Finding and Creating that Perfect Lotion for Your Skin Condition
First off, I’m not a dermatologist. But I have visited plenty of them in my youth and now again, for my daughter’s eczema. Not much has changed. The dermatologist usually sends me home with a ton of samples of topical ointments and creams or sells me a product “to try”. I got the same advice back then that I do now: Try them out and see what works (and if none of the topical stuff works, then they start prescribing the heavy drugs which I won’t go into here). So there you go. It’s all trial and error. Even with the skin doctors. What may work for one person may not for another even though you have the same skin problem.
These specialty lotions and creams can be pretty expensive, especially if they have to be prescribed by a physician. If you’re willing to try all these products, why not try making them yourself? Look at the ingredients list and see if you can replicate something similar. I bet you can come pretty close. You might even be surprised at how common some of these ingredients are. Leave out all the preservatives since you don’t have to worry about shelf life for your own personal home use.
This is exactly what one reader did. In the simple 3-ingredient moisturizer post, he commented on his experiment which I thought was worthy of posting here. His formulation is partly derived from his positive results using uremol, a Canadian product that contains urea, and udder balm. Between the two products, he derived his ingredients list:
- water: 1/2 c + 2T
- olive oil: 2T
- urea: 4.75t
- stearic acid: 2t
- glycerin:2t
- lanolin
:1.5t
- aloe vera gel: 1t
- vitamin e: 3/4 t
I haven’t tried this myself, but many of these ingredients are typically found in lotions for dry, cracked, eczema skin conditions. The only ingredient I’m not familiar with is urea. In addition to uremol, he shares that you can find a 10% urea lotion called Nutraplus
Comments
Comment from Wabi Sabi Baby
Time February 19, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Thanks for sharing! I’ll definitely be experimenting with this.
Comment from Anon
Time February 26, 2009 at 10:24 pm
After reading your response in the 3 ingredient thread that stearic acid isn’t really an emulsifier, I bit the bullet and bought some emulsifying wax online.
I also decided to try coconut oil instead of olive oil.
I only used half the amount of e. wax (q/4 really, but I made a 1/2 batch) and still used the stearic acid (maybe not necessary since coconut oil is thick to start).
The result was a nice thick cream, much like the udder balm I’m trying to imitate, but without the color or fragrance. This batch is a little greasy, but I increased the lanolin without decreasing the oil.
I’ll cut back on the oil with my next batch. I think I’m zeroing in on a lotion (maybe more of a cream) that will work well for me.
Thanks for the original recipe that got me to experiment.
Comment from Usman Akhtar
Time November 14, 2009 at 10:39 pm
lol – doesn’t urea come from ……urine?
Comment from Wabi Sabi Baby
Time November 15, 2009 at 9:33 am
Yes, urea comes from urine. Commercial urea is the synthetic version…some people find that its sterility and other factors aid in skin as well as other health problems. Google urine therapy. I do not endorse nor discount such claims as I do not have experience with it. However, my daughter’s diaper area always had the least amount of eczema. Some people also find that urea-based ointments can sting. Trial and error.
Comment from Concerned
Time November 26, 2009 at 10:49 am
I work for the company that makes Original Udder Balm and I have a couple of concerns about making your own. We have competitors with labs & chemist that have tried to reverse engineer our product, and with only moderate success. With all their resources they cannot figure it out exactly.
Trying to duplicate the product by reading the ingredient list and guessing at the proportions just seems silly. Even if you had the percentages correct, it is a long process to make the product. Ingredients are added at specific times, mixed at specific revolutions, and heated and cooled at specific temps and rates. It is like looking at the ingredients to a cake, without knowing measurements or cooking times, and trying recreate it. It will not be the same.
Some of the ingredients can also hurt you if you use too much, so there is always that risk.
Seems to me with Original Udder Balm less than 10 bucks a jar it would just be simpler and easier to buy.
Comment from Wabi Sabi Baby
Time November 30, 2009 at 4:46 pm
@Concerned,
The intention is not to recreate a commercial product nor its process to the tee, but rather, benchmark from one or more sources to come up with a custom product suited to each individual’s personal needs. Same concept with home baking/cooking.
My experience is that lanolin itself provides relief for dry, cracked skin and that there is no noticeable difference between using plain lanolin or udder balms where many also contain the active ingredient 8-hydroxyquinoline. Though suitable for veterinary use, 8-hydroxyquinoline for human use is questionable but inconclusive due to insufficient studies/data. On a related note, Lansinoh is commonly used to relieve cracked skin and soreness due to breastfeeding. That too, is just lanolin at work.
Comment from marky
Time June 20, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I am thinking about concocting a facial cream with Vit E, Vit. C, and almond oil.
I have used very expensive facial creams. I have used Retin A. I am 59 and am trying to use the best things for aging skin. I like to be in the sun so I am not thrilled with he Retin A.
Any thoughts??
Comment from Staci
Time October 4, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Every oil has it’s own special properties for skin. You can look up each oil on line – for example casteroil is a cleansing oil, but dries the skin out. Sweet Almond oil is used a lot, but I really prefer apricot oil for my skin. When you want to make your own skin care products, research different types of oil that address problems you have with your own skin.
Comment from Anon
Time February 17, 2009 at 1:12 am
I’m the person who came up with the ingredient list in the post, and I plan to make some modifications with my next batch. I don’t think I used enough stearic acid, because the end result was somewhere between an emulsion and a suspension. I’ll probably increase the stearic acid a little at a time to avoid making it too thick too suddenly.
I also have to admit that the udder balm was my goal, but I didn’t use all of the ingredients and the end result was not nearly as thick or smooth as the udder balm. I’m also not even trying for the same color or smell. I’m going for no added color or fragrance.
Uremol is available online, but all of the sources seem to be Canadian (I bought some online after googling uremol). It generally runs around $15 for 250 ml (around 8 fl oz). The end cost varies depending on the exchange rate and shipping costs.
Drugstore.com has nutraplus for much less than Amazon does. I’ve always bought the lotion (very thin, but non greasy lotion) instead of the cream. Amazon has another product called Aqua care that has 10% urea, but I’ve never tried it.
My first attempt wasn’t completely successful, but it wasn’t completely unsuccessful, either. I keep a small (~1 fl oz) lotion container with me all the time and have been keeping it filled with my homemade lotion (or sometimes a mixture of mine and some udder balm) and it seems to be working pretty well.