An Easy Recipe for a Luxurious Lotion with Aloe

Fruity and woodsy. Sweetness and comfort. Berries and earth. What could I be describing? Berries and Twigs Fragrance, of course!

This one has been a favorite of mine forever. It was one of the first scents I ordered from MMS, and I quickly ordered a larger bottle, so I had enough to make lots of soap. Berries & Twigs is a unique berry scent because it is not overly sweet. I really like that! My husband even thinks this one is great.

Today I’ll be making lotion scented with Berries & Twigs Fragrance to highlight the wonderful smell and adding some Aloe Extract to give my skin some love. It’s already fall here in Alaska, and we have been doing lots of canning and processing food for winter. That means my hands are spending lots of time in water or dirt. It’s time for some help!

I reworked an older recipe from our files to feature this fragrance. (Have you ever checked out all the recipes we have on our website? If not, what are you waiting for?)

Here’s a list of supplies and equipment needed to make this lotion:

After gathering the needed equipment, put on some gloves, and get busy making. I’ve included a 12-ounce recipe plus the percentages so you can resize to meet your production needs. Generally, I begin with a 100-gram test batch. It’s straightforward to get the measurements for 100 grams. Just take the percentage recipe and substitute grams for %. So 71% of water becomes 71 grams of water. I love it when things are easy!

Berries & Twigs Lotion Recipe

The ingredients are listed in the order they go into the container. Begin by weighing the water, Sweet Almond Oil, Stearic Acid, Emulsifying Wax, and Glycerin into a microwave-safe container.

Water, Sweet Almond Oil, Stearic Acid, Emulsifying Wax, and Glycerin ready to be heated.

After heating the first 5 ingredients, a small stick blender whipped the test batch into an emulsion.

Gently heat in short burst of time in the microwave. (You could also do this on a stovetop with a double boiler.) When the mixture is warm, use a stick blender to mix well and make the emulsification. Stearic Acid will be the ingredient that needs the highest heat to melt thoroughly. Its melt point is about 156 degrees F, so I heat to at least 160 degrees to be sure all the stearic acid granules are melted. If you don’t get them all melted, your lotion will feel gritty, which is quite unpleasant.

Once the mixture is fully melted and mixed, set it aside to cool. It should be below 120 degrees F before you add the extract, fragrance, and preservative. If you are making a large batch, try pouring it into a plastic zipper bag and laying it flat. It will cool much faster.

The cooling mixture sits beside the Berries & Twigs Fragrance and the beaker containing the preservative, Aloe Extract, and fragrance.

The mixture had cooled to 112 degrees F when the remaining three ingredients were added.

Weigh the Aloe Extract, Berries & Twigs Fragrance, and Liquid Germall Plus into a separate container. When the lotion has cooled below 120 degrees F, add these ingredients. If you have it in a bag, just put them in there and knead the mixture very well to combine. If the mixture is still in a beaker or measuring cup, use a silicone spatula or the stick blender again to combine.

Now for the containers. You could use a pump, a disk top closure, or a non-dispensing screw cap for this lotion. I like to use small containers for samples. For more fluid lotions, I usually use our one-ounce LDPE bottles with disk closures. For thick lotions and creams, I use this one-ounce jar and cap set. Both are great sizes for purse or pocket.

Packing the finished lotion into small bottles. This 100-gram test batch filled 3 of the one-ounce bottles with a tiny amount left over.

Some of the leftover lotion smeared on my hand. It is quite fluid.

Notes:

This lotion goes on a little bit oily, but it soaks in very quickly. I sampled it quite a bit while I was packaging and taking photos, mostly to smell the fragrance, but also so I could give you a useful review of the lotion. After more than a half-hour, my skin still feels very hydrated and supple. I am quite happy with it! The Berries & Twigs Fragrance is light, yet I can easily catch a whiff when I move my hands around my face. Because fragrances intensify in the first 24 hours, don’t overdo it before you’ve given it a chance to rest.

Do you have a favorite fragrance? I’m sure this lotion recipe would be fabulous with any scent! Let us know if you make some.