Coconut Lotion

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

A friend forwarded this to me from another list, because she knows about my

interest in coconut oil. I thought you all might like to try it too, since

we've been talking about sun bathing with regard to saturated fats. The

directions are a tad confusing, but I'm forwarding as is:

Carmen

<<It's sooooooo simple. But an all day job. The smell in your kitchen

makes it worth while though!

You need a coconut from the store, will power not to drink the milk and

some emulsifying wax, cold water in your sink, a bottle to put in your

lotion into ( I use a canning jar.) and a pan.

First extract the coconut milk and all the meat from the shell - you can

grind up the meat and add it to the milk in the pan with a little water

(or chunk it up). Then simmer it for ever over a double boiler! <LOL>

your job is to extract as much of the coconut oil from the meat as

possible. - then strain ( don't filter) the meat out. (You can reuse

the coconut meat for cooking BUT it will have very little flavor left. -

it gives good texture to muffins and cookies.

Then simmer the leftover liquid (double boiler) - for ever! <LOL> NOW

your job is to evaporate away as much of the water as possible. When

you've gotten down to about 1-1 1/2 cups add your wax. About 2 tbls. of

the granules. Now here is the only tricky part.......

**Coconut oil is a liquid at body temperature (soap makers already know

this) and how much wax you add will depend on the thickness of the

lotion depending on how much water is still in the batch. Your lotion

may be thin or a little thicker and you will learn to adjust this on

subsequent batches <keep notes>. I recommend emulsifying wax - it is

softer and stays blended. You should be able to find it at a craft store

or on a soap makers/supply web site. But you purists can try bees wax.

Once the wax is melted, take it off the heat and add a little water

(about 1/2 cup stirring ALL THE TIME, you'll notice it starts to thicken

and become creamy) then set the whole pan in a sink full of really cold

water and keep stirring until it has cooled. Bottle it before it gets

too thick <smile>.

Keep it in the fridge. It has no preservatives so you can expect to get

about 2-3 weeks out of it before it starts to get a little " off " -you'll

know - it will start to smell a little sour. So throw it out and make

more.

One coconut makes about 2 cups of a " not too thick " lotion. You'll be

amazed at how softening it is for your skin, how your family will follow

you around just to " smell " you, and how pampered you'll feel!

Please tell me how it works out for you!!!

Angel>>