I recently got my hands on a few new essential oils and have fallen utterly in love with yuzu and fine lavender. Just the other day, I created a homemade soy candle using these stunning essential oils and knew that I wanted to incorporate them in a few more DIY projects, hence today’s recipe – yuzu lavender hand and body lotion!
Yuzu Lavender Hand and Body Lotion Recipe
This lotion is decadent, thick, creamy, and incredibly moisturizing making it the perfect companion to have when the weather tries sucks your skin dry.
Last night, I ran out of my black spruce, lavender, and peppermint hand cream, so it was high time to try another new ingredient I recently got my hands on that I’m super excited about– capuacu butter!
This amazing butter hails from a tree in the Amazonian rainforest that’s related to cacao which is why it often has a slight earthy yet chocolatey aroma reminiscent of cocoa butter.
It has an incredibly creamy texture due to its high stearic acid content and has some pretty astounding hydrophilic properties (which means it’s water-loving) that boost your skin’s ability to retain moisture.
In fact, capuacu butter is able to attract up to 240% its weight in water which allows it to hydrate and plump the skin better than any other natural butter or carrier oil.
I’ve paired it with mango butter to keep the lotion from feeling greasy yet still give your skin that soft and supple feel.
I think it’s a winner, guys!
So, are you excited to try it?
Here’s what you’ll need to make my yuzu lavender hand and body lotion:
• An accurate kitchen scale
• A flexible spatula
• Two pyrex measuring cups
• An emulsion blender
• One 4oz container of choice
• Your preservative of choice
• 80g distilled water (do not use tap water)
• 3.4g vegetable glycerin
• 7.8g emulsifying wax
• 10.1g mango butter
• 10.1g capuacu butter
• 8 drops yuzu essential oil
• 10 drops fine lavender essential oil (has a more complex lavender aroma)
This recipe makes 4oz of lotion with a 1% dilution of essential oils.
Loving Preparation – Yuzu Lavender Hand and Body Lotion Recipe
1. Begin by measuring out the distilled water and vegetable glycerin into one of the pyrex measuring cups.
2. Next, measure out the emulsifying wax, mango butter, and capuacu butter into the second pyrex measuring cup.
3. Bring one inch of water to a gentle simmer in a large saucepan and place both pyrex measuring cups in the center to heat up/melt the ingredients.
4. Once the butters and emulsifying wax have melted through, remove both pyrex measuring cups from the saucepan and place them on a kitchen towel.
5. Pour the water ingredients into the melted ingredients and use the emulsion blender on the lowest setting to mix thoroughly.
6. Continue to blend the ingredients using the emulsion blender every 5-10 minutes until the ingredients are cool and really begin to thicken.
7. Add the essential oils and mix them in with the flexible spatula. If you are using a preservative, now is the time to add it and mix it in.
8. Pour the final product into a 4oz container and enjoy!
This lotion has been especially helpful in combatting dry and cracked cuticles, elbows, and knees because it has some great staying power and absorbability. My skin feels soft and moisturized for hours after use.
I think cacuacu butter is my new favorite thing!
Have you ever use capuacu butter before in your homemade skin care recipes? How did you like it?
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