Making Lotion
I started making lotion and soap several years ago. I do it primarily because of my severe allergies. My soaps and lotions have no colorants, no fragrances and no preservatives. Lotion is so incredibly simple to make (much simpler than soap) and it's incredibly economical!
I buy my supplies from Majestic Mountain Sage or The Soap Dish. I'm not affiliated, I just get consistently great service and they have every possible supply for soaps, balms and lotions. There are recipes all over the web but I'll share the 2 I use here.
I buy my supplies from Majestic Mountain Sage or The Soap Dish. I'm not affiliated, I just get consistently great service and they have every possible supply for soaps, balms and lotions. There are recipes all over the web but I'll share the 2 I use here.
Here's what you need:
- A scale that measures at least in 1/4 ounce increments
- a blender (yes, I use my kitchen blender)
- a bowl for the ingredients
- a small funnel that will fit in the bottle necks
- bottles and caps - sterilize these by running them through the dishwasher before using them
- Ingredients for the basic recipe
- 14 - 20 ounces of distilled water - you MUST use distilled because this recipe has no preservatives, the lotion will go rancid quickly if you use tap water
- .25 ounces citric acid
- 1.25 ounces of liquid glycerin
- .75 ounces stearic acid
- .75 ounces emulsifying wax
- 2.5 ounces coconut oil (this is used in soap making too)
Measure the ingredients into a microwave safe container. My scale allows me to reset to "0" after each measure so that I can just add everything to the bowl all at once. Adjust the water amount to the desired thickness. 14 ounces of water makes a nice hand cream, 20 ounces makes a light lotion. I have really dry skin so I usually use around 14 - 15 ounces of water.
If you want a thick hand cream just use a lot less water. Try 6 - 8 ounces until you get a batch of the thickness that you like.
If you want a thick hand cream just use a lot less water. Try 6 - 8 ounces until you get a batch of the thickness that you like.
Place the bowl in the microwave and microwave at 30 second intervals until everything is melted. Be careful because you can burn the crap out of yourself with this hot mixture! After the ingredients are melted, pour the mixture into the blender and pulse blend for about 10 seconds to get everything mixed up well.
Be very careful when starting the blender. If the mixture spews out of the top of the blender you might burn yourself.
Be very careful when starting the blender. If the mixture spews out of the top of the blender you might burn yourself.
Pour the blended mixture into the prepared bottles. Use a funnel that will fit into the neck of the bottles and be very careful - the mixture is still very hot. You'll see in the photo that it's really important to spill some on the counter too!
(I apologize for the bad photos, my camera was dying the day I did this.)
(I apologize for the bad photos, my camera was dying the day I did this.)
I use the small bottles for hand cream (these are from a previous batch). I set 3 of them in a coffee mug to fill them. The lotion mixture is so hot that you can't hold a bottle while it's being filled. The suppliers above also carry bottles and bottle caps.
As the bottles cool shake them every 5 - 10 minutes to keep the ingredients blended. Once cooled, store them in the refrigerator. This lotion does not have preservatives so it will go rancid. It doesn't happen very often but it will occasionally happen on a opened bottle. Lotion is incredibly inexpensive and very fast to make! This is two batches and I did everything - getting out the ingredients, making the lotion, taking photos and clean up in about 30 minutes and I think all of it costs about $3.
As the bottles cool shake them every 5 - 10 minutes to keep the ingredients blended. Once cooled, store them in the refrigerator. This lotion does not have preservatives so it will go rancid. It doesn't happen very often but it will occasionally happen on a opened bottle. Lotion is incredibly inexpensive and very fast to make! This is two batches and I did everything - getting out the ingredients, making the lotion, taking photos and clean up in about 30 minutes and I think all of it costs about $3.
