DIY non greasy hand cream inspired by LUSH Helping Hands

Take care of your hands, naturally! Make your own non greasy hand cream with simple, all-natural ingredients. This non-sticky lightweight lotion with aloe vera gel makes your hands feel like kitten paws in no time.

You know what gets my DIY heart excited? Words like linseed mucilage.

This product normally calls for a gel made of linseeds or flaxseeds. So I spend my Sunday afternoon making goo from seeds.

The only problem is, this mixture spoils after about two weeks. Even if you keep it in the fridge. And we don’t want that! That’s why I changed it for another amazing gel and I snuck in the flaxseeds somewhere else.

I present to you my own homemade non greasy hand cream:

What I used:

• 1 cup aloe vera gel (optional – see notes below)
• 1/4 cup almond oil
• 1/4 cup linseed oil (or use more almond oil)
• 1/8 cup Shea butter
• 1/8 cup cocoa butter (or use more Shea butter)

Optional:

• 1 bag of chamomile tea (or dried chamomile flowers)
• 10 drops of essential oils – I used lavender and rose geranium

0. Optional: make chamomile infused oil

To avoid using chamomile water, I decided to use chamomile infused oils. In hindsight, using a few drops of chamomile essential oil would be just as good. But here’s what I did:

Put your oils in a container. Add in about 1 teaspoon of chamomile flowers (or the contents of 1 teabag). Store it in a dry and dark place. Wait about six weeks.

1. Melt your butters

Melt your butters in a double boiler over medium heat, in the microwave on a low setting or over a candle.

2. Add your oils

Wait till your melted butters have cooled down a bit. They still have to be liquid, but have to be at room temperature. Add your (infused) oils and stir the mixture with a spoon, spatula or whisk to combine the ingredients.

3. Aloe vera time (optional)

Add your aloe vera gel 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn your electric mixer on while you add spoon after spoon. Mix everything together well.

Bits of lotion might be flying everywhere, so make sure you use a large mixing bowl and put your mixer on the lowest setting possible. I have an electric mixer with a lid, which is perfect for these kinds of crafts.

Don’t use fresh aloe vera gel for this recipe. As much as I love the stuff straight from the plant, store bought aloe vera gel has (natural) preservatives added to them. The shelf life of fresh gel is just way too short. Make sure it’s as pure as possible though, so buy the 99,9 % kind.

Since aloe vera gel is still a water soluble ingredient this lotion has a limited shelf life. Store this non greasy hand cream in a dark, airtight container in the fridge. Use up within four to six weeks.

For a longer shelf life, leave out the aloe vera gel completely. The texture will be different but it will still be a lovely moisturizing hand cream! This way the cream can keep up to six months (depending on the expiration date of your ingredients), if you store it in a dry, cool place and keep all water out.

You can also add your essential oils and coloring (mica powder) at this time if you choose to add them.

Scoop it all into a pretty airtight container. I put mine in a squeeze bottle. And this my very fancy way of getting it into the squeeze bottle: put the lotion in a plastic (freezer) bag. Cut off 1 corner and squeeze it out. It’s kind of like frosting a cake.



Since this container is transparent it’s important to keep it out of direct sunlight, as this will make the oils oxidize quicker.

Enjoy your soft hands, just in time for spring!