# 46 Pumpable Body Lotion

This recipe was published as Summer Passions Pumpable Body Lotion by Barb Misiuda on her site Scrub Me Down.  I made it on New Year’s Day (in England) so it wasn’t exactly Summer.  I followed the recipe without making substitutions.  Because I don’t use artificial fragrances,  I used a combination of Rose and Clove Bud essential oils to produce a scent reminiscent of carnations.

The list of ingredients for this lotion is longer than that used in most of my concoctions.  It introduced me to a couple of ingredients that I hadn’t used before.

Oil Phase
    • 12 g Avocado Oil
    • 12 g Emulsifying Wax (Olive Derived)
    • 9 g   Mango Butter
    • 6 g   Sweet Almond Oil
    • 6 g   Passion Fruit Oil
    • 3 g   Beeswax
Water Phase
    • 207 ml Distilled Water
    • 30 g Aloe Vera Gel
    • 3 g Vegetable Glycerine
    • 3 g Silk Peptides
Cool Down
    • 3 g Vitamin E Oil
    • 6 g Panthenol
    • 1.5 g Plantaserve E
    • 12 drops Rose absolute (Turkish)
    • 4 drops Clove Bud Essential Oil
    • 0.1g Gold Mica (optional)
Equipment

To make this you will need:

    • 2 glass containers large enough to hold all the ingredients with a bit of room to spare.  I use half litre Pyrex jugs, but wide-mouthed jars such as Mason Jars also work well.  At least one of the containers needs to be large enough for all the ingredients and a stick blender.
    • 1 smaller glass container.  A shot glass works well for this.
    • A stick blender
    • Small spatulas (wooden coffee stirrers scrounged from coffee shops work well)
    • 1 or more pump bottles with a total capacity of slightly more than 250ml
    • A funnel
    • A kitchen hob and a shallow pan, or an oven capable of being set to a temperature of 70-80C.
Method
Preparation

Measure out the oil phase ingredients into one glass container.  Reserve a little (maybe 20 ml) of the distilled water to mix with the cool down ingredients, and put the water phase ingredients into another glass container.  If you aren’t in a hurry, cover the containers and let them stand for a while.  This allows the waxes to start to soften in the oils, and allows the silk peptides and aloe gel to start to disperse in the water.

If you have access to an electric oven, set the temperature to around 80C and put the 2 containers of ingredients in the oven.

If you are going to make this on a gas or electric ring, put the containers in the shallow pan, add some water (perhaps to a depth of 3-5 cm) and bring the water to the boil.  Turn down the heat when the water boils so the water is just simmering.

Put the cool-down ingredients in another (ideally smaller) container –

    • Panthenol is a very viscous gel that I found difficult to weigh accurately or to scrape off a spatula.  I mix a little of the water reserved from the water phase ingredients with the panthenol and the mica.  This makes it easier to add them to the mixed oil and water phases.
    • I didn’t weigh the mica.  It’s an optional ingredient anyway.  I added enough to cover about 6mm of the type of stick that coffee shops provide for stirring coffee.  I might double the amount next time, but too much glitter would be, well, too much.

MIXING AND STORING

Emulsifying wax is the last of the oil phase ingredients to melt.  (It melts at a higher temperature, between 65C and 75C.)   When the oil phase ingredients are all liquid, take the oil phase and the water phase containers to your work surface and turn off the heat.  As there’s more of the water phase ingredients to heat up, they may not be as warm as the oil phase.  That’s not a problem.

It’s a good idea to put your stick blender into a separate pot and leave it to stand in hot water to warm it up a bit.

I add the water phase to the oil phase, but it’s not critical which you add to which.  I just find pouring the water phase avoids oils and waxes solidifying on the rim of a container as you pour them.  Barely touch the control button on your stick blender as you mix the 2 phases – it’s important not to over-blend this lotion.  Only blitz the mixture until it’s just mixed.

Add the cool-down phase ingredients and blitz again, very briefly.

Decant the mixture into your pump bottles.  Briefly shake them as the lotion cools completely and thickens.  Consider labelling the bottles with the content and the date you made it.

I keep all my cosmetics in a fridge until they are to be used.