Not So Dirty Hippie #2: Lotion in 4 Ingredients

Not So Dirty Hippie #2: Lotion in 4 Easy Ingredients

Last time I did one of these I wrote about my new favorite thing—natural deodorant!  Let me tell you, it’s still working great, but I need to tweak the recipe to make it non-melting.  I let it sit under a lamp and it turned to goo (oops).  Remembering my deodorant is in the fridge this summer might be an issue.  An emulsifier should do the trick.

Anyway, on with the lotion tutorial!

Look on the back of the bottle of lotion you probably have in your house. The ingredient list is long and you probably can’t pronounce half of the chemicals in the bottle, let alone know what they’re actually doing to your skin. Companies sell you these products claiming that they are “good for you.”  This might not be the case, especially in the United States, where we use many chemicals in health and food products that other countries have deemed unsafe.

The truth of the matter is, simple is better, and there is nothing more simple than making your own lotions free of dubious chemicals. Hand and face lotion can be as easy as four ingredients. Some of the ingredients can be bought in your grocery store, though you will likely have to go online for a few of them. 

Lotion can be made easily in any sized batch using the following measurements. Small batches are suggested as this recipe does not include any preservatives and has a limited shelf-life. I like to make a 10 oz batch (easier to work out measurements) and share it with my friends and family. (My mother in law loves this stuff!)

There are dozens and dozens of recipes for lotions online, but this is my favorite.

Ingredients:

• 75% water/liquids (you can use water, green tea, rosewater, or aloe vera gel)
• 15% oils (suggestions include olive, coconut, almond, jojoba, cocoa butter or shea butter. Cheap oils like canola are not as good for your skin and can be pretty stinky.)
• 5% stearic acid (derived from plants and all-natural)
• 5% emulsifying wax (also plant-based)

Optional: Your choice of essential oil for scent—a few drops go a long way

Equipment:

Measuring cup

*Scale (optional)

Glass bowl and pot

Mixing bowl

Stick blender

Containers for your finished lotion

The first thing you must do is make sure all of your equipment is as clean as possible. You are going to be mixing water and oil—a prime breeding ground for bacteria—don’t give them a head start.

Once your equipment is clean you can measure out your stearic acid and wax. Measuring by weight is better than measuring by volume, so if you have a scale use it, but don’t worry if your measurements are a bit off. It won’t hurt in this recipe.

Melt your emulsifying wax and stearic acid together in a bowl over a pot of water on the stove. Stearic acid takes a while to melt so it might be a few minutes.

Warm your other ingredients as well, including melting any hard oils like coconut or shea butter. (You don't need fancy oils and butters to make this lotion effective. See what your local grocery store has available.) They don’t have to be hot, but keeping things warm to the touch will make mixing your waxes with your oils and liquids a lot easier.

Once everything is melted combine liquids, oils, and waxes in a mixing bowl and use your stick blender to blend everything together. After a minute or two the mixture will thicken, though it might not reach “normal” lotion consistency until it has cooled to room temperature. 

At this point your lotion is “done.” You can use it unscented, or you can mix a few drops of your favorite essential oil in to make it smell nice. You want to use “therapy grade” essential oils as opposed to “fragrances.”  Essential oils are pure, while fragrance oils often use chemicals and artificial means to create a scent.

Suggestions for containers include old lotion bottles (reuse!), mason jars, or old baby food jars.

Because this recipe does not contain any preservatives it will only be “good” for a few days at room temperature. By storing it in the fridge you can keep it for about three weeks (hence the ‘small batch’ suggestion at the top of this article).

If you’d like to make lotion that lasts longer and can be kept at room temperature you might want to consider a preservative called “Optiphen Plus.”  It is formaldehyde and paraben free and is considered “safe” globally.  It can be bought from many suppliers. Add 1% of your total mixture (example, for 10 ounces of lotion use .1 ounce of Optiphen Plus) to increase the shelf-life of your product.

Have fun and enjoy!

Need Ingredients? 

Stearic Acid

Emulsifying Wax

Shea Butter (this is the brand I use because I like the yellow color, but you can get lighter types as well. Warning: shea butter has an...interesting scent.)

Cocoa Butter

Almond Oil

Optiphen Plus