Homemade lotion is gift idea that can be so easy it's almost cheating. Combined with the other homemade gift ideas on this blog, such as the homemade soap, lip balm, and bath bombs, homemade lotion would make an excellent additional gift idea to a homemade gift basket of bath products. Most people enjoy lotion, and it becomes almost a necessity for some during the winter months as the air gets drier. Lotion can be a potentially successful homemade gift for men as well if scented properly. The following tutorial uses a premade lotion base that takes a lot of the work out this project. If you want to customize your lotion base check out this lotion making tutorial. You can purchase this lotion-making kit with all of the ingredients to make the lotion base from scratch.
Ingredients.
As with many of the other bath products listed on this blog, all of the ingredients can be purchased through brambleberry.com. They have an entire section on lotion-making products. You can also purchase a pre-made lotion kit that contains everything you need to make 4 4-ounce bottles of lotion. Of course, you are stuck with the scent and color that is in the kit.
Pre-made lotion base. If purchasing a gallon or more, consider buying a pump for the top of the bottle. Some health food stores actually carry lotion in bulk. Our local grocery co-op carries bulk lotion in their health and wellness section Fragrance oil or essential oil. Essential oils, though more expensive, have a purer and less artificial scent than the fragrance oil. Lotion Container Avery full sheet labels if you want to personalize the bottle
Directions
This couldn't be any easier.
Pour your desired amount of lotion into a Pyrex or other heat-resistant container. Mix in your desired amount of essential oil or fragrance. Start with adding a few drops. Nothing exhausts the olfactory sense than over-scented lotion. Pour into the lotion container. If the lotion will not pour well, try heating up the lotion in 10-20 second intervals. Don't get the lotion too hot as it might start to separate. Make your label and apply to the bottle and you are done.
Another way to dispense the lotion into the containers is to pour the lotion into a Ziploc bag. Mix in the fragrance. Then, cut one of the corners out of the baggie, and squeeze into the container. This method will waste about 5% of the lotion however.
Also, you can add colorant in step 2 if you desire, but colored lotion just never seems natural to me.
I personally have not tried making these homemade gifts, but I'm sure everybody on your list will be happy to receive them.
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