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Gift Series – Lotion Tutorial (from scratch)

Filed Under: Lotion

For the next installment in the Holiday Gift Idea series, I will wow you with how easy it is to make your own lotion – from scratch! Of course, you can always purchase a pre-made lotion base and add your own fragrance. But by making your own lotion from scratch you can choose the ingredients and make it as luxurious or as economical as you like.

update: Now that the entire series is posted learn to make bath fizzies here, guest soap here, and sugar scrub here.

This recipe only costs 64¢ per 4 ounce bottle (not counting the distilled water or label). That’s right, $.64 for something you would pay a minimum of $8 for in most any store (even the one that sounds like “Sash and Shoddy Shirks” if you say it fast).

Lotion1Ingredients (by weight):

18 oz. Distilled Water
1.2 oz. Shea Butter
1.7 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1 oz. Avocado Oil
1.2 oz. Emulsifying Wax
1 oz. Stearic Acid
.2 oz. Phenonip
.1 oz. Fragrance
Get the kit from Bramble Berry with all the ingredients to make this project. Choose from two great fragrance combinations. Traditional Christmas Forest & Cranberry Fig or a more modern Cinnamon Sugar & Fresh Snow.

Tools:

Digital scale
Stick Blender
one 16 oz. wide-mouth container
one 32 oz. wide-mouth container
Five 4 ounce bottlesLotion2step 1 Disinfect all of your tools and containers by dunking them in 5% bleachwater solution and drying them with fresh, off the roll, paper towels.
step 2 In the large 32 oz. container, add the Sweet Almond oil, Avocado Oil, Stearic Acid and Emulsifying wax. Make sure this is all weighed out (no volume measurements). Put in the microwave on 30 second bursts to melt the E-Wax and Stearic Acid (p.s. despite the scary name, Stearic Acid is derived from Palm Oil and isn’t acidic or scray. It actually adds to the fluffiness factor of the lotion).
step 3Add the Shea Butter to the hot mixture and stir to melt.Lotion3step 4 Warm up the distilled water and add it to your oil mixture. Vigorously stir with a spoon by hand to start. Then switch to the hand blender. The reason you warm up your water is because you don’t want your waxes to immediately solidify upon contact with the water.
Lotion4step 5 Once the mixture is fully mixed and emulsified (usually about 2 to 3 minutes), take the temperature and add the preservative and fragrance. For Germaben II, Optiphen and Phenonip preservatives, you want the temperature to be below 140 degrees. Usage rates of all three of these preservatives start at .5% by weight. Fragrance usage for lotions is very low (remember, you don’t want to inadvertantly make a perfume!) so start small. This recipe literally calls for .1 ounces of fragrance and that is more than enough to make a lovely smelling lotion.Lotion5step 6 Pour into prepared bottles while the mixture is still warm. If the mixture is too thick to pour, heat it up for 30 seconds in the microwave and stir. Repeat as needed until it’s thin enough to pour. If the temperature during re-heating goes above 140, you’ll need to add an additional .5% preservative.
step 7 Allow to cool with the lids off. Then put on lids and label and impress your friends and loved ones with your handmade goodness!Lotion6
If you’re feeling adventurous and want to experiment with other oils and butters, you can design your own recipe. To create your own recipe follow these guidelines:
70-80% Distilled Water
3-5% Stearic Acid
3-6% Emulsifing Wax
add the rest in your choice of oils and buttersTo this add
.5 – 1% Preservative
.5% Fragrance
The best soap supplies on the internet are found at Bramble Berry. Click here to browse Bramble Berry.

 

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135 Comments

  1. Me and my husband made this lotion today and it turned out great. We are going to test it all week before we sale our first batch. We made Kumgrat, Pink Grapefruit and Vanilla Lavendar.

  2. Ok, we have been making lotion for a few weeks now, and it turned out great. The only thing that we changed from your recipe was, we used all Goats Milk. Our lotion is very creamy and wonderful, but the first batch that we made has been sitting for about 4 weeks now, and some of it is starting to smell a little like sour milk. I was wondering what I should do about the lotion that we just made a few days ago. Should I dump it all out and add more preservative, or just throw it all out and start over? Please respond as soon as possible. Thanks, Megan

    • Good morning, Megan!

      That sounds so super frustrating, I’m sorry to hear about it. Nothing about the lotion process is going to keep the milk from spoiling (which it sounds like what is happening). We recommend keeping your goat’s milk at 10% of the water at most in a lotion recipe to prevent any sort of spoilage or souring. Unfortunately, a preservative is not going to help this batch from souring or spoiling.

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  3. how many ounces is 5% and 10% i made this recipe and its a litter thichwould like for it to be thinner.

  4. Great Thanks. I will try and adjust the recipe a bit. I will also double check my math. Lol Never did like math. 🙂

  5. Hi, I have made a few batches of lotion now and I have noticed that my recipe has a “watery” feel the split second before it melts into the skin. I also started using aloe vera powder 100x. Is the aloe powder making it have this feeling? I can’t figure it out. What am I doing wrong?

    1,427 gr d. water
    1 Tb aloe powder
    4 gr hydrolyzed silk protein
    —————-
    50 gr BTMS-25
    16 gr stearic A
    40 gr shea b
    28 gr cocoa b
    8 gr coconut o
    20 gr jojoba o
    88 gr almond o
    —————–
    6 ml scent
    1% preservative

  6. I’m on my second round of making this recipe (1st time half batch with my 1st BB order, this time full batch). I really, really love it! The only problem I have come across is that I feel like I can smell the phenonip if I don’t add fragrance, but still smell it slightly over light/mild fragrances also.Is this to be expected?

    • Good morning, Angel!

      We haven’t ever noticed that Phenonip has smelled in our final lotions before. Does your Phenonip smell like that right out of the bottle? Sometimes if you use a higher percentage it could smell slightly, do you remember how much you used?

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • Hi Becky,

        Yes it does smell the same as it does right out of the bottle. I used the exact amount called for in the recipe above (.2 oz. Phenonip).

        • That’s a mystery to me – I don’t notice it at all in lotions.

          You could switch to Optiphen or Germaben II in future batches and see if that did better for you =)

  8. Hi there, i am new to lotion making…I was wondering if I could substitute the Avocado Oil with Coconut Oil, being that I have buckets full that I use for soaping?

  9. btw it dried flaky on the skin. It still cured the rashes but I’d like to do something that’s sweet & pleasant. Just bcs its medicinal, hopefully, it doesn’t have to be ugly. Don’t you think? InventingJoy

    • Sounds like it has great potential – I just need more details (a lot of them) in order to give good feedback =)

  10. Hi, I’m a newbie here.I’m an inventor. I’ve invented a product to treat various rashes: Shingles, ecxema, possibly psoriasis sp? & unidentifiable rashes. In my previous base, it was too oily, especially for the face. It was also too lumpy. I think Used a hair conditioner. This was several years ago before the web. Was there really life before the web?LOL
    My 1st preference would be a gel, but I don’t know if my ingredients may not dissolve & may not work out in a gel. So my second preference would be a cream that would go on smoothly but not be oily. Any suggestions? You’ve got a great site here. Thx in advance. InventingJoy

    • I’d need to know more about the product you’re trying to suspend – is it an oil based product, a water based product, a liquid, a powder? Has it been tested and approved for use on skin?

  11. LOVE the feel of this lotion! I made a few different recipes, but this one is the winner (spreads evenly, feels light, not greasy, etc.). However, it’s a bit thick for my bottle (I am using a disc top). What can I do to the recipe that would make it a bit thinner? I don’t want it runny, but just not as thick?
    By the way, one of the main reasons I started using BB was precisely because of tutorials and recipes such as this one that you provided for free. They have been a great place for a “newbie” to begin and gain some confidence…..Thank you!

    • Hi Carrie!

      If you are wanting to make this recipe just a tad thinner, I’d go up to an additional 10% water next time and you can also increase your preservative by 10% to help make it a thinner lotion. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • Thank you, Becky, for taking the time to address my question with a precise answer! I will give this a try soon. If the water is being increased by 10%, what would you suggest decreasing to compensate for that? Would decreasing the stearic acid also make it thinner, or would it effect the texture too much?

        • Hi Carrie!

          Stearic Acid makes the lotion more “fluffy” and thicker, but you don’t actually have to decrease anything in the recipe if you are increasing the water amount (but you can reduce the Stearic Acid if you want). =)

          -Becky with Bramble Berry

  12. Hi this question is in regards to another one of your lotion recipes for dry elbows posted on teach soap. The recipe calls for Cetearyl Alcohol. My question is what is Cetearyl Alcohol? Is it the same as Emulsifying Wax? Can I purchase this from Brambleberry?

    Thanks

    • Hi Toni! It actually wouldn’t go into any of those categories as it would actually be an additive. You recipe would actually end up being 102% instead of 101% with the preservative. Just remember, you don’t want to use to much or the lotion can be a bit sticky! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Because the aloe liquid is the same consistency as water, it can be subbed for the water all the way up to 100%. It’s great in lotions. Many lotion makers use it at 50% so half distilled water and half aloe vera liquid. I hope you give it a try.
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  16. I know there is only a small amount of Phenonip being used in the recipe but if I wanted a paraben free liquid preservative do you think Optiphen ND would work, or better yet, have you ever used it before?

  19. first off love this recipe. i will never buy lotion from BBW ever again THANKS! Now i was wondering if you have a good face moisturizer comparable to O of O i really dont no what oils or butters can be used on face im am new to all of it . I need a good face moisturizer. Can you HELP????

    • Ah, great question! Yes, I can help you make a great face lotion but what I don’t have is all the cosmeceutical ingredients (vitamins, anti aging ingredients, extracts etc….) that O of O has.

      That said, I massage my face every night with a mixture of jojoba oil infused with calendula mixed with tamanu oil, grapefruit seed extra and sea buckthorn extract. It’s fantastic and I swear, my face feels great after the face massage. I do rinse it off with warm water and then put on a night serum after that.

  20. Hi, so i was thinking of making body wash products and lotions containing chocolate in them, as chocolate is packed with antioxidants but my question is my body wash would contain milk(soy or cows) and melted Dark chocolate. so will phenonip work for this? i remember reading somewhere that phenonip is inactive for some non-ionic compounds like polysorbate 80, etc, i really need your help here, so the chocolate or milk wont inactivate it right? are chocolate and milk non-ionic? ,
    Thnx in Advance =)
    Aasif

    • Phenonip will be great in your lotion recipe and will prevent mold and bacteria from growing. However, it will not prevent any organic ingredients from going bad (so your milk and melted chocolate will eventually go bad even with the phenonip). With milk in your lotion it will probably only last 4-6 weeks regardless of of the preservative you add. I hope this helps!

      Courtney from Bramble Berry

      • thnx!,is there anyway to keep the milk from going bad? so if i exclude the milk and keep the chocolate, this means that the chocolate will go bad on its given date[shelf life] right? meaning it will last alot longer right?

        for example if i had a chocolate of shelf life 2 years, and use the same recipe with phenonip and all, will i still e able to have a minimum of 1 year shelf life?,

        THNX! =)
        Aasif

          • It’s not ideal because of the potential heavy metals in tap water but if you cannot get distilled water, you could boil it for 5 minutes to kill any microbes etc…

          • As long as the pH of your product is between 3 and 8, you should be good. Looking online at Google, it looks like coffee normally has a pH of 4-5 so you should be good but please do a test batch, do batch stability testing etc… to ensure that the recipe will stand the test of time with no mold or bacterial growth for at least a year.

        • It varies based on the recipe so it’s difficult to say for certain but having chocolate or milk in the recipe, yes, you’d want to include a use-by date. You should do batch and stability testing. There’s information about challenge testing and stability testing in this book:

          http://www.joanmorais.com/joansbooks/how_to_make_natural_lotion_and_cream_Joan_Morais.html if you’re getting serious about figuring out how to do challenge testing for your product (if you’re going into retail).

          • HI Anne-Marie,
            Thnx!! yes i’ll be sure to check the book, yp i’m having a bit of trouble finding distilled water, i’ll try harder, thanx again!!
            =)
            Aasif

  21. Anne Marie,

    If I want to use dimethicone, will this be subtracted from my oils percentage? What about isopropyl myristate? Thanks Sooo much!!

    Amanda

  22. Hi,
    I need some help. I made lotions for myself. But I can’t make a perfect lotion. When applying the lotion, it’s not too soft. (I don’t know how to say this, but I hope you understand).
    I don’t know where is my wrong here. The water is not hot enough or my emulsifer (stearate 20) not good enough?
    If I stir it with hand blender, it becomes foamy and very light. If I stir it with stick blender, to much bubbles. And the bubbles goes on the surface on the next day. But still not a perfect lotions.
    Also, after few days the oils appears on the surface. I don’t know what is wrong to my recipe. I always change the recipe, but still the same.
    Thanks in advance.

    Marina

    • Have you used the recipe I list at the top of this tutorial?

      18 oz. Distilled Water
      1.2 oz. Shea Butter
      1.7 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
      1 oz. Avocado Oil
      1.2 oz. Emulsifying Wax
      1 oz. Stearic Acid
      .2 oz. Phenonip
      .1 oz. Fragrance

      Without seeing your recipe, it’s tough to say what’s going on but the fact that it’s separating tells me that you’re not using enough emulsifiers to keep it together.

  23. If I wanted to add aloe vera do you add it with the water and discount some of the water?

    • Replace some of the water with the aloe vera so the liquid amount remains the same. Aloe vera is a great addition to lotions.

      Courtney from Bramble Berry

    • It is not a great idea. Fresh fruit or fruit juice of any type needs to be refrigerated after opening. If you have fruit juice in your lotion, it’s the same way. There is nothing in the lotion process that will keep the juice from molding or going badly so if you use fresh juice or any juice in your lotion, it will have a shelf life of approximately 1 week without refrigeration and that’s even if you do use a preservative. And don’t forget, you often cannot see or smell mold or bacteria growing. And mold or bacteria in an open or microscopic cut could prove highly painful or even dangerous. Here are a couple articles on preservatives in lotions: http://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/when-mold-strikes-2/ and http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/parabens-cancer-experts-2/

  26. Hi Anne-Marie:

    Congratulations on the pending arrival of your new addition to your family. I am new to making body products. I was wondering if you could substitute Aloe Vera liquid for the water in the recipe and do you still need to use a preservative. Thanks.

    • Yes, you could do that sub and yes, you still would need preservative. Aloe Vera liquid will grow germies just like water. =)

  27. AM – I love this lotion recipe, it came out perfect!! I’m contemplating trying to “color” it a pretty light pink color (as I used peppermint for my fragrance). I don’t really want to go with micas and dyes and I obviously don’t want it to stain…would using a tiny bit of pink or red clay work? I just wasn’t sure if it would leave a gritty feeling.

    • I think you’ll find that the clay will clump and be difficult to use (not to mention, be drying). And since clay is basically a ground up dirt, it is more prone to bacteria and mold forming. I would stick with a Labcolor if it were me even though I know your preference is to go more natural.

      • I had a feeling you were gonna say that, and I surely don’t want drying! It’s ok, I guess, who really wants a tinted lotion anyhow! 🙂 …but the peppermint smells dreamy! I made mine with 70% water instead, for a thicker lotion, and it’s wonderful for prepping for “summer feet”!

        • Labcolors are really great for Lotions. That’s what we use when we teach our lotion making classes at Otion. https://www.brambleberry.com/LabColors-C171.aspx so if you ever want to try them, definitely start with the Fuschia for your Peppermint lotion. It’s my favorite of the pinks and the easiest to use in my opinion. =)

  28. if ever i will put titanium powder of my lotion which part of percentage i will deduct and how many percent i will give to the titanium powder…tnx

    • If you put Titanium Dioxide in your lotion, you just treat it like it’s a colorant so you do not need to change your ingredients. Just add it at the end and whip it up a lot. It clumps pretty easily.

  29. Preservatives are always on top of the 100% – so you technically end up with 100.5-101%.

    Fragrance is also an addition to the 100%. =)

    Not a face palm at all! Totally reasonable question =)

  30. This question is probably gonna be a total *face palm* but when going by percentages do the fragrance and preservative get included into that 100% total?

  31. Powder preservative – it's been a while since I used that – you either mix it into the water phase or the oil phase (I know, some help I am). I think it's the water phase. Check the site that you bought it on to be on the safe side.

    Yes, definitely divide the batch and scent separately. We do that all the time in lotion class and the students are SO happy with that. 1.5 mls also works if your scale doesn't go down to 1.5 grams.

  32. Thank you for responding about the shea…can't wait to try this recipe – just waiting for my Optiphen Plus to arrive! Quick question… Would I be able to make the recipe but divide the batch in half and then fragrance it with 2 different scents? Your recipe calls for .1 oz of fragrance, which, if I calculated correct would equal 2.85 grams, or 3 grams. So after I divide the batch could I just add 1.5 grams of fragrance to each half?

  33. Hi Anne-Marie, I have powder preservative. How can I use that in the recipe and how can I sub this in the other recipes.

  34. Yes, Anon, you are correct. Less water = less preservative. You figure preservative by total weight of ingredients x .01 (1%).

    Christin, Yes, I do read and comment back on all the old posts. Sometimes it takes me a few days but I love love love my peeps in this community =)

    If you're adding more shea, yes, you can deduct that from your liquid oils if you're going for creamier. I tend to do less water rather than messing with my oils but there are many ways to get to the same results. =)

  35. Hi Becca, Use the 76 degree coconut oil. I don't use FCO in that whipped body butter recipe (you could use it but it would be a vastly different consistency) =)

    With this recipe, if you sub liquid oil you need to sub it with another liquid oil. So liquid to liquid, butter to butter, solid to solid. Does that make sense?

  36. I read this article and was hesitating on commenting because it was an older post. Since I see other people have recently commented, I'll give it a shot.

    I am a lotion newbie and I read your article about conversions:
    http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-convert-s-to-amounts.html and read how the recipe needs to equal 101%.

    SwiftCraftyMonkey recommended 70% water and to add more shea for a creamier lotion. My question is, if I'm adding extra Shea …I deduct that extra amount from my oils, right?

  37. Great! Thanks, AnneMarie, for the tip about using less water. Because I'm using less water means I use less preservative correct?

  38. I'm sorry 🙂 I was referring to your recipe where you whipped up Shea Butter & regular Coconut Oil to make a Whipped Body Butter. (http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2010/01/easy-whipped-shea-butter.html)

    I was wondering if I could use the same solid coconut oil for this recipe too (instead of using Sweet Almond & Avocado) or if it needed to be a liquid then would fractionated coconut oil work?

    Sorry for the confusion! 🙂
    Becca

  39. Hi Becca – I'm not seeing Fractionated coconut oil or coconut oil in the recipe? Are you referring to another recipe? Or I'm sure I'm missing something.=) More explanation would be great and then I'll get your question properly answered.

    Nancy, If you used aloe vera water in place of the water portion, you don't need to make a chance. If you use the actual aloe vera gel gel gel (which isn't just straight aloe vera – it uses thickeners), that won't work very well. If you'd like a thicker lotion, decrease the water portion of this recipe by 3 ounces (so 15 oz. instead of 18) and that should do it for you.

  40. I want to make a nice thick jar lotion…can I substitute the water for Aloe Vera Gel?
    Thank you!
    Nancy

  41. Anne-Marie,
    Could I just use 2.7 oz of (melted) 76 Coconut Oil (like in your Whipped Body Butter recipe) or would I need to use fractionated coconut oil?
    Becca

  43. I am very new to lotion making and would like to be adventurous in making my own lotion, but I don't understand what the percents mean. Can you help me?

    Also, if I'd like to add beeswax into the first recipe how would I incorporate that?

    Thanks!

  44. No, Polysorbate 60 cannot be substituted for Emulsifying Wax. It's not a strong enough emulsifier on its own to work as a cream but it works great for perfume mixing! =)

    Stearic Acid adds to fluffiness and helps with the body and thickness of the lotion. It'll be more runny without it. Beeswax will not work in its place for the same result.

  45. Hi there. I was wanting to try this recipe out but had a quick question for you. Can Polysorbate 60 be used as an emulsifier instead of the emulsifying wax? I know it's an emulsifier but I didn't know if it was one that can be used for this sort of recipe or not. I was asking because I already have this here in my supplies and it would help keep me from having to purchase extras just to make this. Also, is there anything else that can be substituted for the Stearic Acid?

  46. Beeswax isn't an emulsifier. It will not bind the water and oil together. In order to get the lotion to work, you need an emulsifier. You could try Beeswax and Borax but I haven't found that to be the best emulsifier either but it's better than just plain Beeswax. =) Wax won't hold water and oil together. Emulsifying Wax is your best bet. You can get that at BrambleBerry.com in the Lotions section.

  47. I have been trying to make a lotion for about a week now- but no matter how I change the ingredients it still separates every single time into water and oil, I use regular beeswax BTW.
    water 70%
    beeswax 5%
    oils 25%

    I am not adding any preservative since I am only experimenting right now.

  48. If you want to make it thinner, yes, go with an additional 10% water next time and also increase the preservative by 10% and that will make a thinner lotion. =)

  49. Hi, it si even thicker yes. It doesn't move in the bottle when I turn it upside down. If you have even used BBW Hand Cream (I think that's what it's called, I just know it isn't the regular lotion) that is the consistency of the lotion I made.

    Going from the pictures of what was made in the tutorial mine is much much thicker.

    It works though. It is very nice and absorbs and isn't greasy which is great!

    My next question, is there a way to make it thinner? Adding more water perhaps?

    Thank you so much!
    Rachel

  50. Did it get thicker yet? It should thicken within about an hour of you actually making the product as it continues to cool =)

  51. I hope someone sees this! I know it is an older post!

    I made this lotion for the first time tonight and mine wasn't thin at all! It was thick, like a hand cream texture.

    Any thoughts what happened? It wasn't easy getting it in bottles!

    Thank you!
    Rachel

  52. The shelf life of any homemade lotion that you make that you follow best manufacturing practices for and preserve with an effective preservative is a minimum of 1 year or the shelf life of your shortest-life oil in the recipe. The recipe above will last a minimum of 1 year.

  54. Hi Anon,

    It could be the milk. Is it pasturized? Maybe switch to pasturized and just use 10% GM and the rest water?

    Jackie,

    Did the lotion set up? It normally takes a few hours to set up =)

  55. I've been making soap and wanted to try lotion. This looked straight forward. However my lotion is very runny and I have about 6 four ounce jars. I thought I measured the water correctly but, maybe I didn't. Is there any way to save it? Can I add more E wax. The lotion is still warm but it doesn't look like it is moving toward thick.

    Thanks,
    Jackie

  56. I have been making lotions with goat milk . I follow your recipe, subbing the milk for the water. Recently, I have been experiencing mold on some of my jars of lotion. I switched preservatives from Phenonip to Germaben, bleach water the jars and lids, make sure the lotion is cool before putting lids on. Any other suggestions?
    Thank you

  57. Hi Kilie,

    Yes, you can formulate with those items. I am a big fan of Phenonip, Optiphen and Germaben II and only formulate with those however so am not experienced with the two you'd like to work with. I would check with your vendor and ask them about usage rates and technical support help for using those two ingredients in conjunction to provide anti microbial and broad spectrum protection from germs.

  58. i am wondering how i would formulate using phenxyethanol and edta instead of germall. could you let me know?

  61. Thanks for your blog!

    I don't know if you've already figured this out but I saw a comment requesting the recipes in a PDF. I saw this comment on another blog post (http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2010/01/wednesday-baking-cinnamon-crumble-coffee-cake/):

    Lindsey
    The PDF is a nice touch. Very cool. I should probably learn to do that too. Looks delicious, by the way.

    REPLY
    Kristen January 6, 2010 at 1:57 pm
    It was really easy. Just google Cute PDF, download it, and follow the instructions. Let me know if you have any questions.

    Just thought it might be helpful.

  62. I recently made some face cream and it was way too heavy for me and will be fine for body. My question, can this be used on the face or is it just meant to be a body lotion? Thanks.

  63. Hi Anon,

    The lotion does stay runny while it's warm. So once it's cool it should thicken up. It could also be that you didn't mix the lotion for a long enough time. So it isn't completely emulsified. But I'm betting that once it's cool you'll have a prefect lotion!
    Hope this helps!

  64. I just attempted making this recipe. First off, I don't have a stick blender, so I just used a regular blender. I mixed everything in the blender for 3 minutes, added the fragrance and preservative, and mixed about a minute more. After that, my lotion was still watery in consistency and didn't seem the slightest bit thickened. Is this normal? How long should it take to thicken up once in the bottles?

  66. I love this recipe. Wow what a great lotion. I have been playing with it and it is great. I made it in half because I am using a personal sized blender. It was perfect. A very thick rich lotion you can customize how ever you like. Thanks a million for sharing this.

  67. so i made some lotion with
    70% Distilled Water
    5% Stearic Acid
    5% Emulsifing Wax
    5% glycerine
    5% shea butter
    10% olive oil

    .5 – 1% Preservative
    .5% Fragrance

    when i mixed it it foamed up. i stired it some more but was still alittle foammy when i put it into jars. a few days later i used one as a sampler, after i started playing with it i noticed gold oil "puddles" it was the lavender oil! i stired it up and all the sudden i only had have a jar of lotion! and still some lavender oil puddles what did i do wrong?

  69. You can do an additional 5%-10% of water to make the lotion 'more liquidy' – just remember to up the preservative by 5-10% as well to compensate.

  70. i would like a more liquidy lotion instead of the cream. i used this recipe, so how do i get it more liquidy. thanks

  72. OK, another question from this lotion newbie. .5% phenonip–is that .5% of the total oil weight? Help me with my math! 🙂
    Lisa

  75. hi Anne-Marie. I know your recipe calls for all ingredients to be weighed out, and not to use volume. my question is, does the (i’ll use the shea butter) 1.2 oz include the container you’re weighing it in, or would that be 1.2 oz on top of what ever your container weighs?

    thanks!

    ~Shell

  77. Hi Lisa,

    Besides hitting “Cntrl + P” on your printer and printing the entire thing, probably not. It is a good idea though and we’d love to make it a reality in the next year. Fingers crossed that I’m able to find the time for that =))

  78. I would love to have a hard copy of the tutorial when I try this. Is there an easy way to print out a blog tutorial? TIA,
    Lisa

  82. Anne Marie–this lotion is almost all natural. Is there anything we could sub for the preservative to keep it all natural?

  83. I’ve been dying to make my own lotions. I saw someone use perfumer’s alcohol as a preservative once. Is that a good option?

  85. Mentioning heavier oils, is there anywhere I can get a list or chart of light-medium-heavy oils? I have a lot here to choose from, but I use them for soaping, and so I don’t really know by name which are heavier and which are light. Thank you Anne-Marie for the information!

  86. Anne-Marie — Great tutorial, although it suggests using up to 11% preservative (I’m guessing this is a typo!). I love that you are introducing people to creating their own concoctions in such a simple and easy to understand way! When I started a few years ago, I was amazed to learn I could make these things at home — and I wasn’t a lotion user!

    For a creamier lotion, start at the 70% water Anne-Marie suggests, and add more shea or other butter or heavier oils (like olive oil, or more avocado oil), and substitute cetyl alcohol for the stearic acid (makes it more of a cool whip than a cream consistency!) It’s really a trial and error thing to find the recipe you love!

  87. I like creamier lotions, so I’m wondering sort of the same thing as Jennifer (above). Thanks! 🙂

  88. If you are looking to make a thicker blend though, say body butter consistency, do you cut back on the water?