I have combination skin (slightly acne prone) and much as I love a good thick lotion to nourish the drier areas of my skin, I prefer making this easy non-greasy Shea butter lotion recipe for the summer months. It has a light consistency, is easily absorbable and doesn’t make my skin appear greasy! This recipe contains two skin healing oils and one immensely beneficial essential oil that is known to promote glowing skin and fade away dark spots. Find out more in my ingredient profile below!
Ingredient Profile
I’ve used sweet almond oil and apricot kernel oil, which are two light oils that are easily absorbed into the skin. For a beautiful scent, I chose frankincense essential oil – it’s one of my favorite essential oils and has lots of beauty benefits as you can see here. Feel free to substitute frankincense essential oil with any other of your preferred essential oils. Don’t know what essential oils blend well with shea butter? Click here to read my shea butter and essential oils guide!
Note: Please use organic ingredients when making this non-greasy Shea butter lotion to prolong its shelf life.
➝ Sweet Almond Oil – Sweet almond oil has a thin consistency and moisturizes the skin without leaving an oily residue. If you have combination skin, sweet almond oil is perfect for softening and lubricating the chapped areas of your face while gently cleansing the oily areas.
➝ Apricot Kernel Oil – A very good source of Vitamin E, apricot kernel oil feeds your skin while protecting it from inflammation and harsh elements that can rob skin of its original luster.
➝ Lavender Hydrosol – A cooling and soothing aromatic water, lavender hydrosol calms irritated skin and rejuvenates it.
➝ Frankincense Essential Oil – This sacred essential oil is known for its potent anti-scarring properties that are effective in healing acne scars, old wound scars and stretch marks. It also has anti bacterial properties that shield that skin from germs that can cause infection. Frankincense essential oil also acts as a preservative in this shea butter lotion recipe.
➝ Cornstarch – Cornstarch has amazing moisture and oil absorbing properties that keep this Shea butter lotion recipe non-greasy and help bind all the ingredients together. But it doesn’t stop there! Did you know that cornstarch can also treat and soothe irritated skin, blisters, sores, bug bites and more?!
Non-Greasy Shea Butter Lotion Recipe
Ingredients
• 4 tbsp of raw Shea butter (get it here)
• 2 tsp of sweet almond oil (get it here)
• 3 tbsp of apricot kernel oil (get it here)
• 1/4 cup of lavender hydrosol (get it here)
• 2 tsp of corn starch (get it here)
• 10 to 15 drops of frankincense essential oil (get it here)
Directions
- Melt your shea butter over low to medium heat in a double boiler. I used a make-shift double boiler by placing a glass bowl of shea butter in a pan filled a couple of inches of water and heated it over a low flame till it melted.
- Once melted, place the shea butter in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and remove it when it is partly solidified. The reason we’re doing this is because completely melted shea butter can’t be whipped – it needs to be soft and creamy.
- After 10 minutes, get it out and add almond oil, apricot kernel oil and frankincense essential oil. Whip using a hand mixer/blender for about a minute or 2 till well mixed.
- Add the cornstarch and whip again for 5 minutes until you get a creamy white mixture.
- Then slowly keep adding the lavender hydrosol little by little while beating the mixture on low speed first, then high speed until fully incorporated. This may take around 5 minutes, depending on your hand mixer. Note: This is the most important step to getting your mixture to a liquid consistency. From my experience, do not pour the hydrosol all at once into the whipped mixture as I found that it just won’t mix well with the rest of the ingredients because oils and water cannot mix like that. The slow addition of the water and the speed blending is what helps incorporate the ingredients together.
- Ta-da! Your non-greasy shea butter lotion recipe is ready!
- Transfer it to a clean container. It takes just a little more than 25 minutes and it’ll last over 6 months if stored in a clean dry place and away from contamination.
My Tips
- I like to stir in the essential oil after transferring the lotion to my container to prevent its overpowering scent from clinging to the bowl or mixer.
- If you don’t have a hand mixer, try blending everything in a food processor. I’ve done it before with my other lotions like this shea butter hair lotion recipe and it works! Remember, the key to getting a homemade lotion liquidy is adding just the right amount of hydrosol and pouring it slowly in a constant stream into the melted oil mixture which is blending on high speed in the food processor. Both should be at the same temperature. Go to my post for detailed instructions! I’ve tried making shea body butter with a blender before but I had to be very precise to prevent everything from melting down due to the heat from the motor of the blender. Here’s the shea body butter recipe using a blender.
- You can substitute the lavender hydrosol with rose hydrosol or any other floral water. I recommend calendula hydrosol, chamomile hydrosol and neroli hydrosol because they are easily available and have lots of beauty benefits.
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hi i tried mixing up the shea butter with rose water instead since I didnt have the hydrosol you mentioned. I got a lotion that was just the right smooth consistency and not oily at all! i’m planning on using it to tame my wild frizzy hair hehe since it’s great for both skin and hair. oh and i used lavender oil instead of frankincense. smelt amazing all the same thanks
Hi there! I’m so happy that you loved the lotion! Using it for your hair seems like a great idea especially if it’s extra dry as this lotion acts as a sealant that will lock moisture. Glad you found good substitutes for the sandalwood hydrosol and lavender! Take care! 😀
Hello! Wondering about substituting distilled water in place of the hydrosol…I am all out and I need to make a new moisturizer. This looks great. Also, think this could be used under makeup? I want to use shea butter but struggle with the greasiness. Thanks!!
*update* I whipped this up and had a little trouble. Your recipe gives 2 measurements for both the water and cornstarch. Which do you use?? I went with 4 tsp of cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. I was doing very well at about 1/4 cup water but felt I should add in the remaining water. Even though I did it super slow…. I wrecked the mixture… I have smooth lotion on top white water???? It won’t mix in no matter how hard I whip. I did use a stick blender, not a good idea?? Not sure what happened? Too much water? What measurements do you use??
Hi Rebecca! Oh no! I used 1/4 cup but some people had better results using more water so I ended up adding 2 measurements! Seems I should’ve just left it at 1/4! Your lotion can be fixed though – it’s happened to me too before! All you need to do is add more shea butter that’s when all the ingredients including the white water that isn’t mixing will get mixed up! I haven’t tried using a stick blender before but I’m sure it would work without any problems. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the fast reply! I used it and love it. I will try remixing. So if you used 1/4 cup water, what did you use for corn starch?? 2 tsp or 4 tsp??? Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this as I love Shea butter, and it’s a lovely product. However, I put it in a pump bottle and after it sat for a while, maybe an hour at room temp, it won’t pump as it seems too thick. Any advice would be appreciated as I love the feel of the lotion. Thanks!
Hey Rowan! I’m glad you like the lotion! That’s the same reason I didn’t use it in a pump bottle as well – it seems to thicken up a bit after some time. You can store it in any other container other than a pump bottle. However, if you really want a liquid lotion that can be pumped, you could try blending it again with more hydrosol and shea butter – it’s all trial and error. I’ve tried blending already made lotion with more hydrosol and shea butter before and it did work out but I’m not so sure if you’ll get the same results! 🙁 I’m sorry I can’t give any better advice but I hope this helps you…Take care <3
Thank you for the quick response! I will definetly start experimenting using your technique! Love your site!
You’re welcome! I hope it works out for you! Thanks 🙂
Hello! I can’t wait to make this recipe. Can I add lemongrass or any other essential oil to it? Thanks!
Yes you can!
Thank you for responding to my post. I will let you know my thoughts about the non-greasy lotion when I’m done. Can’t wait. Thanks.
What can I replace hydrosol with? I do not have any hydrosol.
Hi. I am just starting and loving making body butter! I’d like to display and maybe even sell some at a local craft faire. I need labels and don’t know what I need and where a good place is to buy them. I’m thinking I like the printed ones. Any recommendations? Thank you 🙂 Julie
you can get some on etsy, or order from Avery. Good luck!
Hi , can i replace the corn starch with snything else, i cant find any organic one? Thanks
Do you need a preservative since the recipe uses water? What is the shelf life of this lotion?
Also, what about substituting witch hazel for the hydrosol?