Making your own shower gel at home is child's play! Discover the advice and recipes of Sophie Frys, trainer and blogger specializing in natural cosmetics, to make the perfect treatment.
Homemade cosmetics are on the rise. More and more of us are playing sorcerer's apprentices in our kitchens in order to produce beauty products and everyday care. A craze born from a double concern: an environmental awareness on the one hand, the desire to control from start to finish the composition of what we apply every day on our body on the other hand. Not to mention that it saves precious money.
Among everyday products, industrial shower gel is one of the most difficult to give up. We want a product with a delicate smell, a pleasant texture, and a generous foam. Hard to believe, and yet it is quite possible to make yourself a shower gel good for the planet and for health!
The advantages of making your own shower gel at home
“When buying a commercial shower gel, you must be very careful with its compositionSays Sophie Frys, trainer and blogger specializing in natural cosmetics and zero-waste, straight away. UFC-Que Choisir has formulated a map of the 12 substances to avoid if possible, in particular for pregnant women, children and the frail. It includes substances potentially irritating to sensitive skin such as sulfates (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate …), supposed endocrine disruptors (Paraben, Triclosan, BHT), but also potentially allergenic substances like Methylchloroisothiazolinone. “As the shower gel is made up of at least 80% water, the medium in which bacteria grow, the addition of certain substances is necessary… but very often problematic for health”, She adds. These substances are also particularly harmful to the environment, both for their manufacture and their impact once in the soil. Indeed, most shower gels are absolutely not biodegradable.
It is obviously quite possible to find quality, organic products with an impeccable composition. But one of the advantages of making your own recipe is to have control over the ingredients and above all to reduce their number to the bare minimum. “With a homemade shower gel, we will use ingredients from nature such as vegetable oils, floral waters, essential oils. So many elements that are beneficial for the skin and will not pollute wastewater”, Specifies Sophie Frys. We will also reduce waste and encourage recycling by using a container that we have, or better still, by using a glass bottle.
The essential ingredients for a homemade shower gel
“To make a homemade shower gel, 5 or 6 ingredients are enough”, Specifies Sophie Frys. We forget the extended lists of commercial products to focus on the essentials. “It becomes counterproductive (and expensive!) If you use too many different active ingredients”, She adds. The essential ingredients, to be taken preferably organic, are the following:
– A surfactant (sometimes difficult to make liquid) or a neutral washing base and ready to be mixed. It is easily found in organic stores or in Aroma-zone. It has no smell or color.
– Water, essential for this type of recipe!
– Vegetable oils, which will bring a benefit to the skin (grape seed, jojoba, sweet almond, sesame or olive will be perfect). However, avoid coconut oil, which will freeze the preparation. On the other hand, it is quite possible to apply pure organic coconut oil to the body after getting out of the shower to nourish it.
– Floral water, which can act as a natural perfume.
– A natural preservative (grapefruit seed extract or vitamin E), in order to preserve the safety of the preparation.
– Optional: essential oils (tea tree, lavender, geranium, patchouli, ylang ylang) to perfume the shower gel and give it a relaxing, stimulating, regenerating action …
You can also add aloe vera for its restorative properties or glycerin which helps maintain skin hydration. Another possibility is to replace the surfactant with Aleppo soap or solid Marseille soap. It will then have to be diluted in boiling water before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients. For the choice of floral water, several possibilities depending on your skin type, but also on the type of smell you like. “Orange blossom floral water is perfect for normal skin. Restructuring, it also has a pleasant smell. Lavender floral water is more suitable for oily skin because it has a balancing effect on sebum. It is also very soothing. Finally, for sensitive skin, rose or chamomile floral water is the most suitable. If you are looking for an invigorating effect, choose peppermint floral water”, Explains the specialist.
Homemade shower gel: what equipment do I need?
There is no need to invest in very sophisticated equipment to make your homemade shower gel recipe. “Overall, we can very well get away with what we have in our kitchen”, Says Sophie Frys. Only important elements: a precise balance, a funnel, a beaker to measure liquids and a bottle (of recovery is even better!) To store the product. Before use, all utensils (bowl, spoon, bottle, measuring utensils) must be disinfected with modified alcohol at 70 °.
Storage of homemade shower gel
Commercial or homemade shower gel, same fight. We don't keep them well! “Very often we leave the bottle in the shower, exposed to changes in temperature, light and even air when we leave the bottle open”, Says Sophie Frys. The solution ? “To keep your shower gel in the best conditions, you must put it back in a cupboard after use, so that it is protected from light and heat variations”, Recommends the specialist. For a homemade shower gel recipe, the preparation can be kept for a maximum of one to two months, which is why it is important not to overdo it. If you can, prefer tinted glass bottles.
DIY: Homemade shower gel recipes
Ingredients :
– 50 g of Aleppo soap,
– 250 ml of water,
– 30 drops of grapefruit seed extract (preservative).
Grind the Aleppo soap in a blender. You get a fine powder. Be careful when opening the container, the volatile powder is not very pleasant to breathe.
Then add the room temperature water to the blender, which will allow the soap to melt. Only the PPE (extract of grapefruit seeds) remains. A little recalcitrant foam can remain on the surface, just remove it with a spoon. Then pour the preparation into the bottle with a funnel.
Ingredients :
– 90ml of neutral washing base
– 1cc aloe vera coffee
– 1cc of Vegetable Oil of your choice
– 1⁄2 teaspoon glycerin
– fragrance of your choice
– (optional) natural color: chlorophyll or juice
beet
– 12 drops of preservative
After having measured the ingredients, mix the washing base, the oil, the aloe vera, the glycerine then finish with the preservative. If you wish, you can add a little color to your product by adding a natural dye. Finally pour the preparation into the bottle with a funnel.
- Homemade shower gel with Marseille soap
Equipment
A beaker, a small whisk, see a blender, a spatula, a funnel, a bowl, a 250 ml bottle.
Ingredients
– 6g of soap in shavings (or grated bar of soap),
– 180 ml of boiling water,
– 50ml of floral water,
– 5ml of aloe vera,
– 5ml of vegetable oil,
– 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract.
Melt the Marseille soap before boiling water, then add the floral water, aloe vera, vegetable oil and the preservative. Then pour into the bottle with a funnel.
- Homemade honey shower gel recipe
Ingredients
– 15 cl (about ten tablespoons) of liquid Castile soap,
– 85g of honey, if possible liquid, otherwise melt it slightly in a double boiler,
– 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil of your choice,
– 1 teaspoon of natural vitamin E,
– 30 to 40 drops of essential oil of your choice
Mix the ingredients directly in a plastic or glass bottle.
What alternatives to shower gel?
“The alternative that best answers the ecological problem is that of solid soaps ”, says Sophie Frys. They do not contain water and therefore no preservatives, they are economical and ecological. Soap from Marseille green, Aleppo, Castile, anything is possible. “They are not easy to make yourself, because it is necessary to handle caustic soda in order to transform vegetable oil into soap”, However, she adds. There are, however, very good solid soaps on the market, for example the products of Savonnerie de Romu which offer organic soap, 100% natural, produced using the cold saponification process. They are also colored with natural clays.
- Romu soap for sensitive skin, it is rich in olive oil, coconut oil but also in shea butter. A real "coconut" soap, 100% organic (5 euros, on sale at https://lasavonneriederomu.fr/)
- Aleppo soap with 40% bay bay oil from Lauralep. A 100% natural soap made in the rules of the art which is suitable for all skin types. (5 euros, on sale at http://www.lauralep.com/)
- 100% natural Castile soap with olive oil from the small Marseille brand Comme Avant. An organic and natural soap that is suitable for the whole family. (5.90 euros, on sale at https://www.comme-avant.bio/)
Thanks to Sophie Frys, animator, trainer, blogger and author of the book Live a year without plastic! in 52 missions (Fleurus, 2020).
Also read on aufeminin:
– Cold soaps take care of your skin
– What care for my damaged hair?
– Find soft hands with these homemade skincare recipes!
– Face, body, hair … 7 ways to pamper yourself with olive oil
– DIY: 5 easy recipes to make a homemade mouthwash