DIY All-Natural Toning & Clarifying Foaming Facewash
DIY Skincare & Beauty Essential oils Natural Beauty
This DIY All-Natural Toning & Clarifying Foaming Facewash cleanses and keeps skin clear using just a few simple, natural ingredients! Some — like honey and tea tree oil — are tried-and-true natural remedies for acne and blemishes, making this homemade facewash recipe the perfect addition to your anti-acne and all-natural skincare routine.
Let’s take a closer look…
I made a lot of mistakes in my teens and early twenties…
I ate a lot of heavily-processed “health” food, skipped quite a few classes while nursing hangovers (sorry, Mom and Dad!), and spent a small fortune on harsh, chemical-laden skincare products that only contributed to my breakouts and my body burden. Oh, regrets!
Luckily, now I’m (a little) older and (a lot) wiser.
After struggling with breakouts for years, I finally achieved clear skin after totally overhauling my beauty routine.
(Ok AND my diet — check out my new book all about leveraging nutrition for skin health and to remedy the internal imbalances that trigger common skin issues!)
By simplifying to a few natural and gentle skincare products, I was finally able to get clear skin.
This foaming facial cleanser is an important part of my super-simple all-natural skincare and beauty routine. It includes ingredients that help clarify and tone the skin, as well as ingredients that are extra-gentle and help maintain skin’s natural balance.
DIY All-Natural Toning & Clarifying Foaming Facewash
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup filtered or previously boiled (now room temp) water
- 1/4 cup liquid castile soap: an all-natural, extremely concentrated soap made from 100% plant oils.
- 5 teaspoons jojoba oil or another facial oil of choice (check out The Best Face Oils By Skin Type for some alternatives)
- 2 tablespoons raw honey: a wonderful antibacterial that helps to gently eliminate breakout-causing bacterial, and also helps calm the skin. This gives the wash its honey color.
- 1 teaspoon tea tree oil: another great, all-natural antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-fungal that will not only keep acne-causing bacteria in check, but also help preserve the wash.
- 15 drops lavender essential oil: great for all skin types, it helps calm inflammation and eliminate bacteria.
- 10 drops rosemary essential oil: another great, all-natural antibacterial.
Note: this is the combination of ingredients that works well for my skin and the combination can be adjusted depending on your skin-type. For example, if you have drier skin, you may need less castile/more water and/or oil. Everybody is different and DIYs can sometimes be a game of trial and error. Luckily, once you have a base such as this one, you can easily add ingredients if necessary!
DIRECTIONS
Add the ingredients in the order listed (if you add the soap before the water, it will become a sudsy explosion!). Stir the mixture gently, mixing everything together. The castile soap and honey will cause the mixture to look cloudy. Put the mixture into your foaming soap dispenser and your facewash is complete!
1 or 2 pumps is all you need as the castile soap is very concentrated. Use once or twice daily (I use it once a day at night).
Discard the contents after a month or if you notice any unfavorable changes. The mixture will separate, so give it a little shake before each use!
Follow with toner and a moisturizer, like Body Unburdened Beauty Blend No.2 for oily and acne-prone skin.
P.S Like my homemade mason jar foaming soap dispenser? Check out how easy it is to make your own!
Are you a natural beauty junkie too!? Welcome and stay awhile, my friend!
Hang around a bit and check out some of these other goodies I know your sweet little natural-beauty-loving heart will definitely enjoy!
- My Super Simple All-Natural Skincare & Beauty Routine
- The Best Face Oils by Skin Type
- The Top 10 Essential Oils for Skincare
- DIY All-Natural Blackhead Busting Blackout Mask
I’ve been using a face wash with salicylic acid in it, but wanted to make my own face wash for acne-prone skin where I know each ingredient and its purpose. Can I still add salicylic acid to this face wash recipe, or is there a better alternative?
Hi, Mia! Oh I’m so happy to hear it! Thank you for letting me know – totally made my day 🙂
Hi Nadia,
I came across your site a couple months ago as I started my DIY natural products journey. I have used this foaming face wash and I absolutely love it! This was is amazing. I have always had acne prone skin, though with birth control and getting older they have dramatically lessened, I still had oily/dry skin. This wash has been great at thoroughly cleansing without drying out! I have even received compliments on how “glowy and fresh” my skin looks! Thank you for the great posts and I look forward to more!
Sorry if this has already been asked but I was wondering if you know what the self life is on this cleanser. Thanks ahead of time for any help, love the recipe!!!
This face wash removes makeup ?
I ended up making this wash with half jojoba and half sweet almond oil.I cut the castile soap in half and added more oil and distilled water. After only 2 nights my face became raw meat.It looks like I had a bad sunburn. It is extremely red,it burns and stings and is painful.I would like to add that my face was not so sensitive,so I don’t know what happened. Hopefully it will heal soon.
Yes!
hi, do you think that i can use raw honey instead of manuka honey? i mean, when you wrote that you cleanse your face sometimes with manuka honey, so it’s really important that it’ll be manuka honey?
Really you can do whatever you want! That’s the beauty of DIYs. You just always need to be sure that your essential oils are properly diluted.
Can sweet almond oil be used instead and some other essential oils like manuka,helichrysum,elemi and myrrh?Also,for people who don’t wanna use cold pressed lemon essential oil ,steam distilled can be used instead.Can’t wait to try it.Thank uou.
If you’re using a foamer pump, the facewash should foam. Not sure why it’s not… but if the black castile soap is working, then great!
I talk all about face oils here: The Best Face Oils By Skin Type
Hi Nadia,
I emailed you this on the 21st of February and I sent a direct message on instagram a few days before then. Please assist me:
I’ve been using the face cleanser for almost three weeks now. I changed the mixture from jojoba to grapeseed oil, as I react to jojoba. I however wanted to ask for advise.
I cleanse only in the evenings but the cleanser does not work if I oil cleanse first (I use coconut, lavender and tea tree) and if I cleanse before the oil cleanse, I don’t get all the makeup off either because I check with a cotton bud. I’m not sure why the cleanser isn’t working. Please help me.
I also couldn’t get it to foam…
Since the beginning of March, I started using “Black Castile Soap” by Pure Simple and it works as a cleanse post the oil cleanse. I only cleanse in the evenings to remove the makeup the oil cleanse would have lifted. In the mornings, I oil cleanse.
Note: I just read a comment from Todd Basom on your “8 Simple Daily detox habits post” that coconut oil is highly comodogenic, which you support – please advise which other oil besides jojoba, which I react to, can I use for my oil cleanse.
Well the foamer pump would dispense less of the soap, so maybe try using a little less. And if you need to – adjust the ratios so they work for your skin! Everyone’s skin is unique. Best of luck!
Weird! So it just comes out liquidy? Does it foam when you rub it between your hands? I want to blame the pump 😉 because castile soap is VERY sudsy and the veggie glycerine adds to the foaming action.
Hi! First of all, LOVE this. I’ve been using it for two months now with NO breakouts, which is crazy for me. The only thing is I can’t get it to foam either, even though I’m re-using a dispenser that was for foaming hand soap. I’m also using manuka honey, not just plain raw honey… could that be the reason? Otherwise, everything is the same in my recipe (except no rosemary oil, but I don’t see that making a difference). Thanks!