Everybody masks!
The skin benefits are extremely healing, no matter your skin type.
But it’s the act of masking that is so important.
That 20 minutes of self-care makes masks so appealing.
We love gel masks so much here at NC HQ that we created our own.
In the form of Quench peptide plumping gel.
Its bouncy gel formula is chock full of skin-plumping goodness.
Hydrating humectants, marine-boosting collagen and powerful anti-ageing.It’s a hero product in our clinic.
But the great thing about gels is that you can easily make them in the comfort of your own home.
So we put together some of our favourite recipes for you.
To help you supercharge your skincare routine.
Face Mask Recipes
First up is our gel base, that you can add your herbal extracts or essential oils:
Method
- begin by measuring the water and pouring it into a bowl.
- Weigh the xanthan gum and sprinkle it onto the water. Xanthan gum is a gelling agent that is entirely natural.
- mix the gel until it completely dissolves. Be careful not to over-whisk
- as an optional step, consider adding glycerine at around 1%, preventing the gel from drying on your 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 face mask recipes.
Ingredients
- 10ml rosewater
- 0.3 grams of xanthan gum
- 12 drops of preservative
- 3 drops of geranium essential oil
- 2 drops of palmarosa essential oils
- 2 drops of rosewood essential oil
Sensitive Skin Face Mask
This recipe is formulated with aloe vera gel, a wonderful ingredient for its gentle, soothing properties.
Ingredients
- 76 ml of water
- 0.3 g of xanthan gum
- 8 ml lavender hydrosol
- 8 ml aloe Vera
- 2 ml St johns wort oil
- 11 drops preservative
- 10 drops of lavender essential oil
- 1 drop of chamomile oil
Cooling Gel Mask
If you want to get a little more technical, this DIY gel mask 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, and 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
To Conclude: The naked truth
These gel face mask recipes are practical and fun.
Depending on your skin type, you can get creative by adding herbal infusions or essential oils.
You can easily change the colour of your gel bases without using artificial colouring.
For instance, add calendula or carrot CO₂ to make your gel yellow.
To make them orange, by adding Sea Buckthorn CO₂, ensuring that you add the colours in step two.
If your DIY jelly mask is too runny, sprinkle on more xanthan gum or other gel powders until you achieve the required consistency.
Leave on your skin for around 15 minutes to have any real benefits, and rinse off with warm water.
Your skin will love you for it.
Follow the link for a super hydrating face gel recipe.
Can I use any of these masks
Yes absolutely
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.