With the change of seasons in full swing, the cold temperatures & the wind, it's time to show your skin some love. I learned this recipe from an acquaintance & have adapted it a bit for you. It yields about 2 cups; the exact amount will vary depending on how much water you add & how longer you blend it. And very super important: PLEASE read through the entire post before making a batch. It's a good habit to develop as a cook; you should make sure you have all the ingredients on hand & that you're familiar with all the steps.
You will need a medium heavy bowl (glass or ceramic) or saucepan, an immersion blender, & one or more small glass or plastic container(s).
Ingredients:
3 TBSPS grated beeswax (or pellets)
6 TBSPS coconut oil
12 TBSPS olive oil
1/2 cup water
35 to 45 drops of essential oils
Notes first:
1. The first time I made lotion, I used beeswax pellets. Much easier to measure than trying to grated beeswax by hand but it can be done! I have a cheap grater that I use for only for beeswax.
2. I use Trader Joe's coconut oil. It's inexpensive & I like the way it smells, just the slightest hint of coconut.
3. I also use Trader Joe's olive oil. Like the coconut oil, I use the same olive oil for making lotion as I do for cooking. If you consume quality oils, why wouldn't you put quality oils on your skin which, after all, is the largest organ in (on?) your body? And Trader Joe's carries quality yet inexpensive ingredients.
4. Let's discuss essential oils for a minute. Not only are they great for aromatherapy, there are also proven benefits to using them for various ailments. When I have a migraine, I dab peppermint & lavender oils on my temples. Lavender oil is probably the best all-purpose oil to use: it's soothing & it's anti-bacterial. I burned myself pretty badly while catering a wedding, like, instant puffy blisters. One of the groom's relatives had a little vial of lavender oil in her purse & she applied it right away. After a few days, I didn't have scars at all. Serious convert here! I also like sweet orange & lemon oils for a uplifting scent; rosemary oil is also anti-bacterial, although not everyone cares for the smell; use peppermint oil if you make a batch of lotion for your feet & legs. Basically, figure out what scents YOU like as it's YOUR lotion.
5. You can certainly order everything on-line. Mountain Rose Herbs carries high quality supplies. I prefer to buy in person so I can smell everything. I get my oils at either Super Supplements or O'Malley & Potter, located in Country Village in Bothell.
6. Calendula. Also known as "pot marigold", calendula is a lovely orange flower with wonderful healing properties, especially for skin. I grew calendula for the first time last year. It's quite prolific & I harvested & dried enough heads to infuse a good two cups of coconut oil, which I then used instead of the plain coconut oil in my last three batches of lotion. We'll discuss infusions in another post.
So. Here's how you make the lotion.
Place the beeswax, olive oil, & coconut oil in your bowl & microwave on low for 20 seconds at a time until the beeswax & coconut oils have melted. You can also melt the oils in a small saucepan over low heat & then carefully transfer the oil mixture to a medium bowl.
Add your essential oils til it smells the way you want it to smell.
Let the mixture cool. Seriously. It needs to congeal & cool down before we start emulsifying. I'll put my bowl in front of the window fan, in the fridge, or even in the freezer. Check it every few minutes because if the beeswax sets up too much, you'll have to remelt the oils or your resulting lotion will be grainy.
Once the oils are cool, fire up your immersion blender. This is why you need a deeper/bigger bowl than you may think you do because as you whip the oils & emulsify the water, the mixture with double in volume. SLOWLY dribble in the water as you blend. The less water you add, the thicker the lotion will be, which is really nice in winter when you want to slather your body in moisture. If you don't have an immersion blender, you really should get one, but in the meantime, you can use a blender. You just may not be able to scrape out all the lotion because of the shape of the blender jar & the blades.
Once you're done blending, check the scent & add more essential oils if you'd like a stronger scent. At this point, the lotion will be on the liquid side. Carefully transfer to the clean containers. I found some quarter cup Gladware containers so I could give some to friends. For myself, I use a pint jar.
And label the containers. Seriously. You don't really want to spread lotion on your sandwich when you were expecting mayo.
Put the containers in the fridge! If you keep your house cool, the lotion will remain thicker, but if your house is warmer & during the summer, keep the lotion in the fridge.
I've made four batches of lotion in the past year & not one of them as turned out exactly the same. It depends on how cool the oil/wax mixture is before adding water, how much water you add, and the kind & amount of essential oils you use.
Each type of oil & the beeswax contributes great healing & soothing properties. And you can change the types of oil if you want as long as you have a liquid oil (olive, hazelnut, macadamia, walnut) & a semi-solid fat (coconut, tallow, lard). The person who I got the recipe from uses deer tallow which she receives from friends who hunt & she renders it out herself.
Since we're using minimal & pretty much all natural ingredients, there's no stabilizer which means that the lotion will "weep" water if not kept cold or after a few weeks. It's a natural separation of the emulsified fats & water, just like in a vinaigrette.
Making lotion isn't hard. It's knowing what you're doing & how the ingredients act & interact that's important.
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