Caffeine & Cucumber Under Eye Gel
An under eye gel is an ideal addition to your summer and festive season skincare routine. Feeling like you need a bit of a skin pick-me-up, or need to depuff after one too many the night before? Our under eye gel is deliciously cooling, smells like fresh cucumber and does the trick!
Our gelling agent of choice here is going to be hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). I love the gel it makes because it is clear and non-sticky. You could use xanthan gum instead, however on its own I sometimes find it a little tacky feeling, and we don’t want that in an eye gel.
I’m using quite a small amount of HEC because I want the gel to be runny enough that it pumps out nicely from a pump dispenser bottle. You could make it thicker by increasing the HEC amount to 0.75% or even 1% if you prefer a thicker gel.
The nice thing about certain gels such as hydroxyethyl cellulose, is that they are able to carry small amounts of oils without the need for an emulsifier. I chose cucumber for its divine scent and wonderful skin properties, and while you could swap it for any other oil I really wouldn’t want you to miss out on the cucumber experience!
Keep in mind that adding the oil does take away a little of the gel’s clarity.
Caffeine powder does the de-puffing job, and some added allantoin soothes the skin. I used the smallest amount of caffeine because I always formulate for sensitive skins. If your skin can handle more then feel free to increase the caffeine a little. It's max usage rate is 2%.
Ready to make your own? Let’s go:
Caffeine & Cucumber Under Eye Gel
2% cucumber oil
2% propanediol
93.8% fresh boiling water/ tea infusion
0.2% caffeine powder
0.5% allantoin
1% Saliguard BDHA / Geogard 221
In a beaker, add the caffeine and allantoin to the freshly boiled water and stir to dissolve. In a separate beaker, mix the HEC and the propanediol together to create a slurry, then slowly stir in the caffeine water. Blend with a stick blender until a smooth gel is formed. The mixture will probably still be quite hot, so allow it time to cool and any bubbles to dissipate. Then stir in the cucumber oil and the preservative, and mix well to make sure they are fully incorporated.
Check the pH to skin friendly levels of 4.5-5.5, and pour into a bottle
Apply to clean skin.
4 comments
Hi Elize, the glycerine is in place of cucumber glycerite which isn’t readily available in SA (unless you make your own). You did the right thing by using the glycerine – please do not replace the cucumber glycerite for cucumber oil. You can replace the other oil in the formula with cucumber oil if you wish however.
Hi, i did the Formula Botanica eye serum course a week ago.
i got my kit from Eseentially Natural, in the formula i needed cucumber clycerite, but used the clycerine instead.
will i be able to use the cucumber oil instead of the clycerine in that formulatin?
Hi Youssef, the gelling agent is the hydroxyethyl cellulose. Gels and serums both can use gelling agents, the difference will be in the other ingredients.
hi. hope you are in agood health
where is the gelling agent and what is the differance betweei it and the serum fo the same ingredient