DIY Mama : Homemade Baby Lotion with The Body Shop's Shea Butter

It's March and that signals the tail end of the first quarter. I can't believe it. Pretty soon, summer will really roll in and before we know it, we're just about to bid 2019 good bye. Crazy! Time is zooming by in record speed. Anyway, March has always been one of my favorite months. It's the birth month of two of my bestest friends C and T, it's also when Paul and I found out that we were expecting (not knowing they're twins) and well, it's also the time when we would normally plan for our summer vacation too. I wonder if we can really go out and travel with our twins this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!

March is also International Women's Month where we celebrate women all over the world. Growing up, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones to be born to parents who never, at any point in my life, made me or my sister feel inferior being a woman. In fact, it's the opposite. They were very protective of us thus making us really feel so special and loved every single minute of our lives. They've been very supportive in everything that we do and have continuously been giving us the freehand to pursue our dreams and passions. This is definitely one thing that I will make sure I will impart on not only my daughter L but also to my son J. I promise to be the kind of mom who will be their biggest cheerleader and their most loyal fan too. I want to play a huge role in building their confidence and I want them to know that they can do whatever they want to do for as long as they put their heart into it. I want to see them shine and should there be times that they would fail, I know in my heart that they will have that same confidence and strength to stand up again and learn from the experience to move further on.

It's just timely that I recently received a beautiful package from The Body Shop. Inside, I got a bottle of Shea Body Wash, a tub of Shea Body Butter and interestingly, a packet of 100% Natural Shea Butter from Ghana. Apparently, The Body Shop has partnered with The Tungteiya Women's Association in Ghana for more than 25 years where its shea butter is being produced. If you look closely at most facial products most especially those that helps moisturize our skin, you'd see that shea butter is normally part of the list of ingredients. There are a lot of sources for this but when it comes to all products with shea butter from The Body Shop, it all comes from one source and that's in Ghana. It's such a vital ingredient that the company has also founded the Global Shea Alliance which helps support the 8 million women who are part of this industry. It sure does feel good using a product that cares for the community that supports it, doesn't it? I'm totally all for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Not only is shea butter very good for our skin, it smells so amazing too! I couldn't stop sniffing the bottle of Shea Shower Cream that came with my package. I can't wait to try it! Oh boy, bath time will definitely be more relaxing now.

Now, let me focus on the packet of 100% Natural Shea Butter. I was so excited to do this little project as it feels like a little chemistry project which I haven't done in more than 2 decades! Growing up, I'm so used to hearing words like "bunsen burner", "dyestuff", "nitrogen oxide" and more. This is because my mom was a chemist and my dad was a chemical engineer so you can just imagine how much they freaked out when I came home on report card day during the first quarter of my junior year with a 79 score for chemistry. Believe me, they really sat down with me and tutored me the following quarter up until I managed to pull my grade up to 90. I still remembered my mom telling us, "you girls have no right to fail Chemistry" hahaha Sorry Mommy!



Okay, enough side story and let's get to work! As I was researching on the different possible things that I can make using the 100% Natural Shea Butter as my based ingredient, I focused on one that my babies can use. I realized that they would get rashes here and there from the heat so I decided to make them my very own homemade lotion. It was so easy that I managed to finish it in less than 30 minutes. That's from preparing the ingredient down to cooling and actual use of the product. Easy peasy!

Homemade Baby Lotion

Here's what you'll need:
- 1/4 cup of The Body Shop 100% Natural Shea Butter
- 2 tbsp of beeswax pellets
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
- 5 drops of chamomile essential oil or lavender oil (depends on your needs)

Procedure:
1. Mix the shea butter, beeswax pellets and coconut oil in one stainless bowl.


2. Melt it in a double boiler set-up. If you don't have a double boiler, I just got a huge pot and filled half of it with water. Boil it and put the bowl on top. Carefully mix the ingredients until it melts and turn gold (oil-like consistency).

3. Add 5 drops of essential oil into the mixture. Use chamomile if you want something to sooth your baby's skin or lavender to relax/calm baby.

4. Transfer into a sterilize jar. I used a super big bottle but a small one will do.

5. Cool until it turns white.


I was so proud of this little project! I can't believe I was able to make my own lotion and it's safe for my babies to use. Just a little disclaimer, my babies are more than a year old so I am more confident to apply this on them but if you got a newborn or babies under 1, please check with your pediatrician first. I'm not sure if they can have anything with scent.

Apart from lotion, shea butter may be used for lip scrub, body scrub, hair mask and more! It's so versatile yet filled with so much good stuff for our lips, hair and skin. It's 100% vegan and chemical-free too.

Check out this new line of shea butter products at any The Body Shop store nearest you. Click here for the list of stores in the Philippines.