Homemade Lavender Lotion Recipe
This homemade lavender lotion recipe is light, creamy and made with natural ingredients like shea butter and lavender essential oil. It’s the perfect choice for dealing with dry skin in the Winter months and safe to use on even sensitive skin types.
Making the switch to using only natural skin care products is expensive. I mean, the first time I saw the price difference between Burts Bees lip balm and regular chapstick, I thought, no way I could make it work with my budget long term!
Luckily, we didn’t have to. Because making homemade beauty products like body butter, lip balm and even baby wash, is so incredibly easy and most of the time cheaper than the cheapest store-bought options!
Most commercial lotions contain chemicals that can be hazardous when used regularly or in large amounts. Just the fragrances, parabens and preservatives themselves are not the kind of things you want to soak into your body.
Making your own lotion with ingredients you recognize is the way to go!
I struggle with dry hands a lot in the Winter (actually all year since we don’t have a dishwasher), and this lotion is one of the best parts of my night time routine after a stressful day. I like to also rub it on my kids’ legs and backs to help them wind down and give them sweet dreams since lavender is such a calming and relaxing smell.
If you prefer using a solid lotion bar, here’s a recipe for homemade lavender lotion bars.
I know you’re going to love this recipe! And you know what? It also makes a great gift for Mother’s Day or added into a teacher’s gift basket.
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Why You’ll Like this homemade lavender Body lotion Recipe
all natural ingredients
No worrisome chemicals in this lotion making it a great choice for even sensitive skin types.
easy to make
You can whip up enough lotion to last your family all Winter in just 15 minutes!
super cheap
It only costs a few dollars worth of ingredients to make. That’s a fraction of the cost of store-bought all natural lavender lotion! It might seem pricey the first time you make homemade lotion, but it only takes a little bit of each ingredient to make a jar of lotion, leaving you with plenty leftover to make several more batches!
You can use the leftover beeswax to make baby lotion, beeswax candles or lip balm too!
moisturizing
All of the ingredient are naturally hydrating and healing for dry skin.
creamy
This homemade lotion is really light and melts into your skin without leaving it feeling oily or greasy.
easy to customize
Lavender oil goes really well with so many different essential oils. Just add a couple drops of chamomile, vanilla, lemon, grapefruit, rose, geranium or orange essential oil for a delicious smelling combination!
What You Need To Make homemade lavender lotion
ingredients
- white beeswax pellets – adding beeswax to DIY lotion recipes helps to make the final product feel less greasy on your skin while still moisturizing.
- shea butter – softens your skin, and tones and soothes. Shea butter is also known for its anti inflammatory properties making it a wonderful ingredient for homemade skin care products. Cocoa butter can be used if you prefer.
- almond oil – has healing properties that make it helpful with acne and other skin blemishes. Jojoba oil and olive oil are good substitutes if that’s what you have on hand.
- vitamin E oil (optional) – for an extra healing body cream, add a teaspoon of vitamin E oil to the mix.
- lavender essential oil – for an all natural lavender scented lotion. I like this brand of essential oils for DIY toiletries because it’s nice and strong but reasonably priced.
supplies
- electric mixer – you can make this recipe in a blender, food processor, stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer.
- double boiler – or you can just add an inch or two of water to a saucepan and a glass bowl on top of the saucepan. Heat the water over medium heat and add your ingredients to the glass bowl to melt.
- mason jar or glass container – to store the lotion in.
How To Make This homemade lavender lotion recipe:
Melt – Using a double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a pot with a few inches of water in it, heat the almond oil, shea butter, beeswax and vitamin E oil (if using) over medium low heat until there are no solid bits left.
Whip – Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, whip the oils mixture on high. Slowly and gradually add in the water. It’s very important to drip it in just a little at a time to make sure the oils and water don’t separate after they’re mixed together.
Add in the Essential Oils – When all of the water has been added and the mixture turns bright white, add 30 – 50 drops of lavender essential oil. Whip to combine.
Tips For Success:
To Use : This homemade lotion recipe is safe to use on any parts of your body, but it’s best to avoid sensitive areas. If you experience any kind of skin irritation, stop using immediately.
To Store – Store in a cool place like the refrigerator in a glass jar for up to 3 months.
Variations – Orange, lemon, vanilla and grapefruit smell really wonderful with lavender. Try a combination that adds up to 50 drop of essential oils.
Substitutions – You can use jojoba or olive oil in place of the almond oil in this recipe.
FAQ About This homemade lavender lotion recipe
how many drops of lavender oil do you put in lotion?
It’s recommended to use 12 drops of lavender oil for every ounce of carrier oil, body cream or lotion. Since there are about 4 ounces of oils in this recipe, I usually add between 30 and 50 drops of essential oil to it.
How should you store homemade lotion?
Homemade lotion can have a shelf life of up to 3 months if it’s stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Essential oils are best stored out of direct sunlight anyway, so the fridge is a great spot to keep the lavender smell nice and potent.
It’s not recommended to store homemade lotion at room temperature because lotions contain water which can cause bacteria to grow, spoiling the lotion in just a week or two.
Since this recipe makes enough lotion to last a long time, you don’t want to risk it going bad after just a couple weeks!
Is this Lavender Lotion Safe to apply to your face?
This recipe calls for only natural ingredients so technically it should be safe to apply to your face (avoiding the eyes and nostrils). But just to be sure your skin won’t react badly to it, test a very small amount of lotion on your cheek and wait a few minutes to see if any redness develops before applying more lotion.
More homemade Body products On The Blog:
If you liked this recipe, I think you’ll really enjoy these other homemade skincare products on the blog!
- All Natural Baby Wash
- Homemade Honey Oatmeal Soap – With Pink Clay
- DIY Strawberry Lip Balm
- Homemade Orange Blossom Face Wash
- Handmade Orange Lip Balm
I hope you love this recipe for homemade lavender lotion! If you make it, I’d love for you to come back and leave a comment and rating so that I know how you like using it!
Pin these steps to try later. Tag @athomeontheprairie on Instagram to share what you’ve made with us!
Homemade Lavender Lotion
This homemade lavender lotion recipe is light, creamy and made with natural ingredients like shea butter and lavender essential oil. It's the perfect choice for dealing with dry skin in the Winter months and safe to use on even sensitive skin types.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon beeswax pellets
- 2 tablespoons shea butter
- 1/3 cup sweet almond oil
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
- 1/2 cup distilled water
- 30 drops lavender essential oil
Instructions
- Using a double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a pot with a few inches of water in it, heat the almond oil, shea butter, beeswax and vitamin E oil (if using) over medium low heat until there are no solid bits left.
- Using a stand mixer or handheld beaters, whip the oils mixture on high. Slowly and gradually add in the water. It's very important to drip it in just a little at a time to make sure the oils and water don't separate after they're mixed together.
- When all of the water has been added and the mixture turns bright white, add 30 - 50 drops of lavender essential oil. Whip to combine.
Notes
To Use : This homemade lotion recipe is safe to use on any parts of your body, but it's best to avoid sensitive areas. If you experience any kind of skin irritation, stop using immediately.
To Store – Store in a cool place like the refrigerator in a glass jar for up to 3 months.
Variations - Orange, lemon, vanilla and grapefruit smell really wonderful with lavender. Try a combination that adds up to 50 drop of essential oils.
Substitutions - You can use jojoba or olive oil in place of the almond oil in this recipe.
Cocoa butter is a good substitute for shea butter if you have it on hand.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have a question though, in order to keep the lotion from going rancid at room temp and possibly growing bacteria could I leave out the water completely?
No, water it pretty essential in this recipe. My body butter recipe doesn’t call for water though. It’s thicker than lotion though.
https://athomeontheprairie.com/body-butter-recipe-with-beeswax/
Can I add magnesium to this recipe?
Yes you can! Your lotion might end up a little thicker depending on how much you use.
Since I’m looking for a good face cream recipe (that doesn’t include coconut oil), what about substituting witch hazel or hyaluronic serum in place of the water? Or, do you have any other ideas? I don’t want to have to keep my face cream in the fridge.
You can leave it out of the fridge if you plan to use it up in a shorter amount of time. I’ve left mine out on the counter for a month and nothing spoiled. But I added that disclaimer in the recipe because technically products that contain water have the possibility of spoiling in a short amount of time.
Your recipe instructions mention jojoba oil, but it’s not in the list of ingredients. How much do you use? Thanks.
Jojoba oil is only listed as a substitute for almond oil in the recipe.
I made this lotion yesterday and am very happy with it! I like the consistency, so light and creamy, and I love the lavender scent that 30 drops created. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for coming back to let me know you liked it Jan!
I made this recipe 2 days ago and I’m finding that the water is separating in the lotion. Do you have any suggestions to prevent this?
Hi Marie, sounds like you probably didn’t add the water slowly enough. It has to be added super gradually to the other ingredients to keep it from separating.