I had been scrutinizing labels for the last year or so, trying to find products without petrochemicals, chemicals that mess with hormones, or shady business practices. I could find one of the three, maybe two, but not all three. And they were EXPENSIVE! And tiny, so the bathroom trash was filling up with little empty bottles.

As a reaction to all that, I decided to give my sister-in-law a bunch of homemade spa-type products . . . → Read More: Why Buy? DIY! Hand, Body, and Face Lotion]]>

I had been scrutinizing labels for the last year or so, trying to find products without petrochemicals, chemicals that mess with hormones, or shady business practices. I could find one of the three, maybe two, but not all three. And they were EXPENSIVE! And tiny, so the bathroom trash was filling up with little empty bottles.

As a reaction to all that, I decided to give my sister-in-law a bunch of homemade spa-type products last Christmas. While searching for recipes, I realized that lotion is really only three ingredients. THREE! Not 20 ingredients that are nearly impossible to pronounce (octinoxate, anyone?). Just beeswax, oil (almond and sunflower are good), and water. Done. Even better, we make local lotion, since we get both sunflower oil and beeswax at the greenmarket.

This is a technique, not a recipe. I’ve put some ratios at the bottom, but the basic idea is that more beeswax will make a thicker lotion. If you want to use a pint-sized Mason jar on your blender to minimize clean up, keep the total volume at 15 ounces or less, so that there is enough room in the jar for everything to move around. We made a pump dispenser out of a Mason jar, which means this process is easy peasy for us now.

**Update: our homemade pumped only lasted a few months. We replaced it by purchasing a lid-pump for a mason jar. A few options available on Amazon are here, here, here, and if you still want to make your own, this will help.

Lotion Technique

1. Grate the beeswax with a microplane or other grater. The finer you grate it, the quicker it will melt.

   Note, although we used the small blocks pictured, as time went on we upgraded to using a one-pound block of beeswax, which is both easier to grate and more economical. We bought ours at the greenmarket, but you can find similar ones online. Even if you make this lotion regularly, a single block will last you 1-2 years at a minimum.

   

2. Measure the oil into a Pyrex cup and add the beeswax.

   

3. Put the measuring cup into a pot and add enough water to come up to the level of the oil.

   

4. Heat the pot until the water simmers gently. Continue the simmer until the beeswax melts. Remove from heat and allow it to cool until you can touch the measuring cup.

   

5. Pour the water into a regular mouth pint jar and add the cooled oil/beeswax.

   

6. Add essential oils to the jar, if desired.

   

7. Screw on the blender pieces and blend on low until everything is emulsified (pulsing helps). It will go very quickly from separated to a creamy white lotion. You might want to open the jar and give it a stir to free up any water that might not be getting down to the blades.

   

Yep, that’s it.

For a rich hand cream, we use 6 ounces of oil, 3 of beeswax (6 tablespoons), and 6 of water (all volume).
For a body and face lotion that will work in a pump dispenser, we use 6 ounce of oil, 1 of beeswax (2 tablespoons), and 8 of water.

We add about 30 drops of essential oil for fragrance – lately half lavendar and half geranium.

Go forth and blend!