It's a beautiful shade of white, it's creamy, it's dreamy, it feels so soft, it leaves your skin smooth, rich but not oily and can be tailored to your needs.
Lotion…
Since it's an emulsion between an oily phase and a watery phase it may seem daunting. But it is very simple and straightforward. Way simpler and less “scary” than soap.
You can use a variety of different oils or water-based liquids and not have to fiddle with the emulsifier, unlike soap that has a set amount of lye for saponifying each oil.
This is our “house” lotion: Green Tea and Honey Lotion. I often change up the oil phase but I keep the water phase an infusion of green tea and honey. I have a big jar of this lotion in the fridge at all times.
The green tea is full of antioxidants and helps with eliminating free radicals in your skin. Honey adds a lot of moisture to the skin and is a strong antimicrobial so it helps preserve the lotion as well as keep your skin clean.
In the oil phase, I choose light oils that don't leave the skin too oily: grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, sunflower seed oil, and jojoba oil. I find this good for my skin. You can use whichever oils are best for you.
This is a big batch recipe, for a smaller trial run halve the recipe.
Big Batch Green Tea and Honey Lotion:
72 grams/ 2.54 ounces beeswax
600 ml/ 2.5 cups oils
(For example:
300 ml grapeseed oil
100 ml chamomile infused grapeseed oil
100 ml calendula infused sunflower oil
50 ml jojoba oil
10 ml of wheat germ oil
40 ml lavender infused almond oil)
220 ml/ 6.76 fluid ounces green tea infusion
2 tbsp honey
¾ tsp borax
40 drops essential oils
(For example:
14 lavender
10 geranium
6 jasmine
4 ylang ylang
4 verbena
2 patchouli)
Melt beeswax in a double boiler.
Make an infusion and mix in honey and borax.
Add oils to the beeswax and melt.
Remove from heat and begin to pulse with a stick blender.
Slowly add the green tea and continue to blend.
Continue blending until completely uniform and having a lotion texture. Stopping periodically to allow blend stick to cool.
Add essential oils and blend them.
Tip: Since you can add the essential oils at any time, even after the cream has been in the fridge for weeks, you can tailor the essential oil blend to the person who you made the lotion for and for the need. For example Face cream: Geranium and Lavender EO and addition of Glycerine and Vitamine E; Stretch marks: Vitamine E, Tangerine, Lavender, and Rose EO.
*Note: I've made at least one hundred batches of cream, I get nervous each time that it's not emulsifying properly ;) Just keep blending and it'll suddenly turn milky white.