Sunday, March 3, 2013

Natural Homemade Body & Antibacterial Lotion

This Minnesota winter has been horrible for my skin! I developed eczema on my hands, which has never occurred. I had already been evaluating my usage of commercially made hand soaps and lotions, even from the Co-op. I also work with germ-incubators (a.k.a.: kids) 40 hours a week, and wash my hands a ridiculous number of times per day. I'm also steering away from using alcohol-based hand sanitizers because of the chemicals and the fact that they dry out my hands like no one's business.

So, I've already made my own non-toxic Homemade Laundry Soap and Homemade Coconut Bodywash, homemade natural deodorant  toothpaste, washing my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and switched to a locally made bar soap with moisturizing ingredients from the Co-Op. My latest homemade venture is lotion and antibacterial lotion for the office. My concoctions are inspired from Go Hippie Chic's coconut body butter and Jillee's antibacterial moisturizing lotion.

 Natural Coconut Oil Lotion

  • 8oz. or 1 cup of raw Shea Butter
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 cup Almond Oil
  • Essential Oil of Choice (I prefer a more natural scent, so I used around 5 drops of lavender essential oil to get a faint scent)

Shae Butter and Almond Oil from Amazon. Virgin Coconut Oil from natural food stores or Trader Joe's

In a double boiler, or glass bowl on top of a pot with a small amount of water at the bottom, melt the Shea Butter and Coconut Oil . Add the almond oil and let it sit. In Hippie Chic's post, she states that a Kitchen Aid mixer is the best way to get the whipped consistency after the oil has cooled enough to harden around the rim. I don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer, so by trial and error I used a hand mixer after leaving it out overnight (or put it in the fridge to speed up cooling process) when it had hardened throughout. It took about 5 minutes or so to get to the consistency that I wanted. A little goes a LONG way. 


The recipe made enough to fill a 16 oz upcycled peanut butter jar and the 4 oz recycled almond oil container. 


The almond oil container is for the antibacterial lotion. Add approximately 10 drops of Eucalyptus essential oil (used for both chest and nasal decongestion as well as for its antibacterial properties). Ta da! Your very own moisturizing, anti-ezcema, skin cracking, antibacterial lotion to ward off the germs. 


I'm really enjoying my journey to create a toxic free environment and lifestyle for my family and me, I hope that you do too!

16 comments:

  1. Sounds great! I think you need to visit so you can replenish our laundry soap supply and stock a lotion and antibacterial supply!

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  2. Can you technically eat it, too? Seems like there is nothing in there that's poison. You could have a double whammy on your hands!

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    1. This particular almond oil says it's for external use only, but I'm sure one could be found! :-)

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  3. After you visit New England to replenish supplies there, could you make your next stop Boise? Thanks once again for sharing!

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    1. You're welcome! We could have a soap/lotion making party :)

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  4. Wow, this looks fabulous.

    *adds to "to do" list*

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    1. Thank you! I really, really like it. It's nice and creamy.

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  5. I'm seeing jars filled with magic right here!

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  6. There is definitely something to be said about living more simply. I'd much rather use lotion made with ingredients I can pronounce and that are found in nature instead of something made in a lab.

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    1. I agree. The more I learn about the unpronounceable "ingredients" that are in commercial products, the more my skin crawls.

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  7. Agreed. Plus they just feel so much better on your skin. Raw Shea butter is some great stuff!

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  8. sounds interesting but will this coconut oil lotion be equally good for those with oily skin?

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  9. Where can you get raw shea butter at a reasonable price?

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