How to make your own natural skin cream
Abstract
“PFAS (High Fluorinated Substances) is a group of over 4,700 chemicals that are water and dirt repellent. They are used as surface treatment in many products, such as clothing, shoes, food packaging and frying pans. They are available in fire foams, beauty products, furniture fabrics and electronics. All PFAS are created by man. The first ones started to be used as early as the 1950s, but new uses have made the emissions accelerate in recent decades. It is only recently that we have begun to understand how dangerous and widespread these substances are. In the early 2000s, reports came that PFAS could be found worldwide, from the blood of factory workers to polar bears far away in the Arctic. This led to PFOS being banned in 2008, and PFOA being banned in December 2020. However, several of the substitutes are suspected to be equally problematic but are still allowed. And new, completely untested PFAS substances continue to emerge in the market. The EU’s new strategy, it looks like a PFAS ban in consumer products could become a reality, but such processes can take a long time. We want a stop for PFAS in Sweden as soon as possible.”
Source: https://naturskyddsforeningen.se
The Swedish Society of Nature Conservation
In this activity, students can learn about the many chemical products found in most cosmetic products, as well as how to protect their health and the environment by making conscious choices what to put on their skin – our largest organ and make some products from the Natural Kingdom. At the same time, learners will be able to develop basis skills such as simple calculations, association of concepts, green and ecological skills.
The exercise will serve as an inspiration to experiment with natural ingredients to make cosmetic products scents and natural herbs and oils for body and soul and for a deeper understanding of hidden chemicals in everyday life and how we all can help to minimize them.
This activity can be developed individually by learners or as a pair activity (2 learners) that shall be focused on the positive use of natural products on the body.
Learning Outcomes
Description of learning outcomes: The learners will learn how to avoid certain chemicals and to use natural material on their body
- Define PFAS
- Recall the names of PSAS
- Relate to natural things on the skin
- Identify and select ingredients for the cream
- Identify herbs for the skin
- List the steps to make a cream
- Apply the recipe to make a cream
- Identify EU Eco label for cosmetic
- Explain the importance of using eco friendly products to protect the environment
- Design other things from the Nature
Author
Language
English
Difficulty
Basic
Main Topics
Duration
1 – 2 hours
Keywords
Preparation of the Activity
The activity shall be implemented in 4 stages:
- Theoretical input how chemicals exist in our everyday life
- Theoretical input of healing herbs
- Preparation of mixtures
- Using it and discuss with peers and friends
Preparation of the activity
- NOTE: Herb oil. In order for the active substances of the plants to be extracted, it is important to use cold-pressed oil (Virgin). Olive oil has the longest shelf life. Put the herbs you want to use fresh or dried in a glass jar, 1 dl dried to 3-4 dl oil and leave in a sunny window for 4-8 weeks.If you do not have time to wait for it, you can set the glass jar without a lid in the oven at 60-70 degrees for 4-8 hours. Then strain through a cloth or coffee filter. Place them dark. Good herbs for skin are:Dew cover, violet, juniper, roses and lavender. Below is also a recipe of a cream without herbal oil.
- Locality: laboratory or kitchen
- Identify material about chemicals in cosmetic products , links, articles,
- Identify healing proprieties in herbs, books, articles
- Check the description and change to cultural conditions if necessary
- Identify which herbs and flowers to use for its chemical properties and fragrances
- Acquire the raw material for production
- Duplicate the paper regarding the chemicals that are PFAS but have other names to everyone in
Implementation
- Explain the objectives of the activity and the theoretical principles connected to the learning outcome
- Explain the chemicals that are included in cosmetic.
- Share the paper of chemicals (PFAS) to watch out for.
- Inspire to look for more material about natural products
- Show the EUs label
- Distribute the handout and allow the students to read through and understand it. Answer any doubts that can be raised by the learners and ask them to share their ideas.
- Highlight the chemical processes that are being carried out and compare with a purchased skin cream
- Motivate and inspire for healthier choices
- Allow for flexibility: motivate the learners for creative solutions in case of unexpected difficulty.
Assessment/Evaluation
- After concluding the activity, evaluate the pros and cons of making natural products.
- Discuss the different types of chemicals hidden in every day products.
- Evaluate their level of satisfaction of the activity and conclude if they have been inspired to continue experimenting with products made in-house, in an informal discussion
Follow Up
The follow up of this activity is a key part of the activity:
- This exercise can be connected to other STEAM People activities.
- Learners can use it as a starting point to go into further investigations regarding
- The use of natural products, health and environmental issues-
Source: https://skane.naturskyddsforeningen.se
The Swedish Society of Nature Conservation
Book: Gunilla Kvarnström “Örter på lätt sätt”
Eco label for cosmetics
Do you want to look for PFAS in your own products?
Look in the table of contents for:
- PTFE
- Polytef
- All words that contain “perfluoro” or “polyfluoro”.
- And some specials:
- C9-15 (or C8-18) Fluoroalcohol Phosphate
- Decafluoropentane
- Dimethiconol Fluoroalcohol Dilinoleic Acid
- Trifluoropropyl Dimethiconol
- Octafluoropentyl Methacrylate
Description and Required Material
Create Skin cream, deodorant and toothpaste
“PFAS (High Fluorinated Substances) is a group of over 4,700 chemicals that are water and dirt repellent. They are used as surface treatment in many products, such as clothing, shoes, food packaging and frying pans. They are available in fire foams, beauty products, furniture fabrics and electronics. All PFAS are created by man. The first ones started to be used as early as the 1950s, but new uses have made the emissions accelerate in recent decades. It is only recently that we have begun to understand how dangerous and widespread these substances are. In the early 2000s, reports came that PFAS could be found worldwide, from the blood of factory workers to polar bears far away in the Arctic. This led to PFOS being banned in 2008, and PFOA being banned in December 2020. However, several of the substitutes are suspected to be equally problematic but are still allowed. And new, completely untested PFAS substances continue to emerge in the market .In the EU’s new strategy, it looks like a PFAS ban on consumer products may become a reality, but such processes can take a very long time. We want a stop for PFAS in Sweden as soon as possible.”
Do you want to look for PFAS in your own products? Look at the table for PSAS in your own products:
- PTFE
- Polytef
- All words that contain “perfluoro” or “polyfluoro”.
And some specials:
C9-15 (or C8-18) Fluoroalcohol Phosphate
- Decafluoropentane
- Dimethiconol Fluoroalcohol Dilinoleic Acid
- Trifluoropropyl Dimethiconol
- Octafluoropentyl Methacrylate
Source: https://naturskyddsforeningen.se
The Swedish Society of Nature Conservation
Note: Preparations of Herbal oil takes time. But below is also a cream without herbal oil.
In order for the active substances of the plants to be extracted, it is important to use cold-pressed oil (Virgin). Olive oil has the longest shelf life. Put the herbs you want to use fresh or dried in a glass jar, 1 dl dried to 3-4 dl oil and leave in a sunny window for 4-8 weeks. If you do not have time to wait for it, you can set the glass jar without a lid in the oven at 60-70 degrees for 4-8 hours. Then strain through a cloth or coffee filter. Place them dark.
Good herbs for skin are: marigold. Dew cover, violet, juniper, roses and lavender.
Herbal tea
Choose the herbs you want in your cream. Put them in a stainless steel saucepan (note not aluminum) cover with water and cook them for 15 minutes. Strain them. Made the same day they are to be used.
Preparation of a skin cream and deodorant
Think about all the chemical products you heard about in cosmetics and start to produce these natural products to use on your body.
Required Material
A stove
Small pots
Small jars
A whisk
A Kitchen scale
A spoon
A sieve
Herbs
Water
Oil, olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil
Cacao butter
Beeswax
essential oil optional
Your Task
Get ready for the activity!
Eco label for cosmetics
The first steps..
- Read through the handout
- Decide what to do
- Collect materials for production
- Choose herbs
Consider..
Do not use anything that you are allergic to
Do it..
Steps for the construction
RECIPE SKIN CREAM: without herbal oil
20 g beeswax
5 g cocoa butter
1/2 dl sesame oil
1/2 tbsp flaxseed oil
45 g coconut oil
You can change the oil to olive oil and you can use herbal oil
- Grate the beeswax into pieces and place in a small saucepan.
- Heat water in a large saucepan so that it gets really hot but it must not boil. Immerse the small saucepan with the beeswax pieces in the hot water bath
- Melt the beeswax. It melts at 63 degrees
- Add the cocoa butter.
- Gently stir in sesame oil, coconut oil and flaxseed oil.
- Stir until everything has a custard-like consistency without lumps. It takes a while. Then the ointment is ready. If you like it softer add coconut oil.
- Pour the ointment into well-cleaned glass jars of handy size. Lasts for 3 – 4 months but longer if kept cold. The ointment is good for normal to dry skin. It can be used on the whole body, even as an oily cream for the face. It has a faint scent of coconut. If you want to give the ointment more fragrance, you can use some organic essential oil as an additive.
Beeswax cream
It contains as much water as oil
50 ml of herbal tea
40 ml of herbal oil
20 grams of bees wax
- Boil herbs with water, see above herbal tea
- Heat the herbal oil
- Crumble the beeswax in the herb oil and let it simmer.
- Heat herbal tea to 70 degrees
- Pour the tea into the oil mixture. Whisk constantly until cool
- If necessary, add essential organic oil
- Pour into jar
- If it solidifies too quickly and cannot be poured, reheat and try again
RECIPE BEESWAX CREAM
It contains as much water as oil
50 ml of herbal tea
40 ml of herbal oil
20 grams of bees wax
- Boil herbs with water, see above herbal tea
- Heat the herbal oil
- Crumble the beeswax in the herb oil and let it simmer.
- Heat herbal tea to 70 degrees
- Pour the tea into the oil mixture. Whisk constantly until cool
- It is possible to add essential organic oil
- Pour into jar
- If it solidifies too quickly and cannot be poured, reheat and try again
RECIPE DEODORANT
3 tablespoons potato flour (or other starch; arrowroot)
1 tablespoon bicarbonate
2 tablespoons coconut oil (organic and ” virgin “)
- Melt the coconut oil in a hot water bath. Coconut oil melts at about 40 degrees.
- Mix the potato flour and the bicarbonate in a separate bowl.
- Pour in the liquid coconut oil and stir so that it becomes a smooth batter. Pour into jars.
- Stir once every half hour during the first two hours so that the deodorant does not layer.
You use the deodorant by touching your finger a little and lubricating under the arm. Bicarbonate is bactericidal.
Note that:
Be careful
The result..
What to do with it?
Use it.
If inspired continue into further investigation about homemade cosmetics.
