Easy DIY Homemade Lotion – Make a Change Today, Go Healthy

Introduction

Making your own DIY homemade lotion is very satisfying and there are so many benefits to doing so. One great benefit of making your own lotion is that you can control what ingredients the lotion includes. Store bought lotion is full of all kinds of toxic chemicals, dyes and perfumes. If the lotion does include beneficial ingredients, it is a very small trace amount in comparison to other unhealthy ones. By making your own lotion you can choose what ingredients to include. You can control how much to include and also what mix of ingredients. This means you can target your lotion to your specific skin type or need. You can choose what scent or preservatives type, if any, you may want.

Homemade lotion making can be a little daunting at first. How do you even start, what ingredients should you use. The lotion making process is really very simple but there are many ingredients to choose from so it can be a little overwhelming.  The first thing you need to understand is the basics for lotion making. Lotion is made from oils and waters mixed together in such a way that the oil can remain dispersed into the water.

This process is emulsification and the lotion is the remaining emulsion of the process. Emulsions tent to take on a whitish color because of the dispersed particles of oil within the water. The problem with oil and water is if you mix them eventually they will separate again. As we have all learned oil and water do not tend to mix very well and rather form a suspension of oil which will remain separated from water. To achieve emulsification of a lotion an emulsifier can help to stabilize the dispersion of the oil and water and keep them from separating. There are many different emulsifiers to pick from. Do some research on each you may want to go with a more natural one.

For this homemade lotion how to guide I have included a very simple lotion ingredient percent guide and basic lotion recipe for your reference. You can change this as you see fit.

Homemade Lotion Processing Steps

Picking Ingredients

A DIY Homemade lotion is a great way for you to select the oils and additive that are beneficial to you. To make your lotion you will need water, oil and or butter, emulsifying wax and a preservative. You can use various carrier oils, scents, essential oils, preservatives as you require. This is your lotion tailor it to your needs. After all, that is one of the best parts of making your own product. You can purchase many of the ingredients at your local grocery store or online.

Knowing your recipe ahead of time helps you know how much of each ingredient you need. Take into account how much you plan to make. Its like baking you can make 2 oz or you can make 20 oz or more. You should also think through the container or containers you plan to store your lotion in. Check on oil shelf life as well. Picking oils that have longer shelf life helps your lotion have a longer shelf life.

Aside from knowing you want an oil and water mixture you need to select which types of oils to use and any other ingredients that you may choose for your lotion. There are many different carrier oils, butters and essential oils that you can include in your lotion recipe. Do a bit of research so you can know what properties the oils you select have. Make sure they are doing what you are wanting them to do.

Carrier oils absorb into the skin at different rates, thicker ones may stay on the skin surface longer than others which helps improve moisturization. However, you may want a carrier oil that absorbs quickly so you don’t have an oily residue left on your skin. Either way tailor the selection to your needs. Your selection can help to moisturize drying skin and can help aging skin or other skin conditions. This is a great way to target your lotion for your necessities.

You can also add butters to your lotion recipe some of which include cocoa butter, shea butter, mango butter and much more. Butters are a great pick for lotions as they can add different benefits to your lotion and are great for moisturization. Each butter has its own characteristics so also do your research on those if you are adding them into your lotion. Butters also will help thicken your lotion and help lotion maintain consistency.

Preparing Equipment

Before you begin making your DIY homemade lotion, start with ensuring all of your working surfaces are as clean as possible. Wipe down the table you are using and anything else that may come in contact with your ingredients or lotion. This also includes equipment, measuring tools and even the container should be washed and if possible disinfected. I also wipe down the packaging of each ingredient to ensure nothing will fall into your mixture as you are weighing out your ingredients. This will help minimize introduction of microbes and bacteria into the lotion. Right before I start, I lay out all of the clean equipment, so I have everything I need on hand.

I have collected a lot of useful equipment to help me with my DIY natural products, take a look at my article to reference some useful equipment to keep on hand:

Helpful List of Equipment to Support Natural Remedy Preparations

For the lotion recipe I reference in this article I used the equipment below:

• Handheld blender (I tend to use an immersion blender)
• Large glass measuring bowl
• Utensils for weighing out ingredients (I like disposable or stainless steel).
• Measuring Cups or other measuring utensils
• Digital Scale
• Double boiler pot (to melt the butters/oils/waxes) and/or heat proof containers
• Heat gun or thermometer
• Funnel

I will point out that after all of your equipment is cleaned you should also lay out your personal protective equipment (PPE). I know many bakers and skin product makers that do not take safety precautions while making their product. Wearing PPE not only keeps you from contaminating your lotion but also protects you from potential injury. PPE is a barrier for you skin from your ingredients and environmental hazards such as heated liquid, heated surfaces and any spills or splashing that may occur during the lotion making process. I would recommend at minimum to wear the following while making any at home skin care product.

• Gloves
• Aprons
• Face and or Eye Protection
• Heat resistance gloves when working with heated surfaces.
• Face mask if working with powered ingredients

Heat Up Your Oil and Water

An emulsion or lotion making includes an oil phase and a separate liquid phase. To start you will need to measure out your ingredients that will be heated. This includes the heatable water-soluble portions and heatable oils and butters. I use the word heatable as there are some water soluble and oil soluble ingredients that can be destroyed by heat. One very good example is essential oils. Adding essential oils to your lotion can add many wonderful benefits. However, they do not tend be able to stand up to the high temperatures needed to melt waxes and butters. Make sure you know the properties of your ingredients you pick before starting your lotion making process. Heat sensitive ingredients can be added during the emulsification phase after the emulsion had cooled to an acceptable temperature.

For the water phase, weigh or measure out the required amount of water and place this into your heat resistant pan or container. Make sure the vessel is heat resistant. Water can be nearly 70% of your lotion so try to use distilled water at the start. Doing so helps to cut back on microbes and the chance of bacteria growth. At this point you can include water soluble heatable ingredients and may include heatable fragrances, tea infusions or other water-based hydrosols. Warm your water phase mixture up to about 75C – 95C.

For the oil phase this is very similar to the water phase. Weigh or measure out all of the heatable oils, butters and waxes according to your recipe. This does include your emulsifying wax and any other waxes you may be adding. Place the measured amount of oils, butters and waxes into a separate double boiler or heat resistant container from vessel heating the water. Melt the oils, butters and waxes until there all of the chunks are liquified. The target temperature to warm these to is about 75C-95C. You can check the temperature of your heated water and oil with a thermometer and or a heat gun.

Emulsification of Your Homemade Lotion

Once your oils, waxes and butters have fully melted and both the oil mixture and water mixture are at the same temperature (75C-95C), you can then start the mixing phase. Use a large enough mixing bowl that can handle the high temperature. I like to stir with an immersion blender as it reduces splashing and blends the emulsion nicely. For a bowl I like to use a large glass measuring bowl (one that you can easily pour out of once the emulsion is complete).

As mentioned earlier emulsification is the process of mixing oil with the water so that the oil disperses and stabilizes in the water. A good emulsifier is emulsifying wax. This is not a trait all waxes have. Beez wax for instant would not be able to fully stabilize an emulsification and over time the water and oil may separate. Bees wax does however act as a thickening agent or humectant.

There are also many emulsifier choices that can be made for this. Each emulsifier type can affect the lotion consistency and thickness and may need to be added to the water phase verses the oil phase. It can be fun to experiment here. Make sure you read up on any advice given on the emulsifier properties and how much to add to your lotion for the emulsifier you choose.

Preservative

Germs, mold and bacteria love to grow in water. This is not a pleasant thought when you are making lotion. It does need to be taken into consideration, especially for something that will be absorbed into your skin. Lotion is made up of 60-80% water and so can be a breading place for these unpleasant guests over time. After your DIY homemade lotion is made each time, you open the bottle or dip your finger in you add the potential contamination. You can also introduce bacteria or microbials into your lotion with an unclean lotion preparing environment. This can be reduced by cleaning your equipment, containers and working surface ahead of time. Using gloves while preparing your lotion can also help reduce contamination. Using distilled water in place of tap water can help cut back on the chance of introducing bacteria into your lotion.

Even if we take extreme care during the lotion making process to reduce the risk of contamination over time germs, bacteria and mold can build up. Since repetitive use and opening the container up to the environment can play a part in this it is important to think through adding in a preservative for an added safety measure. This is why having a preservative can be important. Preservatives kill off and prevent many of these contaminants and help to increase the shelf life of your lotion.

There are some more natural ingredients that help act as preservatives if you are not wanting to introduce any toxic chemical. If you go the route of not adding anything it is strongly suggested to refrigerate your lotion and when using the lotion and use a disposable tool to remove the lotion from the container (if the container is not a pump or squeezable container). Shelf life of lotions without any preservative can be just weeks. If you need a more shelf stable moisturizer that does not include water, think about making a lotion bar or using an all-oil mixture. This will eliminate the water from the whole equation.

Adding heat sensitive ingredients

Many of the ingredients such as fragrances, essential oils and even preservatives cannot be added at the high temperatures the initial emulsification requires. Make sure you check on the ingredients you are adding and what temperatures they can withstand. As your emulsion cools to adequate temperatures, you can start adding these additional heat sensitive ingredients.

Measure each one out and blend them into your emulsion until they are completely mixed. You should not see any separation; the oil or water heat sensitive ingredient should be fully emulsified. You can also add in any powder at this stage. Make sure to full blend those in as well.

Homemade Lotion Consistency Check and Completion

Once all ingredients have fully been blended in, I like to test out the consistency of the DIY homemade lotion. I usually take a small amount and dab it on a cool surface. This allows a small sample to quickly cool to room temperature. Remember your lotion will thicken as it cools. Once your small sample has cooled, scoop it up and see if it is at the consistency and thickness you desire.

If you need to thicken your lotion there are a lot of different ways to do so, including adding in beeswax to your base oil phase. If you are already at the emulsification phase it may be easier to just add a thickener such as xantham gum. Be very careful at this point some additives can really make the lotion too thick. If you are choosing to add in a thickener read up on how much to include.

After you test your lotion for consistency and it is to your approval, you can start to fill your container(s). You should have your final container(s) pre-cleaned and dried prior to starting your lotion making. Make sure the container(s) can be airtight to minimize exposure to the environment you will be storing the lotion in. Also make sure your container(s) can handle some form of heat as your lotion will still be quite warm at this point.

Pour the lotion into your container(s) carefully. I use a funnel to keep the lotion from spilling over the sides. Use a clean spatula to scoop any remaining lotion from the side of your mixing bowl into your container. Store your lotion in a cool dark place. The lotion will thicken over the next 24 hours. If you would like to store the lotion in the fridge, remember it may become more thick and less pumpable as is cooled to fridge temperatures.

Clean your equipment with soapy warm water to remove any remaining oil. Store your equipment in a clean dry area so you can re-use them for next time.

Basic Homemade Lotion Guidelines

To summarize a good start to a nice basic homemade lotion can include the below:

• 60-80% water.
  • Using distilled water is preferable to cut back on contaminates.
• 3-7% Emulsifier (or as directed by your choice of emulsifier)
• 0.5-1% Preservative
• 8-23% Oils/Butters/Waxes
• Generally no more than 1-2% Scent or Essential oil
  • This is dependent on the selected fragrance and how strong you would like the lotion to be fragrant. Read up on this some scents like essential oils may require very little to be added while others need a bit more.

Basic Homemade Lotion Reference Recipe

I have included a very basic pumpable DIY homemade lotion recipe below. Click on picture to go to recipe.

This is for a nice shea butter, coconut oil mixture. Remember the recipe is for a reference. You can make your own recipe or tweak the below to fit your needs.   You may like your lotion more thick or more liquid. It’s just like a cooking experiment make the recipe uniquely yours. Make sure to write down what you do if you make changes so you can remember for the next time round.

I hope you have found our homemade lotion how to guide informative and that you can put the basic guidelines to good use. Lotion making can be a fun adventure and even become an enjoyable hobby. If you come up with your own recipe or find you like a different consistency from what we have provided, feel free to comment and share your experience. We would love to hear from you and would love other readers to learn from your experience.