The age-old tale says three wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus, so one might say this sparkling Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh Lotion is fit for a king.
A base of honey and silk infused water is emulsified with olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) to make a creamy, hydrating lotion. Honey and silk are both wonderful humectants, helping the skin stay soft and happy through dry winter days. Olive oil and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) are wonderfully rich, perfect for a fit-for-a-king lotion and short, cold days.
Frankincense (Boswellia serrata) has a dry, woody, spicy scent. It comes from a tree that has its roots in the Middle East, and the essential oil is made from the resin, which oozes out of cuts made in the trunk of the tree. The essential oil is said to help prevent infections, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and to help fade scars and other marks on the skin.
Much like frankincense, myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) essential oil is made from a thick resin that oozes from cuts made in the myrrh tree. The myrrh tree has a long, thin trunk with a table-top like green bit at the top. The essential oil is deep, rich, and a bit smokey. It’s said to fight colds, stimulate the mind, and boost the immune system.
The final lotion is thick and moisturizing, leaving the skin happy and lightly scented in a delightfully exotic manner… with just a wee hint of a golden glimmer 🙂
Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh Lotion
73mL | 2.47 fl oz distilled water
2g |0.07oz honey
½ tsp hydrolyzed silk7g | 0.25oz emulsimulse/ritamulse (or other complete emulsifying wax—not beeswax!)
10g | 0.35oz olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
8g | 0.28oz unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)1/8 tsp gold mica (I use these tiny measuring spoons to measure out such small amounts)
12 drops frankincense essential oil
4 drops myrrh essential oilBroad spectrum preservative (why?)
Combine the emulsifying wax with the olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat.
While the waxes and oils are melting, combine the water, honey, and silk in a small glass measuring cup and gently warm.
Once the oils have melted, add the water mixture. Heat through to ensure everything is melted before removing the pan from the heat.
Whisk the mixture as it cools—it will thicken into a nice cream (the thickening may take a few days if you are using a different emulsifying wax than emulsimulse/ritamulse). Stir in the essential oils and the mica, and any broad spectrum preservative you might be using. Decant into a 120mL/4oz pump bottle or jar. Enjoy!
New to lotion making? Watch my basic lotion how to video!
The lotion sounds intriguing. Will Tussah Noil Silk fiber work ok in this recipe? Thanks in advance.
Hi Eva! I’ve written an FAQ on this 🙂
What preservative do you use and how much do you add for this recipe.
Hi Michele! I’ve written a couple FAQ articles on this—click the links in the recipe where it lists the preservative for more information.
Wow, this is beautiful! I would love to try this out! I haven’t ventured into lotion yet and lipbalm is my next step, but I need to get a good scale first and I am having a hard time finding one. Most start at the lowest measurement of 1 gram, so unless I am making larger batches then I need to find one that can start with less. Do you have any recommendations? Your blog is my source from recipes as volume measurements just don’t work out! Thank you!
Hi Ashlynn! 1g increments are generally fine—I really only use increments smaller than that for cosmetics and for making tiny batches of lip balms and things (which I only do because I make so many different batches, haha). I got my wee 0.1g increment scale from Lee Valley. Perhaps try looking for jewellery scales?
Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Thank you Marie for the response! Yes I am looking to use it for smaller batches of balm and cosmetics as well so I will looking into this scale you have too! Thank you so much!
It’s a great scale and really opens up the world of teensy batches, which is super awesome when you’re like me and just can’t stop making new things 😉
I GOT MY SCALE! I am so excited! This weekend will be spent in my kitchen making more than mineral powder cosmetics! Cannot wait for your book!!
Soouds good 🙂 , made me laugh as I just watched the truth about cancer Epusode 2 🙂
I’m afraid I have no idea why you’re laughing… care to share?
This looks so luxurious! Even as my first lotion attempt, I’m going to make this for gifts this Christmas! Wondering about how much this recipe makes? (just so I can multiply as needed for x amount of gifts.
Thank you so much. I really love reading your blog!
Thanks, Chris! To get a total for any recipe, just add up the weights of all the ingredients. This one comes to ~100g, and since it’s mostly water, that will be roughly 100mL 🙂
Absolutely adore your site….my best days of the week are when you post something to make:-).
Made my first lotion using Emulsimulse (your l’occitane one) and it smells divine. I made three batches….the first one is perfect, the other two a tad lumpy….it still works and smells great but is aesthetically a bit of a bummer. Any advice as to what I did wrong? Too hot? Too cold?
Want to figure it out before I make this lovely gold lotion!
Many Thanks for your time!
Hi Kerri! Thanks for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 It sounds like you may not have thoroughly heated everything together, so the oils mixture solidified a bit when the water part was added. Make sure you heat everything through and that the mixture is 100% liquid before you remove it from the heat 🙂
Hi Marie–I love this recipe and the one for Labdanum and Petitgrain Lotion, and I’ve made both multiple times with success (and acclaim! woohoo). Now, though, I wish I could make a thicker, creamer lotion that’s more like a hand cream, somewhere between this and body butter. Can I do this by decreasing the amount of water in the recipe?
Hi Stacie! I’m so glad you’re loving DIY lotion 🙂 Your suspicions are correct, just be aware that too little water (once you start to approach equal parts) can cause the emulsion to break, so start with small reductions.
Can I substitute EVO for the water and emulsimulse?
I guess you could, in the same way you could use olive oil instead of water when making a cup of coffee, but I really wouldn’t recommend it. The final product will be nothing like what I made if you do, you’ll just have a bunch of oil with some essential oils and mica in it.
Hi Marie! I just wanted to say that A) I made this lotion, or my equivalent of it with what I had, and it’s gorgeous, and B) your site is now my absolute go-to for DIY skincare. I’m making homemade lotion for gifts for family this year, and there are LOADS of well-meaning but faulty recipes out there. The beeswax-is-an-emulsifier thing. I guess it works for people short-term, but I wanted something I could give to people and not worry about it. Anyway, your blog is a godsend. Every time I have a question I google search that and “humblebee.” Swiftycraftymonkey is great for very exact and sciencey stuff, too.
I made this really quickly this morning for a last-minute gift and it turned out great! I didn’t have shea butter, so I used the oils I had: coconut, olive, grapeseed. I don’t have silk, so I left it out, and instead of mica I just dropped a pinch of turmeric in there to give it a gold (well, yellow) color. And I use ewax. I’ve found that ewax thickens more right away if you use it in higher dosage, like 10%, so this was a bit watery but thickened up a bit after even 30 min. I only wish I had made more so I didn’t have to give it all away!
Anyway, thanks for your blog! I’m loving the DIY skincare. It’s amazing how simple it is, and yet it seems really special for a gift. 🙂
Hi Kendra! Thank you so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I’m so glad you’re loving your homemade lotions and skin care goodies—you’re totally right about it being wonderfully easy and impressive! My friends and family never escape Christmas or a birthday without a new lip balm and a new bar of soap 😉
Hi there, I stumbled your website looking for a beard balm recipe,I clicked on this page, and I’m glad I did. Even though I am not new to making natural lotions, I like your variety of lotion recipes, and ideas. This is an AWESOME website, and I will be checking back soon. I have already bookmarked your page.
Hi Michelle! I’m so glad you stumbled upon my blog, welcome 🙂 Have fun browsing around, I’ve got close to 800 recipes up here so there’s plenty to keep you busy 😉
hello, please can you tell me what kind of silk you used, and where you get it from? this looks amazing, and I’m dying to try it!!thank you,
Mahjabeen
Mine is the silk peptides from New Directions, but read this 🙂 Happy making!
ohh, thank you so much!!im going to try it out once i ordar the ingredients, which im doing today!!!xxx
Happy making!
I love this lotion Marie!!
I’ve made it the second time now and this time I twig the formula a bit by replacing the water with witch hazel floral water, added 1/8 tsp of evening primrose oil, 1/8 tsp of vitamin E and drop the mika.
Next time I might explore replacing some of the Frankincense EO with Helichrysum EO.
Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Alex
Thanks, Alexandra! I’m glad you’re having fun with it 🙂 I do recommend making sure you’re doing everything in weight and making sure you’re compensating for your additions, though—you don’t want to just start adding oils without balancing them out elsewhere in the formula, or you risk breaking the emulsion. In quantities as small as you’re talking it isn’t too much of an issue, but it’s best to start with good habits! Happy making 🙂
Could you use mango butter in place of the shea butter to get a lighter lotion? I’m looking to make a lightweight myrrh lotion for my dad for Christmas (he specially requested it).
Yup! You might also consider trying a formula with a smaller oil phase as that will have a larger impact than the choice of butter—I love this one 🙂
This looks amazing!