This shea butter lotion recipe is a lovely way to create a natural everyday moisturizer that feels nourishing and lightweight on your skin.
Shea butter is known for its rich protective qualities, but sometimes it can feel a bit heavy on its own. So to balance this, we’ve combined it with much lighter ingredients resulting in a smooth, creamy lotion that softens and hydrates without leaving that unwanted greasy finish.
If you’re looking for a simple lotion guide, this is a great place to start. It’s an easy to follow recipe that works well for everyday use, and can be adapted to suit your skin.
Spotlight On The Benefits
- A nourishing shea butter lotion to help soften and protect overly dry skin.
- Has a lightweight texture that absorbs easily without it feeling too greasy.
- Combines moisture & hydration for a balanced skin care result.
- Simple recipe that is suitable for beginners.
- Leaves your skin feeling smooth, soft and comfortable.
- Made with natural skin-friendly ingredients.
- Easy to customize, with different oils or essential oils.
- A practical, everyday natural moisturizing lotion.
About My Shea Butter Lotion Recipe Ingredients
Similar to my original homemade lotion recipe, the star of the show here is the shea butter. We’ve used a nice generous amount to really boost the nourishing side of this recipe. Shea can feel a little on the heavier side, so we’ve paired it with a lighter oil that sinks in easily, giving you a lovely moisturising lotion that doesn’t feel too greasy on the skin.
We’ve also added a touch of aloe vera to take the hydration up a notch, helping to leave the skin feeling soft, calm and nicely refreshed.
Distilled water
Distilled water might not seem exciting, but it plays a key role in lotion recipes. Distilled water is cleaner, and free from minerals or bacteria that could affect stability or shorten shelf life of your product. It’s also what transforms your formula from a heavy balm into a light and spreadable lotion. Water helps it absorb more easily into the skin and allows ingredients like glycerine and aloe to properly hydrate, giving your shea lotion that fresh feel.
Aloe Vera juice
Aloe vera juice helps to bring a lovely light hydration to your lotion. It’s known for being soothing and calming, which makes it perfect for helping to soften and refresh, especially if your skin is feeling a bit dry or sensitive.
Glycerin
Glycerin is one of the best humectans on the market, it is easy to use and very economical to buy. Basically a humectant is an ingredient that helps draw moisture into the skin and holds onto it. keeping your skin feeling hydrated for longer.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is known for its deep moisturizing properties. It’s packed with fatty acids that help provide a natural protective barrier across the skin locking in moisture. It also adds a bit of body to the lotion too, making it feel more creamy and indulgent.
Ecomulse (Ritamulse) emulsifying wax
This is what binds the oils and water together. Ecomulse is a natural light emulsifier that is easy to work with. It brings a creaminess to the lotion without making it feel heavy or cloggy. Which we feel is the perfect choice for a lotion that holds a large amount of heavy butter.
Cetyl Alcohol
Cetyl Alcohol thickens and stabilizes the lotion. It’s a natural wax that adds a soft, silky feel to the lotion when you apply it.
Camellia Oil
Camellia oil is a lovely all rounder in skincare. It’s rich in oleic acid which helps to deeply moisturize and support the skin’s natural barrier, leaving it feeling soft and nourished. What makes it really special is how quickly it sinks in, providing hydration without feeling heavy or greasy, making it the perfect partner for the shea butter in this recipe.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a lovely little addition that helps care for both your skin and your formula. It’s packed with antioxidants which can help support and protect the skin, leaving it feeling soft and nourished. It also helps slow down the oxidation of your oils, which means your lotion stays fresher for longer and is less likely to go rancid too quickly.
Preservative
Because your lotion contains water, it creates the perfect little environment for bacteria and mold to grow, so we need something in there to keep everything safe. We have chosen a natural preservative with a wide pH range
Sweet Orange and Cedarwood Essential Oils
This is one of my favorite blends. First you smell the refreshing orange and then the warmth of the cedarwood. It’s not an overpowering scent, just a fresh natural aroma for everyday use.
Substitutes
- Distilled water, you could replace all or half of the water with hydrosol to elevate this lotion.
- Aloe Vera juice, hydraulic acid gel would be a nice sub. A glucorite would also be good.
- Glycerin, panthenol powder at 1% or, honey at around 2%.
- Camellia Oil, an easy swop would be grapeseed or sweet almond.
- Shea Butter, this is our star ingredient, how ever if you must i would use mango or Cupuaçu Butter .
- Ecomulse ( Ritamulse) Olivem 1000 or montanov 68 would be a good swap. To be honest most emulsifying waxes will work but some will give a heavierfinished product.
- Cetyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol.
- Vitamin E, this keeps the oils in the cream fresh. You could leave it out and use the cream within a couple of months or use rosemary extract.
- Essential Oil, any blend or single oil of your choice or a Fragrance oil.
- Preservative Eco (Geogard ECT) You can use any broad-spectrum preservative here, just be sure to check the recommended usage rate before adding it to your shea butter lotion recipe.
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- 114 grams Distilled Water, 20 grams Aloe Vera juice, 10 grams GlycerinePlace the water ingredients into one of the heatproof beakers
- 20 grams Shea Butter, 10 grams Ritamulse SCG, 4 grams Cetyl Alcohol, 16 grams Camellia Seed OilIn a separate heatproof beaker combine your oils
- Place both beakers into the water bath. A water bath consists of a shallow pan with a couple of inches of gently simmering water. Leave the beakers in the water bath until the butter and waxes have melted and the water has heated through.
- Once melted remove the beakers from the heat and combine by pouring the beaker holding the melted oil and butter into the beaker holding the water.
- Grab your blender and start to blend the mixture. Blend in short bursts until the mixture has started to thicken and has fully mixed together, similar to runny cream.
- You can now change to a spatula for hand stirring. Stir on and off until the cream has cooled to below 40c ( 104f) which is around room temperature. If the mixture is too thin, you can give it another blend to thicken it.
- 2 grams Vitamin E Oil, 1.4 grams Orange Essential Oil, 0.6 Cedarwood Essential OilWhen cooled add the vitamin E and the essential oils, stir them in well.
- 2 grams Geogard ECTAdd the preservative stir again to make sure everything has been fully combined.
- Cosmetic Pump BottleTransfer to a bottle with a cap or pump lid. You may need the help of a funnel if the lotion has thickened.
New to DIY skincare?
If you’re enjoying making your own products, you might like Radiance, my free email course where I teach the foundations of DIY skincare step by step!
How to use
Apply a small amount to clean, dry skin and gently massage in until fully absorbed.
For best results, use daily, especially after showering or bathing when your skin is slightly damp, as this helps lock in moisture and keep your skin soft and hydrated.
Storage and shelf life
The lotion should last for around12 months deepening on the storage. We store our lotions in a cool dark place, and use sterile bottles. This may also be dependent on the preservative that you use, check with your manufacturer for this.
Final Thoughts
This natural shea butter lotion is a great example of how you can take such a rich ingredient and turn it into something much more versatile.
By carefully balancing out the shea butter with some lighter oils and hydrating ingredients, you get a top quality lotion that feels comfortable on your skin and still delivers the nourishment you want and need. It’s perfect for daily use and works well across the different skin types.
Once you’re comfortable with this shea butter lotion recipe, you can start experimenting by adjusting the oils, changing the scent or tailoring it more closely to your own skin type or needs.
