How to make a clay cleansing balm

Balms and butters are more popular than ever. One of the main reasons is their being self-preserving and no need of adding preservative as well as less hassle for stability testings. A main disadvantage is the extreme dependence of the consistency and texture on the remperature (much more than emulsions and creams). In many parts of the world, you may not even be able to use them during a few very hot months or you have to keep them in the fridge. But this doesn't scratch their popularity at all.

Since we're moving to colder months after a very hot summer, at least in some parts of the Northern hemisphere, we can create, ship and apply balms without the danger of landing into a melted butter when we open the jar.

For this tutorial, we've created a cleansing balm with yellow clay. The balm has a lovely texture, smooth and creamy. Feel free to modify the recipe depending on the ambient weather of your region. You may want to reduce the butters and add more oils or vice versa, add more butters or even waxes for a harder texture. I recommend making your first samples in very small batches until you create the desired texture.

Since the balm doesn't contain any water, there is usually no need to add any preservative or to run a challenge test (self-preserving). If you think your customer would dip a wet finger into the balm (which is very possible) I recommend applying low concerntartions of a preservative with some oil soluble components. For this balm, we've added Euxyl K903 and the antimicrobial herbal blend to avoid any contamination by the customer.

Disclaimer: This is a suggestion based on our experiment. The efficacy of the preservative should be tested under realistic test conditions.

We've added Lecithin and Dermofeel G5O to improve the rinsing and the skin feel after rinsing. They both impart a nice and smooth after-rinse skin feel. Another way of applying the cleanser is to massage it to the skin and the wipe it with a micellar water.

Here is the recipe and procedure:

Formulation:

Procedure:

1- Heat the ingredients of phase A over a water bath @ ca. 55 ^oC

2- After all of the ingredients are melted remove the beaker from the water bath and add the ingredients of phase B one by one under stirring.

3- Put the beaker in the fridge but continue stirring in 10 minute interwals until the butter comes to a light trace

4- Add the clay, the essential oil and the preservative and blend completely. Pour into containers and put into ffridge for some 12-24 hours.

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