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Oat & Cashmere Lotion

Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Lotion

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 1 hour
Yields: 24 ounces of lotion

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Cashmere Fragrance Oil is a complex blend of white freesia, magnolia, blueberry, and violet. The moment we smelled it, we knew it would be perfect for a leave-on product. The scent inspired this luxurious Oat & Cashmere Lotion.

This recipe combines skin-loving ingredients like oat oil, oat extract, and colloidal oatmeal. Colloidal oatmeal is a micro-fine ground powder that blends in smoothly without any grit or exfoliation. It’s well known for its calming properties, and it’s commonly added straight to bath water to soothe the skin.

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Oat oil and Cashmere Fragrance Oil are both part of the Hygge Collection, which is inspired by the Danish concept of happiness and comfort. Click here to explore the entire collection, which includes five new fragrance oils and giftable packaging.

Give your lotion a polished look with Oat & Cashmere Lotion labels. They pair perfectly with the Soothing Oatmeal Bath Salts labels. Both make a great gift or addition to your product line.

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Oat & Cashmere Lotion

What You Need:
Five to six 4 oz. Bottles
18.5 oz. Distilled Water (77%)
0.2 oz. Colloidal Oatmeal (1%)
1.3 oz.  Polawax Emulsifying Wax (5%)
0.7 oz. BTMS-50 Conditioning Emulsifier (3%)
1.7 oz. Oat Oil (7%)
0.5 oz. Avocado Oil (2%)
0.7 oz. Oat Extract (3%)
0.2 oz. Cashmere Fragrance Oil (1%)
0.2 oz. Optiphen (1%)

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Find the supplies you need for this project below

Cashmere Fragrance OilOat OilAvocado OilOat ExtractColloidal OatmealPolawax Emulsifying WaxBMTS-50 Conditioning EmulsifierOptiphen

EQUIPMENT PREP: Disinfect your utensils by dipping them in a 5% bleach water solution and allowing to dry. This includes mixing containers, your stick blender, and any spoons or spatulas that may come in contact with your lotion. Your products must be as free of germs, bacteria, and microbes as possible. To be safe, bleach water all your utensils.

ONE: In a heat-safe container, add 18.5 ounces of distilled water. Heat in the microwave on 1 minute bursts until the water is about 160°F. Add 0.2 ounces of colloidal oatmeal to the water and use your stick blender to mix it in and break up any clumps.

ONETWO

TWO: In a separate heat-safe container, combine 1.7 ounces of oat oil, 0.5 ounces of avocado oil, 0.7 oz. oat extract, 1.3 ounces of Polawax Emulsifying Wax, and 0.7 ounces of BTMS-50. Heat the mixture in the microwave on 30-60 second bursts until the waxes are fully melted.

THREETHREE2

THREE: Check the temperature of both containers. Each one should be about 160°F (the oil mixture may be a little bit hotter). When they’re ready, tap your stick blender on the bottom of the bowl to release bubbles. Pour the oils and wax into the water and begin pulsing the stick blender. Blend the mixture for 60-90 seconds, making sure the oil and water phases are fully emulsified.

FOURFIVE

FOUR: Continue stick blending until the temperature drops to about 130-140°F. Add 0.2 ounces of Cashmere Fragrance Oil and 0.2 ounces of Optiphen. Stick blend for another 60-90 seconds to fully combine.

SIX

FIVE: Carefully pour the lotion into the containers – we used a funnel to help. Let the bottles sit overnight without a cap to prevent condensation. Once completely cooled, place the caps on the bottles, apply labels, and enjoy.

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4.8 from 5 reviews

Oat & Cashmere Lotion
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Lotion
Serves: 6 bottles

Ingredients
  • Five to six 4 oz. Bottles
  • 18.5 oz. Distilled Water (77%)
  • 0.2 oz. Colloidal Oatmeal (1%)
  • 1.3 oz. Polawax Emulsifying Wax (5%)
  • 0.7 oz. BTMS-50 Conditioning Emulsifier (3%)
  • 1.7 oz. Oat Oil (7%)
  • 0.5 oz. Avocado Oil (2%)
  • 0.7 oz. Oat Extract (3%)
  • 0.2 oz. Cashmere Fragrance Oil (1%)
  • 0.2 oz. Optiphen (1%)

Instructions
EQUIPMENT PREP: Disinfect your utensils by dipping them in a 5% bleach water solution and allowing to dry. This includes mixing containers, your stick blender, and any spoons or spatulas that may come in contact with your lotion. Your products must be as free of germs, bacteria, and microbes as possible. To be safe, bleach water all your utensils.
  1. In a heat-safe container, add 18.5 ounces of distilled water. Heat in the microwave on 1 minute bursts until the water is about 160°F. Add 0.2 ounces of colloidal oatmeal to the water and use your stick blender to mix it in and break up any clumps.
  2. In a separate heat-safe container, combine 1.7 ounces of oat oil, 0.5 ounces of avocado oil, 0.7 oz. oat extract, 1.3 ounces of Polawax Emulsifying Wax, and 0.7 ounces of BTMS-50. Heat the mixture in the microwave on 30-60 second bursts until the waxes are fully melted.
  3. Check the temperature of both containers. Each one should be about 160°F (the oil mixture may be a little bit hotter). When they’re ready, tap your stick blender on the bottom of the bowl to release bubbles. Pour the oils and wax into the water and begin pulsing the stick blender. Blend the mixture for 60-90 seconds, making sure the oil and water phases are fully emulsified.
  4. Continue stick blending until the temperature drops to about 130-140°F. Add 0.2 ounces of Cashmere Fragrance Oil and 0.2 ounces of Optiphen. Stick blend for another 60-90 seconds to fully combine.
  5. Carefully pour the lotion into the containers – we used a funnel to help. Let the bottles sit overnight without a cap to prevent condensation. Once completely cooled, place the caps on the bottles, apply labels, and enjoy.

Tutorial credits

Photographer: Amanda Kerzman,
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46 Comments

  1. My scale didn’t register my fragrance oil correctly. I’m concerned it has too much in the lotion. How do I know? I smells really strong. How can I fix it?

    • There’s no real way to know if you’ve overused fragrance oil aside from the up-front measuring you’re doing when you add it in. You may want to start over with a properly calibrated scale that has fresh batteries.

  2. Hi I was just wondering how I can check the pH balance in lotion. I was told you have to pay 600 dollars to have a lab test it for you.

    • pH testing can be done with simple litmus paper test strips. Microbial testing may be what you had in mind, and that can be fairly expensive to have performed.

  3. If I’m short on time filling orders, can I just use your lotion base and add the colloidal oatmeal and fragrance oil? Thanks – this looks lovely!

  5. Thanks for all the info you provide …I’ve been away from crafting toiletries for some time but have just been bitten by that bug again! Lotion is especially fun – it’s like magic.

    I know others have asked about the use of 2 emulsifiers …I though that both of these were complete emulsifiers in themselves, and did not need to be used in combination with co-emulsifiers …ewax itself is a blend of 2 emulsifiers and the btms is also a combination of several emulsifiers – I understand that the btms adds some slip & conditioning properties – but is there a reason this emulsion would not be stable if only one or the other was used at a higher ratio? My experience is, that ewax alone has always been sufficient (although not favorite emulsifier) …also – 8% total seems high for a lotion with this oil content – it would become very thick I would think? I don’t mean to sound like a ‘know-it-all’ – as I said – I have been out of it for quite some time now …maybe things have changed. Thanks for clarifying! – TYVM!

  6. Since your e-wax is a generic version of Polawax, can I switch it out for e-wax? Also, I thought BTMS-50 is considered a primary emulsifier; is it? or is it a co-emulsifier like in this recipe?

    • You can definitely switch to e-wax if you’d like, though you’ll notice a difference in the way it feels on your skin. BTMS-50 is meant to be used as a co-emulsifier in lotions.

  7. Hi, Would it be possible to substitute the oat extract with honeyquat. If so, would it be at the same amount?

  8. What if instead of using goat’s milk, I used 38.5% coconut milk & 38.5% water for the total of 77%. Would that be OK?

    • We do not recommend using milk in lotions because the preservatives only protect against bacteria growth, not milk rancidity. If you do try it I would recommend storing it in the fridge, it then would last the same amount of time in the fridge as coconut milk for drinking would on its own.

    • We don’t recommend adding any type of milk to lotion. There is nothing in lotion to keep milk (coconut, cow, goat, or otherwise) from going bad.

  10. Can I substitute cucumber extract for the oat extract and the green tea/cucumber fragrance oil for the cashmere fragrance oil? Should I leave everything else the same?

    • Sure you can definitely do that. I would even recommend to keep the usage rate the same. You don’t have to update anything else in the recipe.

  12. Hello,
    I am new soap making, how do I measure out these ingredients? Do you all use a scale/weigher? Do you all sell something to weigh the ingredients with?

    • We do not recommend adding goat milk to lotions. While the preservative will protect against mold / bacteria growth from the water it will not prevent the goat milk from going rancid. If you do try using goat milk the shelf life would be the same as goat milk left out on the counter and will have a longer shelf life if kept in the fridge.

      • This is a confusing statement. What do you think makes goat milk go bad or rancid as you say?

        • Since lotion is not a refrigerated or a high pH concentration adding milk based ingredients to it is the same as leaving your dairy products on the counter. They will eventually spoil as there is no ingredient you can add to lotion to increase the shelf life of dairy.

  15. Hi! I am new to making lotion, and am kind of confused on what the emulsifiers do. Do you need them? Why do you need two kinds? Thanks!

    • You need an emulsifier when making a traditional lotion that blends together oil and water.

      This recipe uses BTMS-50 to add a silky feel to the lotion because it is a conditioning emulsifier. Though it is not strong enough to emulsify the lotion fully on its own since it is a co-emulsifier, so the Polawax Emulsifying Wax is also used.

    • We haven’t tried this lotion in a pump bottle. It might be a little thick to pull through correctly depending on the pump.

  18. This is a beautiful lotion. I love the oat components. It is very soothing for my sensitive and dry mature skin. Thanks Soap Queen and Staff!

  19. Can you replace the btms-50 and the polawax with e-wax and steric acid? Would it be in the same quantity as well?

    • You could but I would definitely do a small test batch first because the feel and consistency will be a bit different.

  20. Can I ask why you would use both BTMS-50 & Polawax? I’m just curious as they are both emulsifiers. Does using a little of each seem to be beneficial to the recipe in your opinion?
    Also did you divide up the total amount of emulsifier needed between the two to create a stable emulsion or did you just tack on a little extra of one or the other?

    Thank you!
    P.S. I LOVE SOAPQUEEN! I’ve been so inspired over the years and have learned so much thanks to you all.

    • BTMS-50 adds a nice slip feeling in lotions but also we find a lot of recipes work best with 2 emulsifiers because they help keep the emulsion in the recipe from breaking. Typically we will use about 5-6% of our base emulsifier and then add about 2-3% of a co-emulsifier into the recipe.

  21. This sounds like a lovely, soothing lotion. Is the colloidal oatmeal detectable in the finished product? This definitely sounds like the kind of lotion I want to make when I do try to make myself one.