To bring out the smoothing and softening properties of oats, all we need to do is add water. This makes oats such a brilliant ingredient for use on the skin. When you buy an oat based product usually it contains only oat extract. Even natural or organic skincare companies would likely only use a standardized oat extract. This is because the life of the product would be adversely affected by using a real oat infusion. And so if they used the real thing, they would have to add a lot of preservatives and the life of their product would be drastically reduced.

So, as we are going to use the real thing, I recommend only making up a small batch at the time. Keep it refrigerated and avoid dipping your fingers into it, to avoid cross-contamination. Also just throw it away if it is a week old and has been kept in the fridge.

We are going to be making a coconut cleaner, so it is best to use a more fatty oil rather than a thinner one. This is because the cleanser will not sink into the skin so quickly. I use solid coconut oil (food grade), which of course smells amazing. You could use almond or macadamia oil, but these will make a product with a slightly runnier end result.

Pop 2 teaspoons (10ml) of oats in a cup or bowl and then pour over 100ml of boiling water. Cover the bowl and leave it for 20 minutes so the oats can infuse into the water. Finally strain the mixture through a tea strainer.

So now we will start with the oils for our coconut cleanser. Put the caster and coconut oils in a double boiler, add in the emulsifying wax also.

Now we are on the water stage. Heat the oat infusion in a second double boiler or maybe a glass jug in a pan of boiling water.

Heat the oil phase ingredients until everything has melted and heat until both the oil phase mixture and the water phase mixture reach the same temperature. We are looking for them both to be around 167-176 degrees Fahrenheit or 75-80 degrees Celsius.

Remove the water phase from the double boiler. Use a cloth and be careful not to burn yourself.

Now we need to whisk up the oil phase. Place the milk frother into the oil phase bowl, leaving it in the double boiler. Turn on the frother, making sure it remains under the surface so we do not introduce too much air into the mixture.

Now carefully and slowly start pouring the water phase into the oil phase. Make sure to do this slowly in a steady stream. Continue to constantly whisk with the frother. Keep going for approximately 1 minute.

Now pop the bowl containing the coconut cleanser into another bowl of cold water. Continue to blend with the frother. The mixture will now slowly start to thicken.

Keep going until the mixture is cooled. Once cooled we can simply add in the vitamin E oil, preservative and essential oil.

Finally, all we need to do is simply pour our coconut cleanser into a pump action dispenser bottle. Then make a nice label including details of the ingredients and the date you made it. Remember to discard the coconut cleanser if it has been in your fridge for more than a week.