Lotion for a greasy face

Tonight I made an attempt at an item on my wish list, the lightweight moisturizer for my face. I decided to try out an emulsifier I got a little while ago but haven't used yet: Ritamulse SCG, aka glyceryl stearate (and) cetearyl alcohol (and) sodium stearoyl lactylate. Know your INCI names, people! I accidentally just ordered some more of this because I didn't remember the INCI! Thankfully the package I have and the package on the way are both smallish.

I wanted the oils to be minimal in this lotion, so I decided to put in only 1.5% tamanu oil, and I only caved and put that one in because I've had success using a lotion containing it to help get rid of post-acne hyper-pigmentation, which I've been having a fair bit of lately. Frankly, it smells bad, and it makes the lotion smell bad, but if it does what I want it to do I'll put up with it.

I included some cetyl alcohol for oil-free moisturizing and to add some structure to the lotion; I'll definitely reduce it by 1/3 or 1/2 if I make this again, because the lotion is super thick! I think the cetearyl alcohol that is part of the emulsifier probably thickens it up just fine.

I also went a bit crazy with the goodies. I included 5% niacinamide (because of which the lotion needed to have a pH of 6), some ceramide complex, allantoin, honeyquat (oops, Susan at Point of Interest recommends not using cationics with Ritamulse SCG, but it's just a tiny bit, and it looks thick and stable so far!), silk amino acids, and hyaluronic acid. You only get one face, best to look after it! ;)

Hopefully the niacinamide helps with my post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation (PIH) a bit.

Anyway, it was a regular heat and hold process. I drizzled the water phase into the oil phase slowly while mixing (with an Ikea milk frother), per Susan's recommendation. It thickened right up almost instantly. I didn't have to mix for long since I was only making a 10 g test batch and it cooled really quickly. Once it was good and cool (also per Susan's instructions, to prevent horrible curdling), I added the cool-down ingredients and gave it another stir with the frother. It is so thick that even the frother doesn't whip air into it. I gobbed it into an airless pump container and it was ready to go!

I tried it out after having a shower and using my acne meds. It felt crazy thick and heavy going on, but after a few minutes it had, rather remarkably, settled down to a soft, somewhat powdery, and maybe very slightly waxy feel. It is really quite light once dry. It isn't the greatest spreader because it is thick and dries quickly; I didn't include any 'cones in it because I didn't know how they'd fare with this emulsifier, but I'll probably add some next time. I do love my silicones!

Overall, not too shabby.

Facial moisturizer for Mom, aka Crème de la Mère :D

I made my mom a facial moisturizer to stop her from putting the heavily-scented body butter I made her on her face. She's funny that way; if it's something I made, she tends to put it on her face. She does it with soap too.

Anyway, I thought I'd make her something nice, with lots of fancy ingredients (y'know, sort of unlike the $170 cream I'm spoofing in the title...). She's gotten concerned lately about big pores and the potential for blackheads, she's also 63 and has generally dry skin.

I included sooo many things:
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) for its anti-aging, pore-reducing, anti-acne, and general skin-awesomeness effects
Retinol for anti-wrinkle, pore-reducing, anti-acne, sun damage-reversing, cell-proliferating, there's-nothing-this-ingredient-can't-do effects
Haloxyl for reducing under-eye circles due to unabsorbed blood components
Vitamin E for anti-oxident properties
Allantoin for its healing and occlusive properties
Glycerin as a humectant
Hydrolyzed silk protein for moisturizing and conditioning
Panthenol (pro-vitamin B5) as a humectant/emollient/moisturizer
Dimethicone as an emollient and occlusive
Cetyl alcohol as an oil-free moisturizer
Shea butter at a low percentage because she likes it
Jojoba oil as a non-comedogenic emollient
Tamanu oil because I've had a good experience with it helping to reduce post-acne red marks on my own face
Hydrolyzed oat protein as a moisturizer and anti-irritant
BTMS-50 as a dry-feeling emulsifier
Water
And of course a preservative

Whoa, that is a totally maxed-out lotion. My mom is a low-maintenance kinda lady, so I figured that all the good stuff would have to go in a single product; she's not a multi-product kinda girl. The only things I considered but didn't include were hydroxy acids, because they require a lower pH to be effective than the niacinamide, so the two are incompatible in a single product. The retinol will act as an exfoliant to help get the old, dead skin off, so hydroxy acids might have been overkill anyway.

She's used it at least once and said it felt kind of "coating" at first. I've tried it on my chest and neck, and I agree. I would reduce the dimethicone by half if I make it again. However, when I asked her about it a few hours after she applied it, she said it had absorbed nicely and that her skin felt soft. I suggested it could be used at night. I can smell the tamanu oil in it (which is not the best smelling stuff), but she can't smell it, so that's great. I hope she likes it, and I hope the ingredients do something nice for her.