Posted by Les Mauvaises Herbes
If you know us even a little, you know we're obsessed with bakuchiol extract, our favourite active ingredient! It's great for evening out skin tone and preventing breakouts and premature aging. We actually wrote a whole article about it!
The great thing about this extract is that you can either add it to a recipe, or add it to a product you already have (like your favourite face cream), as long as it contains water, since our bakuchiol extract is water-soluble – it dissolves in water-based phases (water, hydrosols, floral waters, aloe gel and juice...).
How do you mix it in?
Generally, you can mix your bakuchiol extract directly into your jar of cream (or other product containing a water phase). To properly incorporate it, use a fork or a small stainless-steel whisk sanitized with 70% isopropyl alcohol from the pharmacy. If your product is in a tube, or you don't want to add bakuchiol to your whole supply of product, we suggest transferring the amount of your choice into a sanitized jar. We suggest our amber glass jars in 30 ml, 55 ml, or 125 ml, because being tinted, they slow down rancidity and the breakdown of ingredients, but also because they're super cute!
How many drops?
For dosage, we recommend starting with the minimum concentration to make sure your skin reacts well and you're not sensitive to bakuchiol (very rare, but it can happen!). If your skin is sensitive and reactive, keep using the minimum concentration; that's plenty to see results! If you know your skin is resilient and tolerant, you can increase the dosage, but don't go over the maximum.
- 0.5 to 1% for the face
- 1 to 3% for the body
Doesn't mean much to you? Don't worry, we made a calculator so you don't need to weigh your products and do math to figure out how much bakuchiol to add to your care products! You just need to know the amount of product you want to dilute the bakuchiol into, and the concentration you want to use.
Good to know
To avoid going over the recommended dosage, we recommend using only one product containing bakuchiol in your care routine. That said, nothing stops you from using another one later in the day.
1. Your face cream
Since our bakuchiol extract needs to be mixed into a preparation containing water, moisturizing cream is the perfect product!
You can add bakuchiol to any face cream, whether store-bought or homemade. Just make sure your cream is a true moisturizing cream and not a face butter. Water should be listed among the first ingredients, as Water or Aqua.
We actually have two lovely face creams to suggest: the chamomile cream for sensitive and normal skin, and the marshmallow cream for dry skin.
2. A hydrosol of your choice
A hydrosol is water infused with the cosmetic properties of plants, extracted through steam distillation. You can add them to recipes, but you can also spritz them on your face as a toner. It's a great product to mix bakuchiol into!
For a 110 ml bottle (our spray bottle size), add 16 to 32 drops of bakuchiol, shake well, and spritz on your face morning and/or night.
Since our hydrosols don't contain preservatives, be sure to keep them in the fridge to prevent bacteria growth, and for a refreshing, tightening bonus effect for free!
Our different hydrosols:
Geranium: for skin with imperfections, dullness, or tightness
Orange blossom: for irritated, dry, sensitive, or redness-prone skin
Lavender: for sensitive, blemish-prone, combination, or oily skin
Witch hazel: for sagging, combination, or oily skin, or enlarged pores
Balsam fir: for tired, combination, or oily skin
Damask rose: for mature, sensitive, and delicate skin
Hydrosols are great for facial care, but you can also spritz them on your body before applying your moisturizing cream for a hydration boost!
We also recommend trying our express bakuchiol toner recipe!
Recette · Beginner
Bakuchiol express tonic
This toner is the perfect ally for faces seeking softness and renewal! A simple and luminous recipe thanks to the ingredients it contains: orange blossom, bakuchiol & vegetable glycerin. A gentle blend that soothes, tones, stimulates cell regeneration, and preserves hydration, for supple, soft, and radiant skin.
Préparation10 min
Conservation12 months
Rendement100 ml
3. Your hand cream
After our face, our hands are probably the part of our body most exposed to sun and weather, and we often forget to take care of them; the skin on our hands tends to be dry and to age prematurely. Adding bakuchiol, an antioxidant, helps preserve skin health and minimize the effects of UV rays.
We recommend our repairing cream for hands and feet and our oat body cream, but you can add our bakuchiol extract to any store-bought hand cream! You can also go ahead and make our luxury bakuchiol hand cream recipe!
Recette · Advanced
Luxury bakuchiol hand cream
Our hands do so much for us, in addition to being constantly exposed to the sun, household products, pollution… The ingredients in this luxurious cream help prevent premature skin aging and reduce the appearance of dark spots, while deeply hydrating.
Préparation45 minutes
Conservation6 months to 1 year
Rendementabout 100 ml
4. Your night treatment
Whether it's our hyaluronic acid overnight mask or another repairing cream or lotion, regenerating treatments can always benefit from added bakuchiol to boost their action. Add bakuchiol the same way you would to a moisturizing cream.
5. A water-based serum
The serums we offer in our shop are oil-based, so not ideal for diluting bakuchiol! However, you'll find a wide range of water-based serums on the market that you can add bakuchiol to like there's no tomorrow!
You can create your own water-based serum by combining distilled water or a hydrosol, clear xanthan gum, and a preservative. It's a more complex recipe than an oil serum, requiring precise measurements (so you don't end up with a jello cube!) and sterilizing your equipment (so you don't throw a mold party), but you can easily find recipes and ingredients online.
6. A two-phase serum
Without going as far as making a water-based gel serum, you can whip up a two-phase serum.
Unlike an emulsion, where an oil phase and a water phase are mixed homogeneously and permanently, a two-phase product contains two separate phases that you mix together by shaking the bottle right before use.
A two-phase serum contains a water phase (a hydrosol and/or aloe juice or gel) and an oil phase (one or more vegetable oils). Use this recipe as a base for your custom blend. It's a really easy and satisfying type of DIY to make! Just remember that you need to calculate the amount of bakuchiol to add based on the water phase only, not the volume of the entire recipe, since it will only dissolve in the water phase.
Recette · Beginner
Biphasic Chamomile and Aloe Facial Serum
This bi-phase serum is made up of an aqueous phase and an oily phase, intentionally unemulsified. Lighter than a cream, it is hydrating, nourishing, emollient, healing, and soothing thanks to its ingredients. Suitable for all skin types, but acne-prone, reactive, and mature skin will particularly appreciate it.
Préparation10 min
Conservation12 months
Rendement50 ml
7. Aloe gel
Since aloe gel contains a good amount of water, it's an ideal product to dilute bakuchiol into! It's a perfect minimalist treatment for the face and body. We suggest applying an oil serum or moisturizing cream after the gel to properly seal in hydration; it would be a shame for all that good water to evaporate!
8. Flaxseed gel
We know flaxseed gel as a styling product for curly hair, but it can also serve as a hydrating, soothing skin treatment. It's a lifesaver after a sunburn or when our skin is especially dry or dehydrated.
Apply flaxseed gel to your skin (face or body), and leave on for 15 minutes before rinsing with water. Flaxseed gel creates a protective, hydrating film on the skin, but it can create a slight tightness as it dries. Some people actually love this tightening effect for a "lifted" feel, but others prefer to rinse it off. As with aloe gel, always follow this treatment with an oil serum or moisturizing cream to lock in hydration!
To create a leave-on treatment, you can combine a few drops of flaxseed gel (enriched with bakuchiol) with an equal amount of vegetable oil in the palm of your hand before applying it to your face or body.
The gel keeps for about a week in the fridge; prepare the amount you need accordingly!
Recette · Beginner
Flaxseed gel for a pampered mane!
What if I told you I’d found THE miracle solution for taming your curls naturally? Oh, I really have! The only risk is that your hair will get healthier and healthier. So, here’s an ULTRA simple, affordable, natural flaxseed gel. The perfect alternative to store-bought mousse or gel—Marie
Préparation15 min
Conservation1-2 weeks (fridge)
Rendement250 ml
9. Cream conditioner
There haven't been any large-scale studies (yet!) on the benefits of bakuchiol in hair care, but its effects on the skin can easily be extrapolated to the scalp. Bakuchiol helps regulate sebum production, soothe sensitive skin, and could help reduce the appearance of dandruff thanks to its antibacterial effect, and make hair look less dull and less prone to breakage thanks to its antioxidant effect.
You can add a drop or two of bakuchiol to your conditioner before applying it to your scalp and lengths, then leave it on for at least 5 minutes before rinsing. Since we use a fair amount of conditioner and it's a product that gets rinsed out quickly, you don't need to be as precise with your bakuchiol dosage as you would with a face cream, for example.
10. Your spray or cream deodorant
If you use a hydrosol-based spray deodorant, or milk of magnesia, you can mix in bakuchiol to pamper your underarms! Bakuchiol will help soothe irritation caused by shaving and friction from clothing and sweat, but also reduce and prevent hyperpigmentation.
Try our floral deodorant, or the super effective (even legendary) milk of magnesia deodorant!
Recette · Beginner
Milk of Magnesia Deodorant
Here's a recipe for a milk of magnesia deodorant, without baking soda, and frankly astonishing in its effectiveness! Like baking soda, milk of magnesia is alkaline. However, even though it's composed of insoluble molecules (hence its milky appearance), it's not abrasive and is suitable for sensitive underarms.
Préparation3 min
Conservation6 months
Rendement50 ml
As you can see, there's no shortage of ideas for showcasing the fantastic, extraordinary, remarkable bakuchiol! (Can you tell we're obsessed?)
Remember that you need to add it to a product that contains water (aqua or water in the ingredient list) or a water phase, and avoid adding it to a product that ALREADY contains it! The concentration has already been calculated, so you don't want to go over it.
