When it comes to lotion, I can’t get enough. Realistically, I’ve probably conditioned my body to “need” to put lotion on practically every time I wash my hands. I can’t stand it! (Call me OCD). Anyway, most store-bought lotion has tons of chemicals added to it and is just toxic for your skin and we don’t even know we’re exposing ourselves to it daily.
For example, I thought I was being healthy by using Suave’s Smoothing Lotion with Cocoa Butter and Shea. I mean it has cocoa butter and shea so that’s good for you, right? Wrong! It’s toxicity levels are through the roof! You can’t just trust the packaging. “Healthy” doesn’t always mean healthy and “All Natural” doesn’t always mean all natural.
SIDE NOTE: The reason I know it’s toxic is actually very simple. If you’ve read my post 7 Top Apps for Healthy Living, you know about Think DIrty. Think Dirty is a super helpful app that you can use to scan your beauty products and it tells you how toxic they are, based on 3 criteria: carcinogenicity, developmental and reproductive toxicity, and allergies and immunotoxicities. It then gives you an overall rating from 0-10 (zero being the most clean, 10 the most toxic) based on these criteria and explains why it was assigned each number. Unfortunately, my cocoa butter and shea lotion ranked at a 10 and so the need for a better option became a priority.
For a better option in skin care, try this lotion. It’s super easy, only has 3 ingredients and is called 3-in-1 lotion because you can use it on your hands, face and body. I recommend using it at night because that’s when your skin rejuvenates and can absorb all of the great nutrients and the consistency may be a little oily to put on right before you head out the door.
Ingredients
- 2 cups organic, unrefined extra virgin coconut oil
- 1 cup organic, unscented aloe vera
- 6 Vitamin E softgels
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a sauce pan over medium heat until melted.
- Add the aloe vera and stir with a whisk to incorporate completely.
- Take a clean safety pin or sewing needle and poke a small hole into each Vitamin E capsule and squeeze the inside into the coconut oil, aloe mixture, and mix thoroughly.
- Discard the remaining, empty capsule.
- Pour the mixture into a shallow container with a wide mouth, (Think body butter container) and let it cool.
Tips: Now depending on how cold you keep your house, your lotion will likely harden, as is the nature of coconut oil when it cools. However, it should still be slightly soft enough to scoop your hand into to get some to put on. As soon as the lotion hits your skin, it will start to melt and can be rubbed in.
Another tip would be to pour the lotion into an ice cube tray instead of a container. That way, whenever you are ready to put it on, just pop out an “ice cube” and rub it all over.
You can also add essential oils to this recipe to give it a natural scent. As is, it’s basically unscented, although it may have a slight coconut smell from the oil. Adding lavender essential oil can give it a great scent and add other benefits for your skin!
Again, I like to use this lotion all over at night and wake up to your skin feeling amazing! It’s also great for eczema and psoriasis, and stretch marks when you’re pregnant. In fact, I used it my entire first pregnancy and didn’t get a single stretch mark.