is a wicked cheap oil here in China. My getting up there in age skin has been loving rice bran oil of late. It seems as if the fatty acids that make up rice bran oil are helping my skin rock the heck out of aging. So yeah, aged looking skin? I might just have lost your number. Some castor oil as it is high in ricinoleic acid. Ricinoleic acid is something I do look for in many of my oils as it is a anti-inflammatory and that means it helps to curb the redness in my face. I added in some Emulsifying Wax-NF as it is on the cheap and inexpensive side, doubles as a thickening agent a little and helps to bind with the nasties on your skin and carries them away down your drain pipe. I then had the notion to add in some Polysorbate 80 for the exact same reason.

When I used Emulsifying Wax at the original 15% as I had intended and the full 42% of Kaolin Clay that makes me coo with glee as I wash my face every day, the product refused to come out of the squeeze tube for being too thick. So I had to reduce all the thickening agents without giving up too much clay. Because the clay is where it is at. And the clay imparts that like silk sensation on the skin which I refused to give up on. So I had to reduce the thickness which meant, bye bye some ewax and hello poly! But what I sadly discovered was, the clay also thickens up this product a fair bit. So had to reduce the amount of clay slightly to get a squeeze worthy “balm”

don’t forget to stir before adding more! 

So I had most of the recipe down just right. I was just missing the signature baby poo colour. What kind of a cleansing balm made in MsBarb’s house would it be if it didn’t contain some sea buckthorn fruit oil? So in it went! Sea buckthorn oil is one of those truly amazing and untapped oils that can help your skin in many ways. It helps to “waken” the skin by providing you with a brighter complexion. It joins rice bran oil in the rock the heck out of aging party I’ve got going on. And to top it all off? Sea buckthorn oil claims to combat acne. I honestly see my bottle of sea buckthorn fruit oil dressed up like a ninja in my head fighting acne. To give the baby poo colour a little more depth of colour, I always add in some orange wax to my cleansing stuff. I love the way it smells, and it is high in Vitamin C. It helps to brighten your skin, tone your mug shot and gives your product a delightful colour….

in the pot swirl of the orange wax and sea buckthorn fruit oil

Now. I was mixing all this fun stuff together and I got to looking in my fridge at all the glorious stuff I’ve hoarded over the past year because I didn’t want to use too much because then I’d be out of it and replacing ingredients is not that easy here in China. Remind me to tell you the hilarious escapade of getting said orange wax if we ever meet. It was then I saw the vanilla extract. Oh yeah. I added in some vanilla. Vanilla is great for the skin for many reasons, but who cares about that. I wanted the combined orange and vanilla scent to attack my nose and transport me to the tropics where I can dream about my shower actually being under a waterfall with vanilla pods all around me and oranges being constantly peeled around me by a very tall…. Irishman. Oh yeah. Orange creamsicles.

The end result? A squeeze tube worthy, very simple recipe that anyone can make. If you can make Kraft Dinner or spaghetti, you can make this. It is that easy!

 

1. Prepare your work space; wipe down all your tools and beakers with 70% ISP rubbing alcohol. Set up your double boiler, and set it on a barely there simmer.
2. Weigh out your rice bran oil, castor oil and ewax into a 250mL beaker or heat resistant measuring cup. Set it into your barely there simmer.
3. Take a fine sieve and press your Kaolin Clay through it until. Kaolin Clay has a tendency to clump. Set it aside.
4. In a small dish, weigh out your Polysorbate 80, sea buckthorn fruit oil, orange wax, and vanilla extract.
5. Once your ewax has melted completely, slowly add in your sieved clay, stir well between spoonfuls. Smooshing the clay to help it declump. Remove from heat.
6. Continue stirring until your beaker/measuring cup is warm to the touch. Add in your Polysorbate 80, sea buckthorn fruit oil, orange wax, and vanilla extract.
7. Fill your 50cc syringe with your product and fill your squeeze tube. I find a syringe the easiest method, but funnels and fine tipped piping bags will also work. Cap and massage the squeeze tube until it is cool to the touch.

the easiest way to fill up a squeeze tube

This product should not join you in the shower as there is no preservative in the ingredients. If you are planning on using it whilst in the shower, I would strongly suggest you apply to your face BEFORE stepping into the shower.

If you get water into the squeeze tube you will grow a lovely mould.