How to Make Lotion for Dry Skin at Home

Dry skin is a common problem in the harsh winter and scorching summer months. The problem with commercial skin care products is that you never know if the additives in them will help or aggravate your skin, especially if you have skin allergies or sensitive skin. You can easily make a lotion that is very nourishing and moisturizing with common or easily obtainable household products. You can be completely sure of exactly what you are putting on your skin, and you can avoid trekking out into a blizzard or heat wave.

Things You'll Need

• 3 tbsp. vitamin E oil
• 1 cup almond oil
• ½ cup chamomile flowers
• ¼--½ oz. beeswax
• Saucepan
• Mesh strainer or cheesecloth
• Clean jar with lid

Instructions

1. Pour 1 cup of almond oil into the saucepan. We are using almond oil for this recipe because it has good moisturizing and anti-itch benefits. It's a good, medium-thickness oil that penetrates well without feeling greasy. There are many different carrier oils you can choose from, each offering different skin benefits. See the Resources section for information on different carrier oils and their properties.

2. Add ½ cup of chamomile flowers to the saucepan. Chamomile has many beneficial skin-soothing properties and imparts a clean, calming and subtle fragrance to our lotion.

3. Heat the oil until it is just warm, not hot. You do not want to fry the flowers. Think of it as steeping tea. You want to gently steep the chamomile in the warm oil as if you were making a cup of tea. Allow the flowers to steep in the warm oil until the oil is completely cooled, about 20 minutes.

4. Strain the oil using a mesh strainer or cheesecloth. You can discard or save the chamomile flowers for another purpose. Wipe out any remaining flower bits from the pan.

5. Return the oil to the saucepan. Bring it up to a warm temperature again, and stir in ¼ oz. of beeswax until the wax is completely melted. Add the vitamin E oil. Vitamin E oil has skin-healing properties and is an exceptionally good skin moisturizer. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

6. Check the lotion for thickness. If it is too thin, reheat it and add more beeswax. If it is too thick for your taste, reheat and add more oil.

Tips & Warnings

• You can add essential oils to the lotion if you like to add fragrance or other healing benefits. Be sure to add it as the final step when the lotion is cooled to room temperature, as heating essential oils can cause them to lose their healing properties and scent.

Resources

• Buy lotion-making supplies
• Properties of specific carrier oils