I am so in love with this wonderful hand lotion. It’s light and sinks into your skin in a flash, but leaves your skin moisturized and happy. It smells warm and sweet, and slightly spicy from the ginger. It’s smooth and lovely, and I am thoroughly smitten.
The oils part of this lotion is easy peasy. There’s emulsifying wax, of course, to tie it all together. I used emulsimulse, my favourite e-wax, but you can feel free to use any other complete emulsifying wax you have on hand. Up next is some virgin coconut oil, which contributes a wee bit of scent and its very light moisturizing properties. I find lotions made entirely with coconut oil don’t pack enough of a moisturizing punch more often than not, but when coconut oil shares the bill with some safflower oil, they team up to create a lovely fast-absorbing lotion that still imparts long-lasting hydration.
I had some fun with the water part. Apart from the standard water (durr), there’s loads of humectants to help boost the moisturizing goodness of the lotion. Humectants draw moisture from the air and to your skin, helping to keep your skin hydrated. I decided to go with three for this recipe—vegetable glycerin, raw honey, and silk peptides. All three are humectants, with some other benefits. Glycerin softens skin, raw honey has lots of great probiotics in it, and silk peptides contribute a silky feel and sheen to the skin. And last but not least, allantoin (USA / Canada), a great skin conditioning, healing, and smoothing ingredient.
I used just two essential oils, and they pair wonderfully. The warm spiciness of the ginger is perfect with the soft mystery of labdanum essential oil. The final scent blend is soft, sweet, and intriguing, and will leave you sniffing your hands like a slightly crazy person.
Ginger & Honey Hand Lotion
7g | 0.25oz emulsimulse/ritamulse (or other complete emulsifying wax—not beeswax!)
8g | 0.28oz virgin coconut oil
10g | 0.35oz safflower oil70g | 2.36 fl oz just-boiled water
3g | 0.1oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
2g | 0.07oz raw honey
1/16 tsp silk peptides (I use these tiny measuring spoons to measure out such small amounts)
1/16 tsp allantoin (USA / Canada)6 drops ginger essential oil (CO2 extracted is recommended for the quality of the scent)
5 drops labdanum essential oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Weigh out the emulsifying wax and oils into a small saucepan and melt over low heat.
Whisk the water, glycerin, honey, silk, and allantoin (USA / Canada) together in a small glass measuring cup, heating gently (I microwaved them for 20 seconds) to dissolve everything.
Once the oils have melted, add the water part and heat through, stirring. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool, whisking occasionally. The mixture will thicken up as it cools (the thickening will take a few days if you are using a different emulsifying wax than emulsimulse/ritamulse).
When the mixture has cooled, whisk in the essential oils and preservative, and decant into a 120mL/4oz pump top bottle. Enjoy!
If you don’t have safflower oil you can use grapeseed, sunflower, sweet almond, or apricot kernel instead. Read this for more information.
This jar & lid are from Saffire Blue.
New to lotion making? Watch my basic lotion how to video!
Looks like another great recipe. Thanks for the additional info at the end. Very helpful! 🙂
Thanks for reading!
What is allantoin? Is there a substitute?
It is described as safe (0 – low hazard) on the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database. I don’t know about substitutes. Here is what the entry says.
About ALLANTOIN: Allantoin is a naturally ocurring nitrogenous compound used as a skin conditioning agent.
This ingredient may be derived from animals. From PETA’s Caring Consumer: Uric acid from cows, most mammals. Also in many plants (especially comfrey). In cosmetics (especially creams and lotions) and used in treatment of wounds and ulcers. Derivatives: Alcloxa, Aldioxa. Alt … read more
Function(s): Skin-Conditioning Agent – Miscellaneous; Skin Protectant; SKIN CONDITIONING; SKIN PROTECTING; SOOTHING
Synoym(s): (2,5-DIOXO-4-IMIDAZOLIDINYL) – UREA; (2,5-DIOXO-4-IMIDAZOLIDINYL) UREA; 5-UREIDOHYDANTOIN; GLYOXYLDIUREID; GLYOXYLDIUREIDE; GLYOXYLIC DIUREIDE; UREA, (2,5-DIOXO-4-IMIDAZOLIDINYL) -; UREA, (2,5DIOXO4IMIDAZOLIDINYL) ; (2,5-DIOXO-4-IMIDAZOLIDINYL) UREA; 5-UREIDOHYDANTOIN; AI3-15281
Thanks, Jen!
Hi Linda! Allantoin is a rather unassuming looking white powder that can be derived from a variety of natural things like comfrey, but is usually chemically synthesized (I am ok with this as it can also be derived from urine, and I’d prefer that not to be one of many possible “natural sources”). It’s a wonderful healer—it promotes cellular replication, encouraging the healing of burns and other booboos. Common in everything from lipstick to diaper creme to anti-acne products, it’s safe (0/10 on Skin Deep) and awesome.
The closest sub I can think of would be silk, but since that’s already in this recipe you could just drop the allantoin.
Thank u for recipe I will try to prepare
Have fun!
i don’t have silk peptide n allantoin, can i skip these ingredients?
Hi Stal! You can, but the lotion won’t be as soothing or boost healing the same way.
This lotions looks so light and lovely, Marie! I wonder though- could the emulsimulse be subbed for an organic emulsifying wax that I saw at From Nature With Love. Here is the link: http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/product.asp?product_id=ORGWAXEMULUS67
If you can, can you please read the description and tell me if you think it will work? I know you said beeswax can’t really emulsify, but there are some other ingredients so hopefully it will work. Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried it, but from reading the description it should work out fine.
And just so you know, emulsimulse is ECO-CERT certified for use in organic products as well 🙂
Hi Marie,
Thank you for your amazing website. I am literally indulging on your repices!
I ordered what I thought was Labdanum essential Oil, but got Labdanum in Ethinol! The smell is purely alcohol-y, can I somehow get rid of it to get the actual Labdanum smell “out”?
Also, the silkproteins I ordered arrived as a liquid! mmmmmh …. I was going to make the green-tea-silk-soap, but would it work with a few drops of silk instead of a few grams?
your huge fan, Vanessa
Hi Vanessa! Once you add your labdanum/ethanol mixture to something the alcohol should evaporate out and leave the labdanum behind. I frequently make perfume which requires dissolving essential oils in alcohol, but the perfume never smells like alcohol after a few moments on the skin 🙂 And yes, you can use the liquid/dissolved silk proteins instead of the powder! Have fun & thanks for DIYing with me 🙂
Hi Marie,
Thank you for the inspiration on this recipe. I am new to lotion/soap making and your blog has been my go to source for inspiration, troubleshooting or you name it.
Honey and ginger are one of my favorite combinations but had never thought to incorporate it into a lotion before. Your recipe looks great but I did not have all the ingredients you listed, mainly the virgin coconut oil. I loved the idea of the coconut scent with the ginger and honey. I decided to try and infuse the water with coconut flakes and fresh ginger and replace the coconut oil with a blend of cupuacu and hemp butter. OMG it came out amazing. It’s probably thicker than this recipe, but I am a fan thicker lotions and the scent is incredible. Thank you so much!
Happy Friday
Laura
Hi Laura! I’m so thrilled you ended up with something you love! Woo 😀 I would recommend adding a broad spectrum preservative, though—or just using it up super quickly 🙂 I find my lotions spoil/mould extra fast whenever I add anything fresh or botanical, like herbs or fresh ginger. Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me!
Marie, I am a huge fan and have had a lot of fun trying out your recipes. I was super excited to see this lotion as I love the smell of a ginger lotion but don’t often see that sort of thing in the store. I have tried bar soaps, shampoo, lip balm and body butters but never a lotion before so I decided it was time and this was the lotion for me. I didn’t have allatoin or laudanum but I knew from reading all the comments it would be ok without and I added a glob of benzoin and a couple drops of litsea and I love the scent combination. I didn’t change anything else but I did double the recipe so I could give some to my sister who usually mixes with me to keep me from doing anything too stupid. I did this lotion without her which was a mistake because I have done something wrong. I think I followed your directions exactly but still after several hours my lotion is just a thick white watery foam sort of thing. I whipped and whipped and whipped but it never got to a pudding like consistency . I know I did something wrong I’m just not sure what. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank for your wonderful ideas!
Holly
Hi Holly! It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong—it just sounds like the type of e-wax you’re using is one of the ones that needs a few days to set up (Polawax and Emulsifying Wax NF are two off the top of my head). Try leaving it for three or four days, I bet it’ll thicken up 🙂 Fingers crossed for an easy fix!
Hi!
Thanks for the recipe:
My lotion quadrupled in size after two days and oozed out of the containers I put it in… any explanation behind this? I followed your recipe except I added aloe vera gel and used more emulsifying wax than suggested as I wanted it to be thicker.
thanks,
My best guess here is the aloe vera gel reacted with the lotion—probably a slow-acting pH reaction (think baking soda + vinegar). That’s just a guess, though, since I’m not sure what was in your gel 🙂
Wont the raw honey be sticky?
Not in concentrations this low—think about putting some honey in a cup of tea; the tea isn’t sticky, and this lotion isn’t, either 🙂
Hi Marie! I recently made a lotion from your blog. Vanilla cardamom lotion and loved it. I love the texture of it better than any other recipes I have tried thus far. But I can’t find the recipe anymore. Am I missing it somehow? I even tried searching it and it’s not coming up. Please help! 🙂
Hmm. Was it this one?
Oh my gosh yes!!
I forgot the name. I was thinking it was titled vanilla cardamom lotion and I just kept scrolling past this one. Thank you so much! I just started making lotions and I am having so much fun trying all your amazing recipes!!! I can’t wait til your book is available I will absolutely be purchasing it. My friends and family always ask where I’m learning how to make all this stuff and I tell them all about your blog. Thanks so much for sharing your great ideas with all of us!
Awesome! Enjoy the lotion (again) 😉 Thanks so much for reading and supporting me!
How much of the broad spectrum preservative would you use in this recipe? I made two batches of this (the first molded after a couple days, but the second batch – made the same day which is weird- is still going strong). I’m looking to purchase GeoGard ECT but wasn’t sure how much to buy and use per recipe?
Thank you!
Hey Lauren! I’ve written an FAQ on how to figure this out; it relies much more on the preservative you are using than the recipe 🙂 You can generally get away with purchasing fairly small amounts of preservative (~30g) because usage rates are so low; if a preservative has a 1% usage rate, 30g will preserve 3000g of lotion (and most of my recipes make 100–200g).
Thanks so much!
🙂
Hi Marie, thanks in advance for all you do. I love your blog and consult it often. I’ve recently started making lotions and have had some interesting experiences. The first one (oat milk dream cream) turned out perfectly – thick and creamy, I used a preservative and it’s still going strong 2 months later but almost used up. Then I made the ginger and honey lotion. That one did not thicken quickly despite mechanical mixing. I figured it would thicken or just be a more milky lotion. After one week it separated into a greasy foamy layer (like melting buttercream) and a milky water layer. I confess I did use the buttery layer as a foot lotion to salvage as much as possible! Most recently I made the cupacu and cardamom lotion. Almost immediately when it was cooling the candellia wax separated out into grainy wax blobs. The lotion is usable but the grains of wax are hard and annoying. Any thoughts on what may have happened? I am particularly concerned about the separation in this lotion recipe – I used the same e-wax and preservative in all recipes. Maybe I just need more practice but wonder what I could be doing wrong. Thanks!
Hey Christine! Thanks for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 Which e-wax and which preservative are you using? And are you certain all your oils/butters/waxes are melted through before you start mixing? Sometimes things can re-solidify when you add the water if the water isn’t hot enough. Let’s get to the bottom of this!
Ok, first off you are awesome and so generous with your time. Second, I used e-wax from mountain rose herbs: from their website “Our Emulsifying Wax conforms to the current USP/NF Monograph. It is a waxy solid prepared from Cetostearyl Alcohol containing a polyoxyethylene.” I don’t really know what that is, but it worked before. I also use liquid germall plus. I made your avo oat lotion and it worked great, again with same e-wax and preservative. For the cupacu cardamom recipe I had the oil and water phase in the same water bath for this recipe so I thought they would be the same temp or very close. I took a temp and it was within a few degrees if I recall correctly. The wax did seem to solidify immediately. I’ve since almost used it up. Great except for those hard wax pellets! It never separated so that’s good. I used the same technique for the ginger and honey recipe so not sure about the separation. I’m thinking maybe I mis-weighed something and it threw the recipe off kilter?
Ok—I’m familiar with that e-wax, it’s commonly called Emulsifying Wax NF and is one of the ones that won’t thicken up quickly unless mixed with an immersion blender (rather than whisked by hand). I’ve also worked with that preservative, and never hand any issues there, either.
Something I am always sure to do (to prevent bits re-solidifying) is, after combining the oil part and the water part, leave that measuring cup/saucepan on the heat for another few minutes to be extra-super-110% sure that everything is the same temperature and the waxes are thoroughly melted. This is especially important with lotions that have waxes other than e-wax in them as they solidify really quickly, and oil mixtures can heat up a lot more than water mixtures, so it is possible those few degrees made a difference (though still rather odd because if all your oils were melted and stirred together you shouldn’t have had just the wax solidifying out again). Sorry if you’ve already been doing this, but I thought it seemed like a good place to start troubleshooting 🙂