Luxurious DIY Lotion Recipe

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DIY lotion
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If you’re still using store-bought lotion there are super easy natural alternatives that are fun to make! This DIY lotion recipe has three basic ingredients and only takes ten minutes to whip together.

The basic recipe is an ultra-moisturizing water-free version that lasts for years without preservatives. While lotion is technically a formulation of water and oil-based skincare ingredients, this one is oil-based. It feels more like a body butter and is great for dry skin.

Homemade Lotion

I discovered years ago that I could use natural ingredients to make my own skincare products and I haven’t looked back since! From homemade lip balm to whipped body butter I love making my own. Lotion bars were one of the first things I made and I’ve branched out to other kinds of lotion too. This version uses unrefined coconut oil, almond oil, and shea butter to nourish skin deeply.

Most lotions use emulsifying wax to blend distilled water and carrier oils together. It can be tricky to do at home. Plus it requires preservatives to keep it from going bad! This DIY lotion skips that problem by eliminating the water. You can further extend the shelf life by using vitamin E. This antioxidant helps oils not go rancid as quickly.

Choosing a Carrier Oil

I use sweet almond oil for the carrier oil since it’s a middle of the road oil. It’s not as heavy as coconut oil, but it’s more moisturizing than something like grapeseed oil. You could replace it with whatever liquid carrier oil you prefer. Jojoba, olive oil, or avocado oil are also good options.

This lotion is ultra-moisturizing and more oily than water-based lotions so you won’t need to use as much. It also has a longer shelf life than some homemade lotion recipes. All the ingredients are already shelf stable and no water is added.

Custom Lotion Making

Once you master the base recipe, have fun customizing your lotion to your skin type, skin conditions, and desired scent!

There are endless variations, but some of my favorites are:

  • Baby Lotion – Infuse the oil with dried calendula and chamomile before making the lotion.
  • Cooling Muscle Rub – Add peppermint, wintergreen, and ginger for sore muscles.
  • Anti-aging Face Lotion – Use argan oil and add lavender and patchouli essential oils.
  • Lavender and Vanilla Lotion – Add a few drops of lavender and a little natural vanilla extract.

Essential Oil Safety

So how many drops of essential oils should you add to your DIY lotion? It depends on the essential oil and your preference. If you add the optional shea butter, 45 drops of essential oil will be a 1% dilution. A 2% dilution is generally considered safe for skincare products like lotion.

If you like a really strong scent you could double the amount (to 2%). Or if you prefer a lighter scent or have more sensitive skin, you could cut the amount in half (or even less!). I avoid using essential oils on little ones, especially babies.

Certain oils like wintergreen, cinnamon, and lemongrass are harsher and need to be used in smaller amounts. Others, like grapefruit and lime, are phototoxic. Some of my favorite skin-friendly essential oils to use include:

Don’t Want to Make It?

If you want healthy lotion but don’t want to make it or don’t have the ingredients there are some good store-bought options. These lotions have clean ingredients and help hydrate thirsty skin:

DIY lotion
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4.08 from 764 votes

Homemade DIY Lotion Recipe

Make smooth, luxurious lotion at home with almond oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and optional essential oils.
Prep Time20 minutes
Yield: 9 ounces
Author: Katie Wells

Materials

Instructions

  • Combine the almond oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and shea or cocoa butter, in a double boiler. Or use a glass bowl on top of a simmering pan of water.
  • Stir occasionally as the ingredients melt.
  • Once the ingredients are completely melted, add the vitamin E oil and any essential oils or vanilla.
  • Pour into a glass jar or tin for storage and cool to room temperature. Small mason jars work perfectly for this. This will not pump well in a lotion pump!

Notes

  • A little goes a long way! This lotion is incredibly nourishing and great for diaper rash, eczema, and for preventing stretch marks.
  • Store in a cool, dry place for up to 1-2 years.

Other Homemade Lotion Recipe Variations

There are lots of ways you can make your own lotion at home. Here are some more lotion tutorials to try:

Ever made DIY lotion before? How did it go? Let me know below!

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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

1,338 responses to “Luxurious DIY Lotion Recipe”

  1. melissa rogers Avatar
    melissa rogers

    Hi Katie! I just made this last night while making my laundry detergent and beach waves spray 😉 I woke up this morning and the lotion was hard, almost like my lotion bars. I used regular beeswax, so maybe it’s harder (I had to melt it down since I couldn’t find pastilles locally. Anyway, should I just reheat this and add some coconut oil? Is there anything wrong with reheating? thanks a bunch!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      Reheating won’t hurt it at all… you can even add a smoother oil if you want a more creamy texture. There seems to be a lot of variation in beeswax and I”ve ordered several different brands to try to figure it out so I can post it!

      1. melissa rogers Avatar
        melissa rogers

        great! thanks so much. I know there are so many variations with ingredients and I just need to try different things. I’m just afraid of doing something “wrong” with heating 🙂 I really appreciate all you do!!! And certainly do not expect you to know EVERY type of variation out there 🙂

        1. Wayne Avatar

          It’s a little hard to ruin oils with reheating unless you turn your back on them. My rule of thumb is to heat a little and then stir to disperse the heat, then repeat this. I remove it from the heat for a couple minutes to allow the heat to disperse while I stir, then add more heat and repeat. If the oils are harder when cool than I want I simply put it all back on the heat, remelt it and then add more liquid oil and let it reset. I weigh all the oils and butters, etc as I go and then pop the new info on the ingredient list so that in the future I know exactly what to mix and in what amounts so I don’t have to do the remelt and ‘experiment’ process. I’m surprised if people do not do the recording of weights and types of oils when they do a batch. Once you have the ‘key’ weights of oils it does not take much to tweak the amounts to reach slightly different but more appropriate recipes. It’s just cooking at the end of the day – like a cake you eat.

      2. Shannon Ganshorn Avatar
        Shannon Ganshorn

        Hi WM – In regards to this, what other kind of oil could I add? Mine is lotion bar consistency and I followed the recipe to a T! 🙂 Thanks – love your site! 🙂

  2. Greer Davis Avatar
    Greer Davis

    Mine turned out super hard. 🙁 It’s great but it isn’t exactly what I was looking for as far as ease of use. I’m using a block of beeswax that isn’t easy to measure by the cup – I used 2 oz instead of 1/4 cup, so maybe my weight was off. What do you think? I’m going to try to remelt everything today and add more coconut oil and shea butter.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      I would guess it was a difference with the beeswax. It is on my to-do list to measure weight and volume next time I make this to clear up the confusion…

      1. Wayne Avatar

        Yeh! Haha!! Doing measurements by the cup has created hell. When I do anything I weigh it in grams and also makes notes on what the weights were and the dates I made a batch. This helps me eliminate any confusion, plus if I come across a batch with a number on it that I forgot about I can look up the details I need including the date made. Honestly, these simple procedures save me so much time and help clarity. But I am enjoying reading the comments! Thanks everyone for posting.

  3. Patty Avatar

    I don’t care for this one either! It is very greasy and even though I used essential oil, it smells like olive oil…also, a tub works better than a jar because you have to scoop it out…Olive oil is expensive & I’m not sure if this was a $$ saver like the deoderant….I will be watching for tips on improving the hand lotion recipe…tks! for all of your recipes…

  4. Jen Avatar

    I have been making this recipe for months now. I made it two times with your previous recipe, and once with the new one, and I’m about to make it again right now! I absolutely LOVE it. I was able to put it in a plasitc flip top bottle. I do have to squeeze pretty hard – but I’m fine with that. I took it with me on a family beach trip, and my mom and aunt used the lotion to massage all the girls’ hands and feet! My aunt is a naturopathic and LOVED this lotion as well. I sent her to your blog, btw! 🙂 Thank you for this AWESOME recipe. I think the only question I have is about the beeswax. Last time I made this, I was weighing my beeswax to what I thought would be a 1/4 cup (2 oz), then I decided to to shred it so the melting process would be easier. But then when I added the shredded beeswax, it was almost twice as much as the 2 oz I weighed. So should I use 1/4 cup of shredded, or 2 oz block? Does that make sense? 🙂

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      probably about 1/4 cup shredded, but you could reduce that if you want it to be more “squeezeable.” You could also add a little more of a thin oil like olive or almond to make it easier to squeeze too…

    2. Alberta Irene Avatar
      Alberta Irene

      I was having trouble with the block beeswax too, and decided to melt it all down and pour 1/4 C into cupcake tins. Now, when I need to make a recipe, I just pull out the little “cake” and use it that way. Same with the butters.

  5. kearley Avatar

    Is there a substitute for coconut oil? I am allergic to coconut (and all other nuts) and cannot stand the smell of it.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      You can use olive oil, though it will change the texture/smell somewhat. Grapeseed oil could work too.

      1. Jae Avatar

        Wouldn’t you have to use a type of oil that is solid at room temp? Or an emulsifier to achieve the consistency? I love grape seed oil, but I’m curious would you achieve the same consistency results if that was the oil used?

        1. Wellness Mama Avatar
          Wellness Mama

          Sorry, I’m in a brain fog this morning… you are right. If using a liquid oil, reduce by 1/2 to get the same texture.

  6. Patinga Avatar

    Thank you so much for the recipe. I made a small batch using only the basic recipe (omitting the optional items for this first attempt) using soy wax flakes (I already had some on hand) and it turned out really well. I am already looking forward to making a larger batch using some of the additional ingredients.

  7. Auggie Avatar

    Can we actually use the powder inside Chamomile capsules in place of the chamomile flowers? (So we can skip the step of infusing the carrier oil with chamomile flowers – if we want to have chamomile lotion? ) Do you know if it would have the same effect?

  8. bluffy Avatar

    I made this today. I had a 2 oz block of beeswax but quickly realize that would be too much so I used 1 oz (half block). This turned out as a body butter for me, the consistency of palmers cocoa butter. I used a scented oil, not an essential oil (sugar cookie…yum). I love this body butter for after shaving my legs! I happen to love this type of consistency, so it turned out great. Oh, and I used 76 degree coconut oil.

  9. Tori Avatar

    Thanks for the recipe.  I recently made the lotion and I followed the recipe exactly and now the lotion is extremely hard… maybe a little softer than the beeswax before it is melted (really hard though).  I used 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup coconut oil, and 2 oz of hardened beeswax (which should equal out to 1/4 cup correct?)… and one teaspoon of Vit. E.  What did I do wrong and why isn’t it a buttery consistency or typical lotion consistency?  Can you give me any suggestions??? Thanks!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      I’m not completely sure on the weight conversion with beeswax. My guess is that 2 ounces (though 1/4 cup with liquid) is considerably more with beeswax. Did you measure with a dry measure at all?

      1. Tori Wolff Avatar
        Tori Wolff

        The 2 oz was the dry measure.  Beeswax doesn’t come in liquid form does it?  Should I use less with dry measure (maybe 1 oz or 1/2 oz)?  I am just not sure how to adjust the recipe to make it how the picture shows at the top of the post

        1. Wellness Mama Avatar
          Wellness Mama

          Two ounces is probably about three large tablespoons… I’d measure it out, but I’m out of it myself and waiting for more to come in…

          1. Treya Avatar

            2oz of beeswax is the measure of weight, 1/8 Lb, not volume. 1/4 cup is a measure of volume. If you use a 2oz block, it will yield MORE THAN 1/4 cup of melted beeswax.

      2. Hanna Avatar

        I prefer to use weight instead of cups, so I figured out the conversion into grams (and ounces), to maybe end the confusion.
        I used:
        97g almond oil (3,4 ounces)
        43g coconut oil (1,5 ounces)
        35g beeswax (1,2 ounces)

        I think the consistency is completely fine, not too hard, not too soft.
        (Sorry for the weird numbers, but I was using up the rest of my almond oil – I also think this is ever so slightly more than the half cup/half cup/quarter cup amounts in the original recipe)

        1. Jasmine Avatar
          Jasmine

          Going to remelt some lotion bars I made Sunday , and use less beeswax. Thanks for this! Writing these ozs down. Thank you Wellness Mama also !

    2. Sherri Avatar

      I had this same exact problem! I used beeswax in the form of a bar and just cut off what seemed to equal the 1/4 cup. Should I have melted it first to measure the right amount? Other than needing a knife or spoon to get it out of the jar, I love it! But would love a softer texture. My mother-in-law loves it and wants me to make her a jar, so I want to do it better next go around. Thanks!

  10. Emma Avatar

    I really liked this lotion. But I put alot of peppermint essenial oils in because I didn’t like the beeswax smell though

  11. William Avatar

    Can I use cocoa butter lotion in place of cocoa butter? And if so can I use any lotion in place of the butters?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      You could sub in other lotions, but depending what was in them, this recipe wouldn’t be completely organic then. The thickness of the lotion would also affect the consistency of the finished product…

  12. Savannah Freeman Avatar
    Savannah Freeman

    When I tried the recipe it didn’t emulsify and turn out very hard, more like the lotion bars. I followed the recipe exactly. I still use it, but I don’t think I’ll make it again unless you have some tips for what I might have done wrong or could change. 

  13. Diane Avatar

    Where does one find beeswax for this project. Can I use the bee wax from honeycomb?

  14. Chancellor Avatar
    Chancellor

    I have made a lotion similar to this and love the feel. However, I did NOT like the smell. I did not want to use essential oils b/c I’m trying to get pregnant and want to avoid them for now. The smell of beeswax is fine for beeswax but not for me. I see your option to add vanilla extract. Does that mask the smell of the wax? What EO do you use?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      The vanilla does mask the smell of the wax. I use lavender or citrus oils.

  15. Berry Avatar

    Can the lotion be stored in plastic? I would like to send some to my mother and don’t want to mail in a glass container. thank you!

  16. Mua Avatar

    Made a Orange Honey Lotion today and love it. 
    coconut oil 
    Jojoba oil 
    a very little bit of vitamin E oil 
    Orange essential oil 
    and beeswax all melted down 
    I have a question I don’t like the there are little mini chunks of beeswax left on my skin how can I avoid this ? Thanks so much

    1. Wayne Avatar

      Beeswax is the hardest to melt and needs a higher temperature. I make hard soap at the moment, but am looking at other things to makes. Anyway! To melt beeswax just place a small amount of a lighter oil (olive, hemp, castor, etc) in your heated pan first and then add the beeswax cut in to small pieces. It does not take that long for the beeswax to melt completely. Once melted then add all the other oils and butters. You can be sure then that the beeswax will mix without lumps. Remember though, only use as much heated is necessary to melt stuff and don’t burn any of it.

    2. Wayne Avatar

      Melt the beeswax first in an oil that is already liquid at room temperature. If I use 5g beeswax then I melt it in 10g liquid oil. As soon as the beeswax has melted then add all the other oils in the order specified. It will stop you having lumps of wax. I had your problem too when I first started making hard soap bars. But that problem is history. Helps I hope?!

      1. Brenda Moss Avatar
        Brenda Moss

        I have Allergy reaction to coconut oil I break out in a little red bumps all over my face and hands and body when ever I use it. Is there another oil I could use other than the coconut Oil? I’m looking so forward to making this lotion! Thank you in advance.

  17. Nina Avatar

    I just tried the new lotion and I really didnt like it.  Could you please post the original recipe? Thanks!

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