3 Things You Should Know Before Start Making Your Own Beauty Product

One way to navigate the spectrum of natural ingredients and identify the ones ideal for your skin type is by learning about the components within the oils and how they differ.

1. Understand your skin type

The most important step in caring for your skin comes in understanding your specific skin type and how it adapts to certain circumstances or seasonality. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, as complex and intelligent as your heart, lungs, liver and other vital organs. Taking the time to learn your skin’s specific needs will help you to choose the right options that will balance skin resulting in a healthier, more radiant complexion.

There are four basic types of healthy skin: normal, dry, oily and combination skin. Skin type is determined by genetics. The condition of our skin can, however, vary greatly according to the various internal and external factors it is subjected to.

• Normal Skin – ‘Normal’ is a term widely used to refer to well-balanced skin. The scientific term for healthy skin is eudermic.
• Dry Skin – ‘Dry’ is used to describe a skin type that produces less sebum than normal skin. As a result of the lack of sebum, dry skin lacks the lipids that it needs to retain moisture and build a protective shield against external influences.
• Oily Skin – ‘Oily’ is used to describe a skin type with heightened sebum production. This over production is known as seborrhea.
• Combination Skin – Combination skin is, as the name suggests, skin that consists of a mix of skin types.

Understanding your skin type helps to determine what kind of ingredients to use before making your own beauty product.

2. comedogenic scale

When you know what is your skin type, it now comes down to understand the characteristics of raw ingredients you are going to choose to make your beauty product.

So, what does comedogenic mean? The root of this word is “comedone.” According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, comedones are bumps that are raised on the surface of the skin. They’re caused by acne and found in pores. Basically, comedones are pimples.

This means that comedogenic ingredients are pore-clogging ingredients that lead to more breakouts, acne, and pimples. Products containing comedogenic ingredients will exacerbate breakouts and contribute to the problem, which is clogged pores.

It is important to know ahead of time if a product is going to cause a flare-up. A comedogenic scale measures how likely skincare ingredients such as oils and butters will clog pores. Since most skincare products contain oils or plant butters in their formulations, it is important to know their comedogenic scale to know what it may do to your skin. The comedogenic scale ranges from 0-5. Here’s how the numbers rank on the

scale:

• 0 – won’t clog pores at all
• 1 – very low likelihood of clogging pores
• 2 – moderately low likelihood
• 3 – moderate likelihood
• 4 – fairly high likelihood
• 5 – high likelihood of clogging pores

3. how to seal moisture into the skin

To understand the mechanism of how to seal moisture into the skin, you have to understand the 3 types of moisturizers- humectants, emollients and occlusives.

So what are occlusives? Occlusives are moisturizing agents that work by forming a protective layer on the surface of your skin and create a barrier to prevent moisture loss. They work alongside humectants and emollients to keep skin feeling soft, hydrated, and glowing.  Occlusive substances work by helping to form a physical barrier or seal on the outer layer of the skin, to prevent trans-epidermal water loss or (TEWL), keep moisture locked in. A humectant is a hygroscopic substance that has a molecular structure with several hydrophilic (water-loving) groups, such as hydroxyl groups (OH) and/or amine groups (NH2). The OH and NH groups hydrogen bond with water, essentially “grabbing” it and holding it on the skin. Humectants slow water from evaporating and therefore keep the skin hydrated.

In general, most plant oils are considered emollients, but some oils, particularly those high in oleic acid, also work also have occlusive properties. These oils often have a thicker, greasier feel and include olive, avocado, rice bran, macadamia, castor, and soybean oil and shea and cocoa butter.

Cocoa butter is an amazing occlusive.  It has properties of all the moisturizing components and is a go-to for the skin. Beeswax is another excellent natural occlusive because it composed of monoesters, diesters, and triesters, as well as hydrocarbons, hydroxypolyesters, and free fatty acids.  It’s because of this composition, it is very moisturizing, and also has the soothing qualities, that’s why it is so often used in moisturizers.

Conclusion

In general, understand well what type of skin you have helps you to determine which type of ingredients you should choose. There is a wide variety of natural ingredients low on comedogenic rating that can provide the occlusive component of your moisturizer.  As mentioned above, some of them have emollient or humectant properties as well. This gives you a great chance to mix various emollient, humectant, and occlusive agents for a great moisturizer that works for your skin’s unique needs.

Calleigh

Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.