This is a new invention (I think), I first thought of it when I was binge watching pottery tutorials on You Tube. Pottery is such a relaxing art and activity and I have wanted to take it up as a new hobby. I recently bought a pinch bowl which I use for displaying some of my makes. When I was passively learning to make a pinch bowl, and when an instagram follower complimented me on a pinch bowl I posted, it suddenly occurred to me that I could use the idea to make a vessel that can easily biodegrade. As most know, clay needs to be fired and glazed to be waterproof and to stop disintegrating. However, if left in its natural state it will break down very quickly. It can also easily be crushed up and made into a paste. Knowing this I decided to make a bowl that could be used as the container for another product and then later either disposed of in the garden to break down, or crushed up and used as a face mask.

The following is a fairly crude formulation for the Mask Bowl Cleansing Balm. It is made up of a clay pinch bowl that contains a cleansing balm. For anyone that doesn’t know, a pinch bowl is a bowl that is formed by pinching,, pressing, hitting, tapping, and rolling the clay, as opposed to one that is made on a potters wheel. Pinch bowls are probably the first type of clay vessels made by humans. Later we became more sophisticated and started using wheels to spin the clay while guiding the clay with our hands. I love the rustic effect pinch bowls give, and I have no idea how to use a potters wheel, but I am sure someone will take this idea and make something more standardised using more industrial methods.

You can also make the pinch bowl whatever size you like. I have made a selection of single use bowls where you can cleanse your face with the exact amount of balm, then use the mask directly afterwards. Its also good for people who are a bit worried about contamination.

Surprisingly the mask can be quiet durable depending on how thick you make the edges. My first prototype had pretty thick edges, about 4 mm (0.4 cm) and I had it in the lab sink for days, even soaked it for a few hours and it didn’t lose shape. I was able to take it out of the wet sink and leave it to dry and then soak it again. It only broke up when I applied pressure. This shows that, when made correctly, a larger multiple use bowl will survive in a steamy bathroom. Whether it is ‘safe’ in terms of microbial stability is obviously another matter, but to be honest, I am not too concerned about that, I have just enjoyed this new idea and opened my eyes to other possibilities.

At the most basic level, you can simply mix clay and water into a putty and make the bowl that way. I complicated matters by using surfactant, colours, oils and essential oils. In two versions I used a preservative. Whether you use a preservative is to your own discretion, and to be honest with you, I am not sure if a preservative in this type of product actually works, this will have to be tested to see. In my experience, making a pinch bowl needs bare hands (no gloves) and, no matter how clean your hands are, there are millions of microbes living on your skin as part of your microbiome which will transfer onto the clay. This means that before you have even finished molding your mask bowl, you have potentially contaminated it. This may or not be a problem, as the bowl dries and anything on the bowl will not grow on a dry substance, however if the intention is to get multiple uses out of it, this will mean it will likely be in a steamy wet bathroom for several weeks or months, this moisture will invariably encourage bacterial growth. To keep your product clean while using the balm it might be a good idea to keep it out of the bathroom and let it dry in between use.

In the tutorial below I have a formulation for three clay masks and one cleansing balm.

Enjoy

The Cosmetic Clay Mask Bowl

Method

1. Combine A and stir until citric acid is dissolved.

2. Weigh B and combine

3. Add phase B to A and combine

4. You will need to stir and then use your hands to squeeze the clay into a ball. The clay needs to be wet enough to be malleable and not break apart but not so wet to leave clay on the hands. Please see visual guides below for an idea of the consistency of the clay.

5. Keep additional clay to hand so that you can adjust the consistency and have a pot of water handy to use for smoothing out any cracks as shown in the video below.

Note: I made 100g so convert each % to 1 gram.

Method

1. Weigh and combine phase A.

2. When phase A reaches 75 c add phase B and hold for 10 minutes while stirring.

3. Combine phase C and add to A/B and homogenise

4. Stir until temperature reaches about 35 c and is a thick texture (see video below)

5. Pour in to clay pots and chill for an hour in the fridge.

Note

Obviously this is a crude formulation. If you find it too thick in texture you may need to adjust the oil amounts (add more) and remove some cetyl alchohol and clay until you get the texture you prefer.

Use the balm as a cleanser. Simply wet skin and apply the balm. It should wash off and be slightly opaque as it emulsifies. This balm isn’t a deep cleansing one and is ideal for dry skin types, but it will wash off. The video below shows how to use the bowl as a mask.