the best homemade lotion

So. Here is the thing. I am a Pinner. I mean. I Pin like mad. Like its my job. I Pin like a boss. No mind for actually doing said crafts, pay no mind to that at all, I tell myself. JUST PIN.

I think of it like a pretty magazine. Alluring pictures that take away the grey of the winter, just a bit.

Every now and then though. I, like all Pinners sometimes do. We succumb to the Pin. We do the unthinkable.

We click on the link. Which is sometimes dangerous, for varying reasons (the occasional crap website, the danger of running across a blog that makes us feel terrible about ourselves "I HAVE NEVER MADE FREEZER MEALS, DAMMIT")

And, then even more dangerous, as we click we think. I AM ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS PIN.

And sometimes we do, and sometimes we don't.

And then when we don't we feel terrible...

Such a dangerous thing, clicking on the link. You see why my policy of looking only is beneficial, nay, essential... (and maybe trying on my own, just based on the picture, to varying degrees of success, HA.)

In any case.

I came across a picture of lovely smooth looking lotion. Using beeswax. Promising to be easy and the best thing ever.

I could not resist.

Last winter I came across a similar pin. Don't laugh at me, but it involved using your blender to make a whipped lotion. Sounds easy! I thought. And so I did it. My poor magic bullet blender has never been the same. Even cleaning it out with boiling water did nothing. Now it sort of sputters and whirs as it mixes. Poor thing. Not to mention the lotion itself. Which, for some reason called for water. Which sat at the bottom of the mixture, not stirred in, and a month later, when I happened to look in the jar, was MOLD.

Ew.

So. You can see why I approached this with some trepidation. And yet, get back in the saddle they say! So I did. And literally the loveliest smelling lotion EVER was the result.

Here is the actual recipe, should you care to read for real directions. (HA!) Although this recipe does allow for different ways to customize. Its aimed at healing eczema prone skin, which is what I have, but its a great thick lotion for winter hands too.

Here is what I did.

Get out a wide-mouthed mason jar. I used a pint size, which fits this amount perfectly. You will be melting the ingredients together in the jar in a pot of GENTLY simmering water. Note. Do not let it boil. And, its best to let the jar sit on something (I used a metal cookie cutter) inside the pot. If your jar jumps around too much in boiling water....it WILL crack. Guess what happened to me in attempt number 1???

OIL - Now, I happened to have some lavender infused olive oil sitting in my closet. I know that sounds fancy schmancy but when you live in the frozen north and the weather is changing and your lovely lavender plant is about to be killed by frost, well, you just have to preserve it any way you can. In this case I dried the lavender bunches for several weeks in the window and then chopped it up and let it sit in olive oil in the sunshine for two weeks or so, then drained out the lavender. Yes. It smells amazing. I used half a cup - two thirds cup (something like that) of this for this recipe.

Then I used coconut oil to make up a total of 1 1/4 cups of oil. All this goes in the jar in the pot of hot water.

BEESWAX - Now, I happen to know some beekeepers and happen to have a chunk of beeswax sitting in my closet. You might not have this. But, you can buy it online. I used bits, totaling maybe half a cup. I wanted a thicker lotion.

BUTTERS - I had cocoa butter, left over from when I thought getting stretch marks in pregnancy was the most God Awful Thing That Could Ever Happen To A Person. (I used it twice, and never got any stretch marks, for the record. HA) You can also use shea butter. I used the recommended 2 Tbs....approximately. Its really hard to get out of the container, by the way, so in a stroke of inspiration I ran a metal spoon under hot water and then easily scooped out the needed amount of cocoa butter. HA. I amaze myself sometimes!

The recipe says to add in the contents of one Vitamin E capsule. Which I didn't have, so I didn't do that part.

Melt these chunks, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is smooth. Remove from heat. Now, this is a good trick, keep stirring as it cools and solidifies. That will make it more creamy, and ensure that the different oils don't separate as it cools.

ESSENTIAL OILS - Once the mixture is cool, but still stir-able, add in 20+ drops of essential oil of your choice. I already had the lavender from the olive oil so I added fifteen or so drops of a great blend, "Peace and Calming."

Once totally cool you can cover and store. If you use the amount of beeswax I did it will be rather hard, especially when its cold. I scrape out a bit and warm in my hands and then it spreads easily.

So. There you have it. Sometimes clicking on the Pinterest link is worth it. And seriously, I wish I could share the delicious smell of the lavender, beeswax and peace and calming oil blend. SO AMAZING.

Incidentally, I also made up something like this (minus beeswax) for a cough rub for my kids (who are still STILL coughing) I added eucalyptus oil and Thieves blend oil and use it like Vicks Vapor-rub. It works well.

Also. I would like to thank Pink Panther on Amazon Prime and two mugs of strong black tea for the making of this post, without which it would've never have happened.

CHEERS MAMAS!