Last month I shared a Creamy Autumn Grounding Salve, starring an intoxicating blend of essential oils—patchouli, lavender, benzoin, and ylang-ylang. I’d intended for the salve to be a one-off, but after sniffing away at it for a few weeks I knew I needed to use that essential oil blend again! Hence, today’s project. This lotion is the perfect companion to last month’s salve, starring the same essential oil blend, but in a fast-absorbing lotion format that’s perfect for drier fall days.
Want to watch this recipe instead of reading it?
In keeping with the more natural/vegan bent of the salve, I’ve selected more natural ingredients for this lotion. Our water phase is mostly distilled water, amped up with vegetable glycerin and sodium lactate for some great, deep moisturizing. Panthenol (vitamin B5) further boosts the moisturizing goodness of this lotion while also adding its regenerative, anti-inflammatory properties.
The oil phase is mostly olive oil (another tie-in to the salve) and rich shea butter, further thickened and rich-ified with some additional stearic acid. I’ve used Ritamulse SCG/Emulsimulse as our emulsifying wax for its almost powdery skin feel. It also helps boost the moisturizing properties of projects and is ECO-CERT certified.
Ritamulse SCG is one of those emulsifying waxes that seems to be sold under dozens of different names, so make sure you’re checking the INCI so you know what you’re purchasing/what you have. The INCI for the right product is Glyceryl Stearate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Sodium Stearyl Lactylate.
In addition to our essential oil blend (you can learn more about that here), you’ll find soothing calendula extract and protective allantoin in the cool-down phase—two more ingredients that are brilliant for fall and winter skincare! Just a reminder—if you’re looking to learn more about these ingredients, be sure to check out the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. You’ll find information about usage rates, substitutions, benefits, ingredient purposes, and more there!
Want to watch this recipe instead of reading it?
Creamy Autumn Grounding Lotion
Heated water phase
70.05g | 70.05% distilled water
5g | 5% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
3g | 3% sodium lactate (USA / Canada)
3g | 3% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)Heated oil phase
3g | 3% Ritamulse SCG (USA / Canada / UK / AU)
5g | 5% refined shea butter (USA / Canada)
5g | 5% olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% stearic acid (USA / Canada / UK)Cool down phase
0.2g | 0.2% dark patchouli essential oil
0.5g | 0.5% lavender essential oil
0.3g | 0.3% benzoin resinoid
0.05g | 0.05% ylang ylang essential oil
0.4g | 0.4% allantoin (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% calendula extract
0.5g | 0.5% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)Weigh the heated water phase into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Weigh the entire lot (measuring cup + ingredients) and note that weight for use later. Weigh the heated oil phase into a second heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place both measuring cups in your prepared water bath to melt everything through.
After about 20–30 minutes the oil part should be completely melted and the water part should be thoroughly dissolved. Remove the water bath from the heat and weigh it. Add enough hot distilled water to bring the weight back up to what it was before heating, and then pour the water part into the oil part. Stir with a flexible silicone spatula to incorporate.
Grab your immersion blender and begin blending the lotion, starting with short bursts so the still-very-liquid lotion doesn’t whirl up and spray everywhere. Blend for about a minute, leave to cool for ten, blend for another minute or two, and repeat this blend-cool-blend cycle until the outside of the glass measuring cup is barely warm to the touch and the lotion is thick and creamy.
When the lotion is cool it’s time to incorporate our cool down ingredients. Because cool down ingredients are typically present at very low amounts you’ll need to use an accurate scale—preferably one accurate to 0.01g. As these more accurate scales tend to have fairly low (100–200g) maximum weights you won’t be able to put the entire batch of lotion on that scale without blowing it out. So—grab a smaller dish. Add a scoop or two of lotion, and then weigh the cool down ingredients into that, using the more accurate scale. Stir to thoroughly incorporate, and then stir all of that back into the master batch of lotion. Doing it this way minimizes the amount of cool down ingredients lost to the secondary container.
Once the cool down phase has been incorporated, all that’s left is to package it up! I put this lotion in a squeezy 120mL (4fl oz) bottle; once with a pump-top lid and once with a flip-disc cap. Both work, so choose whichever you have or prefer.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this lotion contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this project may eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 100g.
- To learn more about the ingredients used in this recipe, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
- You can use a different humectant, like propanediol, in place of the glycerin and/or sodium lactate.
- Please refer to the encyclopedia for panthenol, allantoin, and calendula alternatives.
- You can use a different complete emulsifying wax such as Polawax, Emulsifying Wax NF, or Olivem 1000 instead of Ritamulse SCG/Emulsimulse.
- A different soft butter will work instead of shea butter. A different mid-weight carrier oil will work in place of olive oil. Please read this article for more information.
- You can try cetearyl alcohol or cetyl alcohol as alternatives to stearic acid. Alternatively, you could also use more shea butter, but this will make for a thinner end product.
- You can use a different essential oil blend.
- If you’re like to use a different preservative, please review this page.
Gifting Disclosure
The ylang ylang essential oil was gifted by Plant’s Power.
Nice! I am surprised, though, that you made this with olive oil and Shea, since they’re both pretty heavy, greasy oils in a lotion. Now me, I like that in a lotion, but I thought you liked your lotions with faster absorbing oils/butters. I need to make this and see how I like it, since it’s gotten pretty dry here. My skin is so cranky when it’s dry!
I find this size of oil phase counters most greasiness from oils and butters—also, it’s dumb dry here right now, ha! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Hi. I am going yo make this lotion soon, but I dont have all the essentiall oils, so i have a few queations.
can I just replace the essential oils with more distilled water?
can I put Apricot Kernel oil instead of Olive Oil?
I also want to add some BTMS25, do I need to swop an ingredient to make place for the btms25 or can I just add some, and how much do i add to fit in with the rest of the ingredients? 🙂
Marie! A few days ago I spent an evening developing a recipe, basing on your lotions, but with olive oil and dark, intoxicating smell… and now you give me this. 😀
Needless to say, I know what I’m doing this weekend!
Ooooer! Happy making 😀
Looks great, lovely concept! I need to test these ratios and see how it works. Is it spelled sodium stearoyl lactylate, btw?
Hey Johanna!
Sodium stearoyl lactylate is an emulsifier and a stabiliser. Whilst sodium lactate is an humectant. Check this out.
Happy making!
Barb
Dark Patchouli? How is this different from Patchouli?
You can learn more here 🙂
Hi Marie! I made this a few weeks back and put into a tube. I only changed the emulsifier to NF and did not add essential oils but added a smidge of fragrance oil. I did add a preservative however I noticed my lotion is now partially pink and I’m afraid to use it. Do you think it’s ok? What could have happened? It’s been kept in a temp of 70 degrees.
Hey Susan! What preservative did you use? And what was the fragrance? I’ve had things containing lemon essential oil shift slightly pink on me before, so perhaps the same chemical reaction is happening here? If it is tinting evenly pink I would suspect a chemical reaction between something that is in the lotion rather than some sort of spoilage, which I would think would be unlikely to take hold throughout the entire product evenly (especially so quickly), but that is just a hypothesis 🙂
It’s not through the whole product. I used a floral fragrance ( Peony & Blush Suede-dupe of Jo Malone fragrance) it is only on the top portion about an inch down the tube. I used germal Plus.
I made this lotion a couple of weeks ago and I love it! The scent is absolutely to die for! I’m thinking if you changed the ratios in the water and oil phases this would make an awesome body cream, which would really be great for dry winter skin. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
I’m so thrilled you’re enjoying it! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
I love the idea of seasonal lotions! One thing I would really love to make is a winter cream that isn’t quite so cold when you put it on, if that makes any sense. Sometimes when it’s really chilly in the winter, the idea of putting on a cold wet lotion and standing around freezing while you wait for it to dry so you can cover back up again sounds so terrible. I usually switch to a body bar, but they just don’t moisturize like a lotion or a cream. Really not sure how one would accomplish such a thing, maybe eliminate humectants? Add more silicone? Potentially even add a small amount of warming essential oils? Would be SO amazing to have a water-based product that wasn’t quite so …wet? lol. I hear how silly that sounds.
It is the water that makes it cold. A body butter or a lotion with a small water phase feels less cold. Marie has a thick cream (shealoe cream) that could work.
I’m sure you are right. I did make the Shea Aloe Cream, but I found it a bit difficult to apply, but having said that, I think I didn’t quite have the full amount of dimethicone required to make exactly according to the recipe. I’ll order more and try again!
Hmm—have you thought about trying something like this, applying it to damp skin post-bath while you’re still all hot from the bath/shower & still in a steamy bathroom?
Ohh, great idea! I think I have most of those ingredients!
I was wondering about the viscosity of lotions with respect to a body milk I saw the other day and would love your thoughts before I start to experiment…
Would converting a lotion to a body milk or spray able lotion be a simple issue of enlarging the water phase proportionate to the oil? Or are there other factors that one has to keep in mind? I was thinking of working on a sprayable lotion for holiday gifts this year as a different giftable option
How about hot process lotion with sucrose stearate + gum? It would my best option for body milks/ sprayable lotions. I would start from what’s the purpose/aim of the item and target group…and figure emulsifier later.
Anyway, I totally love this ritamulse emulsifier blend at this moment (lamellar structure rocks :)). My thinnist but still stable texture was 8 % oils, but it wasn’t sprayable. Anything less than ~8 % oils wasn’t stable for me. These are just my thoughts, hope you don’t mind me answering. 🙂
Marie, thanks for this very clever and extraordinary recipe. Your ratios has been very usefull. 2 % cetyl alchohol created very nice thinner all around lotion. I can feel lamellar structure in it. I’m shareing some results later. 🙂
As the oil phase shrinks and the viscosity decreases, stability typically becomes a challenge as viscosity is part of what stabilizes an emulsion. I haven’t actually made a sprayable lotion, but it looks like Johanna has a good recommendation for you for a place to start 🙂 I suspect you may need more emulsifier than usual, or perhaps a different emulsifier that is better suited to creating things with thin viscosities. Happy making!
Why my calendula extract is not dissolving properly its small dotted particles are visible in the lotion