11 Amazing Kaolin Clay Benefits (Including DiY Recipes)

kaolin clay small

Before we discuss various benefits of Kaolin clay (aka Kaolinite clay, China clay, and White clay), let us explain what this clay actually is. It’s one of the purest and gentlest clays available on planet Earth. Although the clay suits all skin types it’s primarily used for managing various problems of sensitive skin. Our first choice when it comes to Kaolin clay is the Veda Kaolin White Clay(Amazon Link).

If you want to get more inspiration simply check our recommended products.

What is Kaolin Clay?

As the name of kaolin clay suggests, its primary component is a mineral called kaolinite. Kaolinite is a layered silicate clay mineral formed due to chemical weathering of an aluminum silicate mineral like feldspar. You will find Kaolin clay in various part of the planet. However, its name has been derived from Mount Kaolin (or Kao-ling) of China, a site where the mineral is found most abundantly.

The clay is mostly white in color; however, depending on the percentage of other minerals constituting it, Kaolin can also be greenish or pinkish. Here, it must be noted that according to experts, the whiter would be the Kaolin clay the more beneficial it would be for our skin, hair, teeth, etc. Kaolin clay available in other colors is mostly used for sculpting, porcelain making, adding gloss on paper, and so on. Pink clay is often used for super sensitive skin as you can read in our pink clay guide.

Kaolin that’s absolutely white in color comes with an amazing mineral composition (it comes with a high concentration of silicon dioxide) and has a perfectly neutral pH. These factors make the clay ideal for skin care. Today, it is used widely for preparing soaps, deodorants, facial powders, poultices, scrubs, and facial masks. You can also use the ingredient for preparing masks and packs at home. The clay is readily available in all top online and departmental stores. Read on to find out more about Kaolin clay benefits.

11 Benefits of Kaolin Clay

Check out this wonderful lists of benefits for the kaolin clay.

kaolin clay face mask
Kaolin Clay Face Mask

1. Kaolin Clay Absorbs Oil

Kaolin clay reduces oiliness of our skin: As mentioned above, Kaolin clay is extremely gentle and thus would never irritate your skin. Its light and fine texture makes it highly absorbent. Applying a mix prepared by adding some warm water to the clay would soak up all the stale sebum and excess oil on your skin. The mix would also extract dirt and oil from your skin pores. Unlike most other clays used for reducing skin oiliness, Kaolin would not leave your skin excessively dry. Once treated with Kaolin clay, your skin would become soft and supple and will have a healthy glow.

2. Kaolin Clay has Detoxing Properties

The clay would purify your skin pores and detoxify your skin: The detoxifying ability of silicon dioxide would allow Kaolin to suck out all the impurities (these include dirt, grime, germs, and various pollutants) from your skin pores. Use a cleaning mask prepared using Kaolin clay at least twice every week. Regular cleansing of your pores would not allow them to get clogged up. This, in turn, would prevent bacterial growth and thereby protect your skin against breakouts.

3. Helps You to Create an Amazing Face Cleanser

The clay makes an amazing face cleanser: While you use a Kaolin-based facial mask twice every week, you can use a cleanser prepared using the ingredient every day. Kaolin is definitely a safer alternative to all those harsh cleansers available on the market. Preparing a Kaolin cleanser is easy. Combine Kaolin clay and colloidal oatmeal in a ratio of 1:2. Add seven drops of rose or lavender oil to the blend. Whisk all the ingredients together and transfer the cleanser into a glass bottle/jar. To clean your face, take a small portion of the cleanser on the palm, add some water to it and scrub your face. Do this for a couple of minutes and finally risk the cleanser off using lukewarm water.

4. Helps Repairing Your Skin (e.g. With a Clay Bath)

Kaolin clay is a great remedy for skin irritation: It might be a bug bite, poison ivy, or allergic rashes Kaolin clay can help you by alleviating skin irritation. Add two cups colloidal oatmeal and 1 cup kaolin clay in a bucketful of tepid water. Allow the two ingredients to soak in water for a minimum of 15 minutes. Bathing with the water will offer you relief from skin irritation almost instantly.

5. Helps to Strengthen Your Skin

women beautiful skin

The clay can maintain the pH balance of sensitive skin: Being the gentlest of all skin friendly clays, Kaolin can be used safely even on sensitive skin. It soothes sensitive skin and prevents rashes, redness, and breakouts. If you have sensitive skin, you can apply a face mask prepared by mixing 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon kaolin clay onto your face. Wait for five minutes and rinse the mask off using lukewarm water. Finish the process by washing your face with cold water.

6.Helps Against Acne

Kaolin clay is a perfect acne remedy: This ingredient can effectively treat pus-filled, blotchy, red, and painful acne breakouts. Prepare an anti-acne blend by mixing 1 teaspoon kaolin clay, two drops tea tree essential oil, and two teaspoons aloe vera gel. Mix the ingredients well using a duly cleaned cosmetic brush. Use the same brush to apply the mix onto your face. Don’t apply this mask around your mouth and eyes. Wait for seven minutes and rinse the mask off using warm water. Finally, splash enough cold water onto your face and pat it dry.

7. Kaolin Clay Can be Used as a Hair Mask

The clay has also been found to improve the health of our scalp and hair: Kaolin clay’s ability of sucking up impurities like oils and dirt makes it beneficial even for our hair. It’s, in fact, an amazing natural shampoo. You can mix the clay with various cleansing ingredients for making a scalp and hair cleansing paste. The biggest plus of using Kaolin for hair care is that the ingredient can cleanse our scalp and hair gently i.e. without drying them excessively. The clay works by exfoliating the scalp and stimulating blood circulation. Other than removing dirt and dead cells from the scalp, kaolin also improves the elasticity of our hair, makes them stronger, and repairs dried and damaged hair. You can try Kaolin hair treatment even for getting rid of dandruff or dealing with severe hair loss. The ingredient has been found to promote significant hair growth. I want you to read this article about hair masks. But if you are to lazy here is a short tutorial for your hair:

To prepare a hair pack using kaolin clay, you will have to mix 3 tablespoons of the clay with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (opt for the organic variety) and seven drops of lavender oil. Mix the three ingredients to form a sticky paste. Next, slowly pour some rose water into the mixture and stir it using your clean fingers. Make sure that the paste is not too thick. Apply the paste onto your hair and scalp (make sure your hair and scalp are completely dry) and allow it to sit for two minutes. After two minutes, rinse your hair and scalp off meticulously using lukewarm water. Once your hair is completely clean, run cold water through them; this would seal your hair cuticles. Just check out our hair mask guide, it’s even with detailed images.

8. Kaolin Clay is a Great Exfoliatin

The clay is a wonderful exfoliating agent: The gentle, yet slightly abrasive texture of kaolin provides it with amazing exfoliating properties. The clay can scrounge off flake skin and dead cells and make our skin soft and smooth. You can prepare a body scrub at home by mixing kaolin clay with coconut oil and white sugar. For giving the scrub a beautiful scent, you can also add a few drops of lavender or geranium oil to the mix.

9. Kaolin Clay Supports You Daily Make-Up

women make up

Kaolin clay increases efficacy of makeup and other cosmetic products: Kaolin clay is known for having excellent adhesion, coverage, and absorption properties. These properties make it a perfect ingredient for a range of cosmetic products.

The clay makes the ideal white base for makeup. It allows all kinds of mineral makeup to slide on our skin. Using the ingredient as makeup base would help you in hiding all your fine lines and imperfections even with medium coverage. In other words, you will get a perfectly flawless finish. What’s more, Kaolin clay would also allow your makeup to stay on for a longer period of time thanks to the oil control properties of the ingredient. The clay would allow your skin to withstand perspiration and humid/wet conditions and thus your makeup will not get washed away even if it’s extremely hot outside.

There are also some cosmetic products that utilize the transfer and water resistant features of Kaolin clay. Other than making your skin look flawless for hours, Kaolin would also protect it against the harmful UV rays of sun. That’s the reason why a number of sun protective lotions and creams use this clay as the base ingredient.

Individuals with sensitive skin often stay away from makeup. That’s because makeup can make their skin more sensitive. Absorption of harsh chemicals present in makeup can result in severe skin irritation and breakouts (particularly if they get into the skin pores). Using kaolin clay as your makeup base would protect your skin against all those harsh chemicals.

10. It Can be Used in Natural Deodorants

The clay is often added to deodorants: Kaolin is often used for making deodorants thanks to its ability to soak up oils and sweat from underarms and neutralizing body odor. The ingredient is also capable of pulling out toxic substances from our skin and all these help us in keeping our underarms fresh and clean.

You can use Kaolin for preparing deodorant at home. The other ingredients you will need include an essential oil of your choice, baking soda, coconut oil, and corn starch. We also wrote a complete guide about natural deodorants, so feel free to check it out.

11. Kaolin Clay Can be Used for Natural Toothpaste

Kaolin clay would give you a perfect white smile: Kaolin clay is widely used when making toothpastes. Other than boasting amazing cleansing properties, the ingredient can scrape off tarter and plaque from our teeth. You can also prepare kaolin-based toothpaste at home. For that you’ll need some kaolin clay, liquid stevia, peppermint oil, and coconut oil. Mix all the ingredients well and store it in a glass jar. Use the mix for brushing your teeth twice, once in the morning and then again before going to bed. You will be benefited even if you use this homemade toothpaste once every week.

Kaolin Clay Do It Yourself Recipes

As you already noticed Kaolin clay has various uses. Now that you know that it’s absolutely worth try one of the following recipes at home.

kaolin clay recipes

Kaolin Clay Soap Recipe


  • 10 tablespoons kaolin clay
  • 25 ml olive oil
  • 25 ml coconut oil
  • 30 grams tallow
  • 6 ml castor oil
  • 15 grams shea butter


The method of preparing kaolin clay soap would be same as any other soap we use. Other than the above ingredients you will also need the following soap making supplies: A slow cooker, a mason jar, a disposable cup (you can also use another jar instead), MoldInfrared thermometer, Stick blender, Digital scale SpatulaRubber, gloves, and safety glasses, a non-reactive spoon.

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Kaolin Clay Makeup (Foundation) Recipe


  • cup Kaolin clay
  • cup arrowroot powder
  • Cocoa powder


Take a small bowl and mix the kaolin clay and arrowroot powder in it. Now, keep adding cocoa powder to the mixture until it attains the actual color of your skin.

Kaolin Clay Bath Bomb Recipe


  • 2 tablespoon Kaolin clay
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil (liquid)
  • cup baking soda
  • cup powdered milk
  • one cup citric acid
  • 40 to 50 drops of rose or lavender oil
  • A spray bottle carrying witch hazel
  • Bathbomb molds


Before beginning the bath bomb making procedure, you should cover any one of your hands with a glove.

Put all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Next, put in all wet ingredient into it. Stir all the ingredients carefully using a whisk. Do this until the mix starts clumping. Now, spray some witch hazel onto the mixture and simultaneously use the gloved hand for putting small portions of the mixture into the molds and pressing them.

Allow the mixture to dry up and harden. This would take around 24 hours. Once done, store the bombs in a large glass container. Dropping these bombs into warm water would make bathing an extremely enjoyable experience for you.

Kaolin Clay Facemask Recipe


  • 4 teaspoons kaolin clay
  • 2 tablespoons green tea
  • 4 drops of lavender oil
  • 2 teaspoons aloe vera gel

Other than the above ingredients you will need a brush for applying the face mask, a spoon, and a small bowl.


Prepare some green tea and allow it to cool down. Now, put the kaolin clay into a tiny bowl and add two tablespoons of the cooled tea into it. Next, add in the essential oil and aloe gel and mix all the ingredients meticulously using a teaspoon.

Apply the mask all over your face and wait for five minutes. Now, rinse the mask off using lukewarm water. Once the mask is completely removed, splash plenty of cold water onto your face. For best results, this mask should be applied once or twice every week.

Product Recommendation

We want to give you one product recommendation for Kaolin Clay:

VEDA Kaolin White Clay(Amazon Link) is a relatively new product. Simple, easy, cheap. There is no risk in giving Kaolin clay a try. This is 100% Kaolin clay, no chemical ingredients included. Give it a try.

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