by Marie | Oct 2, 2023 | Lotion, Starter Recipes
Hand lotion is a skincare staple; heck, even my dad uses it! But, if your handmade lotions are anything like the ones I made when I was a new maker, you’ve probably noticed that your DIY versions are really different from products sold by big brands like Cerave, Cetaphil, and La Roche Posay. They’re probably greasier than the hand lotions you buy from the store, and might also be getting stuck in the bottom of your pump top bottles, forcing you to go full ‘dipstick‘ to use them up.
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by Marie | Sep 18, 2023 | Articles, Lotion
So, you’ve finally made your very first lotion. Exciting stuff! If you’re anything like me, you’re now dreaming up all the different ways you’d love to customize the formulation. Could it be thicker? Can you add some colour? What about some scent? However, as a new lotion formulator, you aren’t sure what you can and can’t do without making the whole thing curdle, split, and die a sad, separated death.
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by Marie | Aug 21, 2023 | Bee Better, Lotion
You’ve almost certainly heard of the rather dairy-product-sounding “body butter”; but what about the equally dairy-ish body yogurt? Think of body yogurt as body butter’s ultra-light cousin: a fast-absorbing and super-slippy body moisturizer that is low on rich oils and high in hydrating humectants. It is perfect for the hot summer months if you want all of the hydration of richer moisturizer, but none of the heaviness or greasiness.
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by Marie | Apr 3, 2023 | Articles, Facial Lotions, Lotion
Even though I make most of the skincare products I use, I still enjoy perusing the skincare departments at Sephora and airport duty-free shops—paying extra attention to the luxury brands. I sample, sniff, and examine ingredient lists like a lotion detective. If a single lotion costs 3x my monthly grocery budget, I want to know what’s going on 🧐 What formulation magic has that fancy brand used to create a product that feels like its worth $400?! Fancy actives and proprietary botanical blends definitely pop up quite a lot, but I’ve noticed five cheap, easy-to-implement strategies in heaps of luxury formulations, and I want to share them with you so you can make lotions that feel like magic 🤩
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by Marie | Mar 20, 2023 | Bee Better, Lotion
Today we are diving deep into the archives to Bee Better a project I published almost exactly nine (!!) years ago. This formulation began life as a Lush dupe(ish), and while the 2014 version wasn’t bad, I’ve learned a lot since then. Today’s updated version is softer and more cosmetically elegant, uses fewer ingredients, and I think it smells better, too. Let’s get making!
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by Marie | Dec 12, 2022 | Christmas Spice, Lotion
Today we’re blending up a rich, botanically blessed body cream that is perfect for cold, dry winter days. I developed this formulation with the help of my readers; t’s creamy, scoopable, skin-soothing, and positively decadent. Enjoy!
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