Condo Blues: How to Make Reusable Rosacea Makeup Remover Wipes

Sunday, April 12, 2015

How to Make Reusable Rosacea Makeup Remover Wipes

April is Rosacea Awareness Month. Although for me the horrible scars on my forehead that I shamefully hide with my bangs reminds me that every day is Rosacea Awareness Month.

You can’t cure rosacea (bummer) but you can control it and minimize breakouts and flares. The problem is that everyone who has rosacea may have different things that trigger it and it may not respond to the exact same treatment for every person who has it (another bummer.)

In my personal experience, the only way I got my disfiguring rosacea under control was with a specialist dermatologist after years of trying every home acne treatment I could find. Once my doctor got my skin cleared up with medication, we moved on to ways I can reduce my rosacea flares without meds.




make rosasea makeup remover pads



Before we go any further, let me remind you that I’m not a doctor. I strongly suggest that you see a dermatologist if you have acne that never goes away or you suspect your constant red face is rosacea.

The National Rosacea Society has some good information and resources if you need them.  This isn't an ad. I find them helpful if I have a question in between doctor's appointments.

Unfortunately, may of the suggestions like using lemon juice or a tea tree oil as a cleanser didn’t do much for me either way. It works for others but the only thing I got out of the deal is learning that I hate the smell of tea tree oil. It’s frustrating but I’m a little glad tea tree oil doesn't work for me Smile.

Many people claim washing with pine tar soap controls their eczema. Figuring I had nothing to lose so I gave washing my face with pine tar soap to control my rosacea a try.   Over time, the redness in face went down, although using a bar soap, even one that has coconut oil in it, made my skin feel a little dry afterward.

Fortunately, I got a kukiu oil moisturizer to review around that time and my skin cleared up when I used it after I washed my face with pine tar soap.  I’ve tried different combinations of using one product and not the other but for my skin and my rosacea it needs the one two punch of pine tar soap and kukui oil.

Rosacea Face Cleaning Wipe Tutorial


You will need:

1 bar of Pine Tar Soap or liquid Pine Tar soap (Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap is my favorite)

Kukui oil (I buy mine from Amazon here because I can't find it locally) - It can be expensive.  A little goes a long way though especially if it still works for you when mix a few drops into another cleanser (see this tutorial) or in your daily moisturizer.

Food processor or cheese grater - This is the exact mini food chopper I use 

10 cups of water (some recommend distilled water so the pads won't mold in the jar over time. I use regular water but make mine in small batches and use them twice a day to keep that from happening. So use your best judgement on what type of water you want to use.)

Pot

Spoon

Stove

Measuring cup and spoons

Makeup remover pads (learn how I make reusable terry cloth makeup remover pads here), washcloths, disposable cotton rounds, etc.

Jar or container

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

Make It:

1.  If you can find liquid pine tar soap, you can skip Steps 2 – 3 where we will turn bar soap into liquid soap so we can use it to make rosacea face cleaning wipes.

2. Use the food processor or cheese grater to grate the bar of soap into the teeniest, tiniest, pieces possible to make one cup of soap flakes.

how to make soap flakes_retouch
Not grating my bar soap into the smallest pieces possible is the reason why I epic failed turning bar soap into a usable liquid soap in the past.

3. Stir and dissolve the soap flakes into 10 cups of heated water on the stove.

make liquid soap from bar soap
I used Soapworks Pine Tar soap for this tutorial because I thought the green color would look like something you might like to try rather than the questionable brown color of Grandpa’s Pine Tar soap. I don’t like it as well. I think the Soapworks is more drying than Grandpa’s but it still works.

4. Make sure the soap flakes have dissolved completely before removing the liquefied soap flakes from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool completely.

make bar soap into liquid soap
Most folks recommend using distilled water so the pads will not mold since this experiment does not have preservatives. I use filtered water from our tap and make it in small batches so I go through a batch quickly enough so it will not mildew.

5. Depending upon the size of your container, the number of makeup remover pads you will store in it, and how saturated with soap you like them to be (is that enough caveats for ya?) I mixed 2 tablespoons of liquid pine tar soap with one cup of water.

6. Add two tablespoons of kukui oil to the liquid soap mixture. You might want to add a little more if you think the pine tar soap you are using is too drying. My skin feels a little dry after I wash it no matter what I use and already have a habit of following up with a good moisturizer.

7. Put the makeup pads into your container and pour the pine tar soap and kukui oil mixture over it. I like to screw the lid on the jar and turn the jar over a few times to make sure the makeup remover pads are fully saturated with cleanser.

eco friendly makeup remover wipes
I bought fancy olives because I wanted to use the cool jar for a project.
Does anyone else do that ? 

8. To use: remove a pad from the jar and use it to wash your face and remove your makeup. I like to rinse the pad out and use it to wipe the soap off my face (unlike I what I do with commercial wipes which I suspect isn’t the best thing to do. Do you know either way?)

9. I put the dirty reusable makeup remover pads in a lingerie bag and toss the whole thing in the washing machine to clean them. I wash my reusable makeup remover wipes in a lingerie bag to keep the washer and the dryer from eating them. 

When I’m traveling, I use this tutorial to make disposable rosacea makeup remover wipes. I switch my handmade makeup pads with cotton makeup pads from the store so I have extra room in my suitcase on the trip back home.

I’m mentioning it as an option if you want a disposable option. I won’t judge you either way in Condo Blues Land we’re all about green living options, not absolutes!

If you'd rather buy than DIY check out the following options - and more! below!

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