It seems to be hard to find natural lotions. Is there a good place to find lotions for general skin use? Perhaps ones with different scents (using essential oils or something wholesome)?

Christmas is coming and women love lotion.

what they don't seem to like is someone giving them a tub of coco butter and saying "here...just melt this and mix it with this....and then rub that on....its good for your skin"

The two most common brands I use, mainly for face creams are AlbaBotanics (my favorite) and Derma E. I'm not into heavily scented lotions, so these have been good for me. I buy them at Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers, my local store.
http://www.albabotanica.com/body/body-moisturizers.html
http://www.dermae.com/fc_portals/cgi...id=1638954217A

There's other brands that are good too, Avalon Organics, Reviva, etc. If you look at the Vitacost site under natural skin care, you'll see some choices. Nothing expensive or exotic though, using specifically essential oils. I think the DermaE site have a lavender lotion, likely available for less money on other sites. You can get a few different ones, and make a little "gift basket".

Ingredients

Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil(1), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice(1), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract(1), Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract(1), Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Echinacea Angustifolia Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract(1), Allantoin, Ascorbic Acid, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, Lecithin, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Alcohol(1), Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool Fragrance (Parfum). (1)Certified Organic Ingredient "



that has alot of ingredients in it...is it natural?

Is it for you or for gifts? I like castor oil for myself. It's thick but my dry skin loves it. Have you tried coconut oil? It doesn't moisturize my skin very well but some love it.

I don't know about all the ingredients, the glycerin has been used for years in health store lotions, the oils and flower/fruit extracts seem fine to me, you'll have to look up any suspicious ingredients.

Here's a partial listing of some good...
http://www.healthfoodemporium.com/in...ngredients.php
And bad ingredients...
http://www.healthfoodemporium.com/in...ngredients.php

Here's a tip for you... If you have some aloe plants around, you can get some natural scented oils, or even get fresh clippings from plants, say lilac, and mix it with the natural "juice" (not sure what else to call it) from the aloe plant and it works wonders

Of course, I never really bothered, just used the aloe for sunburns... I didn't care what it smelled like LOL...

I guess the old saying goes, "if you want something done right...

Exactly.. do it yourself

This way you know it's natural, and doesn't have anything that you don't want in it

However you can buy premade "essential" oils as well.. To each their own.

ughh....I really don't want to do that. I've looked this sort of thing up on youtube...you have to mix an oil you like (in liquid form)...and water....and then get a hand mixer....and mix the two together (it will emulisfy it). And then I suppose you can throw in an essential oil if you want.

I suppose you'd probably want to use coconut oil (in which case you'd have to heat it to get it into liquid form)...or coco butter...or maybe olive oil...or shea butter....and then for the liquid....water or water and aloe juice....and then an essential oil....

just thinking about this makes me feel messy. Usually when I try to do something like this, I end up with a big mess in the kitchen and a wife who says "I told you so".

The recipes on the net don't seem to help either. there's always these sites, where they say..."making homemade xyz is so freakin easy"....try this....or try that....or if you prefer this scent try using this oil instead of that one....and none of the recipes really work...they all end up making a mess, not a usable product.

But what the hell...I'm a curious person by nature.

Old-fashioned and simple...http://www.swansonvitamins.com/herit...#product-label

Very good link... For those looking for an easy way to do it, that might just be the key

Hmmm... Seems like I am going to be making a sample order this weekend LOL...

I found a brand of lotion I am happy with.

http://www.vitacost.com/everyday-coc...otion-32-fl-oz

Ingredients: Coconut (cocos nucifera) water*, coffee berry (caffea robusta) extract (aqueous), virgin coconut (cocos nucifera) oil*, stearic acid, vegetable emulsifying wax, copra (cocos nucifera) extract, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, citric acid.

the ingredients are not perfect, but its pretty darn close to it. And you can get it for $10 for a giant 32 oz bottle at whole foods.

Their shampoo (everyday brand by alaffia) has the SHORTEST list of ingredients of any shampoo I've ever seen.