After the comment on my last hand cream post that mentioned that adding water to the lotion was inviting bacteria I have been ready to try again. I altered my recipe to remove the water, and to lessen the oil a bit because after some use I felt it was too oily. I also added tea tree oil to help with any mold or bacteria growth. Here’s the updated water-less recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons shea butter
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon beeswax
• 5 drops tea tree oil

Melt the ingredients in the microwave in 30 second increments until it looks like this.

Carefully (it’s HOT) remove from the microwave and let cool. After 15 minutes or so start stirring the mixture to keep it from hardening into a block. I rested the jar on a cool pack from the freezer to help speed this up. After cooling and mixing, it should look like this.

At this point it’s ready to use. This recipe came out a bit less oily and definitely not as creamy as the first one. Over a few days it has hardened to the consistency of a butter – a bit thicker than lotion, but not a solid. To use – scoop a bit out and let soften in your hands for a few seconds and apply like normal.

Enjoy!

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.