Illipe Butter Overnight Foot Cream

Summer is coming, and I love to wear sandals and show off my pedicure. But unless you can afford to get a new pedicure every few days, your feet will start getting dry and calloused between visits to the salon. I created this overnight foot cream in hopes of keeping the tootsies moisturized and looking good. Let’s see if it works!

The finished cream.

I chose several ingredients that are great for handling less-than-lovely dry skin. Let me tell you about some of them!

• Illipe Butter
  • Yes, I’m featuring Illipe Nut Butter in this recipe, and I chose it for the excellent moisture retention. Illipe Nut Butter will also add pampering for dry skin. (Can you say all feet?)
• Lanolin
  • Lanolin creates a moisture barrier to help our skin retain the moisture. Did you know lanolin is also a fantastic conditioning emollient that helps promote skin elasticity? I didn’t!
• Jojoba
  • This waxy ester will be perfect for helping reduce greasiness and soften dry skin.
• Shea Butter
  • Shea Butter is one of those awesome ingredients that is worth using for creating luxurious texture in creams, softening skin, and encouraging moisture retention.
• Calendula Extract
  • Since Calendula has been long noted to combat rough, dry, scaly skin, it’s a perfect additive! (That is also pretty much an accurate description of my feet, so I definitely want to use Calendula Extract!)
• Hydrovance
  • Hydrovance is a powerful humectant that provides both long and short term moisturization, which makes it an excellent choice for feet.

Here is what you’ll need to make your own foot-pampering cream.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Weigh all the ingredients (EXCEPT Calendula Extract, Peppermint Essential Oil, and Liquid Germall Plus) into a microwave-safe container or the top of a double boiler. Heat the mixture in short bursts of time in the microwave or gently over medium heat in a double boiler. Stir often. The mixture needs to get to at least 156 degrees to melt the Stearic Acid. It’s really disappointing when you apply lotion and discover little granules of Stearic Acid! I aim for 160-165 degrees in mixtures containing Stearic Acid, and I make sure to mix very well.

Test batch ingredients in the measuring cup before melting.

The blended and cooling lotion with the additives premeasured to be added after the lotion cools below 120 degrees F.

After the lotion cooled and all the ingredients were added, I decided to make it green. It’s still warm enough to be quite fluid at this point.

Now set that mixture aside to cool to at least 120 degrees.

While it cools, weigh the Hydrovance, Calendula Extract, Peppermint Essential Oil, and Liquid Germall Plus into a separate container. Set that aside, and spend a few minutes cleaning up your work area. I also like to set out my containers for packaging at this time.

Speaking of containers, a great choice for foot creams that are not very fluid are our Clear PET Low Profile Jars that come in 2 ounce, 4 ounce, and 8 ounce capacities. Make sure you also order lids, and we even have shrink bands for these jars (and many others).

Now you can go stir the cooling lotion with a heat-safe scraper and check the temperature. As soon as it’s below 120 degrees, mix in the last ingredients. My favorite method is to put the whole batch into a plastic bag, seal the bag, then squish and knead the mixture until it is fully combined. This makes filling containers much easier, also. Just snip off a corner of the bag and pipe in the lotion!

After I’d mixed the lotion, I thought I was done. But then I decided it would be fun to color it minty green! I used one drop premixed Grape Water Soluble Color and one drop premixed Lemon Yellow Water Soluble Color for my 100-gram test batch. Pretty! While I waited for the lotion to fully cool so I could test the texture and efficacy, I cleaned up my work area, washed all my dishes, and checked on my goats that are due to have babies any day.

Check out the body of the finished cream. It’s not stiff, but it is definitely thick.

NOTES:

This cream goes on surprisingly light, feels creamy, and it absorbs readily. I am delighted that it doesn’t feel super greasy, especially since I tried it after showering instead of at bedtime, meaning my hands are well coated with it. It has left behind enough of an oily residue that I probably will have to wash my hands. This would not be a problem if I were about to go to bed, though. The minty scent is nice, but my preference is for more peppermint for more tingly feel and stronger aroma, so if I make this again (and it is highly likely I’ll be whipping up a batch for myself), I will add more Peppermint Essential Oil. If a stiffer cream appeals to you, try increasing the Stearic Acid by 1% and dropping 1% of the Emulsifying Wax.

If you make (or love to use) foot creams, what is your favorite fragrance or essential oil to add?