Best Homemade Lotion – The Only Recipe You’ll Ever Need

A Tried And True Homemade Lotion Recipe

I’ve been making lotion since about 2011. My housemate had this Rosemary Gladstar book, and I absolutely loved it.

Many DIYers have learned and fallen in love with her recipe. Here’s just one other blogger who has formulated her own favorite combination of things Rosemary suggests to use.

Now, you can find Rosemary Gladstar herself showing you exactly how to make her “perfect lotion” in her own kitchen or with the editor-in-chief of Mother Earth Living.

How To Customize Your Recipe

This formula is basic and so easy to customize. As Rosemary describes in the video, different amounts of different oils will result in a lotion that is either more greasy or less greasy, more thick or more thin, more fragrant or not, etc.

I have made this recipe with almost everything possible. And you can too, as long as you stick to the correct amounts in each category of ingredients.

The Basics Of Making Homemade Lotion

Lotion is an emulsification of water and oil.

The specific types of base ingredients for this recipe are water, liquid oils, and solid oils.

I like to use roughly a 3 : 2 : 1 ratio of water : liquid oil : solid oil.

So, since the recipe calls for 1 cup of water, I used about a 1/3 cup beeswax/coconut oil and 2/3 cup avocado/grapeseed oil.

But this is where you can highly customize your recipe to your personal preferences!

If you make it according to the above ratio, you’ll get a medium thick lotion that lands somewhere right in the middle – it’s not thick but not runny, stays on your finger, and rubs right in. I have not tried pumping this out of a pump bottle, but I bet it would work.

If you want a thinner lotion, use less solid oil. I would think about 1/4 cup would be good.

If you want a thicker cream, use more solid oil. Maybe more like a 1/2 cup.

Ingredient Possibilities

• Wet ingredient ideas:
  • aloe vera (I don’t love the smell of aloe, so don’t tend to use it)
  • green tea
  • water
  • magnesium oil (to make your own magnesium lotion)

• Solid oil/wax/butter options:
  • coconut oil
  • shea butter (raw shea butter can have a strong smell, so don’t use too much of this.)
  • beeswax
  • cocoa butter (use sparingly unless you like smelling like chocolate!)

• Liquid oils:
  • avocado oil (this is more of a greasy oil for dry skin)
  • grapeseed oil (this is a very light and dry oil that’s best for oily skin)
  • almond oil (I have found that almond oil makes me break out!)
  • argan oil (I have also not reacted well to argan oil, but I love the other two options, and you can use what you know works best for you!)
  • olive oil
  • jojoba oil

You can also add various enhancing ingredients in limited amounts, such as:

• Optional ingredients:
  • vitamin E & A
  • essential oils
  • lanolin

Equipment Needed

• a quart mason jar with measurement lines on the side (or something similar that’s tall and slender)
• small pot to set the jar in to melt the oils
• immersion blender
• rubber scraper
• small jars with lids

How To Make Easy Homemade Lotion

1. Gather your ingredients and supplies.
2. Create a double boiler with a small saucepan and a quart mason jar.
3. Melt the solid wax/butter/oil in the jar.
4. Add liquid oils up to the 1 cup mark on the jar.
5. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Let cool to room temperature.
6. Using an immersion blender, start whipping the oils.
7. Add 1 cup room temperature water slowly, blending as you go. Voila!
8. Make it at a time when you need to use it on your body and it makes clean up super easy!

FAQs

What Is The Difference Between Lotion And Salve?

I love to use lotion, because it is made with half water! Other creams, salves, butters don’t have any water! That is really what sets lotion apart and makes it so hydrating.

When you emulsify oil and water, you create a product that not only moisturizes your skin but also locks in the moisture. It is super moisturizing and super absorbent.

Do I Have To Use A Blender?

No! In the beginning, I did use a blender because it was all I had, and cleaning it out was such a pain!

I quickly learned that an immersion blender is the way to go!

I found a very basic immersion blender at a thrift store, and it’s what I use for all of my body care recipes. That way I don’t even really have to wash it. I just wipe it clean, and the beeswax and oils can just stay on it. There’s no need to use so much effort to get it clean if I’m not using it for anything else.

I’ve also read that people have had luck just whipping it by hand!

Is This Lotion Pourable Or Pumpable?

Yes! Especially if you make a thinner formulation with more liquid oil and less solid oil. You’ll quickly get a feel for how much of each ingredient category you need to make the consistency you want.

How Long Does The Lotion Last?

You’ll find a lot of different opinions on this. Some say it doesn’t last long at all because it has water in it and will grow bacteria or mold without any preservatives. Others say that adding vitamin E will help preserve it, while the reality is that vitamin is only an antioxidant that helps preserve the freshness of the oils. Some say to store most of it in the fridge and only take out a small amount at a time. Others say that lotion separates when it’s cold!

In my experience, it looks and smells fresh for a long time after making it. I’ve never seen mold growing on it, but maybe I always use it up before it has a chance to grow.

Here’s What I Do:

After making a big batch, I pour it into smaller jars. I keep a small jar everywhere I need it and keep the rest in the fridge. I use up the jars I have sitting around fast enough that it doesn’t spoil, and I pull a new one out of the fridge whenever I need it. Letting it come to room temp before using prevents separation issues.

Using this method, your lotion probably won’t spoil before it’s gone either.

Can I Use This Lotion For My Whole Family, Year-Round?

In the summertime, it feels really nice to put cold lotion on a sunburn!

That’s what’s so nice about this recipe. You can use it all year round. It’s great for dry winter skin and sunburned summer skin.

It’s safe for kids and easy to formulate for everyone in the family. You can make different batches throughout various seasons, or you might find one recipe that just works the whole year through, for everyone who needs it.

It has completely resolved my itchy flaky winter dryness, it soothes my daughter’s eczema, it heals chapped cheeks of all kinds.

Can I Make This Into A Bronzing Lotion?

I have not personally tried this, but I’ll bet you could add some bronze mica powder to create a really nice glowing hue! I’ve heard of people having better luck with that than adding cocoa and cinnamon, which kind of just dusts off.

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