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Last Updated on February 8, 2024
Back in the day, when I had a little more time on my hands, I was fanatical about making my own cold-process soap, hand cream and toothpaste. Then I became a mom and finding time to dabble in my hobbies was like trying to fit in my pre-pregnancy pants right after the birth.
I seriously forgot how easy it is to make this recipe, and it wasn’t until I started dreaming about what porky creation to share with ya’ll that I thought about using lard in this hand cream.
Before you think I might have gone a bit sideways using lard, if you think about the fats that were available back in the day before industrial processing and the birth of mineral oil, you were limited to animal fats (coconut oil or olive oil if you were blessed to live in an appropriate region ) for cooking and making toiletries. This recipe isn’t inventing the wheel, it’s reaching back into time and stealing your great-great-grandma’s recipe.
This is the first time I’ve used lard in this recipe and I’m hooked. If you’re afraid it smells like lard, it doesn’t. The beeswax scent is crazy strong. It even drowns out the patchouli essential oil I used to scent the batch. Another great thing about this hand cream is that it’s super emollient and inexpensive. Also, if you want you can get more creative and infuse the oil in this recipe. I infused the sweet almond oil with Chamomile.
Homemade Hand Cream
– 1 cup of sweet almond oil (liquid measurement)
– 1/2 cup of lard (liquid measurement)
– 1/2 cup of beeswax pastilles (dry measurement)
– 1 tablespoon of vitamin e oil
– 2 cups of warm distilled water
In a large pan that contains 2 cups of water, place a large Pyrex measuring cup (I recommend an 8 cup). Place the almond oil, lard and beeswax in the Pyrex and warm until the beeswax is completely melted.
Remove the Pyrex from the pan and set on your counter top. Now add the vitamin e oil and warm distilled water and whisk on high using your hand mixer. At first it might seem that you are just mixing water, but as the mixture starts to cool the oils will emulsify and you will have a hand cream. This takes about 10 minutes.
You can add any essential oils you like when it reaches the whipped consistency of a lotion. I recommend blending it for 2 more minutes after you add in essential oils.
Store in clean, sterilized jars in a cool place. Honestly even with the vitamin e oil and the essential oils in this recipe, I store it in the fridge.
Use generously on your hands and any rough areas of skin.
I follow your recipe for homemade hand cream and it came out a mess. I went out and paid a lot of money for our recipe and I have a bowl of something that’s not hand cream.
Very Upset
I’m sorry this happened hun. Did you run the handmixer for 10 minutes?
I just made this and I think I might like it. It’s fluffy, and looks and spreads like lotion. I could only get half the water to emulsify, and I just poured the excess off. It’s a bit greasy, and my dogs keep looking at me expectantly because they can detect the lard in it…But not too bad for my first attempt at making my own lotion. I’ll be trying it again when this batch runs out.
I hope you enjoy it. It does miracles for my skin!
i’m trying make lotion with lard. Does your recipe has not lard bad smell? how to remove the lard bed smell?
You could add more essential oils or fragrance to help hide the smell.
@lili, I render my pig fat very slowly with spruce pine needles in it overnight. It helps eliminate that smell.
Kelly, I think one step was left out; To emulsify, You need to let the water and oil mixtures cool to the same temperature before mixing together. This is similar to soap making.
Thanks for the tip Deb.
I didn’t like the water in this. It never mixes in all the way. I poured off about 3/4cup after mixing for 30 minutes. I like what was made the first few days and then found small beads of water in it. This will cause it to go rancid.
When I make salves and tallow creams there is not water added. I wondered why you added it to lard?
You can add an emulsifier to help them bind. Thanks for your feedback!
Has your lard lotion shown any evidence of covering wrinkles or age spots.
No, it doesn’t bill.
I made this and it turned out wonderful! I am enjoying it everyday. I did encounter one problem, however. After a few weeks, the water began to separate. By no means is this a deal breaker, I still use it and it’s still fine, just thicker. But I’m wondering if I should add a little soap to help it mix or if I should just emulsify it longer. What could I do?
You will need to add an emulsifier to keep the water from separating. Try an emulsifying wax.