Four simple ingredients make this the best homemade honey face wash. The soothing ingredients will leave your skin clean and glowing, without the harsh chemicals. I’ll show you how to make an easy honey face cleanser and how to use it in your everyday skincare routine.
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What Readers Say
“I made this about 8 weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I have older skin prone to blemishes on occasion and I find this cleanser has really jazzed up my skin a lot. I use it twice a day. It rinses well and cleanses well.”
NIKKI
The best part about making your own face wash with honey is that you don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals. And the cost savings of making your own cleanser is quite significant!
A few concerning ingredients found in commercial face wash
- Fragrance: may contain up to 3,000 different chemicals to make a single fragrance, including phthalates to make the scent last longer, which producers don’t have to disclose due to trade secret laws.
- Parabens: Used to extend the shelf-life of face wash, but with reproductive health concerns.
- Sulfates: Used to create suds in face wash, but also strips the skin of natural oils, which could even cause the skin to overproduce oils and breakout.
Ingredients Needed to Make a Natural Cleanser With Honey
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup liquid castile soap
- 3 tablespoons distilled water (this is the safest type of water to use, found at any grocery store)
- 2 tablespoons nourishing oil (I use jojoba, other options include: sweet almond, avocado, and olive oil)
These powerhouse ingredients come together to create the best DIY face wash.
Ingredient Spotlight
Raw Honey: Due to the lack of pasteurization (heating), raw honey is naturally rich in antibacterial and probiotic properties. Honey is gentle for sensitive skin, but tough enough to remove dirt and other impurities. Learn more about the benefits of washing your face with honey. If you can’t find raw honey, use what you can find; just make sure it’s pure honey. Some folks swear by using raw manuka honey for skincare uses, which you’re welcome to use.
Castile Soap: A concentrated vegetable-based soap. I use castile soap for everything from homemade laundry detergent to body wash and foaming hand soap. Use either Baby Mild Castile Soap or Tea Tree Castile Soap for facial cleansing. A 32-ounce bottle of liquid castile soap costs about $17, and one bottle will make about 10 homemade face washes. Explore other natural ways to use castile soap.
Distilled Water: Added to dilute the concentrated soap. Distilled water has all impurities removed, so it’s the safest water to use when making body and cleaning products.
Nourishing Skin Oil: Since oil dissolves oil, it’s only natural to add a nourishing oil to DIY face wash recipes. Jojoba or sweet almond oil work best for all skin types. Avocado oil and olive oil are also options, but can be heavier on the skin.
How to Add Essential Oils
Essential oils may irritate sensitive skin, so I’ve skipped using essential oils in this DIY honey face wash.
If you prefer a scented face cleanser, add an essential oil that is soothing and less likely to irritate the skin, like lavender, and only use a few drops.
I avoid citrus oils, like lemon essential oil and orange essential oils, when making body products, as they can cause irritation with sunlight exposure.
How to safely use essential oils to create your own products.
How to Make: Instructions & Video
To make this homemade honey face wash recipe, you’ll need a soap dispenser (like this). You’ll find this at any home store, like Target or Walmart, in the bath section.
Step 1: Combine all Ingredients
In a soap dispenser, add the water first (to prevent bubbles) then the liquid castile soap, honey, and oil. Shake the ingredients together until the honey is fully dissolved.
Step 2: Use Immeadiately or Store For Later
The cleanser is ready to use immeadiately after making. You may use it right away, or store in a cool place (like a bathroom cabinet) for later use.
Storage Tips
Store the soap in a cool place for up to 1 month. It’s important to use distilled water, as tap water will quickly grow mold and bacteria within a few days.
How to Use
First, shake the bottle before use (separation is normal).
Next…
- Wet your hands with water.
- Add a squirt of face wash to the palm of your hand.
- Rub your hands together to create suds with the soap.
- Use your palms to massage the soap over your entire face and down your neck. I usually spend about 30-60 seconds massaging my face with the cleanser. As you massage the skin, you’ll loosen dead skin cells, dirt, oils, and makeup.
- Wet a clean washcloth with warm water.
- Use the washcloth to rinse the face wash from the skin, rinsing the washcloth and repeating as needed. This will remove makeup, dead skin cells, etc. and should leave the skin with a glowing complexion.
After Cleansing Your Face…
Use a spritz of toner (I love rosewater), any serums you may like (I use this A+ serum for hormonal breakouts), and a moisturizer (the best 8 natural face moisturizers).
Is this cleanser safe for all skin types?
- My Personal Experience: I have sensitive skin that is more on the oily side and acne-prone. I have seen a noticeable difference in the appearance of my skin when using this face wash and honey in my skincare routine.
- Will it Work for Others? Since sharing this recipe, over 7 years ago, many people have made and used this cleanser with great success. Everyone’s skin is different and finding what works for you, even if it works for someone else, takes patience and exploration. The great thing about this recipe is that it costs very little to make and you can use the ingredients (like castile soap and oil) to make other products as well (like natural cleaners and moisturizer).
- Dry Skin Types: If you have dry skin, the castile soap in this natural face wash may be drying for your skin, which could cause the skin to produce excess oil and breakout. This is true of other soap cleansers as well. In this case, I love this aloe vera and honey face cleanser made without soap. If you want suds, which you’ll only get from soap, you could also reduce the amount of castile soap in this recipe.
4 More Ways to Cleanse Your Face & Body With Honey
Beyond this cleanser, here are my favorite ways to use honey in my skincare routine.
- Sugar Scrubs: Combine honey and sugar to make this soothing and exfoliating body scrub.
- Straight Up Honey: Use 100% honey, straight from the bottle, as a face wash. No extra ingredients needed.
- Honey & Aloe Facial Cleanser: For an ultra-gentle cleanser, without soap, combine aloe and honey. Great for very sensitive skin or dry skin.
- Acne Soothing Face Mask: Combine clay, honey, and aloe to make this soothing, pimple-fighting face mask.
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DIY Homemade Honey Face Wash
Equipment
- soap dispenser 8-ounces or larger
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup liquid castile soap unscented preferably
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons distilled water
- 2 tablespoons skin-nourishing oil I use jojoba, Other options include: sweet almond, avocado, olive.
Instructions
- In a soap dispenser, add the water first (to prevent bubbles) then the liquid castile soap, honey, and oil.
- Shake the ingredients together until the honey is fully dissolved.
To Use:
- Wet your hands with water.
- Add a squirt of face wash to the palm of your hand.
- Rub your hands together to create suds with the soap.
- Use your palms to massage the soap over your entire face and down your neck. I usually spend about 30-60 seconds massaging my face with the cleanser. As you massage the skin, you'll loosen dead skin cells, dirt, oils, and makeup.
- Wet a clean washcloth with warm water. Use the washcloth to rinse the face wash from the skin, rinsing the washcloth and repeating as needed.
- After cleansing, use a spritz of facial toner (I love rosewater), any serums you may use (I use this A+ serum for hormonal breakouts), and a moisturizer (the best 8 natural face moisturizers).
Video
Notes
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FAQs
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How to make the bottle full? Do you fill the rest with distilled water?
Hey! I really love this and I am going to buy everything today to try it! I have a couple active blemishes on my face and important events are coming up soon. I am really hoping this clears them up. I normally just wash with raw honey and that was working very well for awhile, but not so much by itself anymore. Does this recipe help with active acne? And does it help with healing? I also have pores that clog very easily so I am wondering if this will clog them up. I used Dr. Bronners tea tree oil soap on my face in the past but found it way too drying and noticed a couple small bumps here and there. I am thinking they were clogged pores but I have no idea! Any advice would help! 🙂 I absolutely love your website and I’m so excited to try this. Crossing my fingers it works!
Hey Hannah, This should help with acne; however, everyone’s skin is different so I can’t say for sure. This shouldn’t clog your pores. You could also reduce the amount of soap called for in this recipe if it’s too drying.
PS: I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog!
Hello! Well its a great diy.. i am very happy with it … but can you please tell me… can i use normal baby soap like Jonson rather then Castile.. ?????? thanks
Hey Rashmi, I don’t recommend using normal baby soap.
Hey Kristin I picked up some raw local honey from a farmers market down from my house today! Apparently there are a few bee farms in my area who knew! Lol oh well I can wait to try this mixing up a batch tonight along with the toothpaste and a honey clay mask! 🙂
Hey Nicole, That’s so great! I’m excited for you!
Kristin, I have to say I am super excited to to make this and try it! I got Dr. Bronner’s lavender Castile soap and the jojoba oil all I need to get is the raw honey. Is that something I can pick up at the grocery store and does it have to say “raw” on it or is all honey “raw”? Thank you again for posting all the these recipes I can’t wait to get started 🙂
Hey Nicole, I’m excited for you! Raw honey is usually sold at health food stores. It will say “unpasteurized” or “raw.” Usually raw honey comes from local bee keepers, so a local address or source name is ideal, too. If you can’t find raw honey, “regular” honey will work, too. It just won’t have all the lovely benefits provided by raw honey.
Thank you so much!
Thank you very much for your help! I will probably miss that out then!
Hi is it possible to add pure aloe Vera juice from a bottle instead of distilled water? If so how would it need to be stored? And what would be shelf date?
Thank you
Hey Bianca, I think aloe vera juice would work nicely as a substitute. The only aloe juice options that I know about require refrigeration after opening, so that may be the one issue. You would probably need to store the wash in the fridge.
Hi there! I do hope that I didn’t ruin this face wash by adding 30 drops of tea tree essential oil! I couldn’t help it though…….mine seems to smell like cooked mushrooms! I just bought all the ingredients and my raw honey is still fine. It has a date if 2017 on it and I had tasted it first as well. I like the feel of the wash, I just wish I could enjoy the smell!
Hey Amy, I’m guessing the odor is coming from the tea tree oil, which has a very unique and strong scent. The face wash will be just fine, the odor may just be a bit unusual. You could try to mask it with a few drops of lavender.
Hi Kristin,
I am really interesting to make my own facial cleanser. My sensitive and sometimes acne prone skin is not easy to handle.. i have several questions, I hope you don’t mind ????????????
I would like to ask is it possible to add aloe Vera gel into the recipe? And if I use aloe Vera, does it still need water? I really love bubble, so when you introduce Castile soap as a soap base. I agree with you
The other question, is it possible to combine more than two nourishing oil? And the amount still similar (2 tb nourishing oil) or different? such as lavender and grapeseed and also vitamin e as preservative.
Thank you
Hey Fitri, Aloe vera gel will be a great replacement for the water, and a nice addition to this recipe. The soap may be a little too thick for a soap dispenser, so I recommend adding just a couple tablespoons of water, if needed. Yes, you may combine two nourishing oils in the recipe, the amount will be the same for the total amount of oil. Vitamin E will help keep the oils from going rancid, but I don’t believe it will help preserve the whole face wash. Honey is believed to be a good preservative, maybe not for other ingredients, but it does last a long time by itself. You could add the vitamin E for the skin benefits, same with grapeseed and lavender.
Enjoy!!
Dear Kristin,
Thank you for your thought,
After I checked the availability of the ingredients in my country (by the way, I am living in Indonesia), I decide to follow your original recipes, and leaves the aloe vera gel in my first attempt, but I will still add lavender essential oil as nourishing oil along with jojoba oil. I hope it will be great for my sensitive and acne prone skin.
One more thing, can you explain cups in making this cleanser, I don’t really understand, because usually the measurement is using milliliters or ounce.
for instead, if I use cups (of 100 ml), so it means that I will have 100 ml of cleanser, with following the recipe?
It will be my first experiment with DIY project, so wish me luck .. 🙂
Thank you….
Hey Kristin,
Can a castile bar be used in substitute for the liquid soap? If so, what is the recommended method of dissolving the soap into the solution?
Thank you in advance,
Brandon
Hey Brandon, I believe you can. You’ll want to dissolve the soap in hot/boiling water; however, I’m not sure how much of a bar you’ll need to use.
Hi there, I made this face wash two weeks ago and my skin has been loving it! I put it in a foaming dispenser, which I think is helping it last longer. I also started oil cleansing about a week ago and I was pleasantly surprised when my face stopped getting oily halfway through the day! 🙂 I was wondering if you have any recommendations for spot treating acne? My skin is far better as a whole, but I’m still getting the occasional pimple. I wasn’t sure if there was something in particular that I could apply or if the best thing to do is just ignore them and keep on washing. Thanks so much!
Hey Lacey, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the face wash. For acne flareups, I’ve used tea tree or lavender essential oil (directly on the spot), and/or a bentonite clay mask over the area. Also, sometimes breakouts can be caused by a food (processed dairy is a big culprit). I’ve found it’s helpful to pay attention to what I did or ate before the breakouts occurred.
FYI for those whom noticed the smell is off, its the Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild Castile soap, or that’s what I’ve seen in common between the posts and I noticed the same when I used mine. I think that’s just the smell of the soap, I would suggest using a scented version of it, for me I can’t as I am allergic to fragrance so I steer clear of anything scented.
I am currently on Clavaris (generic form of Accutane) and my normally sensitive skin is excessively sensitive and very dry and flaking. I recommend making a trial batch first, I made the full batch and found that it burned my cheeks. I’m fairly confident the burn was from the soap. I’ll use it as a body wash and move on to the Honey and Aloe Facial Cleanser, or omit the castile soap.
Trial Version (15% of the original recipe)
2 1/2 Teaspoons Liquid Castile Soap
2 1/2 Teaspoons Raw Honey
1 1/4 Teaspoons Water
1 Teaspoons Nourishing Oil
Sounds like a great plan, Sabrina! Thank you for sharing. Will you come back and share how your skin is doing in a few weeks?
Update: Still burns in certain spots (smile lines) on my face, but its got to be the Accutane making my skin incredibly sensitive. I will continue to use this wonderful recipe in the future as I have almost no flaky skin on my face and that’s almost unheard of with between the medication and winter skin. Wahoo at no longer needing to buy an expensive face wash with lots of chemicals I cannot pronounce!!!
Many thanks to you Kristin for a wonderful recipe!
Hey Sabrina, I’m so glad the face soap is working so well for you! Yes, the Accutane I believe has a way of making skin very sensitive–I hope that goes away soon!So excited for you!!
Kristin this has healed my skin!! I no longer have any burning spots and my skin is nice and hydrated between both your honey face wash and honey and aloe face cleanser (I use it as a mask instead of a cleanser.)
That’s sooooo awesome, Sabrina!!! I’m so incredibly happy for you!
Hi kristin! its me again haha. Can i leave out the water so that the shelf life is longer? I’ll just mix a bit of water on my hand when i use it. 🙂 How long would the shelf life be then?
also would it work if it was just:
castile soap
nourishing oil
essential oils
then water each time i use it 🙂
Thank you so much!
Hey Mai, Yes, you could try leaving out the water. I’ve washed my face with just castile soap many times (when I don’t have a product made). The only issue may be the dryness of castile soap, but as long as your skin feels good after the washing, go for it :).
This recipe looks great! Would you say it would be a good pick for acne prone skin? I’ve been using a coconut oil and tea tree oil cleanser for a few months now. My skin clears up, and then breaks out over and over. I’m starting to wonder if it might be the coconut oil. Also, have you had any trouble with jojoba clogging your pores?
Hey Leah, I have acne-prone skin. I used this recipe for about a year with very good success. Now I use a honey and aloe cleanser with a Clarisonic (really helps fight against clogged pores and acne!). I haven’t found jojoba oil to be an issue for me. I also really like olive oil in a cleaner/wash, so that’s another great option.
My skin isn’t a big fan of 100% coconut oil these days. When it’s mixed with something like shea butter, my skin is okay with coconut oil.
I made this a couple days ago and I love it! It seems to separate so I just shake it a little every time I use it. I’m 52 but still get breakouts like a pubescent teenager so I’m pretty picky about my face wash. I don’t like the dry feeling after some products and this doesn’t feel that way at all.
I’m slowly going the DIY route; so far laundry soap and face wash. Hand soap next as soon as my current bottle is empty.
Hi I made the face wash to your recipe and it looks and feels great. I have added 10 drops of lavender oil and the smell is amazing. My problem is that my face feels so tight and kind of dried out after this, even though I have put in some jojoba and hemp oil and 10 drops of glycerine. I have read somewhere that adding citric acid may bring the ph levels to more gentle levels, but as soon as you add CA to this mix or castile soap it separates it into a waxy mass which can not be washed off.. Do you have any suggestions on how this soap can be made into more comfortable and not so drying… It is so drying for my combo skin, that even my lips suffer from dryness??? Thank you so much and I love your site and amazing photography all very tasteful and elegant.
Hey Harisa, I’ve never tried adding citric acid to castile soap, so that’s very interesting to hear about the waxy result…good to know!
I’m thinking you can reduce the castile soap amount since that’s probably what is causing the drying. Castile soap has a pH of 8.9 and neutral is considered 7, but it can still be very drying for some people. Another option is to add aloe vera gel to the recipe since it’s very soothing. And one last option is to make a super gentle aloe and honey cleanser: https://livesimply.me/2015/10/07/homemade-honey-and-aloe-facial-cleanser/.
Hello , today i try to make a recipes like that. Cant wait to try it in my home 🙂 . Many Thanks for share a great recipes 🙂
Enjoy, caramenghilangkanjerawat.id!
I’m so glad I found your site. I’ve been pursuing it looking for everything I can replace for me & my family. I had cancer in my twenties, so keeping toxins out of my body & my family has become very important to me. Being blemish prone has always had me running for foundation to balance out my complexion. However, with your simple explanation of your skin absorbing whatever we put on it, I began to wonder if I’m just not giving my skin a chance to heal itself. So, I mixed up a batch of your powdered foundation & started using it. It’s a lighter coverage than I’m use to, but I’m getting use to my skin, not my skin from a bottle. I’ve been interested in your face wash, & since mine was out, I tried a batch. I was so impressed at how clean my face felt & how well my eye makeup came off. But what made me smile was the combination of the cocoa powder & honey on my face. The smell of sweet chocolate was divine! Thank you for keeping it simple & natural. I’ll be recommending your site to all my weird, granola friends ;-). Also, I noticed in your powder foundation tutorial that you applied something on your cheeks. Do you have other makeup recipes?
Can I change the castile soap by Marseille soap?
Hey Danielle, I don’t have any experience with Marseille soap, but from my short readings online (just now ;)) it appears that Marseille is a vegetable oil soap so it should work just fine (similar to castile soap).
Hi Kristen I’ve been using this as a head to toe wash and I really love it. But do you have a DIY shampoo? Thanks!