How to create face wash formulas in 5 simple steps

 

The Create Cosmetic Formulas program makes it super easy for you to create amazing face wash formulas with a range of active ingredients, herbal extracts, plant and essential oils. Here’s a quick how-to guide to show you how easy it is to create your own face wash formulas in just 5 simple steps.

If you’re super new to formulating and not sure about how to start, enjoy our FREE Cosmetic Formulation Masterclass first, to get you used to formulating tips and terms. This masterclass will also help you gather essential equipment and get used to reading formulas and how to put products together.

Start by logging into your Create Cosmetic Formulas subscription then…



 

How to create face wash formulas in 5 simple steps

1. Select Face wash (foaming) as the type of formula you would like to create today, then click Create.

Did you know you can also create other types of face cleansers? At this early stage you could also choose:

  • Face scrub (foaming) – ideal if you want a deeper, exfoliating foaming cleanser
  • Crème cleanser – perfect for mature, dry and/or sensitive skin types
  • Crème cleanser (scrub) – provides an exfoliating action for mature, dry and/or sensitive skin types
  • Cleansing balm – a balm-like make up remover to cleanse the skin without stripping it
  • Cleansing oil – a liquid make up remover that is ultra mild on the skin

as well as various types of body cleansing formulas…
 

2. Select your Amphoteric surfactant and superfatting agent – just one of each of these is needed to create sufficient foam whilst being extremely mild with an effective clean.  Not sure what each ingredient does? That’s okay, read our go-to guide on cosmetic ingredients here.

You can choose to add an anionic surfactant for a deeper clean, and a non-ionic surfactant if you want, but they aren’t essential to create a foaming cleanser that will work and feel great on the skin. One of the great things about the Create Cosmetic Formulas program is that it lets you choose what you want to add, without missing the essential elements to create a safe, stable and effective formulation!

In our example, we are going with easy to source ingredients such as cocoamidopropyl betaine as our amphoteric surfactant, and polysorbate 20 as our superfatting agent. We’re going to pretend we’re very new to formulating, and aren’t sure how much we should use, so we are going to use about the midpoint of each recommended input range:

3. Choose your humectant and gums and follow the inputs provided.

In our example, we’ve again gone for easy to source ingredients because the program makes sure that every formula will work – even if I don’t know how to choose! I’ve again used around the mid-point of the suggested range for each ingredient:

4. Choose if you want to add any actives, herbal extracts, essential oils, fragrances or lipids (oils) – all of these are completely optional, but will help build your product story. I am going to add some popular ingredients, but if you are complete unsure, just look at the choices in the program and see what you like the sound of. Each ingredient entry has an explanation of what it will do for your formula, and marketing story, if added. For example, we’ve decided to make our foaming face wash for oily and acne-prone skin types, but still be non-irritating, so we have added:

  • Echinacea extract, green coffee extract and rosemary extract

Here is an example of the information from the program that helped me choose my first extract – there are loads to choose from, each with their own notes to help guide you!

Since my face wash is for oily skin types, I did not want to add any oil to the formula, but do want to add some essential oils. I have decided to add:

  • Tea tree oil as my main essential oil, plus some bergamot and rosemary.

Here is an example of the information from the program that helped me choose which oils would blend well with tea tree oil:

5. Choose your antioxidant, chelating agent and preservative to make sure your formula will have a good shelf life. You will know which ingredients are essential to help stabilise your formula and make sure it works, because they will have input amounts in red.

In our example, we’ve decided to choose ingredients that are easy to source and used the maximum recommended input to make sure our product is going to perform well over its shelf life.

Then… just click Generate Method

Then here is my formula, and here is the method!

Now all you need to do is find your nearest cosmetic ingredient suppliers, order the materials, and get making your fantastic serum formulas!

Once you’ve made one formula, you’ll be keen to make more! With Create Cosmetic Formulas, you have almost limitless formulation creation, and just one low annual subscription.

It really is that simple.

Happy formulating!

 

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Find out which solution is best for you with our simple quiz!
 

Try the create cosmetic formulas program today! We’re so confident you’ll love how it helps you create cosmetic formulas, it comes with a 24-hour money back guarantee.

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