Stop and make it! That's what I told myself last week. I wondered how a lotion would feel with some shea butter. I know what it's like 50%/50% with oils. But what does it feel like in smaller amounts and with other goodies? I tweaked this once and I am sure I will tweak it again and again. That's what I love about making my own products. This recipe is inspired by Swift's Anti-Itch Lotion. The recipe I put together is thick and dries silky. A little goes a long way. If I was to tweak this now I would aim for a thinner consistency.
I use 4 heat safe Pyrex measuring cups: 1-heated oil phase, 1-heated water phase, 1-fragrance mix, 1-cool down ingredients.
You will need two pots or double boilers. These are pots you will never use for food.
Two candy thermometers, possibly a third. Tons of paper towels(downfall). Funnel and bottle. Don't forget the measuring scale.
Weigh out your heated oil and heated water phases as your water comes to a boil. % is based on the volume your bottle holds. Slowly add the ingredients. Once you have made a few recipes you will get a feel for how fast to pour. You can use separate bowls to measure and then dump into the heated glass. I do this for the BTMS and Cetyl Alcohol since they are tiny pellets similar in color and size. Also take notes. If you add too much, you will need to adjust that phase.
You want to heat the two phases separately. Watch for them to reach 70˚C or 158˚F. Then you are ready to hold for 20mins. This is extremely important! This helps kill things like bacteria & help with the emulsification(next step).
Heated Oil:
- BTMS 8%
- Cetyl alcohol 3%
- Shea butter 5%
- Oils:Sunflower, Avocado, Rice bran=11%
Heated Water: (put aside extra heated water to compensate for evaporation)
- Water 56%
- Hydrolyzed Protein oats 2%
- Glycerin 3%
After 20 minutes you are going to CAREFULLY remove your jars from the heat. Weigh your water phase and add your extra heated water if necessary.
Now this is when the magic of emulsification happens. Little ones can gather around for this part. Poor the water phase into the oil phase. Why not oil into water? Preference really.
Mix the two phases with your immersion hand blender and let it cool to 45˚C or 113˚F. The cool down phase ingredients are sensitive to heat. You must wait for the temperature to drop. I use this time to clean up my area and materials. Use clean paper towels to dry. Pull them off by holding the center cardboard roll, not the towels. You want to avoid contamination.
One your solution is cooled go ahead and add the emulsified solution to the cool down. Silicones and Polyquat are thick and will adhere to their bowl. This is why I add my emulsified to the cool down. Now mix with your immersion blender.
Cool down phase:
- Polyquat7 2%
- Panthanel 2%
- Cyclo/dimeth mix 2%
- Green Tea Extract 2%
- Avena Oat Extract 2%
- Fragrance 1%
- Preservative 1%
Congrats you just made your first lotion.
Suppliers:
- Mountain Rose Herbs (affiliate link)
- Amazon (affiliate link)
That's not too difficult to make, thaks for the recipe!
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