Two homemade gel recipes that respect your skin

Natural liquid soaps and commercial shower gels are made very differently. Both contain anionic surfactants, and in both cases are made from vegetable fats and oils such as coconut oil, but the process and other ingredients change.

Potassium natural soaps are made with vegetable oils and shortenings which are mixed and saponified with potassium hydroxide, producing a surfactant with an alkaline pH.

Today we have a wide variety of high quality handmade liquid soaps that are made purely with natural and vegetable matter, since they are born from an ecological and respectful conscience with the environment.

Unlike natural liquid soaps, conventional commercial gels admit synthetic substances such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and other sulfates.

These have excellent cleaning ability and low manufacturing cost, but are skin irritants and they are aggressive with the hair, because they alter the skin barrier causing congestion.

Also, commercial shower gels come in plastic bottles that are difficult to recycle and end up in the environment.

Make your own organic gel at home

There are products on the market with organic or natural certification that are more respectful of the skin and the environment. But you can also make your own gel, with surfactant ingredients from plants like soapwort or substances such as sodium lauryl sulfoacetate or SLSA, used in natural cosmetics.

If you make your own gels, you can reuse containers and containers that you have at home to minimize waste generation. You can also find natural gels in bulk and also take advantage of the containers.

If you store all the ingredients separately, you can prepare the gel little by little, for one or two weeks, and avoid the use of preservatives. It’s more work, but you get fresher product and you can customize it with more variety of vegetable and essential oils until you find the one you like best.

In any case, you can find a preservative used in natural cosmetics called cosgard, if you want to make more and last a few months.

2 gel soaps to make at home

Shower gel with soapwort

Ingredients for 1 liter:

100 g of crushed saponaria root 1 l of bottled or mineral water 8 g of xanthan gum 10 g of vegetable glycerin

Preparation:

Boil the water and the soapwort for 20 minutes. You can add lavender, calendula, or mallow flowers to the cooking water. Control it, because when it boils it foams and can overflow. Let cool and strain into a bowl, first through a wire strainer and then through a coffee filter paper. Help yourself with a funnel. In a saucepan, mix the xanthan with the liquid glycerin and stir until it takes on the consistency of honey. Add this gum like a thread, beating with a balloon whisk. Beat for one minute, let rest for three and beat for another minute. The gel will form. With a funnel, pour it into a recycled and disinfected shampoo or gel bottle, or an airtight container that allows dosing. Since it does not contain a preservative, you can use two containers and, while you use up one, store the other in the fridge. Use it in a week. You can add essential oils (lavender, ylang ylang…).

creamy lavender gel

Ingredients for 500 grams:

440 g mineral water 30 g SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate) 15 g vegetable glycerin 10 g vegetable oil of your choice 3 g (66 drops) cosgard preservative or 5 g (190 drops) lavender essential oil (optional)

Preparation:

In a container, mix the glycerin and half of the mineral water. Add half of the SLSA by teaspoons and stir carefully. Then, with a balloon whisk, beat until you get a thick gel and let it rest for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the water and beat. Then the rest of the SLSA and beat again until it is integrated. Add the vegetable and essential oil and beat until combined. If you are going to use a preservative, do it now and stir. It will keep your gel safe for 3 months.