skin care

How to make lotion : Bee Propolis & Bee Pollen 2 of my favorite ingredients

March 26, 2021

How to make lotion

Bee propolis is one of the most cherished ingredient that I love to use in my lotions and today we are going use this ingredient to make one of my favorite lotions.

First lets see what is bee propolis?

Bees produce a compound called propolis from the sap of evergreen and needle leaved trees. The combine that with their own secretions and beeswax and create a brownish things used in coating their hives. It protects their hives from damage.

In Ancient India propolis was used for its medicinal properties. Assyrians use to apply it on wonds and tumors to fight infectin and help healing. Egypticians used it for mummification.

Polyphenols found in propolis are antioxidants in nature and help to fight damage in body. There are more than 300 compounds found in propolis and many of them are an excellent source of nutrition too.

The polyphenols of propolis called as flavonoids are produced by plants to protect themselves which are extracted by bees when they suck the nectar from the plant.

They’re commonly found in foods thought to have antioxidant properties, including:

fruits

green tea

vegetables

red wine

Researchers say that Propolis has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties

Propolis has a compound called pinocembrin, a flavonoid that is antifungal.

These beautiful properties of propolis help in wound healing.

So keeping these things in mind today we are going to make a lotion from this beautiful ingredient.

I am using a glycerite of propolis which is a extract of propolis in glycerin.

If you wish to see a gel made from propolis check this video.

So common lets see How to make lotion using this ingredient.

I have substituted glycerine from the lotion to propolis glycerite.

How to make lotion from Propolis Glycerite here’s the recipe in percentage.

54% water

19% Lavender hydrosol

5% btms 50

2% cetyl alcohol

5% Almond oil

5% coconut oil

5% propolis glycerite

2% honey

0.5% preservative

2% oatmeal milk and honey fragrance

0.5 vit e

In total I am making a 50 grms of this product

How to make lotion with propolis glycerite recipe in grams

27 grms DM – water

9.5 grms – Lavender hydrosol ( if you don’t have hydrosol you can substitute it with DM water)

2.5 grms – Btms 50

1 grm – Cetyl alcohol

2.5 grms – Almond oil

2.5 grms – Coconut oil

2.5 grms – Propolis glycerite

1 grm – Honey

0.25 grm – Preservative of your choice

1 grm – Oatmeal milk and honey fragrance

0.25 grm – Vit E

If you wish to add mica it is totally optional I am expecting to get a nice peachy yellow colour from bee propolis glycerite.

Equiptment needed

– A scale that measures in 0.1-gram (or smaller) increments

– A large glass, microwave safe or heat-proof measuring cup or bowl.

– Spoons and rubber spatulas in varying sizes

– Spray Bottle with alcohol

– Latex gloves.

– A Microwave or double boiler

– A container to store body lotion

Steps for How to make lotion at home

Step 1

Put on your gloves, disinfect everything that is to be used. Clean surface with Rubbing Alcohol.

Step 2

Measure distilled water and put it on stove to boil for 30 minutes cover with cling film/ aluminum foil to prevent evaporation or add more water later to ensure total %.

Step 3

Weigh out all the in ingredients of the recipe in separate containers. Cover with disinfected foils.

Step 4

For oil phase take BTMS 50, Cetyl alcohol, almond oil, coconut oil etc in a heat proof container and keep it on a double boiler or Bain Marie

Step 5

Check the temperature of water and melted ingredients they should be between 10 degrees of each other

Step 6

Now mix the melted wax and oil mixutre with the water and lavender hyrodol blend with a blender till a lotion is formed. You may need to blend it 3 – 4 times to get the perfect consistency.

Step 7

Check the temperature at 30 – 35 degrees Celsius add our cool down phase ingredients i.e Propolis glycerite, honey & Vit E or any actives that you would like to use – Blend well

Step 8

Now add the fragrance / essential oil and blend it well.

Step 9

Measure the pH of the lotion by making a 10% solution. It is recommended that you use a pH meter as pH strips are not accurate. Check the pH video here

Step 10

To lower the pH you will need a 60% citric acid solution and to increase it you will need sodium hydroxide solution check this blog post / video on how to do this.

Step 11

Now add the preservative and pour the lotion into pump bottles/ containers of your choice. Keep them open till cool. Then you can cap them.

Step 12

Label your bottle with the ingredient and expiry date

The recipe in this blog is given in grams as well as percentage. Feel free to scale it up or scale it down as per your requirement.

If you would like to watch me making this please head over to my youtube channel you can click the link of how to make lotion.

If you have any questions feel free to write in the comments section below I would be happy to answer it and help out.

If you are looking for substitution let me know what would you like to substitute and I would be happy to help you out with that too.

If you wish to watch me make this please checkout the link here.

How to make lotion