Winter is horribly mean to my skin. It dries me out in ways I forgot were possible over the course of the summer. Calgary is never a humid place (even when it’s raining, which is quite the feat), but when winter arrives it somehow manages to get worse than it was. Again, an impressive, desert-like feat.
I whipped up this lotion as the temperature started to drop and any remaining trace of moisture vanished from the air like an epidermis-hating magic trick. It’s thin enough to sink in quickly, but loaded with aloe, great oils, and a mixture of chamomile and helichrysum essential oils to help calm and heal dry, irritated skin.
I used fresh aloe, harvested straight from the meaty tendrils of the aloe plant that a friend gave me. The chamomile is from South Africa, and it smells divine. Floral and sweet, but not overpowering or cloyingly sweet. The oils are jojoba and camellia, known for their moisturizing awesomeness. Last but not least, Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada), for skin healing wonders.
Healing Winter Lotion
21g | 0.74oz emulsimulse/ritamulse (or other complete emulsifying wax—not beeswax!)
30g | 1.05oz camellia seed oil
20g | 0.7oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)100g | 3.5oz distilled water
116g | 4.1oz aloe vera juice (not gel!)
9g | 0.3oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)10 drops South African chamomile essential oil
3 drops helichrysum essential oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Weigh the emulsifying wax, camellia seed oil, jojoba oil (USA / Canada), and Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) out into a small saucepan and melt over low heat.
While the emulsifying wax mixture is melting, combine the water, aloe vera juice, and glycerin in a small measuring cup and gently warm. Whisk to combine.
Once the emulsifying wax mixture has 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 white cream (the thickening may take a few days if you are using a different emulsifying wax than emulsimulse/ritamulse). I love these tiny wire whisks, I use them all the time for DIY projects 🙂
Whisk in the essential oils. Add your preservative (though do check the instructions for your specific preservative—some have special instructions for adding to concoctions) and decant the mixture to three 120mL/4oz pump-top bottle or wide-mouthed jar. Enjoy!
This recipe makes approximately 300mL/10 fl oz of lotion.
You’re recipes sound great! I would love to try to make this lotion as a gift, except I have no idea where to get the ingredients. A health food store? This is my first foray into making-my-own-lotion and I literally have no clue where to find anything. Except maybe the water. Thank you!
I get 99% of my ingredients (minus the water, haha) from New Directions Aromatics (http://newdirectionsaromatics.ca/). They have AMAZING prices and locations in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia!
For natural ingredients, you can also try http://www.primeingredients.ca in Ontario.
Thank you, Marie and Vinia! I will check those sources right away. I would love to be able to make my own amazing lotions.
Hi Marie! I’ve been perusing your recipes, and think I would like to try this one as my first ever lotion recipe. I have never yet done the emulsion thing, mainly because I know that when a recipe calls for water of any kind, you generally need a preservative, and I hate added chemicals! But I really want to try a lotion recipe, so what’s your take on needing a preservative for this recipe? And how long do you think this recipe would keep without one? Thanks Marie!
I don’t use any preservatives—I just add a bit of vitamin E, which is an antioxidant that helps extend the life of the lotion. Other than that, I make it in small batches, store the extra in the fridge, and try to use it quickly. It will last for a month or two out of the fridge, depending on how hot it is. Meaning that in Canada in the winter it’s usually closer to two months 😉
Sarah… for personal use, you don’t need to add preservatives to an emulsion; as basically you are in control of using it. You will need preservatives if you will sell your product to the public i.e. it is a regulation requirements.
This lotion came out amazing – thank you for your originality. Do you know a good (cheap) source for lotion or balm bottles or jars? I thought the ones at NDA were a little pricey. Also, do you know what kind of preservative would add a little more staying power than the vitamin E?
Awesome! I just made another lotion last night that I absolutely love, stay tuned for it 😉 I find with NDA you need to sift through what they’ve got—you’re right, some of them can be pretty steep for just one bottle ($5?!)! You can get a clear 120mL Boston bullet bottle for $1.06, and then pair it with a pump top for a total of $1.63, which isn’t too bad, especially if you only need a couple and you re-use them over and over. I also like their rap bottles for traveling with.
My favourite source of free lotion bottles is stealing them from hotels whenever I stay in one 😛 I also encourage all my friends to pass off their used containers to me, and check Value Village for mason jars.
Saffire Blue has a pretty good selection of preservatives. I haven’t used any of them as I don’t really have problems with my stuff spoiling (one of the bonuses of living somewhere cold). Antioxidant with Rosemary, Germall Plus, and Grapefruit Seed Extract are the three I have heard about most often, but I can’t speak for their efficacy from experience.
Have fun! And thanks for reading 😀
Hi, I would love to try this lotion and your other recipes too, they look fabulous! My problem is I still don’t get how to convert the ingredients to the U.S. system. Is there a website or something that does it for you? I don’t mean to sound lazy, I just really don’t understand the metric system. : ( Would you consider converting the recipes? Thank you and I really enjoy your site
Hi Cindi—Google is super rad here. If you just type in “10g in oz” or whatever, it brings up a great little converter for you to use. I’ve also written two articles about the metric system, because it is awesome, and now that the US is one of just 2 countries using the Imperial system, you’ll definitely find it useful 🙂
Love the sound of this recipe & so excited to try it! How much does this recipe yield?
It makes ~300mL of lotion (tip: just add up the grams of the ingredients in the recipe, and when it’s mostly water as with this recipe, the number of grams will be pretty close to the number of mL the recipe will yield 🙂 )
Hi Marie – quick question: would this be emulsifying wax or self emulsifying wax? I was looking up emulsifying wax on NDA and was presented with the two options. I’ve only made your face masks and lip balms before so this will be my first lotion. Sorry if this seems like a stupid question – I’d rather play it safe and foolish than go ahead and get the wrong thing.
Ah, yes, the confusion of the loads of different types of e-wax that you can buy 😛 Thanks for asking, there are loads of different types of them and they don’t all perform the same way. The one I use from NDA is Polawax. It’s easy to use, though I do find the lotions take a few days to thicken up, and have a consistency similar to that of milk up until then. My preferred e-wax is emulsimulse, which gives thick, creamy lotions straight away. I always like to read the reviews on e-waxes since they are often more useful than the description of the emulsifiers that make up the wax 😛 Not once have I looked at the INCI and thought “oh goody, Cetearyl Alcohol, my favourite emulsifying compound!” haha.
Thank you for answering my question! I placed my first order from Saffireblue on your recommendation. It worked out beautifully as they had some stuff NDA was out of and other things cheaper so yea!
Fantastic! Have fun with all your new projects 😀
I finally had time to make lotion today and my verdict: It’s gorgeous! It soaks in quickly, isn’t greasy or smelly, and doesn’t sting the bejeesus out of my poor cracked hands. I totally love it and will be whipping up some more so I can have some for home, work, and my purse. Thank you so much!
Fantastic! I’m so thrilled to hear this, Victoria. When I was a kid I had horribly dry, cracked hands (only fixed now because I have about a hundred body butters and lotions kicking around my house now, haha), so I definitely feel your pain 🙁 Thanks for DIYing with me!
Wow! This sounds like a nice recipe to try. I don’t like perfume in my beauty products… Do you think I can make this recipe and not put the 2 essentials oil in it? Or do you have other scents to suggest that are very soft to smell?
You definitely can leave the essential oils out, though they are intended to provide some healing benefit. Helichrysum & chamomile are both quite mild in the scent department, though, and because they are essential oils and not synthetic fragrance oils, the scent does fade quite quickly, so you may find you’re ok with them 🙂 You can also use less than recommended if you like.
Hi!
This is an awesome blog =) I want to make this lotion, but I have MF and VF emulsifiers, not NF (emulsifying wax). Can I still make it, and what should be the amounts? I’m new to this!
Also, do you use an HLB Calculator to figure out the amounts or do you calculate by hand?
Kind regards,
Amanda
Honestly, I’m still working on researching the HLB “method” of making my own emulsifiers, so while I kinda-sorta understand it, I can’t give you any advice on this. Sorry! I just follow the recommended usage amounts for my purchased emulsifiers/experiment—for now, at least. It’s on the list 🙂 Along with about a million other things, haha.
Hey Marie! First of all I wanna say that I absolutely love you blog and all the detailed recipes, keep up! 🙂
So this is the first lotion that I’m making and here is my question: what is the benefit of the glyserin and can I leave it out? (I don’t have it in my stash of ingredients yet)
Thank you!
Hi Alexandra! Thanks so much for reading 🙂 Glycerin is a viscous clear liquid that is a humectant—that is, it attracts water to it out of the air, to your skin, helping boost the moisturizing power of products. You can leave it out if need be. Have fun with your lotion!
Marie, Can beeswax be used instead of emulsifying wax? I have the beeswax on hand.
Thank you, Suzy W.
Hi Suzy! Sadly, definitely not—they really don’t have anything in common other than their names. Swapping out emulsifying wax for anything other than a complete emulsifier is like using a paint chip instead of an egg because they’re both yellow. You can pair beeswax with borax to make an emulsion, but then you can only do a 1:1 ratio of oils to water, which makes for a very greasy lotion. Just think of it as something like what the Body Shop calls body butter—that’s about what it produces.
My favourite e-wax is Emulsimulse, and it is “a natural source self-emulsifier for oil in water emulsions. It is ECOCERT approved for use in Certified Organic products.” It’s the cleanest emulsifier I’ve found yet. I’m also working on more natural/raw alternatives, so stay tuned 🙂
Thank you so much Marie. Your response helped tremendously. Disaster averted lol
Suzy W.
Ha, no worries! I think you’ll really have a lot of fun with emulsifying wax—it is so easy to work with, and produces beautiful, light lotions 🙂
So… Been doing some more research about EOs (as always). 🙂 I have been reading in different places about the possible dilution and impurity of most of EOs on the market, some claim “98% of the oils on the market are perfume grade and not Therapeutic Grade”… Other places it says that although sellers claim it is 100% it may actually be diluted in a carrier oil… Does New Directions Aromatics dilute or mess up any of their EOs – or are they truly pure? (Given that you pick the EO and NOT the fragrant oil)
Are the healing properties for external use as good even though they aren’t “therapeutic grad EOs”?
Also, have you ever played around with a DIY version of what most people know as “Thieves” oil?
I do sometimes wonder about stats like that… especially if they come from a company that sells EOs. Of course their EOs are the only pure ones in the world, right? Anyhow, NDA’s are great, and they are ISO certified, so that’s any easy way to confirm. They always note if an EO is not of therapeutic quality, like with their Commericial Grade Essential oils (the type of thing they’d use in PineSol).
I’m not a scientist, but I would think that the external healing properties would vary. Something like being antibacterial or good at cutting grease would, I imagine, hold true across the grades. But being uplifting, or helping with depression? Likely not (though there is little empirical evidence to prove those benefits exist in any grade of EO).
Thieves oil is definitely on my list, I just haven’t gotten to it yet 🙂 Amazingly enough, I don’t think I have all the EOs for it at this point lol.
hmm, ya. It is so hard to figure out what is true on the internet now-a-days. So much of it is a marketing ploy by fear tactic. Super annoying! Thanks for the info about NDA.
hmm, the Thieves oil that I’ve found only has “Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), lemon (Citrus limon), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), Eucalyptus radiata, and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis CT 1,8 cineol) – as its ingredients (this was the YoungLiving Thieves Oil ingredient list). Have you heard of a different kind of Thieves oil?
So, I looked up other ‘versions’ of ‘Thieves’ oil and I found one made by “Native American Nutritionals” its called “Immune Strength (Spice Traders)” its ingredients are “Ingredients: Clove Bud, Cinnamon Bark, Lemon, Eucalyptus Radiata, Thyme, Orange, Oregano, Nutmeg, Rosemary, Mandarin, and Ginger Root.”
From what I can tell the most important ingredients are Clove, Cinnamon, Lemon, Eucalyptus and Rosemary, after that you can add other healing/antimicrobial EOs of your choice. The recipes I’ve found for the “Thieves” oil contains the 5 basic ingredients with the option of adding extra drops of EOs of your choice with healing and antimicrobial properties… What do you think?
Have you played around with the different types of Eucalyptus EOs for their healing effects and such? Which ones do you like best?
Sorry about all the questions!! I just find this all SO fascinating!
Wow, that sounds like a deluxe thieves oil! I will definitely have a lot of fun blending up my own once I collect that last base EO 😀 I’d guess it’s hard to go wrong, really, as long as you stick to mostly antibacterial/antiviral EOs. I have seen sites that recommend consuming the mix, though, and I REALLY wouldn’t recommend that. I’m not convinced that’s at all safe, and I don’t want to be the guinea pig for that particular experiment.
I haven’t played with many different eucalyptus EOs—just globulus and lemon. Lemon smells like bug spray, and it acts like it. The globulus is wonderful for clearing out the sinuses and smells clean and crisp. I really should play with it more, though, since it has so many wonderful properties. Ah, the problems with having too many EOs… 😛
That’s the base list I typically see as well—the Eucalyptus radiata is sitting in my shopping cart… but I am trying not to buy any more ingredients for a while since I have sooooo many lol. After those base oils the combinations seem to be endless!
About the Theives Oil (I call it Vim-Pep Oil cause I don’t like the name thieves) … From the research I’ve done, you can use Eucalyptus Globulus instead of Radiata. Eucalyptus Radiata is said to have a milder scent which is why it is commonly chosen over the Globulus, however, the Globulus is said to have greater healing properties and abilities. I would think that making Thieves (Vim-Pep) Oil with Eucalyptus Globulus would add a little extra punch. As for the scent, well, people don’t generally use the oil for perfume. 🙂 Here is where I found all the info. http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/uses-of-eucalyptus.html
As for ingesting the oil, ya, you can’t eat it unless it is made with purely therapeutic grade Essential oils. (Therapeutic as in Essential Oils prepared specifically for the purpose of ingesting)
Good thinking, Michelle! It sounds like I’ll have to get off my arse and get at it then, eh? And try to convince myself that I really don’t need to own every kind of essential oil ever, lol.
I don’t think I’d ever ingest EOs, especially since “therapeutic grade” isn’t actually a regulated term. I mean, if it was truly “food grade”, they’d be calling it that, right? Nope, not my thing. Oh well. Guess I’ll just have to eat my fruit & veg 😛
Would this work for those who have eczema or psoriasis?
Also, would it make a difference if alkaline water is used?
It is definitely worth trying, Maria—helichrysum EO is recommended for the treatment of both conditions. As for the alkaline water, be sure to check the pH tolerance of your emulsifying wax as they do vary, and you don’t want to break the emulsion.
Hi all, I find this very interesting to. I am just starting making different soaps, lotions and healing salves and following you all is like going to school with no class room. Marie you are so inspiring and once again I want to thank you.
Suzy W.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Susan 🙂 I work really hard to keep learning more and putting more information out there, and it sure is nice to know it’s appreciated. Thank you for reading & DIYing with me, and always feel free to get in touch if you need any help!
Hi Marie, I am planning on taking the intermediate herbal course here. http://herbalacademyofne.com/product/intermediate-herbal-course-the-herbal-apprenticeship-for-distant-learners/
I want to learn as much as I can. I believe that we should never stop learning. I hope you don’t mind me sharing the link, but thought others might be interested in it as well. I have tried a lotion I got from another source and it has little globules of an oil that separated in it. They melt instantaneously on contact with your skin, but is still not a product I want to sell that way. I will write to you and see if you know how to tweek it just a bit. Thank you, Suzy W.
That sounds like a great course—I am all in favour of life-long learning and discovery! I’ll be interested to see the lotion recipe with the globules—I’ve never come across that problem.
Hi Marie!
I’ve made this recipe and it turned out beautifully. I replaced the EO’s with lavender and bergamot, heavenly! Regardless, I’m going to make a huge batch for Christmas gifts this year and am trying to cut costs. I’m looking for ideas to replace the jojoba oil…possibly Avocado or Almond? Do you have any other ideas? Thank you! I love your blog! And have introduced all the women in my family to it!
Laura
Hi Laura! I’m so glad you’re loving the lotion 🙂 The best way to cut costs is to make sure you’re paying the best price for ingredients, which usually means ordering online (local shops here charge 2–10x as much as their online competitors!). You should be paying somewhere around $40/L for jojoba. That said, if that’s still more than you want to spend, either avocado or almond would be good alternatives, though the avocado will be a bit heavier. Why not try out a wee batch of each and see what you think?
Thanks so much for reading and happy making!
So, I just found your website and am so excited to try some of your receipes, but had a quick question… The Aloe Vera Goo. I don’t have an Aloe plant so was just going to order some online but I was wondering if it should be the Aloe Vera Juice or Aloe Vera gel? On New Directions the listing is for Aloe Vera Gel Juice, on Saffire Blue they have Juice and Gel. I was going to order what I needed from New Directions but am worried about the thickness of the Gel Juice. Do you have any input that could help? Thanks.
Hi Andrea! Grab the aloe vera juice, or better yet, the 200x concentrated aloe vera powder from Saffire Blue as it’s far better value (and the juice is just re-hydrated from the powdered concentrate anyways).
Marie — I have some questions about the product types in this recipe. I went to the New Directions Aromatics website, and there are several different types of the products. How am I to know which product to buy? Ex – Vitamin E: they sell MT full spectrum and USP Cosmetic Grade. Another Ex – Emulsifying Wax: they sell both O and N type? What should I get? Another – Jojoba Oil: they sell Clear Deodorized and Clear Golden. This lotion recipe looks and sounds great, I just want to make sure I buy the right products. Thanks!
Hi Jeannie! Get the cheaper Vit E, the price difference isn’t worth it. Definitely don’t get E-Wax O as it’s incomplete. It looks like N should work, but I haven’t worked with it specifically. Read this for more info 🙂 I always buy golden jojoba, but the two aren’t so different that you can’t just get whichever appeals to you more. Happy shopping and DIYing!
HI 🙂 What would be a good substitute for the camellia seed oil?
Hey Sadia! Check out this guide on making carrier oil substitutions for lots of ideas 🙂 Happy making!