Magnesium Lotion For Better Sleep (and Healthier Skin)

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Beauty » Magnesium Lotion For Better Sleep (and Healthier Skin)

I’ve posted before about how to make your own magnesium oil. But I wanted to come up with something that was a little more moisturizing and even more skin nourishing. This magnesium lotion/body butter hydrates skin and is a great way to get more magnesium in your skincare routine.

Benefits of Magnesium

Our skin absorbs what we put on it, which can be a good thing or a bad thing! Here we’re using it to our advantage. I take magnesium supplements because unfortunately our soil and food are depleted of this vital nutrient. And most of the population has a magnesium deficiency. I also like using topical magnesium on my skin, especially at night.

Our muscles (and many other things!) need magnesium to function properly. When we don’t have enough it can lead to leg cramps, migraines, and restless legs. I don’t give my kids melatonin, but I will rub this on their feet at night to help them get restful sleep. For some people, myself included, magnesium can be more energizing. So I use magnesium body lotion during the daytime.

Why Make Magnesium Cream?

I like making my own skincare products when I can because they’re often healthier and cheaper. Some magnesium lotion brands have sulfates and parabens, but we’re skipping those here. Other common ingredients are capric triglyceride, MSM, xanthan gum, and glyceryl stearate. Not really things I have on hand in my kitchen.

Magnesium Body Butter

This recipe uses all natural moisturizing ingredients to make dry skin soft and silky. Many people notice a tingling or burning feeling the first time using magnesium oil spray. Because this magnesium is blended in a thick lotion/body butter base I’ve found it’s more comfortable to use.

Some lotion recipes add glycerin and aloe, but I opted not to here. While they’re both great for healthy skin, too much glycerin can make skin feel sticky. And aloe really shortens the shelf life.

Magnesium Lotion Ingredients

I did use Coconut oil and shea butter, which both have a naturally mild SPF of 4-5. While it won’t work the same as sunblock, it does help the skin be more resilient. Our bodies also need magnesium to absorb vitamin D from the sun, so this magnesium lotion is great for mild sun exposure.

You’ll notice a few other unique ingredients in this recipe. Instead of beeswax to thicken, I use a blend of candelilla and emulsifying wax. Candelilla is a hard plant wax that thickens without being greasy. And the emulsifying wax helps the magnesium water combine with the oily ingredients.

If you don’t have either of those, you can use beeswax, but it’s harder to clean up and feels heavier on the skin. It’s also trickier to get the magnesium lotion to not separate.

Non-Greasy Feel

A lot of body butters can feel really heavy on the skin. This is more of a thick lotion consistency and absorbs faster. It uses a blend of waxes and oils that help it to not feel as greasy as some body cream and body butter options.

The Right Magnesium

There are lots of different types of magnesium, but not all of them will work in a lotion. Magnesium supplements (like magnesium citrate) will leave a gritty feel and don’t really work. Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), can work if it’s dissolved enough, but it’s not ideal.

Magnesium lotion uses magnesium chloride as its magnesium source. I use these unscented magnesium bath flakes to make pure magnesium oil for the lotion. They’re made from Zechstein magnesium chloride harvested from ancient seabeds.

Basically, you want it to say magnesium chloride on the ingredients list.

Adding Essential Oils

A lot of my skincare recipes rely on essential oils for their scent and health-promoting properties. You could add whatever skin safe essential oil you prefer to the formulation for scent. I used lavender because it’s great for soothing irritated skin and helps the mind and body relax at night. I avoid using certain citrus essential oils because they can cause photosensitivity for daytime use.

If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, make sure the essential oil you use is pregnancy or breastfeeding safe. Or just leave it out and have an unscented version.

How to Use Magnesium Lotion

I use this or regular magnesium oil on my kid’s feet each night to help them sleep and boost magnesium levels. It’s also a great product to use for sore or restless muscles. You don’t need to use it all over like a body lotion for results, but you could if you wanted to. It may clog pores if used on the face though.

Because it has oils that help with vitamin D absorption and mild sun protection, I’ll use it before going outside in the warmer months. 

magnesium lotion
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4.16 from 137 votes

Magnesium Lotion

All natural moisturizing ingredients make skin soft and silky in this thick lotion. Magnesium aids restful sleep, reduces muscle soreness, and boosts vitamin D absorption.
Prep Time10 minutes
Active Time15 minutes
Cooling Time15 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Yield: 12 ounces
Author: Katie Wells

Materials

Instructions

  • Place magnesium flakes into the mason jar and add the boiling water, stirring until the magnesium dissolves.
  • Set aside to cool.
  • Put the coconut oil, shea butter, emulsifying wax, candelilla wax, and grapeseed oil into the top of the double boiler and turn on medium heat. You can also use a heat safe glass bowl on top of a pot filled halfway with water.
  • Stir frequently until the ingredients are melted and completely combined.
  • Pour the melted oil mixture into a mixing bowl or blender. Let the mixture cool until it's room temperature and slightly opaque. I put mine in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to speed up the process.
  • Add the essential oils and vitamin E if using.
  • Use a hand blender, immersion blender, or regular blender on medium speed to start blending the cooled oil mixture. You can also use a stand mixer.
  • While the oil mixture is mixing/blending, very slowly add the dissolved magnesium mixture. Start with just a few drops, and then pour in a very thin stream. Continue to mix until fully incorporated.
  • Transfer the magnesium lotion to a glass container.

Notes

  • If you have pre-made magnesium oil on hand, you can use ½ cup of that instead of the magnesium flakes and boiling water.
  • Store in the fridge for a cooling lotion, or at room temperature in a cool, dry place for up to two months.

Storage and Shelf Life

Magnesium body butter doesn’t have any preservatives, so I make it in smaller batches. It keeps for up to two months without a problem. It can also be stored in the fridge for a thicker and cooling lotion. It’s great to use after sun exposure to help the body absorb Vitamin D. You can also add some vitamin E to extend the life of the oils and shea butter (though it’s not an antimicrobial).

Where to Buy Magnesium Lotion

If you’re short on time or just don’t feel like making it, you can buy healthy magnesium lotion online. This Magnesium Lotion Shop sells hand-crafted jars that everyone seems to love! They have a fragrance-free version or one with lavender essential oil.

Have you ever used magnesium oil or lotion before? Did you notice a difference? Leave a comment and let me know!

Magnesium is a vital nutrient for the body and this magnesium body butter includes natural ingredients like coconut oil and shea butter for healthy skin.
Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

515 responses to “Magnesium Lotion For Better Sleep (and Healthier Skin)”

  1. Musa Avatar

    very informative ideas and soloution im happy but little think is live in malaysia so i dont know all things where is available shops ?amazon etc online stores not delivered in malaysia plz ur guide me thanx GOD bless u.

  2. Mandy Avatar

    I have a question… I bought some liquid magnesium to be taken orally. Could this be applied to the skin as well?

  3. Rebekah Avatar

    I’m making it right now! can i add some peppermint oil for scent or does that react adversely with the magnesium? thanks!

  4. Frances Avatar

    I’m wondering if you could just use olive oil only with the mag or will that just split? Do you need the beeswax to make it mix together?

  5. Kirsten Doukas Avatar
    Kirsten Doukas

    Can the magnesium flakes be mixed with coconut oil alone? or do they have to be combined with water and then blended?

  6. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Hi. So I have solid beeswax bars and am trying to figure out the conversion… Any idea of the weight of 2 tablespoons of the pastilles (grams or oz would be great). Thank you!

  7. Jessica Avatar

    Can you add essentail oils for a nice scent or will this negate the effectiveness of the magnesium?

  8. JessC Avatar

    Has anyone tried this recipe for a deodorant? I’m really sensitive to the baking soda in most homemade deodorants, and am currently using milk of magnesia, but I’d prefer a cream over the liquid. I’m wondering if I could add the cornstarch or arrowroot powder used in most recipes for moisture control and use this for deodorant. I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts!! Thank you.

    1. Missy Avatar

      I haven’t tried this recipe as deodorant, but I am sensitive to baking soda too. I have been trying different homemade deodorants for about 10 months and still haven’t found the right one for me. But I am using magnesium oil as a deodorant now and it’s working pretty well, still getting the tingling but it doesn’t last too long and people say it will go away. Gonna have to give this a try.

      1. Louise Avatar

        Vodka or grain alcohol with your choice of essential oils in a little spray bottle…works for me!!

    2. Jan Avatar

      I have been using it for a week and half as a deodorant-works VERY well!!! Summertime will be the real test though. I’m thinking of adding more beeswax so it will hold up in a deodorant tube.

  9. Tara Avatar

    I am magnesium deficient and have been using both oral supplements and trans-dermal oils and gels. The trans-dermal methods tend to dry out my skin, so this is a great option. Thank you for the recipe. I just made a batch and can’t wait to try it out. Also, another great way to provide my daughter with trans-dermal magnesium.

  10. Jennifer Avatar

    Hi Katie. I made this today and I have a question. I used the magnesium flakes you linked, used TT coconut oil, mango butter (shea is stinky to me), and white beeswax pastilles. Followed the directions to a T. After the second whip, I wasn’t enjoying the scent so I added some vanilla and essential oils, chilled again and rewhipped. I used it after my shower, it’s now been about 10 minutes since I put it on, and my clothes are sticking to me. It was also hard to spread around my skin. Any clue what I did wrong? Is it supposed to sit on your skin this long? Thanks!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      It is probably just the magnesium. It seems like it feels more sticky like that if you aren’t used to it, but it seems that this lessens over time.

      1. Jennifer Avatar

        You are so right. A couple days later and it’s not sticky at all. I’m still not a fan of the scent, so I’ve been using it on my feet at night. Thanks again!

  11. Fani Avatar

    I have been using Magnesium Oil (Ancient Minerals) on my face daily for about a month. It has helped even out my skin tone, fade brown spots, treat my hormonal Rosacea and fade fine lines. This stuff is AWESOME!! I am currently on vacation at the beach, and did not have a base tan AT ALL!! I burned everywhere except my face!! I tried so hard to get sun on my face, and I got a very slight tan! So I can wholly believe that it would make an AWESOME sunscreen!!
    P. S.
    I used the Magnesium Oil to help heal my sunburn! Stings like the dickens, but no pain or swelling the next day!

  12. Valeria Jones Avatar
    Valeria Jones

    Neat Body Butter. I’ve never made a body butter before and would like to try this. I quit using lotions years ago mostly because of the smell and extra ingredients. I use plain coconut oil now. Is there a way to make this without the shea butter or cocoa butter as I really don’t like the smells of those two, even though they are really popular and good for the skin. Any neutral smelling substitutes or could I just leave them out and fill in the gap with extra coconut oil or beeswax?

  13. Jodie Flute Avatar
    Jodie Flute

    Is it possible to add zinc oxide to make this a magnesium butter-suncreen?

      1. Murr Avatar

        I already use Shea Moisture’s shea butter as my body moisturizer, could I just add some magnesium oil to it?

  14. Rebecca Chandler Avatar
    Rebecca Chandler

    I wanted to add carrot extract to the mix as a sunscreen…would the sunscreen effect cancel out the absorption of vit D? Or do I make a batch with and without carrot extract?

  15. Tami Avatar

    My daughter suffers with eczema and asthmatic will this help? Am at wits end and DO not want to use doc prescrip of cortisone she is only 7 and gets seriously itchy!

    1. ashley Avatar

      Tami, don’t give her the cortisone. It will make it worse in the end. Get some food sensitivity testing done and look into gut healing (leaky gut). It’s a long process, but you can turn it around.

    2. Dia Avatar

      If my child had asthma and I wanted to get magnesium into them I’d read up on Nebulizing Magnesium plus research the different types of magnesium formulations – like magnesium bisglycinate – that would be more readily absorbed.

    3. Lena Avatar

      Tami, I was having the same problem when my daughter was little. She started getting eczema when she was only a few months old, the asthma started when she was about 3 years old.

      We found out that she was allergic to hazel nuts, pea nuts, cats, dogs, birch trees and grass. We changed the washing detergent to one that was unscented, we didn’t use any fabric softener on her clothes, we used only cotton clothes for her. When she as a baby I added olive oil to her bath water.

      When you have dry skin and eczema it is important to keep your skin moisturized. Jojoba oil is a good oil to use all over your daughter’s body especially after she takes a bath of shower. My Emilie had eczema on her hands + wrists and ankles so I made sure to put on a good cream before she went to bed. To not get the cream all over I put socks on her and cotton gloves. I wasn’t able to find any in child size so I had to make a pair..

      When her eczema was bad I did use cortisone cream just on that area. With the moisturizing creams and changing the washing detergents we didn’t have to use cortisone that much.

      If you don’t use cortisone cream you risk that your daughter will scratch and get infections and maybe scars. If you’ve never had eczema you have no idea how much it really itches!

      But you need to ask the doctor to have a test done to find out if your daughter is allergic to something so you can avoid those things or no cortisone cream is ever going to help!

      I have a simple cream that is good for dry skin but the shea butter can be something you react to if you are allergic to nuts. If you are not allergic to shea butter it’s a good product to use at night by it self since it’s very creamy.

      6 oz Coco butter
      6 oz Coconut oil
      3 oz Jojoba oil
      14 oz Shea butter
      1.5 oz Olive oil

  16. Ashley Hudgens Avatar
    Ashley Hudgens

    A lot of people in my family suffer from restless leg syndrome. I was talking to my dad about this body butter and he was wondering if something like this would be good in naturally treating RLS symptoms. If not do you have any idea as to what would be a good natural remedy for RLS? My mother was thinking a valerian root EO in a carrier oil.

    1. Jennifer Avatar
      Jennifer

      I would also cut out sugar/caffeine from the diet. I’m currently pregnant and have had problems with RLS during this and other pregnancies. I’ve found for myself that staying away from sweets for most of the day (lunch time ’til bed time) and doing leg pilates or another type of easy leg exercises (what about a night-time walk?) before bedtime has helped me out tremendously.

    2. Judy Avatar

      Ashley, drinks of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. – 1 Tbsp. in 8 oz. water 3 or 4 times a day alleviates restless leg for many people, including me. Adding an equal amount of raw honey makes it more palatable. You can make up a jar of it and keep in fridge, ready to take with you to work or when you go out. Have a glass before bedtime, too. And yes, this body butter would be helpful, too. Wish we’d known about this when I was a little girl. My mother would often rub my aching legs at bedtime — “growing pains,” it was called — to enable me to go to sleep at night. This body butter would have been so soothing. Thank you, Katie.

    3. Meem Avatar

      My wholistic MD said that my RLS was due to magnesium deficiency. When I applied magnesium oil for a whole week daily, the restless leg symptoms would disappear. They do come back when I stop the magnesium oil.

      Worth a shot to apply magnesium daily and see how your symptoms do.

  17. Kelly Avatar

    Would it work with coconut butter instead of the shea butter Katie?

    1. bee Avatar

      Do you mean coconut oil or cocoa butter? Coconut butter is entirely different…

  18. Horton Avatar

    I have super sensitive skin with eczema, and major allergies to all living things (or so it seems), but would love to try this recipe. I have used the same Kukui Nut (ALBA) body butter for 7 years, but would like a change. What type of jar do you recommend, and how much of the butter does the recipe yield?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      I just used a pint size mason jar and it just about filled it…

    2. Gary Clay Avatar
      Gary Clay

      I used to have very sensitive skin and severe allergies too since I was a teen. That all went away after I started using herbal cleanse/detoxing about 6 years ago. I was so toxic that if I went out in the sun on a warm day within 1-2 minutes it felt like my skin was on fire and if I got hot and sweaty I itched all over. After doing the first 10 day detox/cleanse and switching to a mostly organic diet all of that and much more went away.

    3. Jean Avatar

      I am always gammering on about coconut oil but I have a friend who had eczema. She did and still does have a spoonful in her tea in the mornings and rubbed coconut oil on her skin paying particular attention to areas where she had eczema. She got rid of it in a few months. Sorry to have gone off topic.

    4. kim Avatar

      Jean – I have ezcema also use a straight Mag spray and it does burn my sikn when I apply it if I have a breakout, and unfortunately I do have it one my hands which makes it hard to apply it but the burning doesn’t last long – at least for me anyways. The mag. will soak in after about 60-90sec and you can apply lotion which will help the burning subside. Since you are using the Mag lotion hopefully you wont have much issue!

      I’ve found that my eczema flairs up mostly when I eat things I’m allergic to (eggs for me), but I also have a lot of environmental allergies that can “over load” my system too.

      Good luck!

  19. Tamara Chapman Avatar
    Tamara Chapman

    Could the magnesium concentrate be added to your lotion bars recipe? I want to make some lotion bars (cause I love them) but would love to have the added benefits of magnesium. Thank you so much!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      I’ve been working on a formula for this. Havne’t mastered it yet though because the magnesium adds a liquid component and it is all oil before. I think I can infuse the magnesium in to the oil somehow though… working on that 🙂

      1. Lydia Avatar

        You would need an emulsifier. I have a cold cream recipe that uses beeswax and borax as an emulsifier for oil and rosewater. I haven’t had experience using other emulsifying waxes as of yet.

        1. Deb Casey Avatar
          Deb Casey

          I am just wondering….I made my usual body butter recipe and added the homemade magnesium oil to it and whipped in my KitchenAid mixer. When I rub it on I get little worm-like things forming. Could this be because I need an emulsifier? My usual body butter has coconut oil, avocado oil, shea butter and mango butter, along with essential oils, and arrowroot powder.

          Thanks…I was looking for an answer to these wormy things and when you mentioned needing an emulsifer for infusing the magnesium oil into the other oils, a light went off in my head.

          TIA,
          Deb Casey

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