How to Make Body Moisturizer at Home
During the winter months, skin suddenly becomes prone to dryness and itching due to exposure to cold temperatures, low humidity, and chilly wind. A natural moisturizer could help your skin stay hydrated while providing enough nutrients to feel soft and smooth to the touch. It’s also an ideal way to “tailor” the recipe to your needs or improvise with the ingredients you have available at home, without having to spend lots of money on beauty products.
5-Minutes Crafts shows you different recipes for moisturizers that can be used as daily body lotions to take care of your skin.
What you’ll need
- Metal pot
- Glass bowl
- Measuring cup
- Spoon
- Mixer
- Container for storing the mixture
- Alcohol for disinfecting
Method 1: Dry skin
If you have dry, flaky skin, a deep moisturizing cream is an important thing to have close by at all times. It will help you prevent your skin from losing its natural moisture and glow. Oils are ideal in this case because they stay on the skin for longer periods of time and prevent water from evaporating from its surface.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp cocoa butter
- 2 tbsp shea butter or mango butter
- 2 tbsp soybean oil
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2-3 drops of calendula essential oil (or any oil of your preference)
Instructions:
- Heat the soybean oil, cocoa butter, shea butter or mango butter, and avocado oil in a double boiler au bain Marie. Mix them with a spoon.
- Once the ingredients have melted, remove the glass bowl from the heat and add 3-5 drops of essential oil, calendula oil is excellent for dry skin. Mix with a blender to obtain a creamier consistency.
- Disinfect the container that you will use to store your body cream in with alcohol and pour the mixture in carefully.
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes for it to cool. Store your body cream in the refrigerator so it will have a longer shelf life.
Method 2: Oily skin
If your skin is oily or acne-prone, what you might need to do is help your body balance out its sebum levels. For example, geranium oil has antiseptic and bactericidal properties, while lavender and jojoba oils are non-comedogenic, so they prevent pores from clogging. In this case, a non-greasy cream is a good moisturizing alternative. It will not only be absorbed quickly, but it will also not leave a heavy feeling on the skin.
Ingredients:
- 3 drops of geranium essential oil
- 3 drops of lavender essential oil
- ¼ cup jojoba vegetable oil
- ¼ cup aloe vera gel
- 1 tbsp emulsifying wax #2
- 1 tbsp shea butter
Instructions:
- Place the jojoba oil, shea butter, and emulsifying wax #2 in a double boiler au bain Marie.
- Mix the ingredients with a spoon and remove from the heat. Add the geranium essential oil, lavender essential oil, and aloe vera. With a blender, mix all the ingredients.
- Disinfect the container that you will use to store your moisturizer in with alcohol and pour the mixture in carefully.
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes for it to cool. Store your moisturizer in the refrigerator so that its texture becomes solid. Use it daily after taking a shower.
Method 3: Sensitive skin
Finally, sensitive skin tends to become red and irritated quickly. It often happens as a reaction to certain products or friction. Aloe vera has many benefits, some of them being that it nourishes, moisturizes, and regenerates skin tissue. It also has bactericidal properties. And lavender essential oil has anti-inflammatory and regenerative properties. That’s why a moisturizing cream containing these ingredients would be ideal for people with this type of skin.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup cocoa butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil or avocado oil
- 2 tbsp aloe vera gel
- 1 tbsp emulsifying wax #2
- 2 capsules vitamin E
- ¼ cup distilled water
Instructions:
- Heat the cocoa butter, emulsifying wax #2, and coconut oil or avocado oil in a double boiler au bain Marie.
- Once the ingredients are melted, remove the glass bowl from the heat. Pour in the distilled water, aloe vera gel, and vitamin E. Mix with a blender to obtain a creamier consistency.
- Disinfect the container that you will use to store your body cream in with alcohol and pour the mixture in carefully.
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes for it to cool. You can store your body cream in the refrigerator so it will have a longer shelf life.
Variations
Your choice of essential oils will depend on your preference in terms of scents and fragrances. One of the most popular options is lavender essential oil due to its multiple benefits for the skin. As we mentioned previously, it’s anti-inflammatory, helps skin regenerate, and it’s antibacterial too. If you want, you can use 2 tablespoons of Vaseline or beeswax as an emulsifier. You can also replace the distilled water with rose water.