Hello Zero Wasters!
In this blog post, I want to introduce you to a project I have craved doing for so long. A deliciously fluffy lotion.
All you will need is just 2 base ingredients in equal amounts; a butter and an oil.
For the butter, we will use raw, unrefined shea butter as it will give the perfect fluffy, soft and creamy consistency to our lotion.
Shea butter is a great choice as it is super low on the comedogenic scale with a score of 0.
The comedogenic scale is a scale that measures the likelihood that an oil will clog your pores - So don't be tricked by its sticky and oily consistency. Shea butter is in fact a great butter to use, especially if you want to use this lotion on the face.
For the oil, we will choose another low comedogenic scale oil, hemp seed oil, which also has a score of 0.
If you want to use this lotion on the face I recommend sticking to using only oils with a comedogenic scale of maximum 2. For example, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil or even a high quality sunflower oil. They are all on the comedogenic scale at 2.
You may choose to use coconut oil, however it is worth noting that it has a comedogenic score of 4, so though it may not be ideal to use on the face, it is perfectly fine if you plan to use this lotion only on the hands or body.
Ingredients:
15g of butter (i.e. raw, unrefined Shea butter)
15g of oil (i.e. Hemp seed oil)
[Optional additives]:
- ½ tsp Arrowroot powder / Corn starch
- 1 drop Vitamin E
- 2-3 drops of Essential oil(s)
To prepare 30 grams of lotion, weigh out the Shea butter and melt it slowly in a bain marie or in the microwave, whichever option you have - although using a bain marie is much better as sudden heat might disrupt some of the Shea butter's precious nutrients.
Once melted and not too hot, we will need to add our oil to it. Next, we want to let everything cool down and harden a little, which will make the whipping part a bit easier. This usually takes around 30 minutes in the refridgerator or 15 minutes in the freezer.
When you are ready to remove your mixture from the fridge or freezer, if you find it is too hard, simply scrape it with a fork to soften it back up.
At this point, you may choose to add a few additives to make the lotion better suited to your needs. Here, we will add half a teaspoon of Arrowroot powder, or you could use Corn starch, to make the lotion less greasy – Remember this is completely optional.
If you have used a short shelf life oil like Hemp seed oil, as a I did, then I suggest adding vitamin E which has powerful antioxidant properties and can extend the oil's shelf life.
Finally, and again this is also optional, you may want to add a maximum of 2-3 drops of essential oil(s); I chose to use Lavender and Geranium, which smell lovely together.
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Once all of the ingredients are combined, all we need to do is whip everything together until we reach a soft and fluffy consistency. If you are making a small batch, I suggest using a small beaker and you can use just 1 whisker. You will notice, it won't take so long and you should obtain a light, fluffy and soft cream like consistency within a few minutes. I whipped it for 5-10 minutes.
Now that we have our desired consistency, we need to transfer this divine goodness into a small clean jar and enjoy!
I use this cream on my dry hands, on by body and even on my face after a shower or whenever I feel my skin is very dry. A little goes a very long way!
