Family

Family

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Making Hard Lotion


First of all I have to admit that I didn't set out to make a hard lotion yesterday.  I have been wanting to, but I have also been making an ointment for our itchy eczema sufferers and was trying to adjust my recipe for that.  I have been mixing coconut oil with vitamin E oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil.  Now that the weather is warming up the coconut is too and it was getting runny.  I thought I would add some beeswax and that would help out.  Boy did it ever!!  Now I have the hard lotion that I have been wanting to make!



First up was gathering my materials:  slow cooker, one pound of beeswax, about two pounds of coconut oil, four ounces of vitamin E oil (not pictured) and about 20 drops of tea tree and lavender essential oils. I also needed some half-pint jelly jars, a spatula to stir and a baster to put the melted oils into the jars. I have been using the expensive oil from Tropical Traditions, but it. is. expensive. and I need it to cook with!  If you make this with the same materials I did, you will not be able to use your baster for cooking. I lot of the lotion remained in the bulb and I was able to squeeze it out, but it is still waxy feeling.


 Step one is to melt the beeswax.  Next time I will use the pellets instead of the block.  It took a while to melt.  After it had melted I put in all the coconut oil and let it melt down completely.  Then I added in the vitamin E oil and the essential oils.  The essential oils go in last because the heat will make them dissipate.  After they were all mixed up, I used the baster to put the oil into the jars.  I probably should have heated the jars a little as the oil was slightly warm, but I didn't have any jars to crack.





The lotion hardened very quickly and made 8 half-pints.  I had already taken one out to use before this picture was taken.  I have purchased hard lotions in deodorant type containers and in large lip balm type containers.  I have also seen them made in soap molds.  

This is hard!  You will need to scrap some out with your fingers and rub it in your hands to soften enough to put on your body, but I can already tell a difference in my hands.  Several of us are having a bad bout of eczema right now and this is not helping it.  We are using a prescription steroid ointment right now, but I am hoping that when we clear up that this will be good for us as an everyday moisturizer to replace the petroleum based products that our doctors recommend.

In addition to using this in our skin care routine I have also been using the ointment and now the hard lotion as a deodorant!  You know how shaving can irritate, so this is so good for the tender underarm skin and the tea tree oil is anti-bacterial and anti--everything, so it should definitely fight odor.  As the temperatures start to climb in the next few weeks we'll see how it stands up to that test.


This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday at http://gnowfglins.com.  Find more interesting posts there!






Raising Homemakers

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

We make our lotion bars using the small melt and pour soap molds from Hobby Lobby. They are the perfect size for holding in your hand to warm up and then rub on your skin. I keep mine in a ziploc bag in the bathroom. I use Sweet Almond Oil and Hazelnut Oil as well as coconut oil in my lotion. Mainly because I found some at the Salvage Grocery. (We bought seven jars of Coconut Oil for $2 each). I've been using Coconut Oil by itself and also mixed with baking soda and cornstarch for deoderant. So far it's working great, but we'll have to wait and see how it does through the summer.

mely said...

Glad to know is working for you. My son suffers of very dry skin. Thanks for the tutorial.

April D said...

I've been using coconut oil for about a year now for moisturizing, and it is wonderful. I also started making deodorant--coconut oil, baking soda and cornstarch with the tea tree and lavender oils. Really nice!
I have never heard of a "hard lotion" before.
Where did you get a good price on beeswax? I've looked but it is SO expensive!
Great, informative post!

Anita said...

Hi April!! We got the beeswax at Hobby Lobby and used the 40% off coupon. Wound up costing around $8 for the pound. There are several online soap making sites that have it much cheaper. Next time I will try the pellets for quicker melting.

Anonymous said...

I had a dream that I used this lotion last night. It was soft and cool and smelled like vanilla. :)

HannR

Anita said...

Hannah, it is not soft and smells of tea tree and lavender which is good for eczema. I may melt it down and add more coconut oil.

Trixi said...

If you add more coconut with it make it softer? I hope to try this!!

Anita said...

Trixi, coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degrees so it will soften the beeswax up.

Far Above Rubies said...

Anita, this is fantastic. I need to try this - I especially love making my own skin essentials.

I recently came across for homemade shampoo that was wonderful, too.

Thanks so much.

Jasmine

Kristina said...

Does anyone know any homemade shampoos and conditioners

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...