How to Make a Green Clay & Spirulina Cleansing Bar

Green Clay – check.
Spirulina – check.
Hempseed oil – check.
Let's go green!

This cleansing bar combines the greenest of green ingredients to cleanse and nourish your face and neck gently and leave your skin soft and gorgeous.

The dark green color of spirulina makes green clay look positively pale!

What's Spirulina and Why Do I Want it

Spirulina (INCI: Spirulina Maxima) is a microscopic blue-green algae that belongs to the Cyanophyceae family. It is naturally rich in amino acids (over 70% of its dried matter is protein) and carries a healthy dose of vitamins A and E as well. These combined nutrients help protect the skins collagen (read: assists in keeping wrinkles at bay) as well as feeding the hair (some say its keratin-strengthening powers are awesome - I haven't checked this bit of info in detail yet). Spirulina is a wonderful ingredient in masks and creams, as well as hair and nail-strengthening products. Here's where I bought mine.

The following will make 1 bar of 100 gr (approx 3.5 oz)

Ingredients List

22 gr (0,8 oz) cocoa butter
20 gr (0,7 oz) shea butter
40 ml (1,3 fl oz) hempseed oil
30 gr (1 oz) French green clay (also known as Montmorillonite Clay)
7 gr (0,25 oz) spirulina powder
rosemary essential oil
lavender essential oil

Melting the Butters

Always melt slowly over low heat and always start with the butter that has the highest melting point (in this case, cocoa butter). As soon as the cocoa butter is melted, remove from heat and add the shea. Stir until dissolved. 

Add the hempseed oil and stir (don't you love this emerald green color?)

Split Layering

I split the oil mixture into 2 beakers because I wanted to layer this bar. This was purely for fun. It works just as well if everything is mixed together. 

Adding Essential Oils

Any time you want to add a mix of essential oils to a product, start by 'introducing' the oils to each other in a small separate bowl. Let your blend sit for a moment, then hold the bowl in the palm of your hand and briefly swirl it around. The heat from your hand and the gentle agitation helps maximize the synergistic properties (and combined scent) of the oils (read: gives you max bang for your buck). For this bar, I used 5 drops of each essential oil.

The oils are added to the clay mixture, then given a proper stirring.

Pour into Mold

To make the layered effect, I started with the green clay mixture, then added the spirulina mixture immediately. Spirulina is more lightweight and 'stays on top' ever so nicely.

Let set for a few hours and carefully unmold.

Storage: I know I'm repeating myself but this is important. Because there are no preservatives in this bar, you have to keep it dry and store it in the refrigerator when not in use. (I usually wrap mine in a paper towel then in a zip-locking plastic bag so it doesn't take on or give off any scent to other things in the fridge). For ease of use, slice off portion-sized bits and just grab one when needed.

Additional uses for cleansing bar pieces: abstract paper towel art. This piece is titled Spirulina and Green Clay Cleansing Bar on Paper Towel.

For a step by step description of how to use as a face and/or hair cleanser, please check this post.

Find More Cleansing Bar Fun Here

Basic Cleansing Bar
French Clay Cleansing Bar
Cornflower and Clay Cleansing Bar
Rose and White Clay Cleansing Bar
Rhassoul Cleansing Bar
Oatmeal and Clay Cleansing Bar
Visit the Cleansing Bar FAQ and Tutorial Page