Many of you have asked me if you can ditch the emulsifying wax in my other DIY cream recipes and use beeswax instead. With quite the know-it-all stance, I quickly assured you that beeswax would not properly bind oil and water. I had tried this method in my early days of experimenting with DIYs and created the most greasy, non-cohesive “cream”. It was super gross and I reluctantly had to throw away a lot of wasted ingredients. However, I have landed on a recipe for a DIY beeswax lotion that I’m very happy with!
I don’t know what got into me this morning but I decided to give it another try. Instead of using water, I used aloe vera gel. Aloe is still a water based ingredient but it offers a healing element as well as being very hydrating. I chose coconut oil for it’s healing, anti bacterial and anti fungal abilities and added some lavender and roman chamomile to further the soothing abilities of my new cream.
This cream started out perfect as you can see from my pictures! Within a few hours it became too hard to be creamy BUT even a few days later is still smooth and mostly emulsified. Even though this recipe isn’t a perfect lotion, I’m sharing it with you anyway because I actually love it.
Making a legit cream takes a lot of time and mess. This took me probably 10 minutes. It soaks into my skin quickly and leaves me so soft!! This is a huge victory. The con is the texture. Beeswax is simply not the same as emulsifying wax. Beeswax reacts differently to waters and oils and is not really meant to make a creamy, soft lotion.
The good thing about using beeswax is that it is actually nourishing for your skin. It comes from nature where as emulsifying wax is man made and very unnatural.
If you are looking to make a cream like what you would buy at a store, check out my moisturizer recipes like THIS, THIS and THIS. These recipes are as natural as I can get when having to use emulsifying wax and a preservative. This recipe is much more natural and when made in small amounts, no preservative is necessary.
So, let’s dig right in.
DIY Lotion Tips & Tricks:
- Do not put your mixture in the fridge. It will not whip or mix if it’s cold!
- Do not let your beeswax and coconut oil mixture get too hot. Heat will ruin the qualities of the coconut oil.
- Use HIGH QUALITY aloe vera gel and HIGH QUALITY coconut oil for best results.
- If you choose to not use a preservative, only make enough cream to last you only 2 weeks. Do not keep after 2 weeks. Bacteria will be an issue and just because it looks and smells ok, that doesn’t mean it’s not filled with bacteria!
DIY Beeswax Lotion
- 2 TBSP. Aloe Vera Gel (find it HERE)
- 2 TBSP. Coconut Oil (find it HERE) Seriously the BEST coconut oil!! (makes a difference with texture)
- 1/2 TBSP. Beeswax (find it HERE)
- 1/8 tsp. NeoDefend (find it HERE) OPTIONAL **I would only use a preservative if you plan to double or triple this recipe.**
- 15 drops Lavender Essential Oil (find it HERE)
- 10 drops of Roman Chamomile (find it HERE)
**This recipe makes about 2 ounces which is just enough to use all over for 2 weeks!**
Directions:
- Fill a medium sized pot 1/2 way full with water.
- Place a glass pyrex measuring bowl into the water and turn heat to medium.
- OPTIONAL-If you choose to use a preservative mix it into your aloe vera gel so it can dissolve.
- Add coconut oil and beeswax to the pot and allow to slowly melt.
- Remove mixture from heat and add aloe vera into pyrex bowl.
- Using a hand held mixer, whip your mixture until it’s light and fluffy.
- Set aside until cool. (about an 30 minutes to an hour)
- OPTIONAL-Add essential oils.
- Whip again, making sure to get a smooth, creamy consistency. (if mixture is lumpy, it might have gotten too cold. Reheat and start process over)
- Transfer lotion to a glass jar and ENJOY!
Unfortunately, this lotion does not retain that beautiful creaminess in these pictures. Like I mentioned above, it does harden and if you try to mix with a spoon, while it still feels great, it just isn’t as creamy feeling! I will continue to make this type of lotion due to the time and the fact that it is much more pure then my other lotion recipes.
So there you have it! I am using it all over my 3 year old, hoping to combat a rash that I believe is fungal (coconut oil and essential oils are anti fungal!!). It has helped considerably with the itch and is for sure soothing her skin!
I have been also putting this lotion on me and hugely on my heels. My feet already look better-If you were to gauge my age by just looking at my heels, you’d probably guess I was about 100!
This DIY beeswax lotion is a must for the whole family!!
xx, Jenni
PIN IT!!!!
Thanks for sharing this! I have saved many of your skin recipes and have been using coconut oil and essential oils on my skin, hair and eating/cooking with coconut oil for some time now and appreciate your info so much. Thanks again!
This is likely to separate over time, since beeswax is not a stable emulsifier. Emulsifying wax is very easy to use and widely available. I make lotion all the time, and it’s light and moisturizing, like the best store-bought brand, without the weird ingredients.
Kat-I have several recipes that use emulsifying wax. I just had so many reader’s wanting a recipe omitting the wax because it’s not a natural ingredient. This recipe is so incredibly easy compared to a traditional cream recipe. I actually had great luck with this particular cream-It certainly does not have that light creamy texture of a cream with e.w. but it is so natural and soaks in quickly. It maybe separated 10%. Not bad at all. It’s a nice alternative when you don’t have the time or want to make something from all natural ingredients.
What is e.w.?
Brenda-E.W. stands for emulsifying wax.
I love all your DIY potions I was wondering do you have a YouTube channel? cuz I would love to watch how things are made, I’m very Visual. 😃👍
Elizabeth-If I could figure out how to edit videos I would! It’s something I intend to get going, just haven’t yet!! Thank you!!
Hi Jenni! Would lanolin oil work instead of coconut? I’m developing a sensitivity to it. Thanks for this concoction-I’ve been wanting a beeswax recipe.
Nan-I’ve never worked with lanolin so I don’t know but you could use any oil-olive, almond, sunflower etc. It’s the beeswax that will thicken everything up!
I wonder if you added an essential oil like tea tree, bacteria would be kept at bay a little longer?
Julia-I have asked several non-natural/pro preservative people that are years and years past me with DIY products and they so no, but I say yes. It doesn’t make sense that it wouldn’t help. Maybe it’s not enough but it should prolong the shelf life a bit!
I sometimes make healing salves and it was recommended that I add vitamin E as a preservative..not sure if it helps..but know it does not hurt..might be worth researching.
Margarett-it helps but it’s not enough for creams, unfortunately.
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I was looking for something less greasy/ oily than a typical coconut oil recipe while still using coconut oil (because I have a ton of it). I happened to also have a ton of beeswax I want to use up. And I also require anything I make to be all-natural. This turned out PERFECT for all of the above. Thank you!
Leah-I’m so glad! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Could you, I wonder, use candellila wax or carnauba wax?
Laine-I have not used carnauba wax yet so I don’t know about how it works but I have worked with candelilla wax and it does not work well with water ingredients. I don’t suggest it unless you like to experiment!
hi!
I was wondering if it’s possible to use jojoba oil as an emulsifier in a similar recipe? aloe (water sub)+ jojoba (emulsifier)+ more jojoba or evening primrose, meadowfoam seed etc? (oil)? I was actually brought to your site by your diy dry skin moisturizer, but I’d like to make something centered around jojoba with lighter ingredients.
thanks!
Stephanie-Hi! Jojoba oil isn’t an emulsifier so it won’t make your aloe/oil mixture solid. You’ll have to use beeswax or an emulsifying wax. If you’d like to make something lighter, I would just make a body/facial oil. Skip the aloe and just use whichever oil you’d like! Hope this helps!
Jen, wondering if you add more oil, would that keep it from getting hard
C-The more oil you add the less likely it will emulsify. It’s just the nature of beeswax. If you don’t like the harder texture, I suggest using the emulsifying wax from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Ive been experimenting with all sorts of ingredients all week. Ive had hands that crack and bleed for years. Discovered lecithin is an all natural emulsifier, it also has some fantastic health benifits, can be found in a vitamin jell capsule, and it definitely helps to keep the stuff from seperating, also if you boil the allow vera jell first, it will harden significantly and turn into the texture of actual jello which helps the consistancy a bit. Salt is a preservative you could add, it also absorbs water, so it wouldnt be a terrible thing to have in a lotion/balm/salve…theirs lots of all natural preservatives you could encorperate, like a little pure wild honey-its s great preservative. Im currently trying to make oatmilk using of allow vera instead of water and encorperate that into my salves.
Travis-Oh my gosh! You’re loaded with good info.! Thanks for sharing. I’ve always wondered about lecithin and what exactly it’s purpose was. I’ll have to try it! I also didn’t know that about aloe!
Hi Jenni:)
Can I use optiphen as a preservative instead of neodefend? If so, what amount should I use? Thanks! Love your recipes:)
Rosie-You can-I’ve never worked with it so I don’t know about the proportions.
Yes, optiphen is the preservative of choice of natural cosmetic formulators. Typical usage rate is 1%. It needs to be added at the proper temperature though. Don’t add it over 140F or you will kill the preseravtive. Don’t add below 120F or your emulsion will lose its integrity.
I find 2 concerns about this recipe: 1. beeswax is not an emulsifier. When mixing polar (water based) ingredients with nonpolar (oil based ingredients), you need an emulsifier in order for the ingredients to form an emsulsion. 2. Anytime you use a water based ingredient in cosmetics, you must use a preservative if you are not refrigerating. If refrigerating, then it must be used within a week or two. It is much more dangerous to have bacteria and mold on your skin than it is to use a preservative.
hey so i read a lil bit on this neo defend and it says not to use together with vitamin c, as an ingredient in the neo defend together with vitamin c can form benzene, a known carginogen, and there is vitamin c in the aloe gel you used! please look into it and update this recipe and also mention not to use ascorbic acid with neo defend 🙁
Do you think this is light enough/quickly absorbable to use as a facial moisturizer under my makeup?
Cindy-I do. Use sparingly though.
Can I add Shea butter to this recipe
Jordanna-You sure can-I would just keep the oil proportions the same. Since I’ve not tried it I can’t say for sure, but you could probably just substitute shea butter for the coconut oil. Or you could do 1 tbsp. coconut oil and 1 tbsp. shea.
Hi, I’m wondering how to incorporate aloe vera gel from my plants. I have two big thriving plants and other than slicing a leaf in half and rubbing the gel on my skin I’m not sure what else to do with them lol.
Tammy-That’s kind of what you do! You can puree it into a gel or you could even blend it into your smoothies! Have you seen THIS post?
The link to the coconut oil no longer works. Could you please provide an updated link? Thanks!
Adrienne-I just spent the whole day updating those coconut oil links!! My favorite coconut oil company changed things up! Go HERE for my coconut oil of choice!
Hi Jenni, I’m thinking of putting some Cosgard in this lotion. How much should I put in this quantity?
Kind regards
Sandy
Sandy-I don’t know what Cosgard is! Sorry, I’m no help on this one!