Imagine infusing your homemade skincare creations with the golden essence of South African honeybush.
You read it correctly: I’m talking about that lovely herb, similar to rooibos (but with a better and smoother taste) that you drink from time to time when relaxing on your favorite chair reading a book. Even if still not that known in the DIY skincare world, honeybush is suitable for cosmetic use as well and you’ll be surprised to know how many interesting properties it has.
Let’s discover together the skincare benefits of honeybush and how to make an extract to use in your DIY cosmetics formulas.
The benefits of honeybush in skincare
Antioxidant: one of the most celebrated attributes of honeybush extract are its remarkable antioxidant properties due to polyphenols, protecting your skin from free radical damage, which is a key factor in premature aging.
Collagen degradation Inhibition: honeybush inhibits certain enzymes that break down collagen and elastin in our skin. This means that your DIY formulations with honeybush extract could help maintain skin's firmness and elasticity.
Soothing: If, like me, you like designing DIY cosmetics for sensitive or irritated skin, honeybush extract might become your new best friend. Its soothing properties make it an excellent addition to calming face masks or after-sun lotions.
Why Choose Extracts Over Herbal Teas?
If you want to benefit from all the wonderful properties of honeybush extract at the best, you should make your own extract. Don't worry if you've never done it before, it’s actually very easy! You only need a little bit of patience waiting for the maceration process to do its magic, and follow a few simple steps.
While herbal teas can be great for quick, on-the-spot face masks, they aren't ideal for homemade cosmetic formulations that you plan to store and use over time. Why?
They have a short shelf life, are prone to microbial contamination and oxidation, and even with additives, they don’t last long. Also, they are less concentrated and effective than extracts, making them unsuitable for stored products. For longer-lasting, safe and more potent DIY Cosmetics, extracts are a much better option.
Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Honeybush Extract
To make a honeybush extract you should soak honeybush in a solvent for 2 weeks. It's easy, it just takes a bit of patience while waiting for the magic to happen!
- Hydroalcoholic Extract (50% Alcohol / 50% Water): This option is the most effective for extracting honeybush's beneficial compounds, as it captures both water-soluble and alcohol-soluble components. The ideal choice if you're looking for a potent, versatile extract to use in your DIY cosmetics. While it does contain alcohol, using this extract at the suggested rate of 5% in your formulation means you’re only introducing around 2.5% alcohol into the final product.
- Glycerin/Water/Alcohol Extract (33.3% Alcohol / 33.3% Water / 33.3% Glycerin): If you're concerned about the alcohol content, this option offers a well-balanced alternative that's still effective. By using this solvent mix, the amount of alcohol you'll be adding to your final formula (when using 5% of this extract) will be about 1.6%. This makes it a great middle ground if you want a bit of everything – effective extraction with less alcohol content. It's a versatile choice, offering a milder alcohol content compared to standard hydroalcoholic extracts, retaining good extraction efficiency.
- Glycerin/Water Extract - Alcohol-Free (50% Glycerin / 50% Water): For those who prefer to avoid alcohol completely, you can make an extract using just water and glycerin as the solvent. While this method is gentler and ideal for very sensitive skin, it won't be as potent in extracting some of the bioactive compounds found in honeybush. However, it's still a wonderful choice if you want an extract with added hydrating properties, thanks to the glycerin.
Remember, if you use 5% of this extract in your formulation, you'll also be adding around 2.5% glycerin from the extract itself. This means you might want to reconsider adding extra glycerin to your formula, as too much can make it sticky or heavy, especially in face cosmetics.
Tip: For a well-balanced extract, use a 50% water and 50% glycerin ratio. It ensures better preservation and helps maintain a good consistency. Although this method is self-preserving, homemade extracts can be prone to contamination. To be on the safe side, consider adding a 0,6% of preservative like Cosgard or Isocide. It’s always better to be cautious with homemade DIY extracts!
How to Make Honeybush Extract
- First things first, prepare your solvent.
You can choose one of the options I mentioned earlier:
- 50% Alcohol / 50% Water
- 33.3% Alcohol / 33.3% Water / 33.3% Glycerin
- 50% Glycerin / 50% Water
For example, if you want to make a 50% alcohol/50% water solvent, mix 100 g of water with 100 g of alcohol.
- Next, take a clean glass container and add your honeybush. Make sure the container is sanitized to avoid any contamination. Pour the solvent over the honeybush until it’s fully covered. Give it a little stir to ensure all parts are soaked.
- Let it work its magic for around 2 weeks, giving it a shake now and then to help with the extraction process.
- After 2 weeks, it's time to filter. Start with a colander to remove the larger pieces of the plant. You’ll be left with a liquid that still contains some finer particles, so you’ll need to filter it again using a paper filter and a funnel. Be patient, sometimes it can take a while for all the liquid to pass through, but this step is key to getting a cleaner extract without any tiny particles.
- Pour the finished extract into a dark bottle and label it with the date and the name. This helps protect it from light and keeps it fresh. You can store it for around 1 year if kept in a cool, dark place.
How to Use Your Honeybush Extract in DIY Cosmetics
Extracts are typically added at around 5%, but you can go up to 10% if you want a stronger concentration. If your extract is quite concentrated (e.g., if you used 10 g of plant material and obtained 10 g of liquid extract, making it a 1:1 extract), you can even use lower percentages, around 3%.
Find my DIY Cosmetics recipes here!
Where to Buy Honeybush?
Honeybush is pretty easy to find, check your local herbal or tea shop. You can also find it on Amazon or other online store.
On Amazon you can find Glycerin, Alcohol and Cosgard (or Isocida) as well. They are also easy to find in any DIY Cosmetics store.