A few friends asked how I make lotion, so here are the directions!
I’m sure you all know how I eschew (oh so smart word!!) many products people find normal. Anything with an unpronounceable ingredient? I tend to avoid it!
And so: I decided to make my own deodorant. And lip balm. And face wash. And lotion. Hehe. When I get ready for bed, the only non-homemade product I use is toothpaste. I’ve yet to delve into that!
Since both sides of our families agreed not to exchange gifts this year, J and I made lotion and lip balm for them. Perhaps our family members weren’t as thrilled with our little gifts as we were (I think J and I had too much fun making the lotion and lip balm and the decorating paper bags to hold them)!! Oh well 🙂
Here’s the lotion:
And btw, the best part of making your own body products is that when you drip anything, you can just rub it all over your hands!! You couldn’t do that if you were making cookies or a pizza. Rubbing flour or cheese in your skin isn’t something you wanna do. But when you make body products? Sure, rub that sunflower oil, vitamin E, or jojoba oil in, your skin will be much happier for it!
Okay, I gathered and created 2 lotion recipes from a variety of sources on the Internet (no one recipe was really used, I made my own from what other people did) and here they are:
Emulsifying Wax Lotion 1 cup purified water 1/4 cup of oil (I used olive, sunflower, and hemp) 2 Tablespoons emulsifying wax 4 vitamin E caplets 10-20 drops of essential oilHeat the oil and wax until the wax melts (about 150 degrees). Heat the water until it is lukewarm (about 120 degrees). Add water to oil mixture and whisk every 10-20 minutes until cool. Add Vitamin E and essential oil to the nearly cooled mixture.
Beeswax Lotion 1 cup olive oil 1/2 cup kokum butter (or some firm butter) 1/2 cup beeswax 1 tablespoon cornstarch 4 vitamin E caplets 10-20 drops of essential oil Heat the olive oil, butter, and beeswax until everything is melted. Add in the cornstarch. Whisk every 10 minutes until it is cooled. Add Vitamin E and essential oil to the nearly cooled mixture.Lessons I learned:
- The beeswax lotion is easier and will stay fresh longer. None of these lotions have preservatives (yay!) so they may only last a couple of months. No problem since they are easy and fun to make! Store it in the fridge or use it fast.
- I used my super awesome Kitchen Aid stand mixer to whip the lotion. Easy peasy to dump the lotion in, whip it and forget it, then whip it again every hour or so. Of course with a small batch this wouldn’t work as well….
- The emulsifying wax recipe is very creamy and smooth but the wax and water might have trouble mixing. We had to make this one twice before it worked. It’s my favorite though! The beeswax recipe makes a thicker lotion.
- ETA- I got most of our lotion supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs and heartily recommend them!