DIY Lotion Recipe

I'm pretty much a newby to making my own stuff. I've come a long way and I feel comfortable with what I'm doing but I still like to find recipes to try that other people have made and loved before I start playing with them myself. I found an invaluable resource in A Sonoma Garden. This website is a wealth of information that I find myself going back to again and again.

I use lotion a lot. I have it with me at all times. My hands get so dry and it just feels horrible if I don't put something on my hands. However, the last time I used purchased lotion, I counted no less than 37 ingredients on the label, most of which I could not even come close to identifying. That's not good for you at all. Then I found this recipe for lotion and I had to try it.

It has 4 basic ingredients and I know what they are. WINNER!

Here's how I did it:
recipe slightly adapted from A Sonoma Garden

1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup cocoa butter
1/4 cup emulsifying wax (I got mine at Brambleberry)
1 1/4 cup hot water
10 drops of your favorite smelling essential oil, optional (I didn't use any this time around)
I put the olive oil, cocoa butter and emulsifying wax into a measuring cup and heated it in a pan of water over low heat, but you could do it in the microwave as well. When that is melted, add the hot water and stir. Pour into a container and let it sit to cure for 12-18 hours. Mine thickened up a lot faster than that, but it may take up to 18 hours to get firm.

And that's it. You now have about 1 1/2 cups of lotion to slather all over your body. It won't last forever because of the olive oil and in warmer weather it may melt so you'll want to keep it in a cool, dry place. I'm using this and finding myself not having to use lotion as often as I was with the commercial counterpart. And it's safe. I like that!

A quick note on the wax: there is probably enough in the 1 lb bag to make 18-20 batches of this lotion. I think it cost me around $6.00 plus shipping, so that's pretty cheap compared to buying it at the store :)