How to Make Homemade Lotion With Coconut Oil And Shea Butter?

As we grow old, moisturising our skin is very much necessary to maintain healthy skin and prevent wrinkles in the long run. Needless to say, well-moisturised skin looks healthy and glowing. 

In cold weather, a thorough moisturisation is needed to prevent dry, flaky skin. Dry skin is prone to wrinkles faster than oily skin, if not properly moisturised and taken care of.

Oily skin needs proper moisturisation too. If you have oily skin and you don’t moisturise it regularly then your skin glands will in fact produce more oil, which will lead to breakouts.

I’m a big-time moisturizer user (which I feel everyone should be). I literally take a cream bath after a shower. No kidding! 

I’ve tried almost all the brands available in the market before I shifted to my own homemade organic body lotion. 

I have tried branks like; 

1.     Himalaya
2.     Vaseline
3.     Dove
4.     Nivea
5.     Cetaphil
6.     Jergens
7.     Ponds
8.     Avon etc.

I usually switched between products to find out that ‘one product specially made for my skin! 

To find that ‘one’ body lotion made for me, I started noticing the ingredients of the products which I liked.

And started finding organic and natural alternatives to replace those ingredients and discarding the ones which were harmful to my skin. 

Through a lot of research, I learnt how to make my own body lotion at home and started to experiment with natural products. 

And voila! I finally found the ‘One’. 

In the recipe I am going to show you below, you can mix-match your preferred natural ingredients and see the results which can be the ‘One’ for you. 

Homemade Body Lotion Recipe Shea Butter And Coconut Oil

For this, the equipment we will be needing are:

1. Microwave Safe Measuring Cup/bowl to melt the ingredients. You can either use amicrowave for this or double boiler method on a gas stove. (For the double boiler method take a stainless steel pan, fill it with water and put a glass bowl in it, a bit elevated from the water level so that the ingredients melts by steam and not boiling water.)
2. Measuring Cups – to measure the exact proportions of the ingredients we are using.
3. Measuring spoons – to measure the tbsp and tsp measurements.
4. A hand blender/immersion blender – to grind the water and oil parts properly and to get an even consistency.
5. Cooking Thermometer (optional)– to measure the temperature of melted ingredients. 

Make sure all the ingredients you use are well cleaned and sterilised. 

Let us have a look at the ingredients we are using.

First, decide how much will be the batch size of the body lotion you are making. I am making 350 ml body lotion.

1. Oil part/portion:

You can mix different oils and butter too for this. 

We require 5 to 30% of the oil portion. I’m taking 20%, so for 350 ml, I will be needing 70 ml. Out of which, I’m using 55 ml of cold-pressed coconut oil and 15 ml (which is 1 tbsp) of shea butter.

Instead of shea butter, you can use any other butter of ur choice such as mango butter, cocoa butter, kokum butter, almond butter, etc.

Same way, instead of using coconut oil, you can use any other carrier oils of your choice such as almond oil, argan oil, olive oil, etc.

I use Coconut oil because:

• It provides the best hydration throughout the day.
• Its antimicrobial properties help in treating and preventing skin infections.
• Coconut oil is easily absorbed in the skin.
• It improves skin’s elasticity
• It slowly fades scars and makes skin even-toned

I use Shea butter because:

• It is very nurturing for our skin.
• It reduces the damaging effects of the sun.
• It is anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory and reduces stretch marks.

2. Water portion/part:

For body lotion, the biggest component required is the water part which is  60 to 80% of the entire batch. 

I’m taking 70% which is 245ml for the 350 ml batch (Which is approximately 1 cup). 

I’m using halves of both homemade hydrosol and aloe vera gel.

For the water part you can either use:

• Distilled water or
• Aloe vera gel or
• homemade hydrosols.

You can mix and make your own combination too. 

In this batch, I am using rose and marigold hydrosol.

Rose:

Rose is famous for its toning properties as it manages the skin’s PH balance.

When applied, it has soothing effects on the skin.

Rosewater improves skin tone over time.

It hydrates, revitalises and moisturizes the skin.

It fights wrinkles and fine lines.

Marigold/Calendula:

Marigold is very effective in protecting our skin from all infections and free radicals.

It promotes the growth of new healthy tissues. 

It boosts collagen production, so firms the skin.

It is the best natural bug repellent.

3. Emulsifier 

The proportion should be around 3 to 6%. I’m taking 5% which is around 17.5ml or 4 tsp of 350 ml.

I’m using emulsifying wax pallets as an emulsifier.

An emulsifier is a very important ingredient while making a body lotion as it binds the oil and water ingredients and gives a creamy texture.

You can use beeswax too instead of emulsifying wax. 

Emulsifying wax:

It is a vegetable wax derived from fatty acids and plant oils, which is further added with cleansing material to become an emulsifier. 

It binds all the ingredients together as well as increases the shelf life of the body lotion.

Emulsifier makes the lotion creamier and easier to apply. 

It is considered a safe ingredient to use in cosmetics.

4. Thickener

The portion of a thickener for a body lotion is 3 to 6%. I am taking 5% here, which is 17.5 ml or 4 tsp of my 350 ml batch. Here I am using Stearic Acid as a thickener.  

I use Stearic acid because:

Thickener is used in a body lotion to achieve a thicker consistency. 

Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid that contains amino acids. It is mainly derived from plant fats (mostly from cocoa butter and shea butter) and animal fats. 

5. Fragrance

Which we can use as per our need but generally it is 0.5 to 1% of the entire batch. 

Thus, here we require almost 3.5 ml of 350 ml batch which is approx ¾ tsp.

I am using Sandalwood essential oil.

There are many chemical-based fragrances available in the market. But they are always very risky in terms of the safety of our skin.

I always rely on essential oils for fragrance. They are safe as well as extremely beneficial to our skin. 

You can use any of your favourite essential oil or you can mix 2-3 different essential oils together.

I have chosen sandalwood essential oil because of its relaxing and calming effects on the skin.

It strengthens, tightens and soothes the skin.

It also removes scars and fights acne, brushes, cuts and infections.

The last ingredient is a preservative.

6. Preservatives

Preservatives are necessary to make your product last for long, as we are adding water to the lotion and water is the breeding ground for any microorganisms. 

Which you should always measure and add rather than just randomly adding it. 

You should use only 0.1 to 0.5% preservative. I have taken 0.5% of the 350 ml batch which is 1.75ml (approx ¼ tsp). I have taken DMDMh preservative in this batch.

I am using DMDM hydantoin as it is an organic compound and has antimicrobial properties.

DMDM hydantoin works as a preservative because the formaldehyde in it makes the product less favourable for microorganisms to breed

Don’t forget to do a patch test first as it may irritate your skin if you have an allergy to formaldehyde.

Method To Make Homemade Lotion 

(So let’s get started. First, we will add all the oils and butter and emulsifier and thickener to the pyrex cup and melt them using either microwave or double boiler method.)

55 ml pure cold pressed coconut oil + 1 tbsp Shea Butter + 1.2 tbsp(4tsp) Emulsifying wax + 1.2 tbsp(4tsp) Stearic acid 

Stir the ingredients and put the pyrex cup in the microwave. Now heat in a microwave for about 2-3 minutes. Keep on checking it every 30 seconds interval. 

Meanwhile, prepare the water portion.

For that mix half a cup of rose-marigold hydrosol and half a cup of aloe vera gel. 

Keep checking and stirring all the ingredients of the pyrex cup every 30-second intervals.

You can see the oil, butter, emulsifier and thickener have melted and mixed properly. 

Now keep it aside for some time until it reaches room temperature.

Keep measuring the temperature. 

Mix the water and oil parts together when both have the same temperature. 

Mix and blend well until you get a creamy consistency. (It took almost 2-3 minutes). 

As you can see, our homemade body lotion is almost ready.

Now we will add ¼ tsp of DMDMh preservative to it. And add ¾ tsp of sandalwood essential oil.

Now stir the mixture and you can blend it with a hand blender for half a minute so that preservative and essential oil gets properly mixed in the lotion. 

You can adjust the fragrance portion according to your requirement. 

Now fill this lotion into your empty container.

….and your super moisturising homemade body lotion is ready to use. 🙂

Watch the video on how to make homemade body lotion:

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know in the comments below.