A Day of Making Lotion

Handmade lotion is the BEST!  Sure, I’m a bit biased, but honestly, you can’t beat the rich oils and butters and lack of chemicals and alcohol when it comes to winter skin.  I spent Sunday whipping up 72 ounces of moisture-rich, creamy lotion and then divided it into five, fragrant batches.  Here’s a peek at how I did it.

The first step is to sterilize everything that will come into contact with the lotion.  Jars, lids, mixers, bowls, spoons, droppers…you name it.  I sterilized everything using a water/bleach solution.  Once it’s sterile, I set it out to dry.

Then, I start the measuring and melting process.  I use a basic lotion recipe that’s based on percentages.  You can find it here.  It allows me to use any variety of lotions and butters that I want.  For this batch, I used Sweet Almond Oil, Avocado Oil, Cocoa Butter and Vitamin E Oil.  Below, I’m measuring the Cocoa Butter.  It smells just like chocolate!  Mmmmm!

Next, it’s time to blend my water with my oil/butter/emulsifying wax/stearic acid mix. 

Once the oils and water mix and the batch starts to thicken, I add my preservative.  I use a paraben-free preservative.  Once it was to a thickness I liked, I divided and scented five batches.  Here are the final lotions; ready for Christmas!