How to Make a Simple, Homemade Lotion and How to Customize it
Learn how to make an easy, basic homemade lotion that is the foundation for many different types of cosmetics. It can be customized to suit different skin types or to make a wide variety of products!
Over the years, I have shown you how to make all sorts of things. I’ve shown you how to make soap, cosmetics, and lots of food recipes. This, however, might be one of the most important things I show you how to make!
Lotions are the foundation of many types of homemade cosmetics. It’s important to learn how to make a lotion correctly so that it is stable and safe for use on your skin.
Most recipes I’ve seen out there are either intimidating with lots of (unusual) ingredients, don’t work, or are lacking important information like how to preserve the homemade lotion so that it is safe to use.
Years ago, before I knew better, I tried one with beeswax. Beeswax isn’t a true emulsifier and that lotion separated into liquid and oil layers. It also got mold right away because it didn’t use a preservative.
So, today I’ll be showing you how to make a simple lotion safely!
Why make your own lotion?
There are several great reasons to make your own lotion from scratch.
Save money
While you can probably find inexpensive lotions for sale at the local dollar store, those may not be exactly what you are looking for. A cheap lotion will probably have cheap ingredients and cheap packaging.
On the other hand, high-quality lotions with high-quality ingredients tend to come with a hefty price tag.
When you consider that the main ingredient of pretty much any lotion is water, you’ll soon realize that there is a huge potential for saving money by making a lotion yourself!
Keep in control of the ingredients
For me, the main reason for making my own lotions and other cosmetics is gaining full control of what goes into them.
In some cases, I want to use an organic ingredient and I’m willing to spend a bit more on it. In other cases, it’s not that important to me.
It’s not just about the quality of the ingredients, though. It’s about choice.
- Are you allergic to a certain oil? You can use a different one!
- Are you looking for a certain oil blend that isn’t available in any store-bought lotions? Make your own!
- Are you looking for all vegan/all locally sourced/palm-free ingredients, etc.? You can choose!
Sustainability
Making your own products also helps keep waste to a minimum. When you make your own lotion, you can disinfect and reuse your packaging or at least choose something more sustainable.
Lotion Based Cosmetics
Even if you don’t normally use hand or body lotion, this is an important basic recipe to learn.
Learning to make a simple lotion serves as a foundation for making all sorts of other cosmetics. By tweaking the various components of a homemade lotion, you can make just about any creamy-type cosmetic product that you can imagine.
Facial moisturizers
Let’s “face” it ?: facial moisturizers are expensive!
They make all sorts of claims and often have a bunch of exotic-sounding ingredients that make you want to buy them. That said, moisturizers are really just lotions with oils, vitamins, and other active ingredients targeted at improving our appearance.
Most of the time, it’s simple enough to make your own. The base recipe is just like any lotion. You just use oils known to improve fine lines and wrinkles (or whatever you are targeting) and add in extra active ingredients, as desired.
Check out my homemade moisturizer for oil, acne-prone skin as an example.
Homemade Moisturizer for Oily, Acne Prone Skin
Homemade conditioners
What’s the difference between a lotion and a conditioner? Not much!
Basically, the main difference between a lotion and a conditioner is the emulsifier used. To make a conditioner, you want to use an emulsifier that will “condition” your hair. Learn more about it in my post for how to make a conditioner.
Easy DIY Hair Conditioner
Roll-on deodorant
Even in a product like a roll-on deodorant, an emulsion is needed to get the right consistency. You could use all oils, I suppose, but it would be messier to apply and wouldn’t allow for water-soluble ingredients.
This roll-on deodorant is basically a light lotion with active ingredients to keep you odor-free. ?
Natural Roll On Deodorant
Other specialized lotions
Lotions aren’t just for your legs and hands. There may be special times that you may want a special lotion.
Why not try making a lotion with aloe and d-panthenol for some help in healing your skin from any possible ill effects of the sun. (It can also be used as a general, healing lotion.)
After Sun Lotion
Another of my favorites, this stress relief lotion uses menthol and essential oils to give a pleasant scent and cooling sensation when applied. I like to massage it into my often sore neck muscles. Some people like rubbing it into their temples to help relieve headaches.
Cooling DIY Stress and Headache Relief Lotion
Lotions vs. body butter
To be honest, I personally don’t like body butters very much. I showed you how to make body butter because many of you asked for a simple recipe without emulsifiers and preservatives. That said, it’s not something I normally make for myself. When I do use a body butter, I layer it over a lotion.
There are several reasons I prefer lotions. Even when you whip butters and oils into a fluffy, smooth body butter, it still goes on feeling greasier than a lotion. Yes, I shared ways to reduce that sensation, but most body butters just don’t have that silky feeling that a lotion does when you put it on.
Body butters and lotion bars have other disadvantages. They don’t absorb into your skin in the same way or pull moisture into your skin either. (They have no water/moisture to draw in.) Plus, they are a lot more expensive to make because 100% of your ingredients are oils and other active ingredients.
When you stick to only body butters and lotion bars, you lose out on the opportunity to use a lot of beneficial ingredients that are water-soluble. I add things like rose water, witch hazel, aloe juice and gel, and hyaluronic acid to my creams and lotions as part of the aqueous phase.
Ingredients
Making a basic lotion is very easy, and only uses 4 simple ingredients: water, oil, an emulsifier, and a preservative.
You can customize those ingredients somewhat, as needed. You can also add essential oils for fragrance and/or other ingredients like vitamins for their beneficial properties. For now, though, we’ll concentrate on the main essential ingredients.
The aqueous phase:
The main component of lotion, and the one that makes it differ from a body butter, is water. In most cases, water makes up over 50% of the ingredients in a lotion!
This phase isn’t just made of water, though. It also includes hydrosols or floral waters as well as water-soluble ingredients.
What type of water?
To keep contaminants to a minimum, I use distilled water for my homemade cosmetics. You could use recently boiled filtered water too. By boiling the water before using it, you can kill off any pathogenic microbes that might be present in the water.
Once you introduce water into a product, you are making way for bacteria and mold formation, so you need to use a preservative of some sort. (Learn more about when and why to use preservatives in my beginner’s guide to natural preservatives.)
Other water soluble ingredients
While you can use just water in this recipe, you can also change out part of the water for other water-based ingredients.
Let’s say you want to add a mild fragrance to your lotion without using essential oils. Rather than use 65g of water, you could use 35g water and 30g rose water in the recipe below.
Other ideas include making teas/infusions to add the benefits of certain plants.
While using herbal teas is a valid option, keep in mind that any “organic” additions to the lotion can make your lotion more prone to bacterial/fungal growth. Strain out the plant material well, if making an infusion. Also, keep in mind that the final product may not keep as well as one made with water.
Always use freshly made infusions rather than ones that has been sitting around for a while!
For products that I want to preserve, I normally only use store-bought aloe gels/juices in the water phase. Aloe is notoriously difficult to preserve, so I only add small amounts and I don’t use fresh aloe. (Although I do make my own aloe oil.)
Cosmetic formulators test their products to ensure they stay microbe-free with time. As most DIY cosmetic makers don’t do that sort of testing, it’s always best to err on the side of safety. I like to make small batches, and use the product within 3 months or less. This is especially true of products made with herbal teas or aloe.
The oil phase:
Oils and “butters” add nutrients and antioxidants to your lotions and creams. Different oils have different properties that can be beneficial for different types of skin.
Despite what many believe, not all oils provoke acne or are bad for acne-prone skin. Some oils can actually help reduce acne and the inflammation caused by it by balancing the oils in your skin. Other oils are especially good for healing dry skin, clearing up eczema, and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Sweet almond oil 
Olive oil 
Coconut oil
What oils should you use?
I have made this recipe, as written, with only olive oil and with only coconut oil, and both worked well. I assumed that the coconut oil lotion would be a bit thicker, especially in colder environments, but both lotions were pretty similar in texture.
Making a simple lotion with only one oil is a great place for people with skin sensitivities. By minimizing the number of ingredients, it’s easier to pinpoint which ingredients are problematic for each person.
That said, you can also divide up the oil phase and use a combination of oils instead. The possibilities are really endless.
High-end cosmetics often add a variety of expensive oils in small amounts. This is not only for their beneficial properties but also for product appeal. (A product made with meadowform and rosehip oil, for example, sounds a lot more expensive than one made with only olive oil, even if there is very little of each of those oils in the product.)
Emulsifiers and waxes:
Oil and water don’t combine well on their own. In order to get them to come together into a stable product, you need some sort of emulsifier or emulsifying wax.
Emulsifiers have both a water-loving and oil-loving component to them, so they work as sort of a “glue” to keep both the oil and aqueous phases of your lotion together.
Because most of the emulsifiers are called emulsifying waxes, many people think that all waxes will work as emulsifiers for making lotions.
Unfortunately, waxes like beeswax, candelilla wax or carnauba wax, can’t be used as the emulsifier for making a lotion- at least not on their own.
(I found that out the hard way when I made a mess trying to make my first lotion with beeswax many years ago.)
There are lots of different emulsifiers and emulsifying waxes on the market, each with their own properties. Some will give a different texture or weight to your lotions, others are used more for hair conditioners and similar products.
Most emulsifiers are added to the oil phase of a lotion, but there are exceptions. Depending upon the emulsifier, you may need more or less for emulsification to take place or to get the right texture.
When substituting a different emulsifier in a recipe, it’s a good idea to check on its specifications and see how they differ from the emulsifier being used.
Examples of emulsifiers
- Emulsifying wax: Emulsifying wax is a plant-based emulsifier made from wheat straw. In this simple recipe, I’m going to use emulsifying wax number 2 because it’s a common emulsifier to find on the market. It’s a good emulsifier for lotions with an oil phase of 25-40% of the recipe. (If using less than 25% oil, you’d need to add either some sort of gelling agent or a co-emulsifier like cetyl alcohol to help get a proper texture.) The recommended dosage for this emulsifier in lotions is 3-5% of the final product weight.
- Montanov 68: This emulsifier, made from coconut oil and the tapioca plant, is one of my favorites. (I guess the paleo diet lover in me loves those base ingredients.) 🙂 It’s a non-comedogenic emulsifier that is 100% biodegradable and accepted by BDIH and ECOCERT as a suitable natural cosmetic ingredient. The recommended dosage for a lotion is 4-5% of the final weight of the product.
- Olivem 1000: This interesting emulsifier comes from the olive tree plant, as the name implies. Unlike most emulsifiers, it can be melted into either the aqueous or oil phase of your recipe. The recommended dosage is 1.5-3% in serums or light lotions, or 3-8% for thicker lotions or creams. Olivem works in a wide variety of pH levels and for a wide variety of products like lotions, makeup, sunscreens, after-sun products, hair conditioners, and baby products.
- Emulsan II: Emulsan II is another plant-based emulsifier that can be used for making hydrating creams and lotions for any skin type. It should be used as 3.5-7% of the weight of ingredients, obtaining a normal texture at around 4%.
When updating this post, I decided to leave the information above with some options for emulsifiers that you can use. Since I wrote this, I’ve tested out many more emulsifying waxes. For more information about how to use emulsifying waxes, and which ones you can use, check out my beginner’s guide to emulsfiers.
Using beeswax and other waxes
Just because waxes like beeswax, carnauba wax, and candelilla wax don’t make good emulsifiers doesn’t mean that they aren’t suitable for homemade cosmetics.
Waxes can help thicken up a lotion or other emulsion, and they add staying power to certain cosmetics. They also help create a barrier that keeps moisture in your skin. I especially love waxes for making a simple homemade lip balm, a natural root concealer stick for your hair, or even a solid perfume.
The preservatives:
Preservatives are the “scary,” “non-natural” part of making lotions and other emulsions.
Once you add water to your product, it becomes lighter and absorbs more easily into your skin, but it also becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and molds.
There are people who make their own homemade lotions without preservatives thinking they will use them quickly enough to not have any problems. Even if you keep your preservative-free homemade lotion in the fridge, it will likely be filled with mold and bacteria within a couple of weeks. If you don’t use a preservative, you have to treat your lotion as if it were a general food recipe. Keep it in the fridge and toss it after 7-10 days max!
I much prefer to use a mild preservative that will allow me to have a safe product for several months.
There are natural preservatives on the market that will give your finished product a shelf life of around 2-3 months, on average, even when you store your lotion outside of the fridge. In reality, most cosmetics made with these preservatives will keep much longer than that. Without doing microbial testing on your products to see how long they really keep, I would suggest making small batches than can be used up within 3 months.
Natural preservatives
While you should use a preservative, you can choose to avoid the harsher chemical preservatives that most store-bought products use to give extended shelf lives that will allow their product to last for months and months on end.
When I first wrote this post, I gave you the following list of preservative examples. At the time, there weren’t a lot of natural preservatives on the market that were easy for me to find. I’ll keep the list up because they are still valid alternatives. That said, I now tend to use other preservatives instead. (Sharomix 705 is one of my favorites because it’s inexpensive and easy to find here in Spain.)
I suggest you read my beginner’s guide to natural preservatives to get more ideas about how to preserve your homemade cosmetics.
- Rokonsal: This preservative is a mild preservative that is accepted for natural cosmetics by the BDIH and ECO-CERT. It can be used to give a 2-3 month shelf life of products whose pH is less than 5. I use a few drops of lactic acid to lower the pH of my lotions before adding this preservative. It works against a wide spectrum of bacteria and molds and can be used at a dosage of .2% in shampoo recipes or .3-1% in lotions and creams. This is the preservative I used when I made the video of myself making a basic lotion.
- Leucidal: This ECO-CERT-approved preservative seems to be easier to find in the US, and it also seems to work on a wider pH range (3-8). It is made from fermenting radishes with the Leuconostoc Kimchii bacteria. (Kimchi? Yum! 🙂 ) One of the issues I have with Leucidal is that you need to add more of it to your products than you would with most of the other natural preservatives. (Its recommended dosage, when used alone, is somewhere between 3-4% of the recipe by weight.) It does have the added advantage of being able to augment the hydrating ability of homemade lotions. It gives your lotion a shelf life of 2-3 months.
- Geogard 221 (Cosgard): This mild preservative will help give a longer shelf life to products with a wider pH range. It’s effective in a pH range between 2 and 7, giving a shelf life of about 2 – 3 months. The recommended dosage is 0.2-1% of the final recipe by weight. Geogard is ECO-CERT approved for organic products certification.
What about essential oils and vitamin E?
Some people like to say that they are using essential oils, Vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, potassium sorbate, or even coconut oil as natural preservatives.
While it is true that coconut oil and some essential oils can have antibacterial and antifungal properties, they alone aren’t enough to preserve any type of homemade lotion. Vitamin E and grapefruit seed extract are high in antioxidants, and can help slow rancidity in the oils in your lotions. They won’t prevent the formation of bacteria and mold, though.
Potassium sorbate can be used as a preservative against mold. The problem with potassium sorbate is that it doesn’t prevent against bacteria formation. If anything, adding only potassium sorbate may actually make for a more dangerous lotion because the mold formation won’t occur, which is what normally alerts you to something going wrong in your lotion! You could end up with a bacteria laden lotion that looks perfectly normal.
Potassium sorbate can be used to help preserve certain cosmetics, though, as long as it’s used with some sort of bacteria inhibitor like 10-12% alcohol in your recipe.
Again, most of this is covered in more detail in my post about natural preservatives.
Making a homemade lotion
Once you’ve chosen your oil(s), emulsifier(s), and preservative(s), making the lotion itself is quite simple.
Use proper hygiene
To ensure a safe lotion, you should work in a clean environment. It won’t be a sterile environment, nor does it need to be. That said, you should clean and disinfect both your work surface and utensils as best you can. I like to spray down my work surfaces and utensils with my homemade disinfectant spray. (Once I spray, I wipe the surface with a clean towel and allow it to dry.)
The packaging you will be using for your homemade lotion should also be clean. I like to run heat-stable packaging through the hot dishwasher before using them. Newly bought and wrapped packaging should be ready to use, as is. In any case, you can also use a disinfectant spray (or even something like vodka) to help further sanitize the packaging.
Weigh out the ingredients
Over the years, people have requested that I give recipes in cups and other volume measurements rather than in weight measurements like grams. While I also prefer using cup measurements for most basic food recipes (where precision isn’t important), in the case of cosmetics, it’s important to use precise measurements. That’s why I write my recipes in grams.
For those who will be making their own soaps and other cosmetics, having at least one scale is essential. You can buy an inexpensive kitchen scale for under $20. A kitchen scale is great for recipes where you don’t need to be super precise. It will give you a reading to the nearest gram.
More precise measurements may be needed for making smaller batches. (For example, when measuring out preservatives or when making a homemade serum.) I use an inexpensive jeweler’s scale for those times.
I like to weigh the ingredients directly in the recipient in which I will be heating them. When weighing out multiple ingredients in the same recipient, it’s easiest to tare the scale between each ingredient addition. So, tare the scale with the recipient on it and add the first ingredient until you reach the required weight for that ingredient. Tare the scale again, and once it has reached zero, add the next ingredient. Continue that method until you have weighed out all of your ingredients.
For the lotion, you should weigh out all of the aqueous phase ingredients (water and/or hydrosols) in one recipient and the oil phase (oils and/or butters and waxes) in another recipient. The emulsifier is generally added to the oil phase (but it may depend on your emulsifier).
Heat the ingredients
In a water bath or in a pan of water over the stove, heat the ingredients of both phases. (You can also use a double boiler instead.) Heat until all of the waxes and butters have fully melted.
Both phases should be heated to around 70º-75ºC/160º-170ºF.
Heat and hold?
Some people advocate using a “heat and hold” method, where you heat both the oil phase and aqueous phase ingredients separately, and hold them at around 70º-75ºC/160º-170ºF each for around 20 minutes, before bringing them together. Some say it helps with the emulsification process. Others say it helps ensure killing off all possible pathogens.
I personally don’t use the “heat and hold” method myself, and until now haven’t had any problems with lotions separating or going bad more quickly. This is a topic that would warrant a full post, but I don’t want to go into it right now, so I’ll leave you with this post with some arguments against it. If you are having problems with lotions separating after several weeks, though, it is maybe something that you could try.
Combine the ingredients
Once you’ve reached the goal temperature range, remove both phases from the heat source and combine them immediately by pouring one phase into the other and whisking them together. For a more stable emulsion, use an immersion blender to combine the ingredients.
When they are still warm, they will still be liquid. They may also start to separate. That is normal. To prevent them from separating, periodically mix together the ingredients as they cool.
Test the pH
While the lotion is cooling, you can also test the pH and make any adjustments as needed. You want the pH of your lotion to be in a range that is good for your skin. (A pH of 5-6 is a good range.) You also want the lotion to be in a pH in which your preservative is effective. (It’s better to use a different preservative that fits your ideal pH range than to adapt the pH of your product to fit the preservative you have.)
If needed, you can adjust the pH down with a couple of drops of lactic acid (or citric acid). You can raise the pH with a solution of sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, or another alkaline pH adjuster.
I have a post dedicated to the importance of pH in cosmetics with more detailed information on the subject.
Cool down phase
Once the lotion has cooled to around 30ºC/85ºF, you can add the preservative and any other heat sensitive ingredients that you may want to add. This includes adding essential oils for fragrance. You can also add vitamins and other active ingredients. Give the ingredients a final blending with the blender or a whisk before pouring it into your packaging.
Packaging
I like to use “airless” containers or silicone tubes for my lotions because they allow you to dispense the lotion without putting your fingers into the container. When scooping a lotion out with your fingers, you are potentially contaminating it with water, bacteria, and other microbes.
Wait until the lotion is fully cooled to room temperature before capping. This is just a precaution to keep condensation from forming inside the container and floating on top of the lotion to prevent mold from forming. In any case, it’s a good idea to shake the containers well, once capped, to ensure any humidity from possible condensation is incorporated into the rest of the lotion.
Troubleshooting
If you are having issues with the emulsification process, there are several things you can try to make a more stable emulsion.
- Use more emulsifying wax. (This will also thicken your lotion.) The amount of emulsifying wax needed for a stable emulsion will depend on the emulsifier used. You can also try using a different emulsifier.
- Use a co-emulsifier. (This will also thicken your lotion.) Try adding 1-2g of a co-emulsifier like cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol to help stabilize and thicken it.
- Use an immersion blender to fully blend the phases together. Rather than whisking by hand, using an immersion blender to combine the phases can help disperse smaller droplets of oil within the water, ensuring a more stable emulsion.
- Try the “heat and hold” method.
- The mixture can also separate if the phases weren’t at a similar, hot-enough temperature. This can be remedied by re-heating the mixture over a double boiler and whisking until the mixture is well emulsified. (You’ll want to do this before adding any heat-sensitive ingredients like essential oils.)
Video
How to Make a Simple, Basic, Homemade Lotion and Customize it for Your Skin Type
Materials
- 65 g distilled water (Can use hydrosols)
- 30 g oil (Can use a combination of oils)
- 4 g emulsifying wax Use 5g for a thicker lotion.
- 1 g preservative (Adjust to recommended dosage of your preservative- 3.5g for Leucidal)
Optional ingredients
- 1 g lavender essential oil or another essential oil, for fragrance
- 3 drops lactic acid to adjust down the pH, if needed
Instructions
- Make sure all utensils, containers, and work surfaces are fully clean. I like to run heat-resistant utensils and packaging through the dishwasher. You can also clean utensils and work surfaces with a disinfectant spray and wipe them down with a clean cloth before allowing them to dry. This helps sanitize your work environment and ensure a safer lotion.
- Weigh out the aqueous phase ingredients in a small heat-resistant container. (You can also use a double boiler insert.) You should use either distilled water or freshly boiled filtered water to prevent adding any unwanted pathogens to your lotion. You can substitute floral waters or other distillates or hydrosols for the distilled water.
- Weigh out the oil phase ingredients. This includes the oil(s) and/or any butters or waxes you choose to use. It also generally includes the emulsifying wax. (Check your emulsifier to see if it should be added to the oil phase or the aqueous phase.)
- Heat both the water (or aqueous phase ingredients) and the oil phase ingredients to around 70º-75ºC/160º-170ºF. Both phases need to be around the same temperature so that the emulsification process can take place correctly. Make sure the emulsifying wax is completely melted before continuing.
- Add the hot water to the hot oil mixture and whisk the ingredients together. Using an immersion blender will help ensure a more stable emulsion.
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly. As the mixture cools, the liquid will get thicker and more opaque. Whisk the ingredients together again several times throughout the cooling process.
- As it cools, test the pH of your mixture. (You can use inexpensive pH test strips.) You want your lotion to be in a pH range that is skin-friendly. (A pH of 5-6 is a good goal range.) The pH should also be in a range in which your preservative is effective.
- If you need to lower the pH, add a few drops of lactic acid (or of a citric acid solution). Then, test the pH again. While less common, if you need to raise the pH of your lotion, you can use a solution of sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydroxide.
- Once the mixture has cooled (to around 30ºC/85ºF) and thickened slightly, you can add the preservative and any delicate, heat-sensitive ingredients you want to use. Consider adding around 1g of an essential oil for fragrance.
- Mix together all ingredients, and pour the mixture into the final containers.
- Wait until the lotion is fully cooled to room temperature before capping. This is just a precaution to keep condensation from forming inside the container and floating on top of the lotion to prevent mold from forming. In any case, it's a good idea to shake the containers, once capped, to ensure any humidity from possible condensation is incorporated into the rest of the lotion.
- Enjoy your lotion! Store it and use it for up to 3 months. Then, make a fresh batch!
Notes
Weighing ingredients
I find that the best way of weighing multiple ingredients in the same container is to tare the scale between adding ingredients. So, tare the scale with the empty container. Then, add the first ingredient to the container until you reach the required weight. Tare again before adding other ingredients.Emulsifiers
There are a wide variety of emulsifying waxes that you can use to make your homemade lotion! Some of my favorites are Montanov 68 and Olivem 1000. The emulsifier chosen will affect the consistency and texture of your lotion. For more information about emulsifying waxes, check out my guide to emulsifiers.Heat and hold?
Some people advocate using a “heat and hold” method, where you heat both the oil phase and aqueous phase ingredients separately, and hold them at around 70º-75ºC/160º-170ºF for around 20 minutes before bringing them together. Some say it helps with the emulsification process. Others say it helps ensure killing off all possible pathogens. I personally don’t use the “heat and hold” method myself, and until now haven’t had any problems with lotions separating or going bad more quickly. This is a topic that would warrant a full post, but I don’t want to go into it right now, so I’ll leave you with this post with some arguments against it. If you are having problems with lotions separating after several weeks, it is something that you could consider trying.pH
For more information about the proper pH and how to adjust it, read about the importance of pH in cosmetics.Troubleshooting
If you are having issues with the emulsification process, there are several things you can try to make a more stable emulsion.- Use more emulsifying wax. (This will also thicken your lotion.)
- Use a co-emulsifier. (This will also thicken your lotion. Try adding 1-2g of a co-emulsifier like cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol.)
- Use an immersion blender to fully blend the phases together.
- Try the “heat and hold” method.
Packaging
I like to use ‘airless’ containers or silicone tubes because they allow you to dispense the lotion without putting your fingers into a container and contaminating the lotion.Preservatives
I like to use natural preservatives in my product. They don’t preserve the product for years at a time, but should give you a product that keeps for several months. Some of my favorites are Sharomix 705 and Euxyl K903. I have also used other preservatives like Cosgard, Rokonsol, and Leucidal in the past. Use the preservative at the recommended dosage for that preservative. (Most natural preservatives are used at around 0.8-1% of the product by weight. Leucidal needs to be used at a higher dosage, around 3-4%.) For more information about preservatives, check out my guide to natural preservatives.Storage
Natural preservatives give the final product a shelf life of around 3 months. (It should keep longer than that if made with proper hygiene, but without doing microbial testing, it’s best to err on the side of caution with homemade cosmetics!) I make lotion in small batches so that I use it up within 2-3 months. It’s a good idea to date your containers so that you know when you should toss the remaining lotion and make a new batch. (Once you get the hang of it, you can easily make a new batch in less than half an hour, so this isn’t really an issue!)This post was originally published February 24, 2017. It was rewritten, adding more information, new photos, and an updated video in April of 2021.
Hi Tracy,
I really like your recipe, it’s easy yet explains everything clearly and I’m really glad that you actually know the difference between lotion and body butters!
I found all the ingredients in my city, Budapest, but I’m a bit scared of distilled water. the reason is that distilled water can’t be consumed because it would deprive your body from minerals, it could harm your body if you drink it. and I know you used distilled water to prevent your lotion going bad quickly.
but can’t i use simple boiled tap water? I know that then the lotion won’t last that long but still I really don’t want to use something on my skin that I couldn’t drink. I know that the other ingredients are not consumable either but I read up on them and those are natural ingredients so those don’t concern me.
thank you for your answer in advance.
and again thank you for the recipe and all the information, it’s so useful!
– Cecilia
Hi Cecilia,
Thank you so much. I went to your city many years ago, and it was beautiful!
OK, well here is my opinion on the subject.
Distilled water can be consumed, but you are right about your body needing the minerals from water that distilled water is lacking. You definitely wouldn’t want to be drinking a lot of it, and especially not over the long term because you’d be missing out on the minerals your body needs for proper functioning (and yes, you’d probably start leaching minerals out of places already stored in your body to compensate). Actually, the reverse osmosis filters that many people use for their water has similar problems which is why there is usually a filter that adds minerals back in after having filtered them out.
The problem with using regular water in a recipe like this one is that it’s hard to know which microbes and other impurities might be in that water. Boiling the water would definitely help, and probably would kill off most of the problematic bacteria, but I’m not really sure what would be left over. Natural preservatives tend to be safer than their not-so-natural counterparts, but they are also not as good at preserving products over the long term. I know from people who develop natural products that even adding too many botanicals to products that use natural preservatives, like aloe juice or honey, can make it very difficult for their product to pass safety testing.
The problem with us making products at home is that most of us aren’t going to go through the expense of getting our products tested for microbes. That’s why I like to err on the side of caution. I’m sure these lotions would be safe to use for much longer than 3 months, but I prefer not to risk it. While you can generally see mold as soon as it forms, you can’t really see bacterial formation. I saw pictures of somebody who got a rash from bacterial contamination in a lotion and it wasn’t a pretty sight!
So, I guess to make my long answer short…
You could probably get away with it if your water quality is good, and you boil the water first. I personally feel safer using distilled water (and often distill my own, and make hydrosols by passing the vapor through flowers and herbs). Either way, keep an eye out for any changes in your lotion, and if something looks off, throw it away and make a new batch. 😉
Hi again 🙂
I’m glad you liked my hometown, it is beautiful indeed, I love it too 😀
Thank you for taking the time to write this detailed reply, I really appreciate it.
Just one more question; could this homemade lotion last at least one week if I use boiled tap water? Or would it last around 3-4 days like food that contains tap water?
I wouldn’t mind making a weekly batch, I could work that into my weekends.
Thank you again for your reply in advance.
Hello again,
Are you planning on using a preservative like the Leucidal or another natural preservative?
If so, I’d imagine that it would last for at least a month or two, even if using boiled tap water. Of course, this is all guessing, but I imagine that you’d have killed off most microbes and that the preservative should be able to keep what’s left at bay for at least that long.
If you aren’t using a preservative, then you’d have to store in the fridge, and even then I’m not sure how long it would keep. Perhaps up to a week, but I wouldn’t use it longer than that personally. I’d also throw it out at the first sign of anything changing.
Hi Cecilia, i have found out that distilled water is actually quit good for you. It pulls the heavy metals out of our system. It is all i drink anymore if i have my way about it.
Hi Shelly,
That’s interesting. Do you take any sort of mineral supplement to make up for the lack of minerals in the water?
Hi Tracy . Nice and simple recipe. If I want to make Aloe Vera based lotion , when should I add the gel and to which part? oil or water? Also if I want to make conditioner then what changes do I need to make like increasing oils that are good for hair?. Thanks
Hello!
I’d use the aloe as part of your water component. You have to be careful with aloe, though. If you use fresh aloe gel, it makes it very difficult to safely preserve the lotion. If you are using a commercial aloe gel, some of the other ingredients may affect your lotion in different ways. I like the aloe juice that they sell for lotions and soaps, personally, but it is more expensive. It usually has a natural preservative, but not other ingredients that could throw things off for you.
I make conditioner all of the time, and love it. It’s so much better than what I’ve bought in stores. What’s important in a conditioner is the emulsifier you use. BTMS is a great emulsifier because it’s light and does a really good job of detangling hair. I LOVE it. You can find my basic hair conditioner recipe here. I’ll be posting a thicker, hair mask recipe soon. 🙂
Oh, I should say that you could also use aloe oil as part of the oil component. There is some debate as to if the oil components of the aloe plant are as powerful as the water-based ones, but I think if you were to use both aloe oil and aloe juice, you’d really be getting the best of both worlds. You can find aloe oil for sale, but I also have a tutorial for how to make aloe oil.
I would also like to say that I wouldn’t use aloe juice for the entire water component. Too much can also make it difficult to preserve properly, especially when using the more natural preservatives. Use part water, part aloe juice, and if you want, you can also add a bit of a hydrosol for its aroma and other properties.
Thanks Tracy. I have a commercial aloe gel. I will try making a small batch and then see how it goes.
Great! Good luck!
Hi, I very excited to try the recipe. Is it possible to add Dead Sea Salt? And if so how much and when? Thank you so much for your wealth of information!
Hi Heidi,
I don’t see why not, but I’m not really sure how much would be a good amount. I’ve never added any salts to my lotions.
If I were to do it, though, I’d probably dissolve it into the water phase while heating it. I guess it’s all about experimentation. 😉
Hi. Nice recipe however I found getting the ingredients to 70c just about boiled the water away and lotion ended up consistency of mayo. Maybe something wrong with my thermometer?
Hi Corina,
The water shouldn’t be boiling, and you aren’t keeping it heated for very long, unless you’re trying the heat and hold method, so it shouldn’t evaporate away so much as to make a huge difference. If you do do the heat and hold method, or otherwise having issues with evaporation, I’d recommend using more water at the beginning and weighing it out at the moment you are adding it (already hot) to your hot oils.
Another reason you may end up with a super thick lotion is the emulsifier. Different emulsifiers are used in different amounts, and generally, the more you add, the thicker your final lotion will be.
You can normally thin out your lotion without any problems. You can try incorporating a little bit of distilled water and mixing very thoroughly. (You want to make sure your water is fully incorporated with the preservatives and other ingredients rather than sitting on top where it can start to cause mold formation.) Don’t add too much or you may have to adjust your preservative accordingly. (You can add a few more drops to account for the fact that you have a higher final volume of lotion.)
If you find that adding water after the fact throws off your emulsion, you can reheat everything and stir together until well emulsified. If you do reheat, remember that some of the delicate ingredients like the preservatives and essential oils may be affected by the heat and you may want to add more to compensate.
I hope that helps!
Hi Tracy, I used your recipe to make lotion this past weekend and it came out great! I had so much fun! I made one batch with almond oil and orange essential oil and another one with coconut oil and lavender essential oil. You had mentioned that you would be making a post about your favorite oils and their properties. Have you done that yet? My dad has really dry cracked hands and I want to make something special for him. Thank you!
Betsy
Hi Betsy,
I’m so happy you were able to make some successful batches! Isn’t it great?!?!
It’s really empowering to be able to make your own facial creams, too, because those can be so expensive, and most are filled with a lot of unwanted ingredients. I’ll try to get more of those types of recipes up soon too!
No, I’m sorry. I haven’t gotten around to posting about my favorite oils. I’ve been taking a natural surfactants course to be able to share some other types of posts soon, and I got a bit sidetracked. Plus, I’ve been fixing some older posts, and other stuff on the blog, to make it faster and get it in tip top shape so I can focus on the future again.
Thanks for the reminder, though- it’s definitely something I’ll put on my priority list.
Hi Tracy, I was wanting to know if I could mix hand lotion in my home made soap?
Hi Rebekah,
What sort of soap are you talking about? A bar soap or a liquid soap?
Any oils in the lotion would have to be figured into the bar soap recipe- and I’m not sure how the emulsifiers and other stuff would even react. I’ve never tried anything like that.
I haven’t tried mixing liquid soap with lotion either, though. Depending upon how much is added, which soap and which lotion, it may affect the pH in a way that either could cause the soap to fall apart, or could make throw off the preservatives.
What, exactly, are you trying to achieve by mixing them? To have a more hydrating soap? I guess I’d really need to know that to be able to help you.
You could superfat the soap more with a conditioning oil if you find the soap drying.
Hi Tracy,
Thank you again for your response. I didn’t want to post my comment formally due to your last statement.
‘So, if you do plan on doing things that way, don’t tell anybody I was the one who told you to do it that way, but feel free to experiment like I do. ?? Ha!”
Finally, I have met a kindred spirit. I too am one for finding new rules. So is Rosemary Gladstar an herbalist that I adore.
So while I was waiting for your response, I decided to take another whirl at the recipe. This time I boiled the distilled infused water for 20 min. to kill any pathogens. Then let cool. I did not use any Aloe in the blend this time. Then I melted the oil, water and emulsifier together to a temperature of 170. After 5 min. took off heat. I then used the immersion mixer to blend into a creamy mixture. Voilà.!!! Attempt 3….Its perfect, now day 2 and no separation.
If you want to post this comment, feel free. Your are also welcome to edit it for your blog.
One more question, you mentioned you are taking a course on emulsifiers in one of your comments to another reader. Can I be so bold to ask you what one you are taking? I was considering Formula Botanica.
Have a great weekend.
Warmest Wishes,
Sarah
Hi Tracy
Thank you for posting this recipe. I have made it a couple of times but I seem to be experiencing problems with separation. Instead of using 100% distilled water I substituted with half Aloe Vera and half a green tea infused distilled water. Do you possibly know why this is happening? Would love your advice.
Hi Courtney,
There are a number of things that could be happening. What emulsifier are you using?
I would make my first batch with water to get used to the process and see how things normally work with your emulsifier. While you can substitute some of the liquid ingredients, I wouldn’t switch the water out 100%, Most products, even expensive, highly concentrated ones, are using mostly water. Extracts and other additives can affect the emulsification process, especially if added in high concentrations. Aloe is also somewhat tricky sometimes, because the gels add other ingredients which may or may not react well with your other ingredients and fresh aloe can make a product go bad more quickly, so it makes preservation a bit trickier. Depending upon which aloe you used, it may or may not be affecting your emulsion.
(OK- I just re-read your questions and realized that you used green tea infused water and not green tea extract. That should be fine and not cause issues, but I’ll leave what I wrote above in the hopes it will help others.)
I would hold the ingredients together over the double boiler for a bit longer, and use an electric mixer to whip them together as they cool. An electric mixer definitely helps get everything into a much more stable emulsion. If you’re re-heating your batch to fix it, keep in mind that some of the gentle ingredients, like the essential oils and preservatives, are heat sensitive, so you’ll probably want to add more as the mixture cools again.
Hi Tracy, Thanks I will try that. I do have one more question. I did make one batch that turned out and did not separate after a couple of days. After reviewing my notes, I did what you suggested by reheating all the ingredients over a double boiler, re-adding essential oils and preservatives.
So I was wondering, can you add all the ingredients (waters, oils, emulsifier) together instead of separately, heat to 170 degrees, remove and use an immersion blender after which adding essential oils and preservatives.
ps. love your blog posts! Thank you again for your suggestions
Hi Sarah,
Thank you! Happy to help.
To answer your question- Well, you’re technically not supposed to do things that way. I’m not sure if it’s because the lotion making gods want people cooking up the water separately to kill extra microbes that may affect your mixture (that’s part of the argument for the heat and hold method that I touched on in the post). On the other hand, if you’re only heating to the recommended temperatures, you’re not really killing everything off anyway. It may also help make for a more stable emulsion, but I’m not sure why. In practice- I have to admit that I have tried it, and it worked just fine. (I often like to defy rules and see how things work for myself.)
So- can you do it that way? Well, yes. Are you supposed to do it that way? No, but I’m not really sure what the real reasoning is. I’ve found through my soap making experiences that once something is established as a rule, everybody just automatically follows it and most people don’t experiment on their own to see why. There may or may not be a great reason why you should always heat separately first, but I’m not aware of what it is.
So, if you do plan on doing things that way, don’t tell anybody I was the one who told you to do it that way, but feel free to experiment like I do. 😉 Ha!
Hi Sarah and Tracy
This is the answer for your question why you heat both oil and water separately
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.co.id/2010/12/why-we-heat-and-hold-our-ingredients.html?m=1
Hi Alana,
Thanks for the link. Yes, I’ve read this before, and I still don’t think it really makes sense. I mean, I get the concept of trying to get to the temperature before you emulsify, which I also try to do, but don’t understand why you would want to hold it for 20 minutes before mixing them together. I also know of people who make professional formulas who do it in the same container, something that I don’t normally do myself. I at least try to heat both before combining them, but don’t bother with the having them stay at that temperature for a long time before combining. I’ve never done the heat and hold like that, but then again, I’ve never had separation before in a product before it was either used up or time to throw it out anyway, so…
I have experiencing some difficulty and separation because i put all the ingredient in one place, maybe you’re just lucky?
By the way i’m so glad to found another “natural” blogger that know the differences between body lotion and body butter, and know the importance to preserve product that contain water, so thank you!
Hi Alana,
Ha- yes, I tend to be lucky, I think. 🙂 That said, I think it has a lot to do with which emulsifier you use and how much of each other ingredients that are being used with that particular emulsifier. It took me a long time to get my roll on deodorant recipe up on the blog- not because it didn’t work, but because I was having a hard time getting a stable emulsion with such a light lotion. (I didn’t want it too thick or it wouldn’t roll on easily). If adding more emulsifier, I could always get a stable emulsion, but at the low levels needed for a light lotion, it was more difficult.
I actually got it perfect on my first try, but I was using Montanov 68, an emulsifier that I happen to love made from coconut and yuca. The problem was that I didn’t find Montanov 68 to be readily available in the US. Plus, I don’t want to be telling people to buy 300 different emulsifiers for different recipes. I want to find ingredients that will work will to make most of my products so people don’t have to spend a fortune to make everything. I was finally able to get it to work repeatedly with BTMS, and finally got it up. In the meantime, though, a lot of people were writing me about when it would be on the blog. 😉
I’d like to reiterate, that while I have experimented a bit with doing things the “wrong way”- as I did on purpose to be able to show in the video above that things can normally be fixed when you heat them back up again together, I do always heat them up separately before mixing them together. I do heat separately, but don’t do the heat and hold where they are heated separately for 20 minutes before combining them. Although I will say that when I first started out, and didn’t know any better, I probably always added cold water to the heated oils and never had any issues there either. I still have a bit of one lotion (that I don’t use) from over a year ago, that I’ve just sort of left as a scientific experiment. It was probably made with that method. It looks pretty much the same as it did when I first made it. It may have bacterial growth that can’t be seen, but no visible mold or separation, so the emulsion appears to have been pretty stable despite my adding cold water to hot oils.
I really do appreciate your comments, Alana. I try hard to do lots of research before putting something up on my blog. I’m just finishing up a course in natural surfactants, so I hope to be sharing some different types of natural cleansers that don’t use soap soon. (That’s how I got in the group with cosmetic formulators- and hear how they do things, which is how I found that some actually do heat all of their ingredients together. I don’t think I’ve ever tried doing it that way myself, though, yet.) 😉
Hi Tracy,
Thanks so much for this great recipe. I have used it a few times with great success and have become confident in modifying it by using different oils. Yesterday I made a batch which I thought was going to be my best yet, however I find it is stinging my eyes a little. I would like to give this as gifts and wanted it to be a nice gentle lotion. My recipe is:
Distilled water 54%
Aloe vera gel 10%
Sweet almond oil 20%
Jojoba oil 10%
Emulsifying wax 4%
Liquid germall plus 0.5%
Frankincense EO 1%
Geranium rose E) 0.5%
Can you see what the issue is? I have not used Frankincense before and wondered it it could be this. Or is the issue that the mixture is still quite fresh and the problem will resolve once the lotion has had time to settle? I have new scales and am not confident in their accuracy. It is possible that the essential oil concentration was higher than intended.
Also, I wondered if you had a recipe for an anti-aging serum. I have made one using hyaluronic acid and vitamin c which was lovely and gel-like but has turned to water in my hot climate!
Thanks again for giving us beginners so much support.
Melanie.
Hi Melanie!
I’m so happy that it’s been going well for you, most of the time. 🙂
My guess would be that yes, one of the essential oils is the likely culprit.
I haven’t ever used either frankincense or geranium for a facial cream, so I don’t know how I react to it, but I did read that some people have either allergic reactions or other skin irritations from either one of those oils.
Geranium oil is said to cause eye irritation, so I’d personally avoid using it around your eyes, or be careful in using small amounts in products you’ll be using close to your eyes. I tend to try for very gentle oils for that sensitive area. (You don’t have to be weighing the oils- and could use less- just enough to get the desired scent. That should be enough to give you its beneficial properties too.)
I’m going to be working on lots of different natural products this year!
I’m currently finishing up taking a course on natural surfactants, and have been learning a lot about them specifically, but also ingredients and products that I can use to elaborate all sorts of different natural products. I’m hoping to share those posts with you ASAP.
I haven’t been posting as much lately because I really want to finish learning as much as I can to make sure I have good, accurate information to share with all of you! But, yes, a serum or two are definitely on my “to-do” list. I’m working on it! 🙂
Also- you may find that the issue is specific to you- so maybe one of your friends or family members would be a happy and willing guinea pig to test out your cream. You may be more sensitive to those oils than others. So, don’t think of it as a total waste!
You could also consider making another batch, without the EO’s, and combining the batches to lower the dosage of the EO’s in the original batch to see how you handle that!
Thanks for your quick reply Tracy. I was really concerned about this ‘failure’ so attempted a repeat of the recipe using the same formula as I had used before. I have used both EOs previously without difficulty but did drop back the concentration in a batch I made last night. I also left out the aloe vera and used phenonip as the preservative (as per my original recipe) and have no problems with this batch. I think the issue may actually have been the pH! I did test it but when I retested last night it was around 6.5 (I think – those strips can be tricky!). Anyway, the closer I stick to your original formula the better the results. I can’t wait to see what other great products you have in store for us this year!
Thanks again,
Melanie.
Hi Melanie,
I’m so happy to hear that it all worked out! 🙂
Yeah- the test strips aren’t great- but they do work as a cheap way to get an idea of where your pH is, more or less.
I’m finishing up my course this week. Then I’ll be doing a bit of further study and experimentation, and hope to share lots of stuff soon! 🙂
Hi there…
My question is, you mentioned that one of the reasons you prefer lotion over butters is because its cheaper. Im in question of that, because in my first attempt at a lotion (not your recipe), which failed…I believe I doubled the recipe because im trying to make natural products to sell. I had bought the leucidal preservative (small bottle), followed the chart for 4%, and it didn’t even have enough in the preservative bottle to cover two 8 oz bottles of lotion! Therefore, that makes for a very expensive bottle of lotion in my opinion. I’m so confused as to what other products need preservatives (I seem to be getting mixed information), so do you have any advice on the most affordable preservative to use…and what products need it?
Tysm
Hi Brenda,
I’m really surprised by that. I have small bottles and have been using the same bottles for numerous recipes- I definitely didn’t finish the bottle with a couple of batches of lotion! Let’s see if we can start there and pinpoint the problem. How big was your bottle of Leucidal? I think mine mentions around 20 drops being a gram. I usually make 100g batches, so I’d need around 3-4 grams of Leucidal (60-80 drops). (My bottle says to aim for the 3-4% range) My batch would be under half of what your 8 oz bottles hold. So, you’re making over 4 times the size of my recipe. I guess that would mean you’d need around 18 grams, or less than that if you follow the recommendation on my bottle. (This website claims it’s effective at 2%. ) I’m trying to find out what the weight is of Leucidal because I’d love to be able to calculate how many batches you should be able to get from a certain sized bottle. I can’t seem to find that information, though.
I’m wondering if maybe your scale isn’t accurate when you get to the point of adding in the preservative. Many small scales that measure 2 decimal places or beyond, are less accurate as you add more weight to them. So, if the scale is empty and you add 4 grams, those 4 grams are measured accurately. If you have 100g of lotion on the scale, though, and try to add 4 grams, you may end up having to add more than that to get the scale to move. (It shouldn’t be that way, but I’ve had that problem before with some scales.)
You’ll need a preservative for any water based product. (Actually, I’ve recently learned through a course I’m taking that if the product has a pH above 9, you wouldn’t really need a preservative. I’m guessing at a certain acidic pH, you wouldn’t either.)
There are many preservatives available. I chose Leucidal because it seemed widely available both here and in the US, so I wanted to be able to link to an ingredient that was pretty generally accesible. I also chose it because it’s completely natural, and many of my readers are very picky about that. I tend to be pretty open to trying lots of different preservatives on the more natural end of the scale. So far I’ve used Rokonsal, Leucidal, and Geogard. There are many out there to choose from, though.
I’d definitely always start with small batches, no matter what you choose, especially when working with a new recipe. That, in itself, is a great way to help save yourself from unnecessarily wasting ingredients.
I make homemade facial moisturizers, deodorants, etc., etc., and I save a lot of money in the end. (Once I have a good working recipe, at least. I buy a lot of extra ingredients, and use a lot in recipe development and such. So, I may not always be saving money, but a normal person not concentrating on buying a lot of extra ingredients and products to try should be able to easily save money.) Especially if you compare to the price of a small bottle of natural facial moisturizer compared to mine.
I hope that helps somewhat?
Hi I just made a lotion and at first was great and about a week later started breaking out. I had a small amount of cocoa butter in it as part of my oils along with apricot kernel oil, shea butter and Argan oil. Even though I used the Leucidal now I’m trying to figure out if the reaction was to cocoa butter being comedogenic or if it’s bacteria reaction. I had small spots on my neck and jaw as well as my face so I’m not sure how to gauge, if it’s purely clogged pores or something more. Anyways the reaction is going away once I stopped using it. And I ordered a microbial kit to be safe. I did sterilize everything in a bleach water before making the lotion.
Hi Courtney,
This is going to be a frustrating answer, but…
It can be almost impossible to determine what is causing the breakout for you.
I recently started a course in formulating cosmetics with natural surfactants, and am in a Facebook group with a lot of people who make their own skincare lines. They were talking about comedogenic readings the other day, and were saying how inaccurate they can be because each person will have a different reaction to different products. Even in people with acne prone skin, one ingredient may be problematic for u¡one person and perfect for another. They also mentioned that most of the testing for comedogenic rating was done on animals. To complicate things even more, many people go through a “purging” stage, as it’s called, when they start using a new product. They may actually start to break out at first while the skin is adjusting to the new formulation, and may eventually clear up and do very well on the new formulation. (It’s up to you how long you want to try experimenting with your skin, though, and how long to stick it out to see if it clears up or not.)
That said, cocoa butter does have a comedogenic rating of 4, which is on the higher end of the spectrum, so it is very likely that it could be the ingredient causing you problems. Shea butter and argan oil tend to be great oils for people with acne prone skin. (I used both in my moisturizer for acne prone skin. You may want to check out that post for more ideas.) Apricot kernel oil falls between the other oils in the comedogenic rating spectrum. It may or may not be problematic for you.
I doubt that the problem has to do with your method in making the moisturizer. It’s more likely you reacting to one or a combination of the different oils.
I hope that helps.
Tracy, thank you so much for getting back to me. I got microbial test kits and they came back positive for tons of bacteria. So I think that is my answer! I will check out the Facebook groups. I’m going to upp the amount of Leucidal Liquid sf and go through an extra step in sterilization.