Prebiotic all-in-one micellar water with saponin powder and hyaluron

You probably have heard this a millions times but micellar waters are among my most favourite products. During the pre-COVID time and as I was often on the go I always had one bottle in my bag to use as a cleanser, makeup remover and a toner so that I carried less bottles with me.

Even during these days and despite the fact that we do not travel as much (or at all) with the less-is-better concept and skin-fasting and trying to use as little products as possible, this is an excellent way to provide your skin with active ingredients and use just one product instead of annoying 3 products.

Anyway, with our new saponin powder it was quite a matter-of-fact that there will be a prebiotic and mild micellar water using only natural and plant derived surfactants: yucca extract and saponin powder

Just a few points before we start:

• I didn't use any essential oils because:

1- I wanted to keep the formulation simple and avoid using high concentrations of surfactants or a solubilizer to incorporate the essential oil

2- I am leaving the job to the hydrosols to bring some scent but you really do not need much scent for this product

3- This product is going to be used as a make-up remover and comes into contact with eyes or lips. I just didn't want to add any essential oil here

• I know by experience that this product is going to have a low pH because I am using hydrosols. The pH of the product (before adding the preservative) will be something around 4,5-4,8 and I added some arginin from the beginning to the formulation to increase the pH before adding the nicotinamide and the preservatives. If you are making this formulation for the first time you can leave arginin and see what is the pH of the blend before you add the preservatives and the nicotinamide. Since this is a very low viscosity product you can easily add the arginin at the end

Formulation:

Procedure:

We use a magnetic stirrer which makes the life much easier but you can easily handle blending with a spatula.

1- Blend all ingredients of phase A together. It takes a while for the powders to completely dissolve.

2- Prepare a 10% dilution and measure the pH. In our case it was 5,11. If the pH is lower than 5 increase it by adding arginine or another base. If the pH is higher than 7 reduce it by adding lactic acid.

3- Add the nicotinamide and blend

4- Add the preservatives.

5- Prepare another 10% dilution and remeasure the pH. In our case it was 5,37 and that is perfectly in range (5,2-5,5)

6- Take your microkit and stability samples and fill the rest in suitable containers.

Stay safe and creative