FAQ

Is It Difficult to Make Cosmetics?

No, creating cosmetics at home is quite straightforward. You don't need any background in chemistry or cosmetology, nor do you require laboratory experience. With the right recipes and ingredients, you can easily make your own products.

Advantages of Homemade Cosmetics

The primary advantage of homemade cosmetics is their natural composition. You can avoid adding unnecessary chemicals for color, fragrance, or extended shelf-life. Instead, you can include ingredients that are beneficial for your skin at effective concentrations. This means using a variety of botanical ingredients such as concentrated herbal extracts, precious plant oils, plant distillates, sugars, vitamins, lipids, proteins, and natural essential oils, making each product uniquely tailored to your needs.

Equipment Needed

No special equipment is necessary. Simple kitchen utensils like measuring spoons and cups, a kitchen blender, and glass containers for mixing will suffice. For storing the finished products, plastic containers or repurposed commercial cosmetic containers are adequate. In some cases, tools like pH indicators or molds (e.g., for lipsticks) might be helpful but are not essential.

Ingredients Used

Modern homemade cosmetics do not rely on food ingredients like eggs, milk, or yogurt as in older recipes. Today’s homemade cosmetics use highly purified botanical ingredients along with manufactured or chemically modified natural ingredients for better performance and stability.

Chemical Content

While some commercial products contain chemicals that can cause allergic reactions or other skin issues, homemade cosmetics can include natural-derived chemicals that are modified to enhance their properties for cosmetic use. These additions can improve the quality and effectiveness of the products.

Cost of Homemade Cosmetics

Making your own cosmetics can be cost-effective. Once you have a stock of basic ingredients, you can create various products that last for several months. Typically, homemade products are two to three times less expensive than similar commercial products, especially those containing active ingredients like vitamins, proteins, and ceramides.

Shelf-Life of Homemade Cosmetics

The shelf-life of homemade cosmetics can range from a few weeks to three or four years, depending on several factors: how clean your working environment is (disinfection is crucial), the type of containers used (dispensers minimize contamination), and the concentration of antimicrobial agents (essential oils, vitamins, and preservatives).

Selling Homemade Products

Yes, you can sell your homemade cosmetics without needing approval from government agencies like the FDA. However, you must adhere to regulations regarding labeling and product performance claims. For detailed guidelines, consult the relevant authorities or check our resource page.

Sources for Recipes and Formulas

We offer free recipes on our website, updated monthly. Additional recipes are available in the books listed on our products page. Many large chemical companies also provide free formulas on their websites, although these may require a long list of proprietary raw materials. Once you understand the properties of certain ingredients and basic cosmetic principles, you can easily create your own formulas.

Enhancing Commercial Products

Yes, you can enhance commercial products by adding ingredients, especially active ones like vitamins, ceramides, and coenzyme Q10. This allows you to customize a product to better meet your specific needs and improve its quality, particularly as many commercial products contain only minimal amounts of these costly active ingredients.

Safety of Homemade Cosmetics

All our ingredients are non-toxic and non-irritating to the skin and hair when used as directed. Even if you accidentally add an ingredient in too high a concentration, it is unlikely to be harmful. The worst you might experience is minor irritation. For more information on safety, please refer to our safety rules page.