An easy DIY recipe, this homemade vanilla lotion contains only six ingredients. A homemade body lotion to help nourish dry skin. Made with natural ingredients this DIY body lotion works well on your legs especially- and it's perfect for kids (it also makes a thoughtful spa gift.
Making my own beauty products is something I love doing. Given, I don't use a lot of products anymore (no make-up over here), for the ones I do use I love knowing what's in them and being able to tweak as necessary- like all natural homemade deodorant.
This homemade vanilla lotion is a simple DIY recipe (like my all-time favorite chocolate peppermint lip chap) that I've been using for a while. It's easy, hydrating, and quick to whip up!
Benefits Of The Homemade Vanilla Lotion
- Chemical-free
- Cost-effective
- Simple to make
- Far more nourishing to the skin
DIY body lotion tends to be more hydrating than conventional store-bought because they're all-natural.
Furthermore, since my skin has adjusted to natural products I find that traditional products only dry it out. Those products contain harsher ingredients than my skin is used to and thus they don’t work as well.
Besides this, since our skin absorbs what it comes into contact with, I strive to make sure it encounters the best possible ingredients- which is why I always have DIY lotion on hand!
Ingredients In The Homemade Body Lotion
I'm a fan of simple- so this homemade vanilla lotion contains minimal ingredients. I chose to use shea butter for this homemade vanilla lotion recipe because it's so hydrating.
Though, here's a list of my favorite butter bases and what properties I use them for specifically.
The same goes for the oils in the DIY lotion. I use jajoba oil for this vanilla body lotion but almond, apricot kernal etc would work too. So use what you have.
You don't need a stash of hundreds of ingredients to make DIY skincare recipes. If you're new to DIY beauty products and stuck on where to spend your money, check the basic DIY ingredients.
Texture Of The Homemade Vanilla Lotion
The purpose of this DIY vanilla lotion is to really hydrate the legs. Thus, it does seem bit greasy at first. I use homemade body butter with beeswax a lot as well in my skincare routine. However, I tend to make those a bit more firm where you have to massage the body butter in.
This homemade body lotion is less firm and thus it seems more oily. This is one of the reasons why it's so great on your body and not your face.
How to use the vanilla body lotion: rub the lotion into your legs/body as you normally would. Then, give it a few minutes to absorb before putting on clothes.
Tight clothes immediately after using a homemade lotion recipe will result in grease stains *said from experience*. As a result, this homemade vanilla lotion is ultra-smooth and it's the oils that make it so hydrating for your skin.
Creating The Vanilla Scent: Bean or Essential Oil?
You'll also notice that I use vanilla bean in this homemade body lotion recipe versus an essential oil. I always try to use the exact item for the scent when possible. While I adore essential oils, they are potent and I'm not an aromatherapist.
That said, there's another reason for this...
When I first started making my own homemade products I really wanted to re-create that "French vanilla" smell from store-bought products (you know the one I mean!).
But you can't.
When I looked more and more into vanilla essential oil it became harder to find a pure grade one. Eventually, I wondered why and it's because the vanilla can't be outsourced into an oil like most other plants.
Meaning, most vanilla essential oils you see for sale are not pure grade oils. They have to use something artificial. For some reason, this devastated me haha (#hippieproblems much??).
So instead, I went back to basics and just started infusing the lotions with the actual vanilla bean. Keep it simple and all that.
Pro Tip: you can still rock this DIY body lotion without any vanilla! The vanilla is simply there for scent purposes and not for the lotion itself. If you don't have any on hand, no problem! Just omit it. Never let the essential oils or scent in a DIY recipe hold you back from making it.
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Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
Easy Homemade Vanilla Lotion
Equipment
- Double boiler or mason jar
- small mason jars to store
- Mini Whisk
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Coconut oil measured solid
- 1 tablespoon shea butter
- 1.5 tablespoons beeswax
- 1 tablespoon jojoba oil
- ¼ teaspoon jojoba oil
- 1-2 vanilla bean or 20 drops vanilla essential oil
Instructions
- In a heat-proof jar or double boiler, combine all ingredients except vanilla.
- If using vanilla bean, slice the bean and scrape out the vanilla into the jar. Then, slice the bean into smaller pieces and place it in the jar.
- Place the jar into a small pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir often until everything is melted and combined (about twelve minutes). Let sit in boiling water for another ten-fifteen minutes to infuse vanilla.
- Remove from heat. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small glass jar. If using essential oils, add the oils now and stir to combine.
- Let sit on the counter for twenty-four hours to harden.
Video
Notes
This homemade vanilla lotion helps keep your skin hydrated and soft in colder months. Thanks to the jojoba oil it helps prevent skin from drying out and it deals to use on your legs. This vanilla body butter is an easy DIY project that makes for great, thoughtful gifts.
Amy says
Vanilla is one of my favorite smells, what a great way to infuse it into lotion, definitely trying this ?
fitasamamabear says
It's one of mine too! And even better when you can use the real thing 😀
linda spiker says
Vanilla is my favorite body scent! And this looks so good I could eat it!
fitasamamabear says
It's one of mine too! And it's always awesome when you can use the actual bean!
Raia Todd says
I bet this would be a wonderful Mother's Day gift! So easy and I'm sure it smells amazing. 🙂
fitasamamabear says
You can't go wrong with something pampering for Mama's Day!
Julia says
I love vanilla bean in cosmetic products! Yum!!
Amber says
That sounds like a truly lovely recipe! Vanilla scent is my favorite - that, and other nutty, foody type scents. I'll have to give this a try. 🙂
fitasamamabear says
I hope you like it! It makes everything so silky feeling lol
Kristy, Life-n-Reflection says
This looks almost yummy enough to eat, gotta love vanilla!
fitasamamabear says
It smells like that too! 😀
Alice | Letters to my Daughter says
Oh wow this looks good enough to eat, let alone smelling like you want to eat it!
And congratulations because someone loved this post so much, they added it to the #BlogCrush linky! Feel free to collect your "I've been featured" blog badge 🙂
fitasamamabear says
It feels awesome too! So silky
Vickie Hughes says
This looks amazing, I was wondering if you could use a vanilla extract?
fitasamamabear says
Yup you can! I've done it before but I can't remember the exact amount, possibly 1/2 a teaspoon. Honestly, I'd just do it to your smell preference.
Maggie says
Do you think that if I infused the coconut oil with the vanilla bean in my infuser that would work instead of using vanilla essential oil?
fitasamamabear says
Okay first off, you have an infuser?! Amazing. And yup I do! In the summer I make lavender infused oil and it works so much nicer (to me) than lavender essential oil.
Heather says
A summer must have for sure!!!
fitasamamabear says
Thanks Heather! It definitely keeps your skin crazy silky!
Robin says
Hello and thank you for the recipe. I’ve just noticed that jojoba oil is down twice in the recipe. It asks for 1 tbsp and then 1/4 tsp straight after. Should the 1/4 tsp be something else? Thank you.
fitasamamabear says
Hey Robin!
Good catch! Thanks for reading so thoroughly! The recipe does need 1tbsp PLUS 1/4 tsp of jojobal oil. The recipe card area just doesn't let you add them in one line 🙂