Call me a girl if you want–ok, don’t do that–but I do like to use body lotion most days, often on my face, hands, and feet. My wife tends to use quite a bit and my youngest has needed some over the winter but seems to use less and less of it these days. The problem is that the stuff my wife likes can get expensive!
What We Used to Use…
Personally, I like the stuff as a daily body lotion but it’s easy to want to slather it on since lotions like this are easily applied.
Granted, I don’t feel like we use a lot of it but since we’re super broke these days I’ve been trying to find alternatives and, so, I hopped on the trusty world wide web and searched Bing for lotion alternatives.
I quickly found that I had a few options from what we had around the house, including olive oil, petroleum jelly, and coconut oil, to name a few. Coconut oil, in particular, seems to have quite a few uses, including in salves, deodorant, and toothpaste, among other uses.
Plain Ole Salve…
Before I tried other options I choose to try the salve recipe that I saw Gaye at BackdoorSurvival.com (link to the recipe here) make a while back. I should note that this salve isn’t meant to be a lotion but I figured I would give it a shot since the recipe includes two of the same ingredients mentioned as potential lotion alternatives along with some cosmetic-grade beeswax.
Long story short, there was no way I was using this stuff as a body lotion since it was nearly as hard as a rock after solidifying! Well, it wasn’t that hard but it may as well have been. At best this recipe could make a decent lip balm. If I really worked at it I could use it as a salve but it takes some effort. For some reason Gaye seems to have more luck than I with her plain ol’ salve.
Olive Oil…
I had read that olive oil could be used as a body lotion alternative and, yes, it can be. The problems I had were (1) it took quite a while for the oil to sink in–more than I was willing to wait–and so it just kind of “sat there” on my hands and face and (2) the smell.
While I could have dealt with the oiliness for a while the smell actually bothered me more than anything. I used extra virgin olive oil so maybe that makes a difference. I don’t know. What I do know is that I wouldn’t use olive oil as my primary lotion unless I REALLY had to!
Petroleum Jelly…
I had also read that petroleum jelly could be used as a salve. And, while I didn’t mind the smell at all, using petroleum jelly made me feel too greasy… even sticky for quite a while. That said, it would still be my preferred choice over olive oil. Of course, petroleum jelly isn’t exactly an all natural product so maybe it’s not something I should use each and everyday but would work in a pinch.
Mineral Oil…
They say mineral oil can also be used as a body/face lotion and that’s true. In fact, a little seems to go a long way. But, it seems to be an awful lot like petroleum jelly in that it makes me feel slimy or something. Next!
Coconut Oil…
That said, as it turns out, coconut oil can be a great natural body–and face–lotion. To be honest, I was skeptical until the past few weeks when I tried it for a few days and, would you believe it, coconut now happens to be my preferred alternative lotion!
We use this Nutiva Extra Virgin Cocunut Oil which seems to be the best deal at Costco. I think you can get a 78 oz. jar for around $20 if I remember right.
Anyway, there is a bit of a smell that I’m not entirely fond of at first but it was far better than the olive oil and seems to dissipate rather quickly. I should note that there is a bit of oiliness and it isn’t the easiest stuff to work with, at least when compared to actual lotion, but for the money I’m not complaining too much.
What options have you tried? I would appreciate hearing what you’ve found works and what didn’t. Thank you.
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