Strawberries and Champagne Olive Oil Lotion

I have a friend who has many allergies, so she uses olive oil-based lotions. I was curious about a lotion that used only olive oil, so I decided to come up with a recipe and make some.

Finished samples of the Strawberries & Champagne Olive Oil Lotion.

We also are spotlighting some fragrance oils, so I am using Strawberries and Champagne Fragrance Oil in this lotion. The fragrance is a lovely berry scent without the super sweet notes that often go along with the fruit. The champagne vibe in this scent is a little bit sharp, like the bubbles getting in your nose and making you sneeze when you sip from a freshly-poured flute of champagne. I really like this fragrance! If you’ve never tried it, you really should. It is marvelous in soap, too.

For this lotion, of course, I am using Olive Oil. To complement the olive oil, I chose oat oil. It is one of my favorite things to put into lotion. Oat oil is a less greasy oil, fast-absorbing oil, and it contains so many incredible benefits for the skin. I also added the Calendula Extract and Aloe Extract to help add skin-loving properties to this lotion.

These are the supplies and equipment you’ll need to make this lotion:

My recipe below makes 8 ounces of lotion. You could try the 100-gram recipe for a test batch. I’ve included the recipe in percentages so you can scale as desired.

First, weigh water in the microwave-safe container. Add the Olive Oil, Oat Oil, Emulsifying Wax, Stearic Acid, and Glycerin. Microwave this mixture in 30-second increments until it is around 160-170 degrees. It took my 8-ounce batch one minute to get to that temperature.

Ingredients to be melted are weighed in a beaker and about to pop in the microwave.

After lotion was heated and blended, then cooled below 120 degrees F, I added the extracts and fragrance.

Use a stick blender to mix the heated oil/water mixture. Make sure the temperature is high enough that the Stearic Acid fully melts. Its melt point is approximately 156 degrees. I like to give the mixture plenty of mixing to make sure it is fully emulsified, and that there are no unmelted Stearic Acid granules.

Set this mixture aside to cool below 120 degrees.

While it cools, weigh the Calendula Extract, Aloe Extract, Liquid Germall Plus, and Strawberries and Champagne Fragrance Oil.

When the emulsified mixture has cooled enough, add the extracts, preservative, and fragrance. Again, mix very thoroughly. The preservative needs to be completely distributed through the lotion to ensure it will work.

I chose to package this lotion in our one-ounce LDPE bottles with disk top lids. The bottles are squeezable, and they fit neatly in a purse or pocket. They are also the perfect sample size.

To make it easier to put the lotion into bottles, I first scraped it into a plastic bag, using a measuring cup to hold the bag while I scraped the lotion into it.

The lotion was still pretty fluid at this point, so I used a funnel to direct the stream from the plastic bag.

NOTES:

This lotion feels lovely on application. It is a bit greasy at first, but that absorbs within a few minutes. This is not a lotion you’d want to use if you needed to do things with your hands immediately after application, but if you can take a five-minute break from using your hands, you’ll be glad you did.

The Strawberries & Champagne Fragrance Oil is a delight to smell as you rub in the lotion, yet it is not strong enough to be off-putting. It’s a delicate, pleasant scent that does not overpower.

What is your opinion on olive oil lotions? Or are you like me, never having considered a lotion based on olive oil?

I’ve gotten some help from Andee to make a batch to be sent as samples with orders. She says that the shipping team has received about 40 samples of this lotion. Request one with your next order!