Make your own lotion

Just made up some lotion for myself and DG -- she nixed the fragrance choice for my last batch, Champa Oriental, so I switched to a Paloma Picasso type for this one. God forbid I should make anyone smell like a "head shop" as I was so informed. I like to think of it as smelling more like "church."

Anyway, I haven't blogged much about my beauty and hygiene supply making, mostly because I haven't had time to make any. But with an unexpected day off from school for DJ (unexpected to me and the old man as today begins the Thanksgiving break) we ran errands in the morning on bike (I'm feeling smug and disgusted simultaneously, if that's possible) and then waited back at the casa for the old man to get home from work.

The lotion recipe I use comes from the good people at Florida Suncoast Soapworks and is really easy. It does require buying a couple of ingredients you can't find in your local health food store and there are only a couple of suggestions I would make to more cost-conscious people who want to try their hand at making this stuff; substitute emulsifying wax for the sorbitan stearate, which you can trade out in equal amounts. The recipe also calls for jojoba oil which is great but kind of pricey so you can use coconut oil which you can find in any health food store. If you use the emulsifying wax, make sure to pre-melt the mixture used in the oil phase with a hot water bath -- the previous batch I made still had flakes of e-wax in it which does not make for a pleasant lotioning experience.

Of course, finding a supplier near your home is probably better but Snowdrift Farm is also a good place to go for supplies and recipes.