No-Soap Ayurvedic Skin Brightening Cleanser

Quite unexpectedly, Ayurvedic ingredients have made their way into my life this year, bringing a world of discovery that has been both a pleasurable and inspirational experience.

Not only are these ingredients beneficial for both skin and hair – they're easy to work with!

A Fresh Look at Vitamin C

Earlier, we looked at Amla, praised for its generous amounts of vitamin C.

My previous experiences with Vitamin C show that it both brightens and freshens the skin color with topical use (find a few links to documentation as well as my own experiences with how the skin benefits from topical use of vitamin C below).

With the skin-brightening qualities vitamin C has to offer, my latest inspiration was to compose a combo of C-rich Amla and Orange Peel powders with a few skin-loving Ayurvedic extras to create a vitamin-rich, face-freshening cleanser.

Below: a peek during production. The white clay has just been added to the melted fats.

Melt and Mix

This type of cleanser is a very simple melt and mix formula that you can tailor to suit your own skin. Apart from being quick to make, this kind of soap-free face cleanser has good things to offer all types of skin - even sensitive and acne-prone skin.

Worried about washing your face (and neck) without soap? Don't be. A fat-and-clay based cleanser will not only cleanse and moisturize in one go, it won't even think of upsetting your skins pH balance.

Your face and neck will feel and look great - promise!

Ready to try making your own soap-free cleanser?

Here's The Basic Bar-in-a-Jar Formula

20% butter
30% oil
30% clay
19,2% flowers/herbs/food
0.8% broad-spectrum preservative

Want more info? Check out this post for a more detailed description.

How It Turned Out

Here's how my cleanser looked right after being packaged (complete with artistically placed spillage). The addition of rose made the mixture a bit darker than I originally intended, but it lightened up a titch after solidifying.

How it works: I am loving the ever-so-slightly grainy feel of this mixture (not sure whether it's just the rose, or the combo of rose with the orange peel). Regardless, the grains add a gentle exfoliation and cleansing action that my skin is loving.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Special thanks to the following lovely ladies for your comments and input over these past months - you have not only inspired new posts, but also some of the products I am working on!

• María
• Tine
• Olivia
• Marija
• Heather
• Stephanie

More about Vitamin C for Skin Care

LisaLise development of vitamin C cream 
Topical Vitamin C for treating Photoaging
Topical Vitamin C protects from UV radiation damage
Topical vitamin enhances collagens
Vitamin C and E against sunburn