I'm so excited to share this lotion with all of you! It's incredible in terms of healing. I've been using it on Ethan's skin for about 5 days and his dry eczema patches have nearly disappeared, and the rest of his skin feels like velvet. My poor son has awful seasonal allergies and this exacerbates his eczema. So during this time of the year I keep his immune system strong and keep him lubed up with healing lotion. I am also using this lotion on my legs and back (where I tend to get dry this time of year). I'm just really impressed with cocoa butter...and it's fun to smell like chocolate. Oh, and I'm also using it as lip balm. So fun! If you're searching for a healing lotion for your dry, itchy skin, this one might be for you! I've included links below if you're interested in making it. I can't stress how easy it is to make your own lotion. I'm saving so much money; comes out to about $2.50 per jar (I was paying $10 - $15) for similar store bought lotions.
Cocoa and Shea Body Butter
Ingredients
-2.5 ounces Raw organic cocoa butter
-3.5 ounces Raw organic unrefined shea butter
-3 tablespoons organic jojoba oil (I find this at my Coop in bulk. Any healing liquid oil will work).
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla (just good ole' vanilla extract)
-1/2 teaspoon vegetable glycerine
How To
1. Weigh out your butters.
2. Shave the cocoa butter, much as your would a chocolate bar, the smaller shavings the better.
3. Add cocoa and shea to food processor, pulse few times to incorporate.
4. Slowly drizzle in jojoba oil, vanilla, and vegetable glycerine.
5. Blend for a while. The heat will melt the larger chunks of cocoa.
6. I do not recommend heating any of the ingredients, as this will compromise the healing properties. Shea butter is a bit hard, but if you store it in the fridge and then bring it to room temp, it softens up a bit, at least my batch did (every batch is different though). You could also leave it out in the sun to soften. You don't have to heat the cocoa butter, simply shave it.
7. Transfer lotion mixture to glass jars. The lotion will be soft, then it will harden as it cools. It will last for MONTHS at room temp. Store leftover shea and cocoa butter in fridge and bring to room temp before working with it again. Yields about 12 ounces.
Enjoy friends!
*
Raw cocoa butter
Cocoa shavings
| Add cocoa and shea to food processor, pulse a few times to incorporate, then keep on blend and drizzle in wet ingredients. |
Mmmmm, looks good and smells outrageous!
I make two jars at a time.
One for our room and one for Ethan's.
The small jar holds 4 ounces
The large jar holds 8 ounces
*
Other homemade lotions from The Tasty Alternative
This body butter looks wonderful. How much oil did you use? Or do you just pour in slowly until it becomes smooth? Also, instead of vegetable glycerin could you use Coconut oil?
ReplyDeleteHi There Ina,
DeleteThank you so much!
Little oversight on my part there. I just added the info above. Thanks for the heads up. :-)
And I'm sure coconut oil would be fine in place of vegetable glycerine (or just leave this ingredient out, it's only 1/2 teaspoon). I added the glycerine in there because it has a ton of healing properties and makes the lotion very silky and smooth. But yes, play around with different ingredients. And if you can, drop me a message here with your modifications. Always fun to read what others come up with!
Be Well,
--Amber
Hi Amber,
DeleteThanx for your wonderful recipe. One question.., should the lotion be stored in glass containers only?? If yes, why?
I want to make this!!! I have eczema that comes and goes on my fingers/hands/wrists, legs, feet, and the back of my neck. It's so annoying and irritating! :( I'm going to look into where I can buy what I need! :)
ReplyDeleteHello There,
DeleteI'm sorry to hear about your struggles with eczema! My husband gets eczema soooo bad on his hands! That's a difficult place to get it too, as our hands are always in water and exposed to the elements. When it gets really bad, my husband finds it helpful to lather on my homemade lotion before bed and wear cotton gloves all night. :-)
Two questions my dear so i can make this.....how much should I expect to pay for shea butter? And what are some other 'healing' oil I could try in place of the jojoba?
ReplyDeleteHi Tessa,
DeleteGreat questions.
Check back up in the ingredients, there's a link to where I buy the shea butter. :-)
Other healing lotions, good for inflammation include:
-Calendula Oil (one of my absolute favorites)
-Almond Oil (use caution with nut allergies)
-Coconut Oil (you'll have to melt)
-Olive Oil (the best you can find)
-Witch Hazel Oil
-100% pure aloe vera would also work
-Emuo Oil
More on Emuo oil (which can be found online):
Emu oil is one of the best and most promising eczema home remedies you can find, because it has many potent natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that are perfect for eczema symptoms. The oil is soothing and will not clog your pores, and it provides fast relief for inflammation, itching, cracked and burning skin.
this was SO much fun to make! So creamy you want to taste it! I used coconutoil instead of veg glycerin, and I used half emu oil, and half of another soothing baby oil we had on hand (a mixture of several healing oils and essential oils too). i am not sure I want to share it with anyone!!
DeleteThis is something that I really have to try. It sounds wonderfully soothing and from what you have said it's very effective. This is my first visit to your site, but after spending some time browsing through your earlier posts I can tell you it will not be my last. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary!
DeleteLet me know if you try it. It's super fun to make your own lotions. Fun to give as gifts too!
I can't wait to try this. I have the hardest time w/ dry lips. I've been using straight shea and a mix, but I've been meaning to make my own. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Adrienne,
DeleteIt's quite lovely as a lip balm! Hope you enjoy it. It's really working wonders for our skin.
Hugs
Thanks so much for this AWESOME recipe! I stumbled upon your site looking for a recipe for homemade body spray (love that one too!) and just finished making two batches of the lotion. My 4 year old daughter helped me put it together and we slathered her up before her nap. What fun to make lotion together! She has mild eczema patches which appear every winter and are so hard to get rid of (as does my 2 year old). Just last week I started to notice those patches coming back. :( I'm anxious to see the effects of this lotion. I have been looking for a more natural lotion that doesn't cost a fortune and I've found a yummy one! Thanks for your post and your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to leave a message. I appreciate feedback from readers. :-)
I hope the lotion works for you! Everyone responds differently. It works well on my son and husband (especially on my husband's cracked, bleeding hands). Throughout the year I change up the lotions. In my latest batch I used avocado oil. I find that with eczema, lotion rotation is very important.
Thanks again, Emily. So nice to hear from you, and I hope this lotion works well for your family. I feel that cocoa butter is incredibly healing and does a great job soothing dry, irritated skin.
Be Well,
--Amber
Amber,
ReplyDeleteIt is fabulous! We love it! My 2 and 4 year olds' skin was SO soft and those red patches disappeared after 1 application, which has never happened before! Usually I begin treating them with lotion (I've tried tons) and the eczema gets worse before I can get it under control (sometimes it's months before I get it under control). Just a quick question - I've got some lumps, which it looks like might be normal based upon your photos. :) Is there any way to make the lotion more smooth so you don't get any clumps? I tried gently warming the cocoa butter b/c I think it's the culprit, but I'm not sure that helped all that much. Thanks again for your blog and this recipe! Love it!
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for checking in and sharing your experience with the lotion. So wonderful that is working for your children. Hooray!
So, about the lumps...
I've found a way to get most the lumps out (the lumps are the cocoa butter). Before hand I shave the coconut butter with a knife. I shave it and shave it until it's very fine. The next thing I do is when everything is mixed in the food processor, I let it run for a while. The friction creates a little warmth (but nothing hot) - just warm enough to melt everything together nicely. If I have any lumps in the lotion, they are very, very small.
I hope this helps. Give it a go with your next batch and let me know if you can melt some of the lumps out.
Thanks again for checking in. It warms my heart that your little ones are benefiting from the lotion.
Be Well,
--Amber
This sounds wonderful...my 5 year old has eczema and i have been searching for a good recipe to try on her. if i were to add colloidal oatmeal to this recipe, how much do you recommend? thank you so much for sharing.. :) Emily
ReplyDeleteHi There Emily,
DeleteI would add about 1 teaspoon to start and see if it helps with the itching. Add in a little more if it's not helping. You will need to dump everything in a food processor again to mix in the oatmeal if you need to add more. And be careful not to add too much, as it will have a drying affect, and negate the anti-itching. Hope this helps. Thanks and good luck!