Body Lotion

There are many body lotion recipes on Tipnut. By far, our favorite homemade lotion recipe comes from the Sonoma Garden Blog. Cute gift labels for the top of your lotion jars are even included as a free download on this blog. I've made several batches of this recipe, and it's come out perfect every time. The only difference that I make is I use about 5 drops of lavender oil instead of the recommended 24-36 drops. We also use this lotion all over our bodies (especially during the winter) instead of just on our hands. My husband loves it on his tired feet!

My variation of the recipe:

1 1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup emulsifying wax (We purchase ours from Mountain Rose Herbs.)

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (organic is always best)
A few drops of your favorite essential oil 

The Sonoma Blog instructs you to microwave the EVO and emulsifying wax for about a minute. I try to avoid using our microwave (some studies suggest that microwaving kills nutrients), so I melt the wax and oil in a pyrex measuring cup that I put in a pan of almost boiling water on top of the stove. Once it's melted, I add a few drops of lavender oil to the mixture. I do use the microwave to heat the 1 1/4 cups of water (I use purified water instead of tap water) for exactly 1 minute before I stir it in to the oil & wax mixture.

We used to spend money on expensive body lotions from various retailers and still had dry skin. Now, we spend a fraction of the cost,  and our skin feels better than it did in our twenties!