I’ve shared a ton of content about making lotion over the years, so I thought I’d collect the links into an FAQ for easy reference.
If you’ve never made lotion before, start with one of these formulations:
- Super Simple Moisturizing Lotion
- Super Simple Moisturizing Lotion with Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG-100 Stearate
- Super Simple Natural Lotion
- Easy Natural Lotion for Beginners
I highly recommend looking up the ingredients (especially the emulsifying waxes!) in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia.
If you’d like to learn how to formulate your own lotions & creams from scratch, I highly recommend my DIY lotion workshop. It’s a digital formulating workshop that teaches you my 10-step lotion formulating framework that empowers you to create your own emulsion formulations from the ground up.
These resources will help you start to adjust pre-existing formulations and create your own:
- How to Scale Any Recipe
- Formulating and DIYing with Spreadsheets (adjusting phase sizes, calculating emulsifier %)
- Stop Believing These 6 Lotion Myths
- How to adjust/add scent, colour, and star ingredients
- How can I incorporate X ingredient into a formulation?
- Super Simple All Natural Lotion: Follow-Up Q&A
- 8 mistakes most new formulators make (generally good things to know)
- Why are there air bubbles in my lotion?
- What’ll happen if you use beeswax instead of emulsifying wax
- Why didn’t my lotion emulsify?
- Are all emulsifying waxes (e-waxes) the same?
- What can I use instead of water?
- 5 common questions about lotion
- Why did my emulsion fail?
- How can I make this lotion thicker or thinner?
- Can I put this lotion in a pump-top bottle?
- Can I put this face lotion on my hands?
- Can I use a hydrosol instead of water?
- How to gently scent lotions with natural ingredients
- How to naturally scent lotions with essential oils and natural fragrance oils
- How to make your lotions thicker
- I tried 10 different ways to naturally color lotion.
If you are looking for one-on-one instruction, please consider becoming a top-tier patron over on my Patreon. My $50USD/month patrons get a monthly 30-minute video consult with me where we can discuss all things formulating
You might also consider becoming a patron at the “The Monthly Collection + Office Hours” tier; this tier includes two monthly “office hours” sessions. Just like office hours with a TA, you are welcome to pop into the call/meeting with any questions you might have, discuss any projects you’re working on, or just to say hi. The calls are not be recorded. You need Zoom (it’s free) to participate, but you don’t need an account; each session runs approximately 45–60 minutes. One session is typically held in the afternoon, and the other in the early evening (Calgary time; MT/MDT).
Posted in: Troubleshooting & Adjusting
