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Homemade Hand Cream for Winter

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A rich, moisturizing hand cream for those drying winter days.  Whips up in just a few minutes!

This hand cream recipe is a simple blend of four ingredients to naturally nourish dry winter skin.

mason jar of white whipped hand cream

❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe

  • It’s beginner-friendly: it makes a great gift and is a very easy project, one that kids can make with a little help.
  • If you are afraid of soap and lotion making, this is a great way to get into the world of homemade body products. If you are already a soap maker, you probably have most or all of these ingredients already.
  • This recipe makes a very thick, balm-like hand cream. It will melt on the skin and will absorb after a few minutes.

This is an overview of the ingredients. You’ll find the full measurements and instructions in the printable recipe at the bottom of the page.

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You’ll need the following for this project:

  • Olive oil. Any kind will work. Don’t waste an expensive extra-virgin olive oil on this recipe.
  • Coconut oil. If you make a lot of soap or other bath and body products, get a variety that’s not food safe. It’s much less expensive. (You can get well-priced bulk oils at Nurture Soap.)
  • Beeswax. You will want to get the little beads, which are easier to measure out. Beeswax is very hard and difficult to work with in big pieces. (I use this kind of beeswax.)
  • Mango butter or shea butter. You only need a small amount. I prefer mango butter, which absorbs better on the skin. (I like this brand.)
  • Fragrance oil or essential oil. Make sure it is skin-safe.

🍴Instructions

Step One: Measure, melt, and cool oils

Measure all the ingredients using a kitchen scale.

Melt over a double boiler, or just a bowl set over a pan with an inch of water. The beeswax has a high melting point, so it may take a little longer than you expect.

Then let it cool on the counter until it looks like this: (Might take over 4 hours, up to overnight.)

Step Two: whip

Then whip until it is fluffy. If you have a stand mixer, that works best. A hand mixer will work fine, it will just take longer.

Step three: store

hand cream in mason jar, closeup view

Scoop the hand cream into a clean container and store it at room temperature.

🥫 Storage instructions

If your house gets very warm (above 80 degrees), it may melt and need to be rewhipped.

🔍 FAQs

Can I leave out the beeswax?

No, the cream will be too thin and won’t have any “body” to it.

Why no preservatives? Won’t it grow mold?

Nope, since there is no water in this recipe, you don’t need to worry about mold growing. It’s almost like a whipped chapstick!

Can I substitute some of the other oils and butters in the recipe?

You can make tweaks and substitutions, but the consistency will change. That doesn’t mean it won’t work, just that it will be different. I would recommend not increasing the amount of olive oil or beeswax, as they dramatically affect the finished product.

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert tips

  • Use a stand mixer if you have one; it’s much easier
  • If you don’t have an “official” double boiler, a bowl set over a pan of simmering water is all you need.
  • This recipe can also be simply melted and cooled and used like a balm without the whipped consistency.

📘 Related Recipes

📖 Here’s the recipe

Please note that the finished product is very rich and stiff. If you want a softer cream more like a traditional store-bought cream, you will need to add emulsifiers and preservatives. My favorite body cream recipe can be found here.

4.38 from 32 votes

Homemade Hand Cream for Winter

Print Recipe
A rich, moisturizing hand cream for those drying winter days.  Whips up in just a few minutes!
Prep Time:30 mins
Click here to grab a free seasonal e-cookbook!

Ingredients

  • 3 ounces coconut oil
  • 1.75 ounces mango butter
  • 1 ounce olive oil
  • 0. 125 ounces beeswax

Instructions

  • Melt the oil, butter, and beeswax in a double boiler set over low heat.  
  • Remove from the heat and add the fragrance oil and essential oil, if using.  Stir well until fully combined.
  • Set on the counter to cool at room temperature until solidified, at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  • Whip until white fluffy using electric mixer, about ten minutes.  If consistency does not change after whipping, place the oils in the fridge for 15 minutes and try again.
  • Store in clean container at room temperature.  May melt if stored above 80 degrees.  

Notes

If you don’t have a double boiler, just use a glass on stainless bowl set over a pan with one inch of water.
If your house is very warm, you can store this in the fridge.
If you just want a moisturizing balm, there is no need to whip.  Simply melt, mix, and store!
 
Course: lotion
Keyword: DIY hand cream, hand cream with beeswax, homemade hand cream
Servings: 1 half pint
Author: Katie Shaw
Did you make this recipe?If you loved it, please leave a review!
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38 thoughts on “Homemade Hand Cream for Winter”

  1. Thank you Katie for sharing this recipe and can’t wait to make.
    Question and sorry for my ignorance- when you say to melt the oils, I take that to mean the solid oils obviously, but what do I do with the olive oil? I did not read or missed when the olive oil is added to the melted solid oils.

    Reply
  2. I have not made this recipe…yet. I’m excited to try it. If I add a fragrance oil – how much? Just add drop by drop until I think it smells good ? 😂

    Reply
  3. 1 star
    I made this recipe for my daughter. She has dry hands that crack and bleed. It did not work at all. Super greasy and doesn’t ever seem to absorb. I also couldn’t get the same consistency as in the video, even with putting it in the fridge. Next time I will omit the coconut oil and massively increase the beeswax. This isn’t working for her poor hands.

    Reply
  4. 5 stars
    I have made this and it is amazing. I use it on my feet and the residue left on my hands is enough rubbed it. The key I find is not to use too much at a time so it absorbs quickly. My hands and feet are now very soft. I love it

    Reply
  5. I have atopic skin. My hands are so dry, I can use them as a replacement for a sandpaper. And every handcream I tried (even those recommended by pharmacists and my doctor) further aggitated my skin. Your recipe helped me a lot. Now my hands are soft and they do not hurt or itch.

    Though, I have to admit, I accidentaly rised the amount of beeswax to 1,125 ounces. It was hard to whip, but I managed it and it came out fine. Nex time, I will try the correct amount and see, what works for me better. Thank you.

    Reply
    • monika i’m so happy the hand cream is working for you! i am curious to see whether the increased beeswax is better for you. you could always just melt and shake thhe ingredients and skkip the whipping. it is more like a balm that way but still very moisturizing.

      Reply
      • Hi Katie. I used up my first batch of hand cream. It was almost prefect but a little bit grainy. Maybe I did not mix the beeswax in well enough. But I decided to make the cream this time with only 0,125 ounces of beeswax. It did not work well for me. I realized, my beeswax is very different from the one you used in the video. Mine is yellow and looks like a chocolate bar. I melted the cream down again and added 5,125 ounces of beeswax, let it cool down and whipped it again. Now it finally looks like yours. The texture is amazing.
        Thank you again.

  6. Hi I am from Pakistan. Currently living in a small military town. I won’t be able to find beeswax here. Is there any alternative. Can I use candles wax instead?

    Reply
  7. I made this for the first time, and I have a question. As I looked back at the recipe, the amount of beeswax is printed as 0. 125 with that space in there, how much beeswax do you mean? I took it to mean 0.125 or a little more than 1/10 of an ounce. Is that correct? I ask because my mixture sat overnight but was still pretty liquid in the morning. I had to put it in the refrigerator before I could whip it.
    I live in Phoenix and I’m sure my kitchen is warmer than most in the north.

    Reply
    • joy, if you are used to store bought creams it will indeed feel heavy. the only way to get a texture like that is to add water to the recipe and you’ll need preservatives. this is just a different type of cream. it does sink into the skin after a bit and the greasy feeling goes away.

      Reply
    • I find adding arrowroot powder greatly resolves the oily feeling. In this size recipe I add 1/2 tsp before letting solidify.

      Reply
  8. This looks so amazing! A friend made me something like this once and I absolutely loved it. It was such a good moisturizer! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

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