How to make liquid foundation| COCOÉCO blog

A homemade foundation as bright and natural as you!

Greetings dear Coco Community! Today, we are very pleased to introduce you to our DIY liquid foundation, called No Touch-Ups! This homemade foundation gives you lovely bright skin and lasts all day, so you won’t have to escape for—you guessed it—touch-ups! Its medium coverage yields a natural look while evening your skin tone and softening imperfections. It’s a true winning combo!

There are two essential parts to a liquid foundation: first, a light and fluid emulsion so that the product is light on your skin, glides on smoothly and evenly, and is kind to your face. Second, the powder blend yields a product with a pleasant feel, long-lasting hold, and the hue that’s closest to your skin tone, of course! It took a lot of research and tests to strike the right balance, but after several months of work, we’re happy to say that the final product reflects our efforts.

We hope you like this homemade liquid foundation as much as we do… We’re convinced this recipe’s so perfect it needs No Touch-Ups!

How to make liquid foundation

Before you begin

You’ll notice that this recipe asks you to start off by preparing the powder phase before the emulsion. And you might be wondering why! Preparing the powder phase requires a lot of attention to detail, so it takes a bit of time. If you start heating your emulsion while you’re measuring your pigments, your attention will be divided—which often leads to mistakes! We strongly recommend preparing the powder phase first (steps 2 to 5) before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
Here, we offer formulas for three different shades for light, medium, and dark complexions. However, none of these shades may be exactly right for you. You may have to carry out your own tests to find the shade that best matches your skin tone, starting from the formulas we offer here. Remember to take notes for each formula you try out, including precise quantities, so that you can make your perfect shade again!

Ingredients

Pigment phase

6.1 g (12.2%) pigments

Suggested pigment phase formulas

Pale complexion

4.4 g (8.8%) titanium dioxide
1.5 g (3%) yellow oxide
0.2 g (0.4%) light red oxide

Medium complexion

3.6 g (7.2%) titanium dioxide
1.9 g (3.8%) yellow oxide
0.6 g (1.2%) light red oxide

Dark complexion

0.3 g (0.6%) titanium dioxide
1.95 g (3.9%) yellow oxide
2.15 g (4.3%) light red oxide
1.05 g (2.1%) brown oxide
0.5 g (1%) ultramarine blue
0.15 g (0.3%) green oxide

Tools

Pigment blender
Two small stainless steel bowls
Components to make two double boilers
Small silicone spatula
Scale, accurate to 0.01 g
A few pipettes
A few ramekins
Mini-mixer with frothing attachment (the small wheel)
Thermometer
Components to make a cold water bath
Ziploc-style bag
Pair of scissors
Airless pump bottle, 30 ml

Good to know!

With the exception of the vegetable oil and scent, we advise against changing any of the other ingredients, as this may affect the texture and stability of the final product.
The xanthan gum stabilizes the emulsion and keeps the pigments in suspension.
The olive squalane helps evenly disperse the pigments. It’s also useful because it leaves a non-greasy feel, is protective, and helps make this product easy to apply.
Jojoba oil is a dry oil that helps give this DIY foundation a matte finish. Because its composition is similar to that of human sebum, it’s suitable for all skin types. It also softens and protects your skin. You can replace it with another dry oil of your choosing.
Magnesium stearate gives this product its staying power.
A number of the colourants in the formula for dark complexions may seem surprising at first glance. Don’t worry, they’re totally normal. The green oxide is used to tone down the red, and the ultramarine blue to tone down the yellow. This yields a well-balanced brown that’s not too red or too yellow in tone.
Vitamin E is the antioxidant in this foundation recipe. It protects the oil phase from going rancid and has revitalizing properties.
The elderberry extract is antibacterial and antifungal.
Given the proportion of scent in this product and that it is generally applied closed to your eyes, we do not recommend scenting your DIY foundation with essential oils. This may cause irritation, or even eye problems. However, you can use the aromatic essence of your choosing. Here, we used tea rose because it’s Camille’s favourite, and she’s the one who developed this recipe!
If you’d rather have an unscented foundation and use no aromatic essence at all, just add an additional 0.8% (0.4 g in this recipe) of olive squalane to the oil phase.

Steps to follow

Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
Weigh all the pigment phase ingredients for your chosen shade in the lid of the pigment blender.
Screw the lid on tightly. With the blades pointed upward, blend the pigments for at least a minute while shaking the blender. When you’ve turned off the blender, give it a shake again, with the blades pointed down, so that the powders fall into the lid of the blender.
Gently untwist the lid, then use a spoon to scrape pigments off the lid walls and the blades.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 two more times to ensure the pigment blend is homogeneous.
Weigh the demineralized water in the first small bowl. Heat it on the first double boiler until it reaches 70–80°C.
Weigh the oils and NF emulsifying wax in the second bowl. Heat it on the second double boiler, stirring regularly with the small spatula, until the mixture has reached 70–80°C.
Weigh the xanthan gum in a ramekin.
Weigh the vitamin E, elderberry extract and aromatic essence in a second ramekin.
Weigh the magnesium stearate in a third ramekin. Add the pigments. Pour the contents of the ramekin into the oil phase as it heats up (it does not have to be at a specific temperature here). Mix well with the small spatula to disperse the pigments evenly.
Add the xanthan gum to the aqueous phase as it heats (it does not have to be at a specific temperature here) and mix with the mini-mixer until a gel forms.
When the two phases have reached 70–80°C, pour the oil phase into the aqueous phase. Remove from the heat and mix with the mini-mixer until the mixture becomes smooth.
Place the bowl containing the emulsion into the cold water bath and continue to mix until the mixture has cooled to less than 45°C.
Add the vitamin E, elderberry extract, and aromatic essence. Mix well using the small spatula.
Pour the mixture into a Ziploc-style bag and cut off a small corner. Squeeze the foundation through this small hole into the airless bottle. Tap the bottle firmly on a table or counter to help the foundation fall to the bottom of the bottle, as necessary, until it’s full.