Making 1st batch of Dr. H. Cleansing Cream - HELP!
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free skin care · Sat May 27, 2006 5:17 pm

Hi all!

I've read through the posts on how to make this product, got all the ingredients, and figured it'd be fairly easy...and it probably is for most people! But either I'm a total idiot, or my food processor sucks because I can't get the almond meal ground fine enough to get the paste-like consistency I think it's supposed to have according to the recipe. I basically ended up with a lumpy almond mixture that just doesn't look right...so it's going in the trash! Sad

I'm not throwing in the towel just yet, so if anyone is willing to give some advice as to how they make theirs, I'm all ears! I also recall seeing some posts about using almond butter instead...I'm thinking that might be worth a try. Anyone using that with much success? At the very least, the consistency using the butter has got to be better than what I came up with!

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Mary Smile

free skin care · Sat May 27, 2006 7:08 pm

Mary! GMTA!! I made my first batch last night...LOL I used almond meal that I already had.. Decided to give it a try instead of doing all the grinding.. I think I may need to put the meal thru the processor tho, I'm really not sure..

I'd be interested to know if anyone has used the almond meal instead of grinding their own. And if they ground it more or just used it like that...

free skin care · Sat May 27, 2006 7:34 pm

I'm thinking of trying this, however I don't want to add the vitamin C (its just not good on my skin). I'm planning on making it with Jojoba, EVOO, and castor oil (keeping with the Oil cleansing method). I'm going to add tea tree oil to it as well as the ylang ylang thats listed. I was even thinking of throwing in some Salicylic acid as another member said she added to her OCM. Okay so basically I'm creating a spinoff of this stuff since I'm straying so much from the original recipe. The only thing that scares me is how some people say they purge from this. I'm quite happy with my skin right now and I'm really scared this might happen to me, so that's the only reason I think I'm procrastinating on making it. I haven't done the almond process yet but I figure they don't have to be perfect, just ground so they're scrubby for your skin, so I wouldn't worry about getting it exactly right... If its too abrasive just grind them some more? This is all probably easier said than done I'll find out when I get around to making it. I wouldn't throw it in the trash, at the very least use your first batch of almonds as a body scrub with some oil!

free skin care · Sat May 27, 2006 8:18 pm

Then going by what you said PhoebesMeow, my already ground almond meal is fine.. I did the back and forth thing with my hand.. I did add quite a bit of water to it, once it was in my hot little hands.. That made a differance in what it looked like and how it went on..

I've only done it twice so far, will do it for the 3rd time in just a bit.. So far so good.. I'm hoping that I've taken good enough care of my skin, and I have never had any acne issues, that I won't have any problem... At least nothing big..

free skin care · Sat May 27, 2006 8:54 pm

I would think the almond butter is probably not the route you want to take. If you want it closer to the original DHCC - I would recommend almond meal.

free skin care · Sun May 28, 2006 6:11 am

Thanks for the replies! I guess I'll go looking for almond meal today...I'm thinking it'd be pretty easy to find at the health food store? It would probably help if I had used the origininal Dr. Hauschka's cleanser, so I'd have a better idea of what it's supposed to be like. But if a pasty consistency is what I'm after, it sounds like almond meal would be much easier to work with!

Mary Smile

free skin care · Sun May 28, 2006 7:01 am

Mary,

Whole Foods and Wild Oats carry the almond meal, for sure.. You might even find it at your grocery store..

I have the same thought as you.. It would help if I knew what the original Dr. Hauschka's cleanser was like... I still think I need to grind my meal down a tad... Next time I'm at the health food store I'll see if they have a tester of it.. It seems to me they do..

free skin care · Sun May 28, 2006 7:22 am

Kiki, that's a great idea! I think my local Wild Oats carries the entire Dr. H. line, so I'll go over there and look at the tester!

Mary Smile

free skin care · Sun May 28, 2006 8:49 am

I'm Kiki wrote:

Mary,

Whole Foods and Wild Oats carry the almond meal, for sure.. You might even find it at your grocery store..

I have the same thought as you.. It would help if I knew what the original Dr. Hauschka's cleanser was like... I still think I need to grind my meal down a tad... Next time I'm at the health food store I'll see if they have a tester of it.. It seems to me they do..

My tube of original DHCC is brown with some "loose" oil in it. My homemade DHCC which I made with packaged ground almonds is cream-colored.

I first tried using the ground almonds straight from the package and it was too rough and I never got a paste. Are ground almonds the same as almond meal? hmm

Then I used a small food processor and I did get a paste that was like mashed potatoes. I've added jojoba oil, eo's, and witch hazel. Even with all the oil it was still a little dry to use easily and I had trouble mixing in the water just before using, so I added some distilled water into the whole batch, stirred it all up and it's now a smooth spreadable paste.

The question now is whether the added water will make the homemade go bad faster as it's sitting on the counter. It's only been a couple of days so it still looks good but I'm checking for mold each time before using. Next time I'm going to try using whole almonds and grind it myself since I think that's what the real DHCC uses.

free skin care · Sun May 28, 2006 10:10 am

stardust, Thank you for your description of the original product... I'm not sure if the ground and meal are the same, quite possibly.. I've only had experience with the almond meal... It's on the course side, but not much.. I spose it depends on what you think is course and what you don't.. Does that make sense? No way could it ever become paste, that's for sure.. This is why I think I need to grind it down more..

I think someone mentioned that the brown color comes form using non blanched almonds.. Makes complete sense, as the skin would give it the brown color.. Almond meal is made with blanched almonds, so, no brown color..

I think I may try putting my already made cleanser in the mini cuisinart to see if I get the paste..

I have no idea about adding the water to your batch, and making it go bad faster... Good question! I didn't do that, but I'd like to know as well..

Sun May 28, 2006 9:38 pm

I just made my third batch yesterday. I agree that it's a good idea to try out the actual DCHH first before making your own cos it'll give you a better idea of how you like yours to be. anyhow, I use raw whole organic almonds and add some filtered water to the mix in the food processor. If I don't add the water, the almonds will fly all over the place inside the processor and can never be grinded into a smooth paste. It takes quite a long time to grind just 12-15 almonds and the paste has to be scooped out and redistributed in the processor otherwise it'll not be chopped up evenly. it's not easy, as I remember the first time I made it, it was too grainy for my liking... I also add a wee bit of vit-E oil and a vit-C pill and some oatmeal (got that idea from the Jurlique cleansing cream ingredients) and voila, my homemade DHCC is done. Mine lasts for about 1 week (used once daily) and must be kept in the fridge as I live in humid weather. hth.

free skin care · Mon May 29, 2006 6:38 am

Thanks, Sundae! Sounds like you've got it down to a science with the almond grinding (good idea about adding a little water!), and your other add-ins sound good, too!

Didn't make it to Wild Oats yesterday, but will get there today to check out the real DHCC and get my butt in gear to try a new batch!

Thanks to all for the help! Hope you're having a great holiday weekend... Smile

Mary

free skin care · Mon May 29, 2006 8:31 am

Mary H. wrote:

Thanks, Sundae! Sounds like you've got it down to a science with the almond grinding (good idea about adding a little water!), and your other add-ins sound good, too!

Didn't make it to Wild Oats yesterday, but will get there today to check out the real DHCC and get my butt in gear to try a new batch!

Thanks to all for the help! Hope you're having a great holiday weekend... Smile

Mary

Hmmmm - and why didn't Mary make it to Wild Oats yesterday?? Because she's been without adult supervision this weekend and being a lazy bones.... Laughing

free skin care · Mon May 29, 2006 8:48 am

Candy, you know me too well! Laughing

Not having the hubby (a.k.a. "adult supervision") around this weekend has definitely made my lazy side come out full force! I've spent quite a lot of "quality time" with the couch, TV, computer and trashy magazines...so perhaps today I can redeem myself by making a decent batch of DHCC! Laughing

Mary

free skin care · Mon May 29, 2006 9:10 am

Mary H. wrote:

Candy, you know me too well! Laughing

Not having the hubby (a.k.a. "adult supervision") around this weekend has definitely made my lazy side come out full force! I've spent quite a lot of "quality time" with the couch, TV, computer and trashy magazines...so perhaps today I can redeem myself by making a decent batch of DHCC! Laughing

Mary

That's ok. Wait til next month. Hubby leaves for 10 days on Canada fishing trip (no means of communication Bad Grin

woohoo!) & Jake goes to Grandmas in Florida!! Party!! ~gonna party like it's my birthday~ Candy<---shakin' what her mama gave her! ROFLMAO!!

http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=2&pmmsid=1645315

(Just swiped this one from another thread!)

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