Non-Comedogenic Face Moisturiser

8 Aug, 2021

An all natural, non-comedogenic, oil-free, anti-inflammatory face moisturiser, perfect for sensitive & acne-prone skin!

Ingredients

Water Phase
  • 216g Distilled Water
  • 3g Aloe Vera Concentrate
  • 6g Glycerine
Oil Phase
  • 30g Shea Butter
  • 24g Olivem 1000 Emuslifying Wax
Cool Down
  • 15g Hyaluronic Acid Gel
  • 6g Green Tea Extract
  • 3g Preservative Eco

Method

  1. Measure out your water phase ingredients: Distilled Water, Aloe Vera Concentrate and Glycerine, as well as your oil phase ingredients: Shea Butter and Olivem 1000.
  2. Gently melt both phases in separate heatproof containers over low heat using a double boiler or bain-marie.
  3. Once both phases are molten, pour the oil phase into the water phase, whisking thoroughly and transferring to a flat surface.
  4. Use an immersion blender to create your emulsion, alternate between blending and cooling until a cream starts to form. As the mixture cools, it will start to thicken and change to resemble a thick cream.
  5. When you are happy with the consistency, and the cream has reached room temperature, you can move on to the cool down phase.
  6. Measure out your cool down ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid gel, Green Tea extract and Preservative of choice. Mix these ingredients into the cream until thoroughly incorporated.
  7. At this point you could add essential or fragrance oils for a scented face cream, but check any fragrance is hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic to keep this moisturiser suitable for acne-prone skin types.
  8. Store your face moisturiser in a tub or pump-style container for ease of use.

This makes 300g of non-comedogenic face moisturiser, and will last for approximately 6 months. See the formula calculator to adjust amounts.

Face moisturiser for sensitive & acne-prone skin

Finding the right moisturiser isn’t easy! Oftentimes, natural moisturisers aren’t always conducive to sensitive, combination and oily skin types - in fact, oils and butters can be a big factor causing irritation. Fortunately, when you make products yourself you can create the perfect cocktail of ingredients to work for your skin.

This face moisturiser is non-comedogenic, anti-inflammatory and oil-free, designed specifically with acne-prone, sensitive skin types in mind! I’ve formulated this recipe to reduce the likelihood of flare-ups, but please do remember to patch test any new recipe to check for ingredient sensitivity and allergies.

Why use oil-free moisturisers?

Oils are some of the best natural moisturisers around - so the notion of an “oil-free” moisturiser might seem a little counterproductive.

However, for many, oils can also be a cause of irritancy. Be it due to allergies, sensitivity, or a preference for lighter moisturisers, and that’s where oil-free moisturisers come in!

Benefits of oil-free moisturisers

  • Great for oily and combination skin: oil-free moisturisers work in conjunction with your natural sebum, helping to balance your skin and prevent excess oil
  • Don’t clog pores: oil-free moisturisers are often non-comedogenic, reducing the likelihood of acne and flareups
  • Soothing and anti-inflammatory: oil-free moisturisers usually contain a wider variety of minerals, vitamins and botanical extracts such as aloe vera and clays, to boost their moisturising potential
  • Lighter, more absorbent moisturisers: oils tend to feel heavier and take longer to absorb into the skin, giving oil-free moisturisers a unique “weightless” application

In addition to the benefits above, a major advantage of oil-free moisturisers is that they’re often non-comedogenic.

What is non-comedogenic?

Comedogenic refers to substances that potentially clog or block your pores, often resulting in “comedones” (a type of acne). Ingredients labelled “non-comedogenic” are less likely to cause irritation, flareups or acne as they don’t block pores.

Certain oils have the potential to clog pores and therefore, oil-free moisturisers are usually non-comedogenic. But this is not a hard and fast rule! Oils, fatty alcohols, emulsifiers and extracts can all potentially have comedogenic properties, so unless a moisturiser explicitly states that it is non-comedogenic, assume that it may have potentially irritating ingredients.

The Comedogenic Rating

Many cosmetic ingredients went through a “rabbits ear test” to determine their comedogenic rating, this resulted in a scale to indicate the likeliness of clogging pores. The Comdeogenic rating assigns a rating from 0 to 5, with zero being non-comedogenic and five being the more severely comedogenic. It’s important to note that this scale isn’t standardised and many ingredients have conflicting ratings depending on the source. It is however, a useful tool to keep in mind when trying to avoid potentially irritating or acne-inducing products.

In addition to individual ingredients being comedogenic, the amount present in a formula can also affect how comedogenic a moisturiser is. For this face moisturiser I’ve chosen to use shea butter which has a comedogenic rating of 0, as well as Olivem 1000 which is also considered non-comedogenic with a rating of 1.

Substitutions

For a lighter, oil-free alternative to shea butter, you can substitute it with the ester Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride.

For an all natural, no-butter moisturiser, Squalane has a comedogenic rating of 0.

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