BEST. STUFF. EVER.- organic homemade lotion!

Outside of breastmilk. That stuff is magical- if I had to draw a picture of it, it would be a unicorn with a halo.

This best stuff ever happens to be the lotion that I make for babygirl, hubbs and myself. After trying, in vain, to find an affordable organic lotion without all the preservatives (the cheapest I found was $28 for 8 oz....no thanks), a friend of my mom's told her about a lotion that she makes for her child. I also looked online and found a very similar one. I tweeked it for us and we are in love with this stuff.

First off, who doesn't want their kid to smell like chocolate?? It is heavenly. I *may* have licked her face  after I put this on her.

Second, I found out that this is also the perfect sunscreen for us. It protects from burns and the harmful rays, while still allowing the body to absorb the Vitamin D that everyone needs. AND it doesn't have cancer causing agents in it like store bought sunblocks. WIN WIN.

So here is the recipe:

Organic Homemade Lotion Basic Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup beeswax (grate this or it will never melt!)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa butter
• 1 tablespoon shea butter

How to Make Lotion:

1. Combine ingredients in a pint sized or larger glass jar. I have a mason jar that I keep just for making lotions and lotion bars, or you can even reuse a glass jar from pickles, olives or other foods.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and place over medium heat. Make sure not to heat too much, or the coconut oil loses some of it's valuable properties.
3. Put a lid on the jar loosely and place in the pan with the water.
4. As the water heats, the ingredients in the jar will start to melt. Shake or stir occasionally to incorporate. When all ingredients are completely melted, pour into whatever jar or tin you will use for storage. Small mason jars (8 ounce) are great for this. It will not pump well in a lotion pump!
5. Use as you would regular lotion. This has a longer shelf life than some homemade lotion recipes since all ingredients are already shelf stable and no water is added. Use within 6 months for best moisturizing benefits.

 The Wellness Mama blog is where I got the measurements for this, and she also lists optional additives and where you can buy some of these ingredients. I believe a few of her optional ingredients include vitamin e and essential oils. But I happen to LOVE the chocolate coconut smell.

I bought everything except for the coconut and olive oil on amazon. They were organic, it cost me $32, and I have enough of those ingredients to make lotion for the rest of my life, as long as I store them properly. I made this a few months ago and we still have 1/4 of a jar left. 

Just a note: the beeswax and coconut oil have a tendancy to get solid again if it's not particularly warm where you live. But as soon as you rub some in your hands it all melts down again, and then you have nice warm lotion to put on your babe. 

We put some of the lotion in a travel size soap squeezie-thingie to use in her diaper bag in lieu of aquafor and other chemical crap. Girlfriend does not get diaper rash. Because it's magic.

I also use it as a nipple cream. Earth Mama, Angel Baby makes pretty much this exact same thing as nipple cream, but mine is cheaper. And it's edible so you don't have to wash it off. 

I also use it as lipbalm at night and after showers (I, of course, wear a lip gloss when I leave the house....).

And I'm not gonna lie. It took me a few months to buy into the idea of making a lotion. It just seemed like a lot of work. So I went out and bought all sorts of lotions, and ended up throwing them out. I finally just gave in in desperation. And then I discovered how easy this really is to make. And of course the hubbs was just THRILLED that it took me so long to figure this out. He says I love to waste money. He might be correct. 

So that's the story of amazing lotion. Make it. You'll never go back to buying it. Unless you don't like the smell of chocolate. In which case, you're not human so what do you need lotion for.

Loves!