Making 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioners, Liquid Soaps and Shower Gels
Ingredients commonly used in Other ingredients such as Essential Oils,
Shampoos, Liquid Soaps & Shower Herbal Infusions, Botanical CO2 Extracts, Gels Vitamins & Conditioners have a direct effect on the skin and hair. Its simple to make your own Shampoos, Liquid Soaps & Shower Gels with our mild and mostly natural ingredients: Base Recipes for 2-in1 Detergents (Alpha, Beta & Sugar) Shampoo & Conditioners, these are the most important ingredients, Liquid Soaps and Shower as they release the surface tension, loosening oil and dirt. They are mild Gels and kind to the skin and have a gentle cleansing effect. The Recipes shown in Table 11 make 1 litre.
Fat Restoring Agent (Omega) Method for Base 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner Recipes redresses the Detergents drying-out effect, replacing necessary fats to the hair 1) Measure up the Alpha and Sugar or & scalp. Beta (Detergents) in a jug and then pour pH Regulating ingredient (Lactic Acid) into a big heat-resistant bowl. Scrape out as much of the Detergent as possible as it adjusts the pH to match the natural pH is very thick. of the skin to around 5.5-6. 2) Measure up the boiling Water (or Gelling Agent (Guar Gum) the boiling Herbal Infusion or Herbal gives the correct consistency. Guar Gum Decoction) and pour it into the Alpha, also acts here as an effective Conditioner. Sugar or Beta mixture. Stir it together until it is dissolved. Preservatives 3) Measure up the Omega and the Guar prevent bacteria, moulds and fungi from Gum, and mix well together in a smaller developing in the product. bowl - make sure that there is no Guar Gum powder left around the edges of the bowl. Not doing so may result in lumps in the products. 66
Table 11: Base Recipes (all recipes make approximately 1 litre)
4) Little by little, pour the Detergent and Method for making Base Shower Gel water mixture from the big bowl into the and Liquid Soap Recipes Omega/Guar Gum blend in the smaller bowl, while stirring continuously. Fill 1) Measure up the boiling Water (or up the smaller bowl and then pour the the boiling Herbal Infusion, Herbal contents of it all back into the bigger Decoction) and pour it into a big bowl. bowl. Stir well together. 2) Measure the Sea Salt (only relevant to 5) Place the big bowl in a sink with cold Liquid Soap Recipes) and dissolve it into water, stirring the mixture occasionally. the boiling water in the big bowl. 6) When the mixture has cooled to 3) Measure up the Alpha or Beta 35C-25C, blend in the Essential Oils, (Detergents) in a jug and then pour into Preservative or, if using, other Active the big bowl containing the salt and Ingredients. If the Shampoo is too thin, boiling water. stir in Sea Salt little by little until you get 4) Stir the mixture thoroughly until it the desired consistency. thickens. 7) Bottle and label while mixture is still 5) Place the big bowl in a sink with cold lukewarm. water, stirring the mixture occasionally. 67
6) When the mixture has cooled to liquid at 45-50C. You can even mix this 35C-25C, blend in the Essential Oils, together with an electric stick blender as Omega Fat Restoring Agent, Preservative there are no detergents at this stage. Leave or, if using, other Active Ingredients. If the Guar Gum/Omega/Liquid mixture the product is too thin, stir in more Sea to swell up to 5-6 hours. Then stir in the Salt little by little until you get the desired detergents and other active raw materials, consistency. This works for Shower Gels preservatives, essential oils, etc and bottle. also. There is no need to reheat the GuarGum/ Omega/Liquid mixture before stirring in 7) Bottle and label while mixture is still the detergents, etc. lukewarm. You can add Colours to your Shampoos. Shampoo, Shower Gel and Liquid The best option from what we stock are Soap Recipe Variations the Colours for Water-Based Products (WB). Pearlescent Colours (PC) will fall Add value to your Shampoos, Shower to the bottom of a bottle because of the Gels and Liquid Soaps by customising Shampoo or Liquid Soaps low viscosity. the Base Recipe to suit different hair types and conditions. Choose effective The shelf life of the products made raw materials, such as Herbal Infusions from these Recipes is 2-3 years. and Decoctions, Essential Oils, Vitamins, Using Infusions in your Recipe Clays, Moisturisers and other Active if using a Herbal Infusion instead of Ingredients from Table 12 over. NB Dont Boiling Water make it as follows: allow use all of the ingredients for a certain 2-3g Dried Herbs per 100ml water; pour condition in the same product select a boiling water over the herbs; allow to maximum of three from each category. stand for 10-20 minutes; strain and use according to the Method. Tips for making Shampoos, Shower Gels and Liquid Soaps Using Decoctions in your Recipe - when using Horsetail, or the tougher parts Never use a whisk when using of a plant like the roots, seeds or the Detergents in a Recipe because it will bark, make a Decoction rather than an create a lot of foam and make the Infusion. Making a Decoction involves mixture difficult to work with. boiling the herbs. Put around 2-3g or more of the herb parts into 100ml of If you have any lumps in your mixture, water and cover the pot. Bring the mixture use a strainer to get rid of them. to a boil and simmer for about twenty Shampoos and Liquid Soaps thicken up minutes. Steep and strain the mixture and gradually until they reach normal room use according to the Method. temperature (20C in Northern Europe). If using a Herbal Infusion or Herbal If you feel that your Shampoo, Shower Gel Decoction instead of Boiling Water, or Liquid Soap is too runny, add Fine Sea remember to increase the amount of Salt little by little and stir until it thickens to the Preservative and reduce the Water a con-sistency that youre happy with. volume by the same amount. One way to solve avoiding separation in For more information about using Herbs in Shampoos is to stir together the Guar Gum Shampoos, see The Aromantic Guide to the use with the Omega, then add all of the water/ of Herbs in Skin, Hair & Health Care Products. 68
Table 12: Different Raw Materials for different Hair and Skin Types and problems
Hair and Skin Herbal Infusion Essential Oils Active
Type or problem or Decoction Ingredients
Normal Hair Chamomile, Lime Lavender, Geranium, D-Panthenol, Honey
Blossom Ylang Ylang, Moisturiser Rosemary Dry Hair/Skin Nettle, Willow Bark, Lavender, Rosemary, Jojoba Oil, D- Marigold, Carrageen Sandalwood, Panthenol, Green Rosewood, Clay, NFF, Kaolin, Geranium, Ylang Borage Oil, Ylang Phytokeratin, Honey Moisturiser Oily Hair/Skin Nettle, Yarrow, Lavender, Citrus, D-Panthenol, Green Soapwort Root, Rosemary, Cypress, Clay, NFF, Kaolin, Sage, Horsetail Ylang Ylang, Honey-Moisturiser Geranium Lifeless, Sensitive Horsetail, Coltsfoot, Chamomile, Thyme D-Panthenol, Sea Hair/Sensitive Skin Thyme, Nettles, Silk, Vitamin E Oil, Marigold Phytokeratin, Honey Moisturiser Damaged Hair Carrageen, Chamomile, Aloe Vera, Vitamin Horsetail, Sandalwood, E Oil, Phytokeratin, Chamomile, Patchouli, Benzoin, Lecithin, Jojoba Oil, Marigold Myrrh, Lavender D-Panthenol, Honey Moisturiser Dandruff Nettle, Willow Bark, Cedarwood, Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E Marigold, Carageen, Rosemary, Lemon, Oil, Honey- Rosemary Lemongrass, Tea Moisturiser Tree Hair Loss Nettle, Yarrow, Rosemary, D-Panthenol, Bio- Soapwort Root, Ginger, Lavender, energiser, Vitamin Sage, Horsetail, Cedarwood, Ylang E Oil, Vitamin A Birch, Rosemary Ylang, Grapefruit Palmitate, Honey- Moisturiser Irritation of Scalp/ Marigold, Yarrow, Ylang Ylang, Tea D-Panthenol, Skin Carageen, Wild Tree, Lavender, Vitamin E Oil, Pansy, Witch Hazel, Chamomile, Vitamin A Palmitate, Ladys Mantle, Sandalwood, Aloe Vera, Chamomile, Peppermint Honey-Moisturiser, Coltsfoot, Aloe Cosmetic Prebiotic, Vera, Horsetail Comfrey Glycerol Extract The following are pages which are referred to in the preceding text. 9
About Double Boilers/Bain- supermarkets and never tap water,
except for shampoos/liquid soaps as the maries detergent helps to preserve the products as well. Here it is always a good idea to When we refer to a double boiler, or a boil the water for at least 10 minutes bain-marie, we are referring to a cooking beforehand. vessel consisting of two nested pans, designed to allow slow, even cooking Other challenges or heating of ingredients in the upper pan, without scorching or denaturing, by Other challenges to the preservative the action of water boiling in the lower effect in products the German producers pan. It is very important that the water of Preservative 12 have told us about in the lower half of the double boiler is is when you use food products in your actually boiling this will ensure that cosmetics e.g. ground almonds in an the ingredients in the upper pan or bowl exfoliating cream, etc. will melt successfully. You can improvise Too many Ingredients can spoil the a double boiler, if you dont already have Preservative Effect one with two saucepans or a saucepan at the bottom and an ovenproof or The more active ingredients one has in stainless steel bowl at the top. It is not a product, the more challenging it is to essential to buy specialist equipment if preserve it. Having said that, the Anti- you are making products for your own Wrinkle Cream we make on Courses pleasure. has a maximum amount of actives in it and we have used a dosage of 0.6% Preservatives Preservative 12 without any problems.
Taking responsibility Weve expanded this section on Preservatives to help you use them in At the end of the day, you, as a producer, your products more effectively. We also need to take responsibility for how much have a handy table on what dosages to preservative you choose to put into your use for the different Preservatives and products. I would recommend doing whether you are using herbs in your basic stability testing for anyone selling products or not. products to the general public and so Using the Right Kind of Water that they get an idea of their shelf life. The basic standard industry method is to put into a glass jar at 45C in an oven What weve seen from feedback from for 3 months, check it every 2 weeks, two of our customers whose creams note their observations including colour, went off using Preservative 12 is that smell, texture and skin feel. they used normal tap water, which is an unnecessary challenge to the product. If it survives 3 months with no changes Other customers have used osmosis then it is deemed to be probably stable water, and that too can be a challenge. for 12 months at room temperature. More elaborate industry methods involve I have always recommended using putting the product through temperature reputable bottled spring water from cycles of cooling and heating. 10
The minimum that you should do is to products is to weigh them on a very good put samples in clear glass jars on sunny scale that weighs down to 0.1 grams. If window sills and test them as above. The you still decide to continue using drops longer you have seen it stay stable, the to measure our Preservatives, we now longer the shelf life you can write on the recommend using different quantities label. depending on which of our Preservatives you are using in your products. In At least make sure it is stable for 1 our recipes that you may have from month in this way before you start old Newsletters, our books and recipe selling to the general public. If possible, brochures, youll often find that we dont you should also store and observe say which preservative to use, we simply samples in the airing cupboard. But say x number of drops of Preservative ideally, it would be good to invest in a in the recipe. As I mentioned before, 45C oven. you need to decide how much of a The best weigh to measure Preservative you will put into your own Preservatives! products, but shown in Table 2 are my new recommendations. For more The best method for measuring the information on each of the preservatives Preservatives when adding to your see Tables 2&3.
Table 2: Recommended dosage for Aromantics Preservatives
New recommended Previously amounts per suggested New recommended 100ml/g of product amounts per amounts per 100ml/g containing herbal 100ml/g of of product infusions or product decoctions
22 drops using 20 drops using small Preservative Eco - small 0.7mm 0.7mm dropper/1g/1% dropper/1.1g/1.1%
