Bramble Berry strongly recommends making lotions by weight, with a scale. However, we recognize that some of our customers have other methods of manufacturing lotions. Here is the exact weight to volume conversion if you prefer to make your lotions without a scale.

Easy Lotion Kit - We think you'll be tickled pink with this fun and easy kit for customizing one of our favorite lotion bases. Perfect for the novice lotion maker. Make your lotion delicate rose or shocking pink - you will still have enough color left over for fun pink bath water! You will receive one of our sample bottles of fragrance which hold .3 -.5 ounces of oil, more than enough to scent the 16 oz. of lotion at our recommended 2% usage rate.

You will be able to make (8) 2 oz. bottles of lotion with this one inexpensive kit!

Kit Includes: • 16 ounces of Lotion Base 2 • (8) 2oz. clear plastic bottles w/ white caps • 1 oz. of True Tone Fuschia • 1 Dropper • Fragrance of your choice • Easy to follow Instructions

Lotions Kit- Do you want to make your own lotions from scratch?

This kit contains enough to make 12 bottles of lotion (4 oz. each). This comprehensive starter kit includes information on formulating your own recipe, as well as ingredient listing rules and regulations. If you've ever wanted to make your own nourishing lotion, this is the time to try it! You only need to provide the distilled water.

Kit Includes:

8 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
8 oz. Avocado Oil
8 oz. Shea Butter
1 oz. Phenonip
1 lb. Stearic Acid
1 lb. Emulsifying Wax or Ceteryl Alcohol
12 - 4 oz. Clear Reverse Tapered Ovals w/White Caps
1 oz. Lavender Essential Oil
1 oz. Cucumber Melon Fragrance Oil
Lotion Making Booklet

Looking for an easy way to fill lotion bottles?

Click here to read several creative ideas from your fellow soapers!

Improved Beeswax Lotion Base - This is the same basic recipe as our original lotion base with extra beeswax added plus a lighter feel. Our formula features organic Aloe Vera juice known for its skin healing properties. In addition this formula is paraben free! Neolone 950 is a preservative that is approved for use in the US as well as European and Asian countries. Our Beeswax lotion base is unscented, uncolored, and waiting for your personal, customizing touch!

Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Water (Aqua), Mineral Oil, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Isopropyl Palmitate, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Triethanolamine, PEG-100 Stearate, Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Dimethicone, Beeswax, Carbomer, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol

Improved Formula Lotion Base - We searched for a long time to find a base of this quality. High in glycerin, this lotion absorbs in quickly while providing long lasting moisture. Just add fragrance and you're done!

Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Water (Aqua), Isopropyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Dimethicone, PEG-100 Stearate, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Triethanolamine, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Carbomer, Methylisothiazolinone, Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Phenoxyethanol

How do you fill a lotion bottle? Click here to read several creative ideas from your fellow soapers.

Call us for additional bulk purchasing options at (360)734-8278.

New! BTMS-50 Conditioning Emulsifier - Behentrimonium Methosulfate or BTMS is a vegetable based conditioning emulsifier. It can be used to emulsify lotions and scrubs but is more commonly used to make hair conditioners. The recommended usage rate is 1 – 15% though we find that much more than 6% in our hair conditioner recipes is overkill. This emulsifying system contains a large percentage of conditioning agents, making it appropriate for leave-on conditioning treatments as well as traditional rinse off hair care. This product contains no hazardous solvents and comes in an easy-to-work-with white pastille.

Behentrimonium Methosulfate is a quaternary ammonium salt derived from the natural plant oil Colza, or what is commonly known as Rapeseed Oil. It is both a mild primary emulsifier and an effective conditioning agent, which provides elegant cationic emulsions for both skin and hair care products. These emulsions leave hair tangle-free and feeling silky smooth and provide skin with a softer, powdery feel after use in skin products such as lotions and creams. BTMS-50 is also capable of emulsifying silicone, adding to its range in hair care products.

Our favorite hair conditioner recipe, using BTMS.

INCI: Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetyl Alcohol (and) Butylene Glycol

Cetearyl Alcohol/Ceteareth 20 - Used as an emulsifying wax in lotions, this is a waxy pastille that is used in concentrations of 2 and 6% of the lotion recipe and can be used in combination with emulsifying wax. This product creates a thicker, more waxy end product, and is excellent for foot and elbow creams (which traditionally require a thicker, waxier cream).

Dipropylene Glycol (DPG) - DPG is commonly used in incense making or to cut fragrances to make them skin safe or suitable for potpourri or burners. Our DPG is fragrance grade. It is a water-soluble, colorless, low-odor liquid with low volatility. Additionally, DPG is an excellent solvent for many organic materials.

Emulsifying Wax NF- Use this waxy material to emulsify your water and oils together. Usage varies based on the combination of thickeners but normal usage rates are between 3 and 6% of the total weight of your recipe.

How much Germaben II should you use in your lotions? Use our handy Preservative Calculator to find out!

Germaben II - If you are making lotions, and you wish to keep your lotions nice and creamy without mold and other nasties growing in your creations, you need Germaben II. Germaben is a mixture of propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, methylparaben, and propylparaben. It is meant to be used as .3 to 1.0% of the total weight of your lotion.

Read more about Germaben II.

Bramble Berry strongly recommends making lotions by weight, with a scale. However, we recognize that some of our customers have other methods of manufacturing lotions. Here is the exact weight to volume conversion if you prefer to make your lotions without a scale.
.1 oz by weight = .082 US fluid ounces = 2.42502943 ml

Germall II - This free flowing preservative is used for anti-microbial power in powders and clay masks. Use it at .2% (by weight) concentration rate. Germall II has no known chemical inactivators and is compatible with virtually all cosmetic ingredients.

INCI name: Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

Glycerin, liquid - This thick, clear fluid is used in many lotion recipes by Donna Maria and in transparent soapmaking. Glycerin is a humectant that draws moisture to the skin and is an excellent addition to any lotion recipe, generally in the water phase.

Grapefruit Seed Extract - Grapefruit Seed Extract (commonly referred to as GSE) is normally used as an antioxidant to help prevent rancidity in lotion and lotion bars. Thick and golden like honey, our GSE is 60% extract and 40% Glycerin. Recommended usage is .5% to 1% by weight. There is some belief that GSE also works as a preservative. At Bramble Berry, we do not endorse the use of GSE as the sole preservative. We believe that a full-spectrum preservative such as Phenonip or Germaben II must be used to truly prevent mold and bacterial growth in your lotion products.

NOTE: GSE is not approved as a food additive or for human consumption by the FDA. In additon you cannot make any microbial or therapeutic claims in products based on the addition of Grapefruit Seed Extract. Please note that this is true of any Grapefruit Seed Extract sold in the US.

INCI: Citrus Grandis and Glycerin

Hydrolyzed Oats - A soluble form of hydrolyzed whole oats consisting mainly of hydrolyzed oligosaccharides (or carbohydrates). This novel skin care ingredient can be used to improve properties of creams and lotions and imparts a soft, cushiony feel on the skin, giving it a near-velvet smoothness after drying. Applied neat, (undiluted on the skin) it dries with almost no tack, leaving a light, shiny and flexible film on the skin. With the natural touch it provides as an all-vegetable derived moisturizer, hydrolyzed oats are a wonderful addition to any product for the skin or hair.

Recommended use levels are 1-5%.

Isopropyl Mysitrate (IPM) - This synthetic product adds to the slip and helps lotions to absorb quickly and easily. Additionally, it can be used in bath oils massage oils. It is a colorless liquid that withstands oxidation and rarely becomes rancid. It is soluble in oils and can be used up to 50% in your massage and lotion recipes.

Phenonip - A liquid preservative to inhibit a full range of microbial growth in your cremes, lotions, salt scrubs, dusting powders and liquid soap bases. This preservative is more suitable than Germaben II for products that are manufactured at higher temperature ranges. Phenonip is not a formaldehyde donor. Use at a rate of .5 -1.0% of the total weight of your product.While volume vs. weight measurements vary, these measurements may help you if you don't have a scale handy:

Phenonip is composed of: Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben and Propylparaben.

Polysorbate 20 - Polysorbate 20 is commonly used to emulsify oils and water at a 1:1 ratio. It is a nonionic surfactant that is water-soluble and used as a dispersing agent. It is gentle and nonirritating. Normally, you need a solubilizer, such as Polysorbate 20, to mix your essential or fragrance oils into body sprays without separating. Combine equal amounts of your fragrance or essential oil and the Polysorbate 20 until you achieve a clear solution, then, add this mixture to your water or alcohol.

Fun recipes using Polysorbate 20!

Stearic Acid - Traditionally used as a thickening agent in lotion, this vegetable derived waxy substance is also used as a hardening agent in soaps (at a .5% usage rate). Stearic acid is also used as a hardening agent in candles, vegetable or paraffin based.

Sprayable Body Lotion - Have you ever wanted a light and easy way to apply lotion? Try our Sprayable Body Lotion! You can add fragrances and liquid colorants to this lotion - try .05 to .10 ounce in 16 ounces of the lotion (but no micas or pigments as they clog up your spritzers). You can just shake to mix it all up and then simply pour your lotion into the containers. No more messy filling bags and methods!

There's all kinds of possibilities for this lotion (cooling foot spray, summertime moisturizing mist, after-sun relief spray). Make sure to test a small amount out with your spritzers and sprayers as you need a more wide dip tube and spray nozzle than some that are out there on the market (yes, Bramble Berry spritzers work well).

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth-20,Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Palmitate, Ceteareth-12, Olive Oil, Dimethicone, Aloe Vera, Phenoxyethanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben.

NOTE: 5 gallon pail sizes are made up fresh upon your order and therefore may arrive 1-2 weeks later than the rest of your purchases and shipping may be as much as $10 more than quoted by the shopping cart.