Updated Recipe and Procedure
This version of the recipe will produce approximately 500g of finished lotion.
Here’s what you need:
Tools:
- kitchen scale
- 2x candy or meat thermometers ideally with probes
- 2x pyrex cups or beakers
- Pots and stove for double boiler setup
- Mixing bowl
- Electric hand mixer
- Jars for the finished product
Ingredients:
- Fractionated coconut oil
- Aloe Vera juice (optional)
- Cetyl alcohol or stearic acid
- Mango or Shea butter
- Polawax or similar emulsifier
- Preservative – GeoGard Ultra or Germall Plus
- Water
- Essential oils for fragrance
- Cannabis extract
You’ll need to use a kitchen scale to weigh out all the ingredients in grams as ml's are not always accurate. This is a very basic starter recipe, you can easily substitute some or all of the coconut oil for other oils which may have different therapeutic benefits or alter the feel of the lotion. Stearic acid will result in a thicker lotion while using cetyl alcohol in its place will make it be thinner and spread more easily on the skin (my choice).
If you choose not to use a preservative then you’ll need to keep your finished lotion in the fridge and it will only be good for a week before it goes bad.
This lotion recipe is based on the one from the below page which is now paywalled. Cost is as low as $1 a month so well worth joining if you want to explore lotion making beyond this simple recipe.
https://swiftcraftymonkey.blog/newbie-tuesday-its-time-to-make-lotion/
The recipe is easily scale-able, here are the percentages to calculate how many grams you need of each.
WATER PHASE
69% water and aloe vera juice
OIL PHASE
15% fractionated coconut oil
5% shea or mango butter
3% cetyl alcohol or stearic acid
6% emulsifier (BTMS or Polawax)
COOL DOWN PHASE
1% fragrance or essential oil
1.5% GeoGard Ultra or 0.5% Germall Plus preservative
(This doesn’t total 100% because of the difference in preservatives!)
To make 500g of lotion, you’ll need these amounts:
Cannabis Concentrates: 0.5g to 4g
Fractionated coconut oil: 75g
Water: 245g
Aloe Vera juice: 100g
Polawax or emusifier: 30g
Cetyl alcohol or Stearic acid: 15g
Mango or Shea butter: 25g
3-5g essential oil (3 lavender/2 vanilla bean)
2.5 g Germall Plus preservative
OR 7.5g GeoGard Ultra
I'm still playing with the concentrate dosage, not sure where the point of diminishing returns is, you might not need much. And you don't need CBD to get the muscle relaxing effects either, plain shatter or distillate should do the job.
If you have any concentrates like waxes and shatter to decarb, follow the steps below. If you only have CBD isolate or THC Distillate simply heat up your fractionated coconut oil, add them directly and stir to dissolve them.
Decarb and Infusion
Place a pyrex measuring cup in a loaf pan and preheated in oven set to 250F.
When the pyrex reaches 250F, drop in your concentrates then return to oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbles stop.
If you have already decarbed concentrates like CBD isolate or THC distillate you can add those to the pyrex once you take it out of the oven
Then add the pre weighed fractionated coconut oil, give it a good stir and let it cool down naturally.
Lotion Making
Now that you have your cannabis oil mixture, weigh off your cetyl alcohol, mango butter, and polax wax and add them to the now infused oil.
Separately weigh off your water and aloe vera, any ratio is fine, could even be 1:1 if you want it extra moist. Add some extra water in case some gets boiled off.
Next you need to heat your water and oil phases. Ideally you want a double boiler, if not place the pyrex measuring cups or beakers into stove pots filled with water and bring them to a boil with temperature guages in each to monitor the temps. Once they both reach at least 70C, set a timer for 20 minutes and keep the temps above that. Boil some water separately in case you need to add more to the pot or if you lose too much for your water phase.
After 20 minutes, reweigh your water phase and discard or add water to get the correct weight (pyrex weight + 345g), then add and dissolve your GeoGard Ultra if you chose that as your preservative. Next remove them both from the pot and combine them together in a mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer on setting 1 or 2 for 2-4 minutes and then let it cool. Once the temp reaches 45C, you can add your Germall Plus if you chose that as your preservative plus your essential oils for fragrance and therapeutic benefits. I like lavender and vanilla for the calming effects but you can use whatever you like. Then mix again for 2-4 minutes. Let it sit for a bit and then stir it to pop any bubbles from air introduced during mixing.
Then it's ready for packaging. Glass or plastic jars work fine and Amazon has a decent selection, as does to raw material dealer usually. Mason jars worked great too. After it's jarred it might take a few days to fully rest and thicken up but it's ready to use right away.
You won't get high from it unless you apply to your mucous membranes or eat it. The effect for me is that my tense muscles start to relax within 30 seconds of applying it directly to the skin above them. Applying it to your entire body can be a real treat too.
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For raw materials I can recommend these Canadian sites:
Coop Coco
https://coopcoco.ca/en
No minimums, reasonable prices and shipping times. Based in Montreal with a retail store.
These sites have higher minimums but better pricing in bulk and more selection. You may need to wait longer to get your product as they don't always carry stock in their warehouse.
PurpleCitrus
https://www.purplecitrus.ca/
New Directions Aromatics
https://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/
Voyageur Soap and Candle Co.
https://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com/
