Today’s formulation is a richly moisturizing, cold-processed, Silky Soothing Facial Gel. It was inspired by a La Roche Posay product—their B5 gel. This DIY is definitely more “inspired by” vs. attempting to duplicate their product as I don’t have all the same active ingredients, and I love what I’ve come up with! It’s brilliant for dry, irritated skin, and just the thing to add to your deep-winter skincare routine.

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For soothing actives, I’ve blended panthenol (Vitamin B5) and allantoin. Both are unassuming white powders that are fantastic for irritated, dry skin. Panthenol boosts skin elasticity and stimulates regeneration, while allantoin is an approved skin protectant. If you’re wondering why the concentration of allantoin is so low, it’s because I’m aiming to keep it below its maximum water solubility level. Allantoin is only water-soluble to about 0.5%, and it can be shardy and unpleasant if it doesn’t dissolve in formulations—so, I keep my usage rate below 0.5% of the amount of water in a formulation so it has plenty of available solvent. You could notch it up to 0.4% if you wanted to, removing that extra 0.1% from the distilled water.

In addition to the moisturizing goodness from the panthenol (Vitamin B5) and allantoin, we’ve also got two great humectants in here—hyaluronic acid and propanediol 1,3. While these are both low-tack humectants, I have found gels can be tacky, so I’ve included a small amount of dimethicone 350 for improved slip, richer skin feel, emolliency, and reduced stickiness.

I’ve used Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN) to gel this product because it creates silky, rich gels; if you don’t have it you could try Aristoflex AVC. If you don’t have that, either, you could try hydroxyethylcellulose, but you’d want to swap the dimethicone 350 for a PEG dimethicone like PEG-8 dimethicone. Since PEG-8 dimethicone is water-soluble we don’t need the pseudo-emulsifying powers of the Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN). Whatever you do, please don’t use xanthan gum unless you are a big fan of the texture of boogers 😬

Making this is really easy. The video has a specific order + pre-dispersing the Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN™) in the propanediol but honestly… you don’t have to do that. You can just throw everything in a beaker, cover it, wait a few hours, and stir until smooth. Enjoy!

2026 updates

Five years after publishing the original, I decided to re-visit this formulation and update it a little bit.

I honestly still loved the 2021 version, so the only change I made was trading the preservative Liquid Germall™ Plus (INCI: Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate) for Optiphen™ Plus (INCI: Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid). I did this because Liquid Germall™ Plus has recently been banned in Washington state, so I’m moving away from it since it’ll likely become harder and harder to get.

In my experience Optiphen™ Plus doesn’t work very well in purely watery serums due to its lower water solubility, but the Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN) in this formulation solves that problem for us. Hooray! Using Optiphen™ Plus also helps pull the pH of this facial gel down a wee bit thanks to the sorbic acid content.

If you don’t have Optiphen™ Plus you could definitely stick with Liquid Germall™ Plus or use a different phenoxyethanol-based preservative instead. Euxyl® PE 9010 (INCI: Phenoxyethanol & Ethylhexylglycerin) or plain Optiphen™ would both be easy options.

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Silky Soothing Facial Gel

2021 version

34.4g | 68.8% distilled water
10g | 20% low molecular weight 1% hyaluronic acid solution (USA / Canada / New Zealand) (This is NOT dry powder!)
1.5g | 3% Propanediol 1,3 (USA / Canada)
1.5g | 3% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
0.15g | 0.3% allantoin (USA / Canada)
1.5g | 3% dimethicone 350 (USA / Canada)
0.2g | 0.4% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)

0.75g | 1.5% Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (USA / Canada / UK / Australia)

2026 version

101.55g | 67.7% distilled water
30g | 20% 1% low molecular weight 1% hyaluronic acid solution (USA / Canada / New Zealand) (This is NOT dry powder!)
4.5g | 3% Propanediol 1,3 (USA / Canada)
2.25g | 1.5% Optiphen™ Plus (USA / Canada)
4.5g | 3% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
0.45g | 0.3% allantoin (USA / Canada)
4.5g | 3% dimethicone 350 (USA / Canada)

2.25g | 1.5% Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (USA / Canada / UK / Australia)

Weigh the distilled water, hyaluronic acidhyaluronic acid solution, propanediol, panthenol, allantoin, dimethicone, and preservative into a beaker and stir to combine.

Sprinkle the Sepimax ZEN™ over the surface of the mixture, and stir. It will look pretty lumpy and awful at this point—that’s ok!

Cover the beaker and leave the mixture to hydrate and dissolve, returning to stir every hour or so. Things will seem quite not-promising at first, but don’t fret! The Sepimax ZEN™ will eventually hydrate and soften enough that you’ll be able to hand stir the mixture into a smooth, uniform gel.

If you’re feeling impatient, you can use a powerful mini mixer to speed things along.

To test and adjust the pH: create a 10% dilution by weighing 2g product and 18g distilled water into a small bowl or beaker and whisk to combine (wondering why we create a dilution to check the pH?). Check the pH with your pH meter. Depending on the shape of your bowl/beaker you may need to tilt it in order to fully submerge the sensor on your pH meter. If you’ve made the 2026 formulation as written, the pH should fall in the 4–5 range. If it is lower than 4 you’ll want to raise it; if it’s higher than 6, you’ll want to lower it. Please read this article from Skin Chakra to learn more about pH adjusting.

That’s it!

In 2021 I packaged my Silky Soothing Facial Gel in a 50g (1.76oz) frosted soft squeeze tube from YellowBee. In 2026 I opted for two 60mL (2 fl oz) plastic bottles with treatment pump caps. A piping bag is very helpful for packaging this gel as it’s a bit too thick to pour nicely.

To use, smooth a pea-sized amount (or more—it’s up to you) across your skin after cleansing, and before heavier creams and/or oil serums. Enjoy!

Shelf Life & Storage

Because this gel contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative, this project may eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.

Substitutions

As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.

• As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams the 2021 version of this formulation will make 50g; the 2026 version will make 150g.
• To learn more about the ingredients used in this formulation, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list (hyaluronic acid) please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
• You could swap 20–40% of the distilled water for a hydrosol to easily add a gentle scent to this gel.
• You could also trade 20–40% of the distilled water for aloe vera juice.
• You could swap the Propanediol 1,3 for butylene glycol or vegetable glycerin.
• If you don’t have allantoin you can replace it with more panthenol (Vitamin B5) or simply use more distilled water.
• I think N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG) or Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) would make decent alternatives to panthenol (Vitamin B5), though they are different actives with a different suite of benefits despite some overlap.
• You can use a different weight of dimethicone, a PEG’d dimethicone, or a volatile silicone instead of dimethicone 350. You could also try a natural silicone alternative, like Hydrogenated Ethylhexyl Olivate (and) Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables, though I do not find they are as good at reducing tackiness as real silicones are.
• Please read the post for Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN) substitution ideas.
• If you’re like to use a different preservative, please review this FAQ and this chart. You’ve got a good amount of flexibility with this formulation as the Polyacrylate crosspolymer-6 (Sepimax ZEN) allows for the easy inclusion of preservatives that are not fully water soluble.
• As this formulation is meant to be soothing and friendly for sensitive skin, I don’t recommend adding essential oils. If you’d like to incorporates essential oils anyways, please read this.