Okay, so I tried making this white tea ginger lotion the other day, and let me tell you, it was quite the adventure. I’ve been wanting to get into making my own body products, you know, trying to be all-natural and stuff. Plus, store-bought lotions can be so expensive!

First, I had to get all the stuff together. I went to a couple of stores to find the ingredients. This took longer than I thought. The recipe I found online called for white tea, ginger, some kind of oil (I picked sweet almond oil because it sounded nice), shea butter, beeswax, and an emulsifying wax. It sounded a bit complicated at first, but I figured, how hard could it be?

I started by brewing a really strong cup of white tea. While that was steeping, I grated fresh ginger. Getting that done took a bit, and my knuckles got a little workout. Then came the time to mix up the oil phase. I put the sweet almond oil, shea butter, and beeswax in a glass bowl. The emulsifying wax went in there too. This part was kind of like baking, measuring everything out.

Next, I had to make what’s called a double boiler. I just filled a pot with a few inches of water and put the glass bowl with the oils on top. I heated that up gently, stirring it now and then, until everything melted and became liquid. It smelled pretty good, I gotta say.

After the oil phase was all melted, I took it off the heat and let it cool for a bit. Then, I slowly poured the brewed white tea (strained, of course, don’t want tea leaves in your lotion) into the oil mixture while whisking like crazy. This was the tricky part. You gotta get it to emulsify, which basically means getting the oil and water to blend together smoothly.

I also added the grated ginger at some point. I think it went in with the tea, but honestly, I was so focused on not messing up the emulsion that I can’t quite remember. I kept whisking and whisking, and eventually, it started to thicken up. It wasn’t super thick, more like a thin cream.

The result

• Texture: It’s definitely not as thick as the store-bought stuff, but it’s smooth and easy to apply.
• Scent: The white tea and ginger combo is subtle but really refreshing. I like it!
• Moisturizing: It does a decent job of moisturizing my skin. I’ve been using it on my hands, and they feel softer.

Overall, I’d say my first attempt at making lotion was a success. It was a bit messy and took longer than I expected, but it was a fun experiment. Plus, I now have a big jar of homemade lotion that smells amazing and didn’t cost me a fortune. I might tweak the recipe next time, maybe add a few drops of essential oil for an extra kick, but for now, I’m pretty happy with my white tea ginger creation!