Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
What is the best way to preserve homemade beauty products: masks, creams, scrubs?
Alla
For all the at home remedies I make I keep them sealed in air-tight jars. Anything which is perishable should by kept in the refrigerator. All other items should be stored in a cool, dark place. For items such as masks, creams, etc. consider making only small amounts on a weekly or bi-weekly basis in order to be sure that they don't spoil.
Puncture a vitamin E gel pill with a straight pin and add to your product. Depending on the amount of product you may need two or three. You usually can find vitamin E lots cheaper at places like the Dollar Zone or Everythings a Dollar.
Grapefruit seed extract is a great preservative. Just a few drops.
So in the olden days food was kept for longer with the aid of sugar and spice, also oils. It is my thinking then that a face scrub with oats and spice and honey and oil should have a decent shelf life and longer in the fridge, but ultimately you want it sitting in the shower recess ready to use right?
Oats, that's the problem because it is the food that will go off and start to stink! But what are people's thoughts on the percentage of oats to oil and honey and spice in order to hopefully make it last longer?
If you make up just the rolled oats and the spice, without any liquid, it should keep as long as the rolled oats are fresh (like whatever is on the package). As soon as you mix anything with it, you risk the oats going bad...depending on the humidity of the area they are kept. Keeping it in the shower is a recipe for a mess with mold.
Best to keep oats fresh and dry, then mix up and use what you need when you need it.
Cosmetics made from natural ingredients can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a month, I would even say less. For example, LUSH masks (this company specialize in making cosmetics from natural ingredients) can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 28 days.
You can prepare dry ingredients in advance and store them separately, not in a damp place.
I'm thinking to make my own hair mask. The main ingredient is avocado. What ingredient can I use to help the mask last for at least 1 month inside of a glass container?
There is a possibility that you can use grapefruit seed extract to extend the shelf life of your hair mask. Other people have recommended the use of lecithin powder or even rosemary antioxidant extract.
Nothing that I know of if you want to keep it all natural and not damage your hair potentially. Citric acid will keep avacado fresh for a few days but can also act as a bleach to your hair. You could try to freeze it, but that is going to change the consistency when defrosting. It may be better to just make what you need fresh each time.
I do not think you can save it (in the right consistency) for more than a week and that amount of time is questionable.
Freezing avocado usually changes the constancy so you might want to freeze a small amount and see if you can still use it.
I really believe you should just experiment with this and see how long it will keep for you as anything you add to your recipe could change what effect you're trying to achieve.
I make hair mask with fresh avocado, olive oil, castor oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, and other essential oils. I keep them frozen and the one currently using refrigerated. It defrosts well but how long will they last without doing so? Leaving out refrigerator.
I ordered avocado, lecithin, and grapeseed powders to help preserve future avocado masks. Will that help and for how long? My apologies for bad refrigerated picture. It actually looks better same as frozen pretty much as it still becomes solid but manageable.
Avocado mask mixture will only last 3 to 4 days in the frig , and up to 6 months in the freezer. Because of it being so natural it could turn colors, spoil, and loose all of it's vitamins if left out longer.
Avocado turns brown pretty quickly--sometimes in 1-2 days, 3-4 if it was super fresh to start. It will not be visually appealing. Probably will still work, but discard if you see even a hint of mold or if it smells bad.
For optimum freshness, freeze by the amount used at one time and defrost one treatment at a time.
It is really the best way to preserve the integrity of the ingredients and not risk it spoiling.
I am making a hair mask where avocado is the main ingredient. The rest of the ingredients are able to sit out of the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3 months. If thereare natural preservatives added as well, like tea tree oil, can I leave the hair mask out?
If so, how long? Are there other natural preservatives that would allow me to keep it out for at least a month?You can use a little lemon or lime juice, but that will only add about 3 days to the total shelf life and no matter what, it would need to be refrigerated. Masks like this with all natural ingredients are best made fresh and in small batches to be used immediately when you need them. That is what makes them special.
Preservatives turn it into what essentially is store bought "crap".
I would not mess with any preservatives (including lemon or lime) if you have even the least bit of sensitive skin as they can cause more harm than good and can burn your eyes and skin around your lips if you leave it on too long.
I believe you should refrigerate avocado very soon after you peel it whether you plan to eat it use it in some type of mask.
listonic.com/
Stating that, no matter what other ingredients you put with the avocado it will still have to be refrigerated.
Even placing it in the refrigerator it is recommended that it be used within 4 days.
Fresh should be just that; fresh ingredients made to use within a short period of time and if making more than one 'serving' then it should be stored in refrigerator for a day or so only for best results. Since this is not usually used more than one (two at the most) times a week it seems best to only make one batch at a time.
As to freezing avocados this can be done but not in mix solution.
I peel my avocados and slice into about 6 slices and freeze. They are good for 2 or 3 months. I then use them as if they were fresh.
This link shows about the way I freeze mine:
www.stockpilingmoms.com/
You can find a lot on this subject online but all state - place leftovers in refrigerator.
listonic.com/
crunchybetty.com/
Thrifty Fun also has more information on this subject:
www.thriftyfun.com/
I am making a carrot face mask with vitamin E and other oils to use every morning. How long will it last in the refrigerator?
Most homemade products such as this will not last long after it has been made. I know you are storing yours in your refrigerator and this is normally good for 7 days only. I would not use it after this time. You will probably need to make smaller batches and make them more often in order to get the results you are looking for. Products like this that are stored too long can spoil and you don't want to use them on your face.
Vitamin E is pretty stable, but the rest of the ingredients can be a little tricky.
Carrots pureed only last 2-3 days in the fridge before the separate and turn colors, an then go bad.
The oils are very susceptible to picking up odors from other items in the refrigerator, so if you do refrigerator, keep it away from onions, cabbage, peppers, smelly cheeses or the like. Be sure to use a container with a good seal (glass is better so no plastic leaching).
You may want to test freezing the mix in small batches and see if you still like the consistency when you defrost it.
The ingredients in the face masks I make are gram flour, turmeric powder, honey, and milk. For how long can this be stored in a refrigerator?
And also how often can I use it? Is using it every other day not good?As long as milk is one of the ingredients in the homemade facial mask mixture, it won't be good to store it more than a week. The milk will spoil and make the mask stink when trying to use it again. I'd suggest that the next time you make this recipe that you cut it in half. That way there won't be a need to store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator.
I'm planning on making yogurt facial masks to sell, but I'm not really sure how to store it and or if it'll go bad after so long. All of the other ingredients that I'm using can be kept at room temperature, but the plain yogurt is throwing me off on how to go about it.
The yogurt mask will need to be refrigerated. Usually a week shelf life but if it smells bad, I'd toss it.
You can sell the facial mask mixture in a glass container.
I would like to make a face cleanser/mask daily use product which contains 2 tsp honey, 1/3c. yogurt, and 2 tsp almond oil.
I would like to use this as daily face wash and therefore would like to prepare it in advance rather than doing it in the morning.
If I store this mixture in an air tight container in the fridge, how long will this mixture last and be safe to use on my face?
This would be a daily product you use. I would try to make a batch weekly.
It will be a trial and error for you and you can do what works best for your time schedule.
I have made a DIY mask with aloe vera gel, orange peel powder, sandalwood powder, turmeric, multani mitti, and rose water. How many days can I store it? Is there any method to store the DIY masks?
You are using Aloe Vera Gel and rose water and while these may be 'natural ingredients' I still believe they will need refrigeration if you do not use them within 2 or 3 days.
They will only last 2 or 3 days and masks need to be in 'dark' containers and stored in a dark dry place. I have seen similar masks not last more than 2 days and by the third day there were tiny black specks inside and all had to be discarded.
Some sites say masks will be good for 3-4 weeks if stored in refrigerator but Aloe Vera gel may dry out faster than other ingredients.
If you found the formula for your face mask online then I think you should try to get an answer from that site.
Otherwise, you may have to do small batches and experiment for yourself.
This is not difficult - make a small batch (maybe 2 or 3 small amounts) and place each one in a separate place and check it each day to see what is going on. Write down information in a small pad so you'll know what's happening for future reference.
Some recommendations:
Use only opaque and airtight containers.
Heat will make them spoil faster.
Light and air will also cause them to spoil faster.
Best to make in smaller batches.
I want to sell my natural homemade facial mask containing aloe vera, turmeric, milk, lime, and honey, but I don't know how best to store it, and how long they will last for my clients.
All the ingredients in the product is great and there is no issue with storing it except the milk. Milk spoils way to quicky and in cases like yours, it can only last in a refrigerator for up to a week before it needs to be thrown out. Is there not another product you can use in place of the milk? I know a lot of people have so many different recipes online it would be a shame if a person buys this and by the time they get it home it is almost expired and they need to throw it away.
I made a hair mask with banana, olive oil, and honey. Can I put it in the freezer or refrigerator?
Some places suggest that you store this in the refrigerator in a tight sealed container. They say it can stay there up to 6 months but I feel this is way too long because you are using fresh bananas and they do tend to smell bad after a few weeks. I have also read that storing this in the freezer can make it last a bit longer. The only problem is defrosting this and freezing it again when you want to use it. If you want to store this in the freezer store it in single size serving containers that way you won't need to defrost the entire container each time you want to use it.
How do I stop a hair mask from bloating? I mixed avocado and the preservative, but on waking up this morning, the mask had bloated.
Most sites recommend leaving mask on your hair for 10 to 25 minutes and some say to never leave it on more than 30 minutes. I'm sure some have different instructions but probably whatever you mixed with the avocado made the mask 'bloat'. Some say it will get dry or go rancid.
Most stress to put mask on dry hair so the hair will absorb the ingredients.
There are lots of good sites for recipes - even YouTube videos - but this one has a lot of different recipes to try.
www.healthline.com/
Can you store body scrubs in the fridge? I made a few to sell and they kind of froze. Are they still good?
I didn't put them in the freezer, but towards the back so that they wouldn't be on the way.I have made a face mask with oats and honey. How long can I store it without it being refrigerated? I have made it for selling.
Can I freeze leftover organic homemade beauty products? Especially if I'm using food such as oatmeal.
I'm looking to start selling facial masks and the ingredients include an egg white, honey, oatmeal, and yogurt. I wanted to know how long do you think it'll last?
I'm guessing the product would have to be stored in the fridge; right?Yogurt lasts about two weeks in the refrigerator. If your product contains yogurt, that is how long I would keep it and I would refrigerate it.
I made a facial mask composed of 1½ tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of turmeric, and lemon. I want to know if I can store it in the refrigerator?
I am making a hair mask with coconut oil and honey. What is the best way to store this product and how long can it be stored before it needs to be used?
