Cosmetic Formulation: Sebum Control Facial Oil

 

Image Credit: Photo created by jcomp - www.freepik.com

Anhydrous (meaning “without water”) facial serum is the easiest cosmetic product to make for beginner formulators. So it’s no surprise that after I mastered the art of making lip balm, facial oil was next on my DIY experiment list.

Since I have a super oily skin, I tried to formulate a facial oil with the following properties:

• Lightweight, non-greasy and has fast absorption rate
• Can regulate sebum production
• Has antibacterial properties to fight pimple-causing bacteria
• Has anti-inflammatory properties to prevent or reduce skin inflammation
• Has skin cell renewal properties to reduce the appearance of acne scars
• Uses carrier oils with comedogenic rating not greater than 2 in order to not clog pores
• Uses carrier oils that are high in linoleic acid. Oils high in linoleic acid (an omega-6 polyunsaturated essential fatty acid) are thinner and lighter in consistency, therefore more suitable for those with oily/acne-prone skin.

Having the above mentioned properties, I selected the following ingredients for this sebum control facial oil:

Grapeseed Oil

Grapeseed oil is a lightweight, odorless and non-greasy carrier oil that is made up of 69.6% linoleic acid. Its astringent and anti-inflammatory properties also help cleanse and tighten the pores, as well as reduce skin inflammations (e.g. pimples). Moreover, grapeseed oil has a comedogenic rating of 2 which is moderately low and still considered as non-comedogenic. All of these properties make grapeseed oil an important ingredient when making facial serum that balances sebum production and reduces the chance of acne breakouts.

Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is a liquid wax (not a vegetable oil) that balances sebum production, making the skin less oily. In fact, the wax esters of jojoba oil is said to be similar to the human skin sebum. FYI, the human skin sebum is composed of approximately 25% wax esters. Being a liquid wax, jojoba oil is also an occlusive which means that it can form a protective layer on skin surface to prevent moisture loss. It has a comedogenic rating of 2.

Rosehip Oil

Rosehip oil is known as one of the best anti-aging carrier oils and it contains about 51.2% linoleic acid. It is considered as a “dry” oil because it gets absorb so fast and won’t leave any greasy residue, perfect for oily-skin people! It also has a comedogenic rating of 1 which means that it has a very low chance of clogging your pores. Moreover, the beta-carotene in rosehip oil has the ability to regenerate skin cells so it can help reduce the appearance of acne scars.

Lavender Essential Oil

The antibacterial property of lavender essential oil helps prevent or fight pimple-causing bacteria. It can also aid in the healing process of acne scars.

Frankincense Essential Oil

Aside from being antiseptic and astringent, frankincense essential oil is also cytophylactic which means that it can help in regeneration of new skin cells.

Vitamin E

Carrier oils that are high in linoleic acid typically have shorter shelf life (they get rancid easily). The addition of Vitamin E (an antioxidant) in this facial oil formulation can slow down the rancidity rate of carrier oils.

Formula

(Makes 30 grams)

Ingredient	Weight (%)	Weight (g)
Phase A
Grapeseed Oil	63.5	19.1
Jojoba Oil	30	9
Rosehip Oil	5	1.5
Vitamin E	1	0.3
Frankincense Essential Oil	0.3	0.09
Lavender Essential Oil	0.2	0.06
	100	30

Instructions

1. Blend all phase A ingredients in a beaker.
2. Pour the mixture into a dropper or gel pump bottle.

Notes:

• I only used 5% rosehip oil in the formulation because I don’t want my facial oil to be too orangey in color (which is a typical characteristic of rosehip oil). Rosehip oil is also quite expensive and I want this to be a low-cost formulation that’s why I didn’t add much.
• Since this is a facial oil, I only used 0.5% total of essential oils because I don’t want something with strong scent applied on my face. The maximum dermal limit is also put into consideration for each essential oils used in this formulation. 

Where I bought the ingredients (Philippine-based)

• Carrier Oils - Cedar Alley
• Vitamin E - Cedar Alley
• Essentials Oils - Zellaroma

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