Naturally Compliant Micellar Water
Micellar waters are simply but are a mixture of water and a solubilizer. The solubilizer creates micelles; hence, where the name comes from. The solublizer then solubilizes the oil, dirt, and makeup form your skin and then it is wipes off. They are not rinse cleansers, but I like to follow up with a wet wash cloth or i will go in with my cleanser.
You do not want to add any oil to this formula, as it will really reduce the cleansing. If you want to fragrance the product, I would use a hydrosol or water-soluble fragrance. There will be a residue, so the after-feel is really important, you do not want to be using anything that is sticky.
I want it to be hydrating so we can use some non-greasy natural humectants like 1,3 propanediol, sodium lactate, or glycerin at 3% or lower. I want to use 3% glycerin because I want to use Euxyl® PE 9010 at 1% and it requires a solvent like glycerin. In addition, I am going to use sodium lactate at 2% as I love the way it makes products feel. Finally, I want to add 0.20% of a natural chelator sodium phytate. It will make the water softer. I have a whole post on the diamond level blog on chelating agents that you can read here. Let's write out the formula.
Calculations:
100-(2+0.20+2+3+1)=91.8
91.8/2=45.9
Method:
Sanitize all your equipment, containers, and workspace.
Gather all your ingredients and make sure that your notebook is set up.
In a glass beaker, add all your phase A ingredients. Stir until the ingredients are uniform.
In a glass prep cup, mix phase B together.
Slowly add phase B into phase A to create phase A/B.
Pour into final packaging.
Be sure to label and date your latest formulation.
Adjusting pH (Dilution Method): Yes, even with a water-based product, we are going to make a dilution to adjust the pH. The sodium lactate that is in the formula will raise the pH. I encourage you to check the pH even if following my instruction just to verify. Get two beakers; one will be used as our washing beaker, and the other will be used to make the dilutions. The main thing with making dilutions is you want to make enough that the probe can be covered. You can weigh out 1 gram of product and 9 grams of distilled water to make a 10% dilution. Or you can weigh out 2 grams of product and then 18 grams of distilled water. Get your pH meter out and rinse with distilled water into the other beaker I had you get. Dry off the meter with a lint-free product. Mix it well and take the pH. If you are using strips, do not make a diluted solution no matter the viscosity; or the pH will be way off. Do not put the strips directly into the product. Even if you are taking the pH of the product directly, you want to add your product into a separate beaker. Wait for the reading to be stable, take a note of the pH, and discard the Sample after. Then put the product on the scale and tare it. Add 0.10g of either the 50:50 citric acid solution (to lower the pH), the sodium hydroxide (to raise the pH), or TEA (to raise the pH of the product). Stir well, then wait at least 1 minute before making another dilution. Keep repeating the process until you get the desired pH. You will be surprised how much it may take. I recommend making a bigger batch than you want so you can account for that.
Substitutions and Alterations:
See some of the notes from above.
You can use a water-soluble oil. It just may not make it natural.
I would be careful with actives if you plan in using this to remove eye makeup, you do not want anything to irritate the eyes.
I would not remove the chelating agent as it makes the water softer. You can use another naturally compliant chelating agent.
You can use another solubilizer like polysorbate 20, polysorbate 80, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil, or PEG-6 triglycerides. You can also use Crothix, PEG-7 olive oil esters, or PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate. [2]
You can use another preservative; just make sure it is compatible with this formula.
You can use other humectants if you want. Just keep in mind the skin feel.
Sources and References:
