With the stress and hurry of everyday life, you have to carve out a
little “me time” to take care of yourself. This includes taking care
of your skin. Caring for your skin using facials and masks to deeply
cleanse and nourish it keeps you looking bright and youthful
longer. Plus, the time you spend relaxing during a facial gives you
a chance to unwind. When you’re nished, you often have a fresh,
rejuvenated look—and outlook! All that comes from one simple
concoction of clays and a few other ingredients. In this chapter, I
show you how to put them together.
making masks
and peels
INTHI SCHAPT ER
Clays and their benefits
Using fruit extracts
Creating facial masks
Fantastic facial peel recipes
2
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38 Idiot’s Guides: Making Natural Beauty Products
Fuller’s earth Used for oily skin and acne, fuller’s
earth has great oil-, toxin-, and bacteria-drawing
properties and works wonders clearing and cleaning
the pores. It’s also used for skin lightening.
Moroccan red clay Moroccan red clay is the best
clay to use for oily skin. It removes dead skin, toxins,
and bacteria; cleans pores; and tightens the skin.
It’s also used as a natural brick-red colorant in soap-
making. It is, however, very drying and should not be
used in a facial mask more than once a week. Those
with sensitive skin should not use this clay.
Moroccan rhassoul clay This reddish-brown clay
is used in spa body wraps as well as in facial masks.
Rhassoul is rich in minerals and trace elements that
nourish and tone the skin while removing dead skin
cells, toxins, bacteria, and impurities. Moroccan
rhassoul clay is good for all skin types.
Illite Clays
The illite clays are light and uffy. They cleanse,
tone, and gently exfoliate the skin and also draw out
toxins. The difference between the illite clays and the
montmorillonite clays is that the illite clays do not
expand in water. Illite clays get their coloring from
natural clay micas.
Green illite clay Green illite clay looks a lot like
the French green clay, but it’s very different in texture
because it contains micas. The illite is light and uffy
and has a light-green color that comes from natural clay
micas. It gently removes dead skin and is the best clay
clays
Clays are an important part of good skin care. They
nourish, tone, and exfoliate your skin, and remove oil,
dirt, toxins, and impurities from the layers of your skin.
Montmorillonite and Smectite Clays
Montmorillonite clay was rst discovered in the 1800s
in Mortmorillion, France. Since then, this inorganic
clay has been used for everything from cleaning to
cosmetics to health care and medicine.
Montmorillonite and smectite clays are known for
their very strong drawing properties—they can absorb
several times their weight. They’re recommended for
people with oily skin.
Bentonite clay Bentonite is a light-gray clay that
draws out oils and toxins and exfoliates the skin.
Bentonite clay can be very drying if you use it in a
facial more than twice a week. Do not use this clay if
you have dry skin.
French green clay French green clay is rich in
minerals. It’s very popular in cosmetics and for spa
treatments. French green clay is very absorbent and
helps with skin problems such as acne, drawing out
oils, toxins, and impurities from the skin. Plus, it tones
and nourishes while it tightens pores. Do not use this
clay on sensitive or dry skin.
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39making masks and peels
for drawing out toxins. Because of green illite clay’s
drawing properties, it’s not recommended for those with
normal to dry skin.
Kaolinite Clays
Kaolinite clays are used to stimulate blood circulation,
exfoliate, and cleanse and nourish the skin. These
clays are widely used in cosmetics and many personal-
care products as well as in industrial manufacturing.
The kaolinite group isn’t part of the smectite group.
They come from volcanic ash.
White kaolin clay White kaolin, or China, clay is
used in mineral makeup foundations, llers, blushes,
after-bath powders, and facial masks. In facial masks,
it’s used for its gentle exfoliating, its ability to remove
toxins, and its cleansing of the skin and pores. White
kaolin doesn’t draw or absorb oils from the skin, so it’s
good for those with dry or sensitive skin.
Pink, red, black, and yellow kaolin clay These
clays cleanse and exfoliate the skin and remove toxins.
Like white kaolin clay, these clays are gentle and don’t
draw or absorb oils from the skin, making them ne for
dry and sensitive skin.
Clay Blends
Rose clay Rose clay is a manmade blend of equal
parts French red illite and white kaolin clay. It’s light
and gentle and used in cosmetics, facial masks, and as
a natural colorant. It also cleanses and exfoliates the
skin. It’s a good blend for dry or sensitive skin.
Which clay is best for your skin?
Oily skin? Dry skin? Whatever your skin type, you can
tailor-make a facial mask to suit your skin’s unique
needs. For oily skin, use bentonite, French green, green
illite, Moroccan red, Moroccan rhassoul, or fuller’s earth.
For normal skin, use red kaolin, rose kaolin, or rhassoul.
For dry skin, use the kaolin clay group, rhassoul, and
rose clay.
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40 Idiot’s Guides: Making Natural Beauty Products
fruit extracts
Today, many skin-care and hair-care products contain
fruit extracts. And you can add them to the facial
masks, lotions, creams, toners, hair conditioners,
lipsticks, and lip balms you create. For example, for
dry lips, add banana fruit extract to your lip balm
recipe for the extra moisturizing and vitamins. Apple
fruit extract is wonderful in creams or moisturizers for
mature skin.
Fruit extracts bring vitamins and minerals that help
make skin and hair healthier and look better. They add
just a slight fragrance, but in some cases, that’s a good
thing.
Use fruit extracts at .5 percent of the total weight of
your nished product. If you want to use two or more
extracts together in one formulation, their combined
weight cannot exceed .5 percent.
You can nd fruit extracts online at New Directions
Aromatics (newdirectionsaromatics.com).
The following table lists the most popular and benecial
fruit extracts. Choose the benets you need in your
products and then try an extract that provides it.
Name Qualities Benefits
Açai fruit extract Contains vitamin C Prevents photoaging and helps
(Euterpe oleracea) remove toxins
Apple fruit extract Contains alphahydroxy acids Refines skin’s texture and
(Malus pumila Mill.) and antiaging properties rejuvenates skin cells; helps maintain
skin’s natural elasticity
Apricot fruit extract Contains vitamins A and C, iron, Soothes, moisturizes, and
(Prunus armeniaca) potassium, phosphorus, and regenerates skin; very beneficial for
calcium mature skin
Banana fruit extract Rich in potassium and vitamin A Nourishes and moisturizes skin
(Musa spp.)
Grapefruit fruit Contains high amounts of Helps tone skin; good for those
extract (Citrus antioxidants with acne
paradisi)
Guava fruit extract Antiaging; contains vitamins Helps prevent oxidation in skin cells
(Psidium guajava) A, B, and C
Lime fruit extract Helps clean and invigorate skin
(Citrus aurantifolia)
Mango fruit extract Antiaging; loaded with Helps keep skin flexible;
(Mangifera indica) vitamins A and C plus recommended for use in antiaging
beta-carotene formulations
fruit extracts
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41making masks and peels
Name Qualities Benefits
Orange fruit extract Adds scent, similar to orange
(Citrus aurantium) essential oil
Papaya fruit extract Antioxidant; contains vitamins Helps control acne while it tightens and
(Carica papaya) A and C gives skin a natural li; soothes and
soens skin; promotes new cell growth
Pineapple fruit extract Bromelain Removes dead skin cells while it
(Ananas comosus) cleanses skin
Strawberry fruit Contains high amounts of both Soothes, tones, and helps reduce
extract (Fragaria vitamin A and polyphenols pore size
vesca)
Watermelon fruit Rich in vitamin C Prevents photoaging and helps remove
extract (Citrullus toxins
lanatus)
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