When Henry was first born, I had read about the benefits of coconut oil (google it and see for yourself!) and wanted to give him a great moisturizer for his sensitive baby skin as well as something that had ingredients I could actually pronounce. I made my first baby lotion by mixing 1 drop of lavender essential oil to 1 tablespoon coconut oil. It worked well, but over the past year, I’ve perfected it to a blend that I like even better…and that goes on a little easier.

During the warm months, coconut oil will be soft, but in the colder parts of the year, it hardens and that makes it a little tricky to rub on as lotion. The trick to this is to whip the coconut oil. You can add any essential oils you want to coconut oil to make your own lotion, but I use lavender because it is gentle enough for babies, promotes healthy skin, and is calming and relaxing (a perfect lotion for right after nighttime bath)!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut oil (room-temperature, do not melt first!)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerine
• 15-20 drops lavender essential oil

Directions:

• Put the hardened coconut oil in a mixing bowl and beat on high with a power mixer. (I’ve used both a hand & stand mixer; I found the stand mixer worked slightly better only because I didn’t have to stand there and hold it for a few minutes.) The coconut oil will soften from the mixing and start to change to a soft, light consistency. It will look like frosting and you’ll want to eat it.
• Add the vegetable glycerin and lavender essential oil and whip a little bit more just until it’s all combined.
• Transfer to a jar and you’re done!

To note: the coconut oil will harden again when it gets cold, but it will still remain much softer than it would without being whipped and it will be much easier to use.