Do you have dry or dehydrated skin and find it difficult to treat?
There might be one skincare product you may want to build into your skincare routine.
One that will treat all of the following conditions:
- eczema
- fine lines
- flakiness
- dehydration
- dry patches
- sensitivity
That product is gel masks; they are extremely hydrating formulas, and they help to soothe sensitive skin, and what’s more, you can make them in the comfort of your own home.
Face mask recipes
Follow these two steps for both of the recipes below:
Method
- begin by measuring the water and pouring it into a bowl.
- Weigh out the xanthan gum and sprinkle it onto the water. Xanthan gum is a gelling agent that is completely natural.
- mix the gel until it completely dissolves. Be careful not to over-whisk, or the mixture will become too white and frothy.
- as an optional step, consider adding glycerine at around 1%, preventing the gel from drying on the skin.
- finally, add all the pre-measured active ingredients and mix
- apply to your skin and enjoy.
Rose face mask
This is one of those lovely, fragrant recipes.
Ingredients
- 10ml rosewater
- 0.3 grams of xanthan gum
- 12 drops of preservative
- 3 drops geranium essential oil
- 2 drops palmarosa essential oils
- 2 drops of rosewood essential oil
Sensitive skin face mask
This recipe is formulated with aloe vera gel, an ingredient I really like for its gentle, soothing properties.
Ingredients
- 76 ml of Springwater
- 0.3 g of Xanthan gum
- 8 ml Lavender Hydrosol
- 8 ml Aloe Vera
- 2 ml St Johns Wort oil
- 11 Drops preservative
- 2 ml NFF Moisturiser
- 10 drops Lavender essential oil
- 1 Drop Chamomile oil
Cooling Gel Mask
If you want to get a little more technical, this recipe shows you how to make a lovely cooling gel mask
Ingredients
- 5g Glycerine
- 1.25g Carrageenan
- 8g Geranium hydrosol
- 34g Distilled water
- 0.25g Preservative
Method
- Add glycerine into a glass bowl or beaker, sprinkle the carrageenan over the top to prevent clumping
- Next whisk to combine and leave it to sit for ten minutes while you prepare the ingredients
- Weigh the hydrosol, surfactants, water, and preservative into another container and whisk to combine
- Once the gum has been sitting for ten minutes gradually add the water mixture to it – about a quarter at a time and whisk in between each addition
- Transfer the gel to a 60ml container
Conclusion
These gel face mask recipes are really effective. The great thing is you can get creative, adding whatever herbal infusions or whatever you want depending on your skin type.
You can easily change the colour of your gel without having to use artificial colouring.
For instance, to make your gel yellow, add marigold or carrot CO₂. To make them orange, add Sea Buckthorn CO₂, ensuring that you add the colours in step two.
If you find your mask is too runny, sprinkle on more xanthan gum until you achieve the required consistency. As with all other masks, they should be applied to the skin neat and left on for around 15 minutes to have any real benefit, then rinsed off with warm water.
Follow the link for a super hydrating face gel recipe
Hello I was wondering if I can make a mask with coconut milk and hyaluronic acid with xantham gum?
Hi, Destiny for a simple mask yes anything more technical requires a lot more chemistry. Samantha
Hi, you list preservative as an ingredient, what preservative would that be?
I use liquid German plus in this formula, its great broad spectrum preservative.
Hello can I make rubber mask with xanthum gum at home ?
Please help
As it is written you can substitute sodium alginate with xanthum gum.
Absolutely I’m sure you can. the exact formula I am not to sure about however.
What can I use to make my face gel a certain colour?
Gina there are so many things to use, formica botanica do a great article on this called 38 natural colourants for skincare, it is worth a read.
Hey – can these be made and stored? What is the maximum shelf life if they can be stored?
Regards
Mary
Hi Mary
You will need to do research around preservatives, without a shelf life is only very limited a couple of days only.
What am I missing? Could you explain what an NFF moisturizer is?
Hi Kirsten the inci name is Aqua, Sodium Lactate, Sodium PCA, Propylene Glycol, Urea, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Oleth-20, Asparagus Officinalis Root Extract, Sodium Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbitol, Ethylhexylglycerin. Kind Regards Samantha
Is there a sunstitute for glycerin?
Hi Tanya thsnks for reaching out. Glycerine is a humectant and can be replaced by hyaluronic acid sodium pca and more. I hope this answers your questions. Samantha
Can alginate be used instead of xanthum gum?
Hi Jerrell, I don’t work with it but I believe it can.
would like to mix essential oil to jelly base for facial after AHA treatment. will the essential oils penetrate skin if only left on for 15 min.
Hi Marcina
Essential oils will penetrate, but you need to obviously be careful which you use as some can be sensitising for the skin.