I am going to walk you through a very basic lotion formula and then explain how to customize it. Making lotion can be very intimidating in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it you will be able to make the perfect lotion to suit your skin needs.
I recommend starting out with a very basic formula (like the one below) then slowly adding in new ingredients as you get more comfortable making it.
Table of Contents
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Lotion Basics
Basically, lotion is made by combining oil and water with an emulsifier.
Formula changes are going to be what determines the thickness, absorption speed and overall properties. This is where you get to be creative and have fun testing!
Heat the ingredients
When you are making lotion, it is super important that you heat both the oil and the water phase.
If you were to just heat the oil phase, the second you combine the two phases the emulsifying wax is going to harden. (I learned this one the hard way!)
Basic of the Formula
Typically with lotion, you will have three phases. The water phase, the oil phase and the cool down phase. No matter how many ingredients you have, they should all fit into one of these three phases.
Water Phase
Distilled Water
Water is going to be the largest percent of any lotion. We are talking anywhere for 70-80%. We use distilled water (not tap water) because it has the minerals and anything else that might be in tap water.
Water can be substituted with a hydrosol.
Oil Phase
Oils
Oils typically consist of 10-20%. I normally try to pick oils with a long shelf life. Also pay attention to how light or heavy the oil is. Example: Grape seed oil is very light and olive oil is heavy. I am only going to use one oil because I want this to be a ridiculously easy formula that you can build on. I choose avocado oil because it is rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants.
Also in this category are butters. They can add some thickness to your lotion. Pay attention to the hardness of the butter as the more brittle it is the thicker it will make your lotion.
Emulsifier / Co-Emulsifier
A lotion wouldn’t be a lotion without an emulsifier, thus we need emulsifying wax nf. This is very easy to work with and does a great job at holding an emulsion together. Emulsifiers are what is going to hold the water and oil together and are typically used 5-10%.
Co-emulsifiers are also used to help create a more stable lotion at 2-5%. Sometimes an emulsion can use a little bit of help, so I am also going to add just a little steric acid. Stearic acid will both be a co-emulsifier and a thickener.
Cool Down Phase
Since we are using water, it is super important that you are using a preservative. Without one, in a few days you will be growing some pretty nasty stuff.
Lastly, we will be using fragrance oil.
Make your own formula
Now that you have the basics down, you can try out my formula and adjust it to make your own.
In my experience, it is easier to add one new ingredient at a time.
The easiest way to change the formula is to decide what new ingredient you would like to use. Next, determine what phase it would fit into. For example: Hydrosol would go into the water phase and cocoa butter would go into the oil phase.
Determine how much you would like to use and deduct that from the other ingredient. For example: Instead of just distilled water, I am going to use 25% cucumber hydrosol. Simply deduct the 25% from the water percent (78.5% – 25% = 53.5%). Now your formula will look like this:
Water Phase
Distilled water 53.5%
Cucumber hydrosol 25%
Then you just keep doing this, one ingredient at a time until you formulate your perfect lotion.
Formula vs Recipe
I’m sure you have noticed that I use percentages a lot. I do this for a few reasons. The main reason, is if you are given a formula in a percentage, it is going to be way easier to scale it. You can quickly go from making 2 ounces to 8 ounces.
If you want to dig a little deeper into formulas, check out my Converting A Recipe into A Formula post.
Making lotion
1 Weigh out all of your ingredients.
2. Place the water phase ingredients on a double boiler.
3. Put your oil phase ingredients into a heat safe container and place on a double boiler.
4. When the oil phase is completely melted, remove both adds from the heat.
5. Combine the oil and water phase.
6. Using a stick blender, mix well.
7. Allow to cool a little bit, below 120° F.
8. Add the preservative and fragrance oil.
9. Mix again with the stick blender.
10. Pour the lotion into your container. Leave the lid off until it is completely cooled to room temperature. If your lotion is still warm and thin enough, you can pour it into the container. As it cools and thickens up, you might need to pipe it into the container.
Basic Lotion Formula – Beginner
Equipment
- Scale
- Double boiler
- Hand blender
- Infared thermometer
Ingredients
Water Phase
- 7.06 ounce | 78.5% Distilled Water
Oil Phase
- 0.90 ounce | 10% Avocado Oil
- 0.45 ounce | 5% Emulsifying Wax NF
- 0.36 ounce | 4% Steric Acid
Cool Down Phase
- 0.18 ounce | 2% Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Fragrance Oil
- 0.05 ounce | .5% Preservative
Instructions
- Weigh out all of your ingredients.
- Place the water phase ingredients on a double boiler.
- Put your oil phase ingredients into a heat safe container and place on a double boiler.
- When the oil phase is completely melted, remove both adds from the heat.
- Combine the oil and water phase.
- Using a stick blender, mix well.
- Allow to cool a little bit, below 120° F.
- Add the preservative and fragrance oil.
- Mix again with the stick blender.
- Pour the lotion into your container. Leave the lid off until it is completely cooled to room temperature. If your lotion is still warm and thin enough, you can pour it into the container. As it cools and thickens up, you might need to pipe it into the container.