Shea butter and sweet almond oil are both my favourite botanic oils. I figure why not formulate a lotion with it. This shea almond body lotion is perfect for all seasons. It has a rich fluid-like soft texture, ivory white in colour, and is super moisturising.
Ingredients
This lotion is themed with oil with nut elements. Let’s talk a little bit about shea butter. Shea butter itself is not a fast-absorbing oil, instead, when you apply it directly to your skin, it is sticky and leaves on your skin for a long time before being absorbed. I once came over a DIY recipe calling just for shea butter and sugar to make a shea butter sugar scrub. It is ridiculous, the amount of shea that is used in that recipe will leave your skin sticky and couldn’t rinse off properly. But if it’s been formulated properly, this sticky butter can be fast-absorbing and has all the skin-loving properties that will make your skin stay moisturised and smooth.
Sweet almond oil is pale-yellow and odorless liquid with a typical nutty taste. It is a highly effective occlusive oil; studies have found it to have a greater impact on trans epidermal water loss than the industry standard, petroleum (source). It has emollient sclerosant properties which can improve complexion and skin tone (source). Another oil in my formulation high in oleic acid and linoleic acid is walnut oil. Oleic acid is a perfect pick for dry and aging skin for all the right reasons. It penetrates the skin deeply and locks in the moisture. This prevents your skin from developing fine lines, and wrinkles. Whatās more, this anti-inflammatory acid helps you restore your skinās natural oil without clogging your pores.
Learn more about Copaiba essential oil here!
Formulation of Shea Almond Body lotion
| Phase | Ingredients | % W/W |
|---|---|---|
| A | Unrefined Shea Butter | 5% |
| A | Olivem 1000 [ US / Europe ] | 5% |
| A | Walnut Oil [ US / Europe ] | 5% |
| A | Sweet Almond Oil | 12% |
| A | Olive Squalane [ US / Europe ] | 5% |
| B | Distilled Water | 58.9% |
| B | Provitamine B5 [ US / Europe ] | 1% |
| B | Vegetable Glycerine [ US / Europe ] | 2% |
| B | Urea [ US / Europe ] | 5% |
| C | Fragrance [ I choose Copaiba essential oil ] | 0.5% |
| C | Natural Preservative Geogard / Optiphen / Germaben II | 0.5% |
For this formulation I have chosen a natural emulsifier olivem 1000 to bind the oil phase and water phase beautifully together. After emulsification, all these lovely ingredients become a creamy lotion and absorb fairly well. I have also added a little vegetable glycerine to help the cream to glide easily over the skin.
DIY Tools & Packaging
- 2 x double-boiler [US / Europe]
- electronic balance precision 0.01g [US / Europe]
- mini inox whisk [ US / Europe ]
- mini silicon spatula [ US / Europe ]
- 100ml airless pump bottle [ US / Europe ]
Related Post: Essential DIY Equipment and Tools for DIY Beauty Crafters
Shea Almond Body Lotion
Course: Beauty Recipes100
g30
minutes30
minutesPhase A- Heating Oil Phase, Phase B- Heating water phase, phase C- post-heating phase
Ingredients
Phase A/ Unrefined Shea Butter
Phase A/ Walnut Oil [ US / Europe ]
Phase A/ Sweet Almond Oil
Phase B/ Water
Phase C/ Fragrance [ I choose Copaiba essential oil ]
Phase C/ Natural Preservative GeogardĀ /Ā OptiphenĀ /Ā Germaben II
Directions
- Weigh and transfer phase A ingredients into a double-boiler. Warm it over a barely simmering water bath. Whisk until the emulsifier is totally melted and mixed.
- In the meantime weigh and transfer phase B ingredients into another double-boiler. Warm it over a barely simmering water bath at the same time. Whisk and mix during heating.
- When the two heating phases reach 65C ~75C, transfer the phase B mixture into phase A. Whisk and mix until the two phases are totally incorporated. You know they are emulsified when a white creamy trace is reached during mixing.
- Transfer your mixing bowl to cool down over a cold water bath. Whisk it with this inox whisk and stir to cool down.
- Weigh and add in phase C ingredients. Continue to whisk and mix.
- Decant your cream to your container with the help of a spatula (I use this!) Be sure you scrape all the goodies into your packaging. And voila, itās done.
Notes & Substitution
- You can scent your body lotion however you want by replacing the same amount of copaiba essential oil. A few essential oils I have in mind are Ylang-ylang, sweet orange, lemon essential oil and etc.
- I used unrefined shea butter in this recipe. You can also replace it with refined shea butter for its lack of scent.
- Walnut oil can be replaced by hazelnut oil or macadamia oil. Or top up with the same amount of sweet almond oil.
- If you are allergic to nuts, and I have no idea how well the allergens of the nut oil will penetrate into the skin and trigger the allergics, to be safe, you can try another lotion recipe formulated by me, check it out here!
This small bottle of lotion is pack with all the skin-loving ingredients, it is silky, very nourishing, and moisturising thanks to the active ingredients in the recipe. I hope you will like it!
If you like my tutorial, please consider donating me a coffee! Cheers
Calleigh
Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.
