How To Make An Aloe Vera After Sun Skin Loving Lotion

Oye, it has been so hot and sunny here lately! I just had to whip myself up a nice cooling and skin loving lotion. The lotion has cocoa butter and aloe vera, so it smells and feels amazing on your skin. Especially after coming inside from being in the sun. I also added a Cucumber Mint fragrance oil that combines with the light chocolate aroma and makes the lotion smell like summer!

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There are three important phases in lotion: Water, Oil and Cool Down. It is super important to keep these phases apart until you are ready to mix them and they are at the right temperature, otherwise you will not get a good emulsion. (Don’t worry, I will show you step by step in the printable recipe and in the video.)

If you want to learn a little more about emulsions and the science behind how we get water and oil to mix, check out this post!

Ingredient Overview

Aloe Vera

This is the super star of this formula! Aloe is a potent moisturizer and soothing agent. It is found in most after sun lotions. I am using an aloe that is 10 times concentrated and a little bit does go a long way. 10 times further than regular aloe vera!

Emulsifiers

Emulsifying Wax

This is our main emulsifier. This is used to make thick emulsions and is amazing at keeping water and oil together for our emulsion. You will notice the emulsifying wax has NF behind it, that just means that it follows the national formula. So, no matter where you get it, it is the same formula.

Cetyl Alcohol

We use this for a few different reasons. It is a co-emulsifier and a thickening agent. The cool thing about it, is it is non gelling. This is important because we don’t want our lotion to have a jelly texture to it. We also use cetyl alcohol because it improves the texture and it makes the lotion softer feeling.

Butters / Oils

Olive Oil

Turns out that olive oil is high in polyphenol compounds that can help with preventing damage and repairing skin cells. Which we need after being in the sun! Especially, if you are like me and always forget to use sunblock.

Macadamia Nut Oil

This oil absorbs in quickly, leaving no greasy residue behind. It is an emollient.

Cocoa Butter

If you want to have a delicious chocolatey scent, you will want to get the unrefined cocoa butter, because it has an uber strong chocolate aroma. This is also used as an emollient.

Preservative

You have to use a preservative in this recipe as it has water in it. If you don’t use one, you are going to grow some bacteria and gunk that will make it unsafe to use.

I am using Optiphen for the preservative. Feel free to use the broad spectrum preservative of your choice.

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Print Recipe

Aloe Vera After Sun Skin Loving Lotion

Make this after sun lotion that is packed with skin loving oils and aloe vera to hydrate and soothe after a nice day in the sun. Includes a step by step guide and free recipe.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Keyword: Aloe, Body and Skin Care, Lotion

Servings: 8 ounces

Cost: $5

Equipment

• Scale
• Spatula
• Double boiler
• 2 heat safe container
• Mixing container with pouring spout
• Immersion Blender
• Infrared thermometer

Ingredients

Water Phase Ingredients

• 6.00 ounce | 75% Distilled Water
• 0.16 ounce | 2% Aloe Vera 10X Concentrated

Oil Phase Ingredients

• 0.40 ounce | 5% Olive Oil
• 0.40 ounce | 5% Cocoa Butter Unrefined
• 0.24 ounce | 3% Macadamia Nut Oil
• 0.40 ounce | 5% Emulsifying Wax NF
• 0.16 ounce | 2% Cetyl Alcohol

Cool Down Ingredients

• 0.16 ounce | 2% Cucumber Mint Fragrance Oil
• 0.08 ounce | 1% Broad Spectrum Preservative

Instructions

• Weigh out all of you water phase ingredients into a heat safe container.
• Weigh out all of your oil phase ingredients into a seperate heat safe container.
• Weigh out the cool down ingredients and set aside for now.
• Place the water phase ingredients and oil phase ingredients (still in separate containers) on a double boiler until the oil phase is melted.
  
• Once melted, remove from heat.
  
• Pour the water phase into your mixing container with the pouring spout.
• Add the oil phase ingredients into the container with the water phase.
• Immediately mix with your immersion blender until fully combined.
• Check the temperature to verify the mixture is below 120° F. If it is not, just keep stirring until it is below 120°F, it should only take a minute or two.
• Add your Cucumber Mint fragrance oil and mix well
• Then, add your preservative and mix again. I will normally mix it all up one more time with the immersion blender.
• Pour into your bottles. This is where it is super handy that you have the container with the pouring spout!
• Allow the lotion to cool completely before you place the lid on your lotion. (I will normally allow it to cool for at least a few hours).