My favourites are always clay (rhassoul, I absolutely adore it) and ground almond meal. Sometimes I make some kind of almond meal paste as the one you can see at L**h :)
OOh MarÃa I've never combined almond meal and rhassoul - what a great idea! Thanks for the input! (Must try this immediately) :D
p said…
Hi Lise! Do you know of any suppliers who sell mother of pearl powder? I've wanted to learn more about that ingredient for a while.
Oh, since you're on the topic of exfoliants, I thought you might be interested in this recent news piece on plastic microbeads turning up in lakes and oceans. All the more reason to use the exfoliants you're discussing! http://www.npr.org/2014/05/21/313157701/why-those-tiny-microbeads-in-soap-may-pose-problem-for-great-lakes
HI p - thanks for this great link! It really is disturbing that the 'harmless' bits of plastics that the industry has been using in cleansing products are turning up in the waterways.
As for buying mother of pearl, I purchased mine at New Directions - they have dept's all aver the globe -- check the sidebar for links. :)
Hi Lise, I just live Adzuki Bean as a scrub . I combined mine with brown rice flour and rose petals and whizzed it through my coffee grinder. Both my daughter's love it too. You just need to get past the bean smell however the rose petals soften it a tad.
Hi Kim - thanks for your input! I'm curious-- do you buy the beans whole and then grind them yourself? If so, what does the texture feel like? I like the idea of mixing them with rose - but having to 'get past the bean smell' does make this sound a little less tempting..
Hi Lise :) What I do when I use those is mixing both rhassoul and ground almonds 50:50, and then I add glycerine (about 25%), oil (I like the lightness of macadamia oil) and EOs or cosmetic fragrances, depending on my mood :D The glycerine at this proportion (and because this is not a leave-on product) also helps with preservation. I live in a quite humid place and I have never had issues with mould or bacteria contamination. Hope this helps :)
p said…
Thanks for the info, Lise! I didn't realize New Directions carries it, and in fact it's not in their US or Canadian stores (but is in their UK and Australian stores). They don't have much of any info on it, beyond an MSDS. My aunt in Australia raves about a pearl powder facial at a local spa, and when she first told me about it, I thought it must be some sort of gimmick (really, pearls? how much?), and/or the pearl protein was hydrolized and functioning much as any other hydrolized protein... but this exfoliant really has me wondering! I'd love to see any any info or links you have on it!
Hi MarÃa - thanks for this info. I must admit I'm a little worried you are not using a preservative with glycerine added. It's great that you've never experienced a problem with mould, but there could be a whole bacteria party going on before the mould even starts showing.
Hi p - the mother of pearl powder I use is indeed from New Directions in UK. As I haven't used it for some time, I can't really add a whole lot of info to what I wrote above. I tried it because it intrigued me, and it seemed to do a lovely job of 'polishing' without feeling abrasive. Beyond that, I've never really done a lot of research on this ingredient- but now your question has me all curious to do a bit of digging! :)
Hi Lise. Glycerin is used widely as a humectant (a very good and unexpensive one). However, a lot of sites talk about it as being irritant at high dosage (i.e. Colin, http://colinsbeautypages.co.uk/humectants/) One thing we have to think about glycerin is that it is an alcohol: glycerol. And as an alcohol, it has the same characteristics. At high dosages (more than 25%), it could be irritant for some skins because of its incidence on the skin barrier, altering the skin by osmosis, and so does on bacteria and mould. Microorganisms feed and nourish a lot by osmosis, and high doses of glycerin make they literally dehydrate by osmosis, so then don't grow. For me, I use glycerin in a very high doses in this product and really have no issues (and I swear Scotland is humid, OMG), and never had an issue in years. Also, as this scrub is not a leave-on product, there is not this risk of drying and irritating skin that can be caused if glycerin stays longer. I hope this helps :) P.S. I know a lot of people who make versions of it (there are hundreds on the internet)adding potassium sorbate also with very good results.
HI MarÃa - forgive me for sounding like a mother hen! My knee-jerk reaction to any product with water-based anything and no preservatives is to start scolding and warning. That said, I can see you have done your research! :)
Hi Lynn - I actually have this ingredient on my to-do list, so I can't share any personal experience with you, but there are many commercial companies using Diatomaceous earth (INCI: Solum Diatomeae) as an exfoliating agent in their products (for example the French company Yves Rocher). As long as it is cosmetic grade, I would be fine with it.
Lynne - would you mind sharing your method? Feel free to email me directly if you donut want to post here. My email is on the sidebar (you'll need to view the 'web-version' of the blog to see it). Thanks!
Anonymous said…
I used to grind adzuki beans as an exfoliator and I found it to be great. I used a spice mill to grind them. Then I just put a little in my hand in the shower and rubbed it gently on my face.
HI Anon! Thanks for sharing. I used adzuki beans ages ago as an exfoliant but it was a purchased exfoliant and scratched my face something terrible.. I must revisit this and do my own grinding - I remember liking the scent of the beans when they get wet.
Comments
Oh, since you're on the topic of exfoliants, I thought you might be interested in this recent news piece on plastic microbeads turning up in lakes and oceans. All the more reason to use the exfoliants you're discussing! http://www.npr.org/2014/05/21/313157701/why-those-tiny-microbeads-in-soap-may-pose-problem-for-great-lakes
As for buying mother of pearl, I purchased mine at New Directions - they have dept's all aver the globe -- check the sidebar for links. :)
I just live Adzuki Bean as a scrub . I combined mine with brown rice flour and rose petals and whizzed it through my coffee grinder. Both my daughter's love it too. You just need to get past the bean smell however the rose petals soften it a tad.
What I do when I use those is mixing both rhassoul and ground almonds 50:50, and then I add glycerine (about 25%), oil (I like the lightness of macadamia oil) and EOs or cosmetic fragrances, depending on my mood :D
The glycerine at this proportion (and because this is not a leave-on product) also helps with preservation. I live in a quite humid place and I have never had issues with mould or bacteria contamination.
Hope this helps :)
Hi p - the mother of pearl powder I use is indeed from New Directions in UK. As I haven't used it for some time, I can't really add a whole lot of info to what I wrote above. I tried it because it intrigued me, and it seemed to do a lovely job of 'polishing' without feeling abrasive. Beyond that, I've never really done a lot of research on this ingredient- but now your question has me all curious to do a bit of digging! :)
Glycerin is used widely as a humectant (a very good and unexpensive one). However, a lot of sites talk about it as being irritant at high dosage (i.e. Colin, http://colinsbeautypages.co.uk/humectants/)
One thing we have to think about glycerin is that it is an alcohol: glycerol. And as an alcohol, it has the same characteristics. At high dosages (more than 25%), it could be irritant for some skins because of its incidence on the skin barrier, altering the skin by osmosis, and so does on bacteria and mould. Microorganisms feed and nourish a lot by osmosis, and high doses of glycerin make they literally dehydrate by osmosis, so then don't grow.
For me, I use glycerin in a very high doses in this product and really have no issues (and I swear Scotland is humid, OMG), and never had an issue in years.
Also, as this scrub is not a leave-on product, there is not this risk of drying and irritating skin that can be caused if glycerin stays longer.
I hope this helps :)
P.S. I know a lot of people who make versions of it (there are hundreds on the internet)adding potassium sorbate also with very good results.
Lynne