Make Your Own Homemade Hand Cream
Using just a few ingredients making hand cream at home can be a relaxing activity that gives you time to self soothe and indulge the senses. Combining natural, non-toxic, hypoallergenic ingredients, you can infuse essential oils that will revitalize your hands and make them smooth again.
What you’ll need
There are a few basic items you’ll need and some optional essential oils to add fragrance to your liking. Prepare these items ahead of time so when you’re ready to make it, everything is ready for you.
You can make this hand cream with or without beeswax. Your decision may be for reasons of cost or concern over the bee industry. Both options will yield a luxurious cream to soothe your hands with.
No time to make your hand cream? Purchase a small jar of unscented hand cream and some essential oils. Transfer the cream into a larger bowl or multiple bowls and add a few drops of essential oils to the unscented cream. Enjoy your favorite scent as you blend it with the hand cream. Use your fingers to blend the cream and enjoy its calming effects.
Make it with beeswax
INGREDIENTS
- 1/8 cup of shea butter
- 1/8 cup of sweet almond oil or coconut oil RBD or extra virgin
- 1 tablespoon of beeswax
- 10-15 drops of essential oils
INSTRUCTIONS
- Melt your ingredients without boiling them. Use either a double boiler or your microwave. In the microwave, melt for about 1:30 minutes, stirring every :30 seconds.
- Cool the ingredients for 10-15 minutes.
- Add essential oils and mix/whip the ingredients until it starts to harden.
- Pour into smaller jars or glass containers for storage.
Make it without beeswax
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of shea butter
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil
- 1/4 cup of another oil (avocado oil, almond, jojoba, or even olive oil)
- 3 tablespoons of non-GMO corn starch or arrowroot powder
- 2 tablespoons of distilled water (optional)
- 10 drops of essential oil (optional)
Instructions
- Melt coconut oil, avocado oil, and shea butter on the stovetop until mixture is liquified
- Add the essential oils and put the mixture into the fridge until it’s solidified
- Combine corn starch, water, and add to your mixture.
- Pour the lotion into containers
Storing your hand cream
Your hand cream will stay good on the shelf for as long as three months. If you added the Optiphen Plus (see ingredients below), the shelf life increases significantly. Store away from direct sunlight, heat sources or areas of high moisture for best quality.
Sharing it with your friends and family
Place your hand cream into glass jars. Small or large, you can decorate them to make them personal gifts. For example, add a simple ribbon or twine with a hand written name of the scent. Add a sticker label decorated with your own unique style.
More about the ingredients
A homemade moisturizing hand cream is most effective when the ingredients are natural, environmentally friendly and sustainably sourced. Here is some more information about the ingredients:
Beeswax: Known to be a naturally occurring humectant, beeswax can draw water from the air unto your skin to keep you moisturized for long. It also reduces the amount of grease in your hand cream. If you want your hand cream to look creamy instead of whitish use yellow golden wax.
Carrier oils: Sweet almond oil is an excellent choice of oil to mix into your moisturizing hand cream recipe. It is an effective moisturizer that also provides your hands with vitamins that soothe the skin.
Essential oils: Consider lavender essential oil for its anti-inflammatory properties that will nurture your skin.
Shea butter: A powerful skin moisturizer that will helps to keep your skin feeling fresh. Replace half of the shea butter with coconut oil or cocoa butter if you want a less greasy feeling cream.
Optiphen Plus: If you made the recipe with water and want to store your cream add a preservative to prevent mould and bacteria growth. Optiphen Plus is a broad-spectrum preservative that is paraben-free and is gentle for a safe, effective hand cream.
