What is Magnesium Hydroxide?

Magnesium Hydroxide is a versatile product that can be used in many ways in DIY care products. It masks odours and gives you an even complexion!

Making your own deodorant? Then use our Magnesium Hydroxide (Ultrafine). It's ground much finer, so it won't feel grainy on freshly shaved underarms. This Food Grade variant is coarser and fine for all other applications.

Benefits

Protects dry skin

Magnesium Hydroxide protects skin against free radicals and plays an important role in cell renewal. If you have sensitive, dry skin, a skincare product with Magnesium Hydroxide as an ingredient can help soften and protect your skin.

Balances pH

With a pH of 10.3, Magnesium Hydroxide is a basic product that can balance a DIY skincare product with many acidic ingredients. Magnesium Hydroxide raises the pH level, making your product more suitable for people with sensitive skin that gets irritated easily.

Keeps your products dry

Magnesium Hydroxide molecules absorb water molecules, in other words: the molecules absorb moisture. By incorporating Magnesium Hydroxide in DIY powder products, such as powder deodorant, foundation or eyeshadow, you prevent your product from clumping. Your product retains its fine texture, making it easy and even to apply to the skin.

Makes skin even

Magnesium Hydroxide makes products less transparent and gives them covering properties. In particular, products intended to even out skin and mask skin imperfections often contain Magnesium Hydroxide. Think of foundation, concealer or eyeshadow. The beauty is that Magnesium Hydroxide makes your product less transparent, but not thicker: the texture of your product remains more or less the same and your product doesn't feel heavy on the skin.

Camouflages odours

Magnesium Hydroxide neutralizes body odours and combined with ingredients such as Arrowroot Powder, Shea Butter and Coconut Oil, Magnesium Hydroxide can help you stay fresh-smelling for longer without irritating the skin.

How to use it?

Incorporate Magnesium Hydroxide into skincare products such as DIY deodorant, day cream or body lotion. It is not recommended to use Magnesium Hydroxide undiluted on the skin.

Making a deodorant cream or stick that you apply to the skin? Then choose the ultrafine variant, which spreads much more smoothly.

What's so special about it?

Magnesium Hydroxide is a completely natural product with many beneficial properties. Initially, it was widely used in the cosmetics industry because of its moisture-absorbing properties, but more and more benefits of magnesium hydroxide are being discovered. You therefore see it increasingly often as an ingredient in natural care products, such as deodorant or day cream.

pH value of Magnesium Hydroxide

Magnesium Hydroxide is often used as a replacement for Baking Soda in deodorant. Like baking soda, it has a basic pH (around 10). However, it works differently on the skin.

Magnesium Hydroxide barely dissolves in water. This means it stays on the skin as a protective powder layer and reacts less quickly with moisture or oils. As a result, the pH of the skin changes less dramatically than with baking soda.

Magnesium Hydroxide has a larger particle size than baking soda. As a result, it penetrates the skin less quickly and stays more on the skin surface. This helps minimize skin irritation.

Rather than drastically neutralizing the skin, magnesium hydroxide works by neutralizing odours. It traps acids and bacteria without disrupting the skin's natural balance.

So what's the difference with Baking Soda?

Baking soda has a pH value of around 8-9, which is also much higher than the pH of the skin. When baking soda is used in a deodorant, it's usually added as a fine powder and doesn't completely dissolve in a formula without water.

However, as soon as baking soda comes into contact with moisture, such as sweat or natural oils on the skin, a small reaction occurs. This locally increases the pH on the skin, which can lead to dry skin, irritation and skin damage.

Baking soda usually has a smaller particle size, which means it can penetrate the skin more easily. This can intensify irritation, especially in people with sensitive skin.