How to make Homemade Hand Creme (Lotion) Tutorial and Recipe

Making your own lotion is EASY and cost effective and I love being able to pronounce all the ingredients. I hope you try it! Here are pictures and instructions and a pretty recipe at the end.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water

4 tablespoons emulsifying wax (To bind oil and water.)

2 teaspoons glycerin (For moisture.)

1/3 cup oil (The possibilities are many here- I particularly like sweet almond oil for the lack of strong scent.)

2 tablespoons stearic acid (To thicken. Leave it out if you are opposed.)

1 teaspoon citric acid (To preserve. Leave it out if you are opposed. But then take precautions like using a squeeze bottle instead of a pot and using it quickly and maybe even keeping it in the fridge.)

(I get most of my ingredients at Pine Meadows. They have good prices and I can pick them up in Provo to avoid shipping costs.)

First- Measure!  Measure all your ingredients and pour them into a microwaveable container. Easy-peasy right? I like to use a glass 4 cup measuring cup. In the pictures below I was making 2 half-batches of the hand creme. One for hubby using sweet almond oil- on the left- and one for my eczema prone daughter using avocado oil.

Second- Microwave! Put your container in the microwave and set it for about 2 minutes. The goal is to get hot enough to melt the wax (the mixture will look milky when it is melted) but not so hot that it boils out of the container. Been there, done that. Lotion all over the microwave is not the goal.  :) The kind of oil you use will change how fast it gets warm enough. In this case the almond oil was 2 minutes 15 second, the avocado oil was 3 minutes. Just watch it! Here's what it looks like all melty.

  Third- Blend! Blend it up until it is smooth - 15-30 seconds. I like to use an immersion blender because clean up is easier, but a regular blender works too. Here's a place where you can go for speed and be done, or you can let it cool for a few minutes and reblend. I think it helps the texture. You can also add essential or fragrant oils in this step and just blend them in as well. I didn't use any in these batches, but I do use them when making lotion for yours truly.

 Lovely.

 Fourth- Pour! Pour your lotion into a container. I like to re-use containers because I'm frugal and, hey, it feels green. This is an old artichoke bottle. If you're pouring it into a squeeze type bottle you're obviously going to want a funnel. Or maybe you pour better than me- or maybe your counter needs a good lotion.  ;) The concoction is still extremely liquidy at this point. Give it a few hours to set up. Put it in the fridge if you want to hurry it along. Please feel free to leave me any questions or clarifications!