How to make lotion isn’t something most people wonder, but should! Making DIY body lotion is a great way to treat your body! This super simple and all-natural body lotion is perfect for all skin types, but especially dry skin! Moisturize and leave your skin baby soft in just a few simple steps!
When I first began making products in my home, learning how to make lotion was high on my list. I have extremely dry skin so I needed a homemade lotion recipe that would act as a moisturizer without making my skin oily or greasy.
Unfortunately, it took a minute or three to find that.
Then, this DIY lotion recipe entered my life and I have never looked back! Not only is it pretty well fool-proof, but it also leaves my skin baby soft with no film left behind.
It really is my favorite lotion recipe hands down.
What Are the Ingredients for Lotion?
While some DIY body lotion recipes may use several ingredients, this one only uses two for the base lotion!
You heard me, two.
The recipe is coconut oil and vitamin E oil. Coconut oil acts as the base of the lotion and provides the moisturizing aspect of the recipe. Vitamin E oil is not only fantastic for skin (including those blasted crows feet!) but also acts as a natural preservative helping your lotion to last longer.
I have been asked in the past why this recipe does not include beeswax or another emulsifier, shea butter, cocoa butter and the like. The truth is this; it doesn’t need those things.
If you’re making DIY body lotion bars like THESE or DIY body butter, yes, you’ll need something like emulsifying wax or another option to cause the emulsion process and harden or thicken things up, but for here, they are just added ingredients and added costs.
Once you’ve got those ingredients taken care of, you can customize the healing properties of the lotion recipe and the scent with whatever essential oils you use. For the sake of the actual recipe, we’ve included both lavender essential oil and peppermint essential oil.
Both of these oils have healing properties and scents that mix very well together.
What Other Essentials Oils Can I Use in DIY Body Lotion?
I love making different variations of this lotion! Changing the essential oils you use also changes the benefits of the oils! This means you can use the base recipe and create a list of products to stop buying and make from one single recipe.
I love it when things come together like that, don’t you?
DIY Body Lotion Essential Oil Ideas:
- Lavender Essential Oil – sleep, acne, burns, calming, sunburns
- Peppermint Essential Oil – Muscle aches, acne, stuffy nose, bug bites, minor wounds
- Chamomile Essential Oil – calming, sleep, redness, skin inflammation, acne, eczema
- Geranium Essential Oil – Reduce irritated skin, fight wrinkles, reduce scar tissue visibility, reduce oil
- Jasmine Essential Oil – Reduce dry skin, anti-aging, evens skin-tone, anti-inflammatory, fights oil buildup
Is it Cheaper to Make Your Own Lotion?
This question is hard to answer for a few reasons. First, your local area prices or where you get your ingredients will vary. Secondly, the oils you use will change the cost. Lavender tends to be a cheaper ingredient but a more expensive oil will make your homemade body lotion more expensive per batch.
In general though, yes, it usually is cheaper to learn how to make lotion and to make DIY body lotion than it is to buy it. You will most likely pay more out of pocket when you first begin gathering your ingredients, however, over time, you will get more batches from those ingredients at a lower cost than buying lotion at the store.
Plus, the final product is healthier for your body overall.
How to Store DIY Body Lotion
Because this homemade lotion recipe does contain coconut oil, you will want to ensure that it is stored correctly.
Room temperature does not do well with this recipe. Coconut oil has a melting temperature around 72°F so it can and will turn liquid if left at room temperature for too long. Instead, pop it into a dark amber glass jar or a mason jar and store it in the fridge.
Once you’re ready to use it, remove it from the fridge and allow it to warm up slightly. If necessary, blend it back up using an immersion blender or hand mixer for a few seconds if the consistency has changed more than you prefer. I have never really had this issue with any of the lotions, balms and creams I make, but I reckon it’s a possibility.
That also means that this recipe is perishable and does have a shorter shelf life than some other recipes you may find. Oil takes a long time to “spoil” but you will want to ensure that you’re checking for mold, mildew or other signs of spoilage before you use it.
You should use your homemade body lotion within 4 weeks for best results.
How to Make Lotion – DIY Body Lotion Recipe
DIY Body Lotion
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl, Stainless
Ingredients
- 1 C. Coconut oil
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. Vitamin E Oil
- 10 drops Lavender essential oil
- 8 drops Peppermint essential oil
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil in a double boiler over low heat. Once it is around half melted, add the vitamin E oil and stir well to combine while you finish melting the coconut oil.1 C. Coconut oil, 1/4-1/2 tsp. Vitamin E Oil
- Once melted, pour the mixture into a stainless mixing bowl. Add the bowl and the mixer beaters to the freezer for 15-20 minutes. **DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP***
- Remove everything from the freezer and beat on medium/high for 3-minutes or until the oil mixture appears cloudy.10 drops Lavender essential oil, 8 drops Peppermint essential oil
- Scrape the sides of the bowl down and add the essential oils. Beat on high until lotion is whipped and fluffy.
Notes
- Do not skip the freezing step. Because this is a lotion and it needs to be whipped, you will need your ingredients cold to do this. Freezing the bowl and the beaters along with the oil mixture helps to keep things colder longer. This will allow your DIY lotion to whip better.
- This recipe makes approx. 12 oz when whipped.