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Types of Natural Skincare

Products & Ingredients
There are several dierent types of natural facial skincare products that you can make and its
important to understand the dierences between them. The three main types are:
Oil based products
Water based products
Emulsions

Oil based products

Oil based products are a blend of oil soluble ingredients. Oil-soluble ingredients are also known as
lipophilic ingredients.
Oil soluble ingredients include:
Vegetable/ carrier oils oils - such as sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, rosehip oil
BuFers - shea buFer, mango buFer, cocoa buFer
Waxes - beeswax, jojoba wax, sweet almond wax, emulsifying wax
EssenHal Oils
Oil based products are anhydrous - they dont contain water.
Oil soluble ingredients blend well together and can be combined to make a wide range of products
including:
Balms - lip balms, cleansing balms
Oils - cleansing oils, facial oils
Body buFers
LoHon Bars
Oil based products are unique in that they dont require a preservaHve. They are not prone to
microbial contaminaHon therefore it isnt necessary to add a preservaHve. An anHoxidant can be
added to these products to extend their shelf life. AnHoxidants slow the process of oxidaHon
which causes oils to go rancid.

Water based products

Water based products are a blend of water soluble ingredients also known as hydrophilic
ingredients.
Water soluble ingredients include:
Hydrosols and Hydrolates (ower waters)
Water
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Glycerine
Tinctures
Water soluble ingredients can be blended together to create water based products such as:
Toners
HydraHng spritzers
As oil is not soluble in water, you cant mix oil soluble and water soluble ingredients together
without the help of addiHonal ingredients called emulsiers. The excepHon here are essenHal oils
which can be added to water based products. The essenHal oil will not dissolve or disperse evenly
through the product though so you must always shake the product before use (and if you are
selling products advise your customers to do the same)
Water based products do need a preservaHve to protect the product against water borne bacteria
and microbial contaminaHon.

Emulsions
Emulsions are a blend of oil and water and and emulsifying agent which helps binds the oil and
water together. Oil and water will not blend together on their own.
Creams and LoHons are examples of emulsions. They contain an oil phase made up of oil soluble
ingredients and a water phase made up of water soluble ingredients. Emulsifying wax is used
(usually in the oil phase) which helps blend the oil and water phases together to create an
emulsion.
Well look emulsiers in more details later and at creams and loHons in more depth in Module
Seven: Creams and LoHons.
Emulsions do need a preservaHve to protect the product against water borne bacteria and
microbial contaminaHon. AnH-oxidants can also be added in addiHon too but not instead of a
preservaHve.

Ingredients
When formulaHng and creaHng products its really important to know if an ingredient is oil soluble
or water soluble. You can mix oil soluble ingredients together to make oil based products or you
can mix water soluble ingredients to together to make water based products. If you want to mix
oil and water soluble ingredients together you will need to use an emulsifying agent. Once a
product has been emulsied (e.g you have made a cream) you can then add small quanHHes of
addiHonal water soluble or oil soluble ingredients, such as high performance ingredients (see
below).

Oil soluble ingredients

1) Vegetable oils/ Plant Oils/ Carrier Oils
Fats and oils from nuts, seeds and fruit pulp (o`en referred to a vegetable oils, plant oils, base oils
or carrier oils) form the foundaHon of natural skincare products.
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Vegetable oils are used because they:

are emollient - they so`en and smooth the skin
protect the skin
prevent moisture evaporaHng from the skin
supply the skin with essenHal faFy acids and vitamins
act as carrier oils and penetraHon enhancers - they help the skin absorb other acHve ingredients
such as essenHal oils and high performance acHve ingredients.
Well look at the role of vegetable oils in more details in Module Three: Body & Massage Oils. You
can also refer to the Plant Oils Chart for more informaHon on individual plant oils.
2) BuAers
The most common buFers used in natural skincare products are mango buFer, shea buFer and
cocoa buFer.
BuFers are
Derived from seeds or beans
Solid in consistency
Rich and creamy
Rich in anHoxidants and essenHal faFy acids
Add emollient, moisturising and protecHve properHes to products
They vary in texture with cocoa buFer being the hardest buFer and shea buFer the so`est.
3) Waxes
Waxes turn a liquid oil into a solid or semi-solid product. They are primary used to create balms.
Waxes are occlusive - they form a protecHve barrier on the skin to protect it and prevent
transepidermal water loss. By reducing water loss they help to keep the skin supple, so` and
moisturised.
There are many dierent types of wax you can use such as:
Beeswax
Jojoba wax
Almond Wax
Candelilla Wax
As waxes can form quite a heavy barrier on the skin, its best to use them sparingly in facial
skincare products and reserve their use for specialist treatment balms and lip balms. Its not usual
to add beeswax to face creams as this can make the cream too heavy. We talk more about waxes
in Module Four: Balms.
4) EssenEal Oils
EssenHal Oils are highly concentrated botanical extracts. They are chemical compounds usually
obtained through a process of steam disHllaHon which contain volaHle aroma compounds from
plants. They are a wonderful addiHon to any natural skincare product both because they smell
wonderful and because of the many benecial properHes for the skin.

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Water Soluble Ingredients

1) Hydrolates/ Hydrosols (Flower waters)
These are a natural byproduct of the producHon of essenHal oils. They are a disHlled product so
very pure and contain the same properHes as the essenHal oil in a mild form.
2) Water
Use spring water, boFled or disHlled as it is much purer than tap water.
3) Glycerine
This is a humectant which means it aFracts water to the skin and binds it there. Humectants work
in combinaHon with emollients and occlusives to keep the skin moisturised. Glycerine is a water
soluble sweet, sHcky substance which is why just a small amount is used in the water phase.
4) Glycerites / Botanical Glycerol Extracts
These are bontanical extracts in glycerine. Plant material is extracted into a glycerine base which is
a great way of gegng the benecial properHes of the plants into your products.
5) Tinctures
Tinctures are herbal extracts in alcohol. They are a great way of gegng the benecial properHes of
the plants into your products. As Hnctures contain alcohol which is drying for the skin they are
only ever used in small quanHHes (1-2%)

FoundaEon Ingredients and High Performance Ingredients

Its also useful to categorise ingredients into foundaHon ingredients and high performance
ingredients
FoundaEon ingredients
FoundaHon ingredients form the foundaHon of your natural skincare products. They can form
anywhere from 70-100% of your product.
These tend to be less inexpensive ingredients that create the structure or foundaHon of your
product. FoundaHon ingredients can have very benecial properHes in their own right.
FoundaHon ingredients include
BuFers - shea, mango, cocoa etc
Most vegetable /plant oils such as peach kernal, apricot oil, jojoba oil, sunower oil, sweet almond
oil
Water
Waxes
High Performance/ AcEve Ingredients (CosmeceuEcals)
These are added to your foundaHon ingredients for their highly benecial and therapeuHc skincare
properHes. Usually they form in total no more than 10% of the product and many acHve
ingredients are used at very low rates (1-3%). This is because they are highly concentrated and
eecHve in small doses. These ingredients are usually much more expensive that the foundaHon
ingredients. They are useful especially when designing specialist products for facial skincare for
example or in anH-ageing products.
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High performance ingredients include:

Nutrient-rich vegetable oils:
Sea buckthorn
Rosehip oil
Borage seed oil
Pomegranate seed oil
Blackcurrant seed oil
Olive Squalane
Botanical extracts
EssenHal Oils
Tinctures
Botanical Glycerol Extracts
CO2 extracts
Macerated (infused) herbal oils such as Calendula, St Johns Wort.
Vitamins and Specialist ingredients
Vitamin E
Co-enzyme Q10
Hyaluronic acid
D-Panthenol (Provitamin B5)

Many of these high performance cosmeceuHcals are more suited to specialist facial skincare
products (anH-aging products for example) and therefore fall outside the scope of this online
course. We will cover some including macerated oils, essenHal oils, vitamin E and some of the
nutrient rich vegetable oils.

Copyright 2013 Gail Francombe

All rights reserved. This guide or any porHon thereof may not be shared or reproduced or used in
any manner whatsoever without the express wriFen permission of the author.5
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