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| oleo gel by Stella Crown |
Cleansing your skin by using an oil or a blend of oils is more popular than ever, mainly because we now have access to a variety of exotic ingredients while at the same time the preference for organic products is growing rapidly. In any case, oil cleansing gels known also as oleogels have been loved by all ages, regardless of the skin type and that’s why I decided to write down my own experience.
I have oily skin.
I remember, I was told my whole life that I must avoid oil treatments and I need to use astringent and harsh products, for example soap, over my facial skin an idiot tactic which forced my skin to produce even more sebum. My skin has punished me too many times for the recommendations I followed.
I have good news though: this period of misinformation has fallen away. Since I changed my way of thinking and start to use oils as facial cleansers, I will never return to the black period of soap or other surfactants that have damaged my skin.
“But still, you have oily skin”, somebody will think.
Personally, I didn’t have a very pleasant skin feel, using only oil or adding just water in oil; it’s a sticky feeling. But I knew about the existence of cold emulsifiers and that's how Sucragel came in my hands.
Sucragel is an emulsifier that allows us to make gels and lotions using a cold process. It is used in a proportion of 20-25% for gel preparation and at a lower ratio (5-10%) for other cosmetic products. Sucragel comes from 100% natural ingredients as it consists of sugar esters (Caprylic / Capric Triglycerides & Glycerine & Aqua & Sucrose Laurate). It also acts as a homogenizer. It can create oily gels that are emulsified, converted to milky lotions when they come into contact with water, like this:
Initially, the process with this emulsifier will disappoint you. DON'T GIVE UP. I had read that it needs a lot of stirring but I couldn’t imagine that one of my mixers would die in my hands this way. I will not suggest in any case a coffee mixer or a stick blender. What worked for me was a cake mixer, where I only used one blade. You need to spend a lot of time stirring, but it's really worth it. The finished product is cool and leaves the skin clean without "pulling" and without leaving any feeling of greasiness.
Let's go see ingredients and process!
Oil Cleansing Gel
recipe for 50 g | 1.7 oz
phase a’
10 g | 0.35 oz Sucragel
phase b’
14 g | 0.49 oz avocado oil
14 g | 0.49 oz St. Johns wort oil
9 g | 0.32 oz lavender infused baobab oil
2 g | 0.07 oz olive squalene
12 drops vitamin E
10 drops preservative
8 drops lavender essential oil
4 drops rosewood essential oil
4 drops geranium essential oil
2 drops jasmine essential oil
- Before you start making your oleogel, sterilise tools, containers, work surface and definitely wear gloves.
- Separate the ingredients into two utensils. Place the Sucragel in one utensil pour all the other ingredients into a beaker. You will need a pipette as well!
- Whip the sucragel with persistence and passion 😂 until is white and starts to get thicker.
- Use the pipette and add tiny bits of oil, while mercilessly😅😅😆 stirring. After lots of whipping, your mixture will start to get more gelly. As you add more oil, the gel will become thicker, like this:
I made several versions to see how sucragel works. In the version you see in the photo I added red clay because I wanted to use it as a cleansing mask.
You can skip the preservative if you want because in this formula I didn’t use any kind of water soluble ingredient. However, I use it because it’s a product that I use in the bathroom and I don’t want to take any risk.
Avoid eye contact. If you wish to apply it on your eyes, don’t use the essential oils.
how it works?
* Use a small amount of gel in a dry palm and we do circular massage with our fingers on dry skin (face and neck). After spreading the product, we wet our hands with water and continue the massage for 1-2 minutes. The cleanser changes consistency and emulsifies (turns into a milky lotion) on contact with water, cleanly removing grime, makeup and leaving no oily residual.
* Rinse with a damp, warm face towel.
* You can also combine this amount of the gel in your palm with a bit of water. Massage into your face, and rinse off.
* Repeat if required when removing heavy makeup.
Stella Crown©
