Body and hand lotions commercially produced contain ingredients which are good for preserving the lotion for a long shelf life but maybe aren’t so good for your skin. Make your own lotions so you know exactly what it contains. Add scent through essential oils or a drop or two of your favorite perfume. Lotions are made primarily with water, oils and an emulsifying agent which binds the water and oil together. If you don’t use an emulsifier the lotion separates into water and oil.
Homemade Skin Lotion
What You’ll Need:
- 1/2 cup rose water
- 1/8 tsp. borax powder
- Glass measuring cup, 2 cup capacity
- 1/2 cup avocado oil
- 1 tsp. almond oil
- 1 tsp. beeswax grated
- Glass measuring cup, 1 cup capacity
- Sauce pan
- Microwave
- Blender
- Floral essential oils
Combine the rose water and borax in a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Stir with a whisk until the borax is dissolved.
Add the oils to the grated beeswax in a 1 cup glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in a pan of hot water. The hot water should be 2 inches deep. Place on medium heat and bring to a simmer. As the oils heat up the beeswax will melt. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Stir to combine the melted wax and oils.
Put the rose water mixture into the microwave on high for 60 seconds. If it hasn’t boiled yet, continue to heat until it does. Remove from the microwave.
Pour the oils slowly into the rose water, whisking as you do. Or put the rose water into a blender, turn it on and slowly add the oils.
Add two to three drops of the floral essential oils during the last 20 seconds of blending.
Cool before placing in a clean bottle. The mixture will thicken as it stands and cools.
Vary the scent of the lotion by using orange water instead of rose. Rose essential oil is expensive. Rose geranium essential oil has a scent reminiscent of roses. Use jasmine, orange blossom or lavender as other floral scents.
Use citrus essential oils with orange water. For refreshing lotion try mint essential oil and add mint extract to the water. Varying the scents gives you a wardrobe of lotion scents to choose from.
Do not place the oils directly in the saucepan to heat. It’s too easy to overheat the oil. When you add the oil to the water, the oil splatters if too hot.
The Author:
Dee Power
I definitely want to try this recipe, but why the borax? Thanks!
The borax and beeswax together help keep the lotion from separating into water and oil, they bind it all together. Plus the borax (cometic grade borax), acts as a natural preservative.
Hi! What did I do wrong if this separated? I used borax.
Thank you!
It might have been to do with the temperature of the oils and water. Or if the borax wasn’t fully mixed into the water, it can separate