Easy Homemade Hand Cream Recipe (Non-Greasy)
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Looking for an easy homemade hand cream recipe? This one is a keeper. It’s rich enough to deeply moisturize dry hands, but it has a lighter, less greasy feel than many DIY hand creams.
This simple DIY hand cream uses nourishing oils and butters, comes together quickly, and can be customized with essential oils if you like. Even better, it works beautifully as a homemade hand lotion for dry skin, especially in winter.
This recipe is especially great if you have dry hands, wash your hands frequently, or want a natural, non-toxic alternative to store-bought hand creams.
I love making as many of my personal care items in order to cut down on toxins in our home and on our bodies.
I've made Eye Makeup Remover, Alcohol-Free Hairspray, Sugar Scrub, Nourishing Lip Scrub, Hair Rinse, Homemade Body Wash, and more. I've been looking for a homemade lotion recipe that works for a long time, and I finally have it.
I can't stand forking out a ton of money for something when I can make it for a fraction of the cost myself.
This recipe is based off of a recipe that one of my readers shared with me. I liked it a lot, but ended up tweaking it to make it even better.
Why You’ll Love This Hand Cream
This homemade hand cream is
- deeply moisturizing for dry hands
- non-greasy compared to many DIY hand creams
- easy to make with simple ingredients
- customizable with different oils, butters, and scents
- doubles as a hand lotion or body cream
Why This Hand Cream Works Better Than Lotion Bars for Me
I love the concept of lotion bars, but I've found them to be hard to use due to how long it takes for them to soften. When I try to use them before they’ve softened enough, they pull on my skin, which I don’t love.
This hand cream is solid at room temperature, but it isn’t super hard and softens up really quickly in your hands, even in our home in winter, and we don't keep our heat turned up that high.
Why This Hand Cream Feels Less Greasy
The simple step of adding arrowroot powder helps this hand cream feel much less greasy on your skin. So simple!
Arrowroot is a great oil absorber. It can be used for removing oil stains from clothing and it’s also a great ingredient in DIY dry shampoo. In fact, we often use arrowroot on its own as a super quick “I didn’t have time to wash my hair” solution.
Of course, arrowroot doesn’t remove all of the oil in the recipe (that would be ridiculous), arrowroot absorbs some of it so that the resulting lotion is a great consistency and also a non-greasy treat for your skin.
You can also use cornstarch or tapioca starch, and you should get the same or a very similar result.
How to Use This Homemade Hand Cream
You can use this homemade hand cream
- before bed
- any time of day for dry hands
- to soften cuticles
- for rough patches anywhere on hands or body
- elbows/knees if desired
You can simply apply this hand cream anytime, but here are a few ways to make it work even better.
- Use a Sugar Scrub followed with this cream for hands that feel super soft and revitalized. The moisture left from rinsing off the scrub is sealed into your skin by the cream.
- Put this body cream on before bed (misting your body with some water first is best) and wake up to healthy, nourished skin.
Hand Cream vs. Hand Lotion: What’s the Difference?
Hand cream is usually thicker and more concentrated than hand lotion, which makes it especially helpful for dry or rough hands. This recipe has the richness of a hand cream, but thanks to the arrowroot, it feels lighter and less greasy than many homemade versions. So while I call it a hand cream, many people would think of it as a homemade hand lotion too.
How to Customize This Hand Cream for Different Skin Needs
By choosing essential oils for your specific skincare need, you can turn your lotion from being simply moisturizing to something that really addresses what is going on with your skin.
- Dry or aging skin? Try rose or geranium.
- Need to be energized and refreshed? Try lavender, lemon, and grapefruit.
- Troubled skin? Try helichrysum, frankincense, lavender, sandalwood, chamomile, rose or jasmine.
- Want to avoid stretch marks? Try helichrysum, lavender, patchouli, neroli, rose, or geranium.
Recipe Notes
- Essential Oil Options: Use whatever combination you like. I've used orange, which was really heavenly smelling, especially combined with the fragrance of the coconut oil. It smelled kind of like a creamsicle. Lavender would be very soothing as well.
- Butter/Oil Options: This recipe is very versatile. I've used extra coconut oil and shea butter when I was out of cocoa butter, and it still turned out great.
- Container Size: This makes a small amount: just enough for small canning jars like these.
- Solidifying Problems: Please note that some (including me) who have made this have had issues with it not solidifying. I suspect it has to do with the type of shea butter used. It seems that if you use a raw shea butter, the resulting product is not as firm. Even if your hand cream is more liquid, you can still use it. In fact, you could put it in a pump bottle and use it that way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use this as hand lotion?
Yes. This recipe is thicker than a typical hand lotion, but it spreads easily and works beautifully as a homemade hand lotion.
Why is this homemade hand cream non-greasy?
Arrowroot powder helps absorb some of the oils, so the finished cream feels less heavy and greasy on the skin.
Can I make this hand cream without shea butter?
Yes, but the texture may change. You can experiment with more coconut oil or another butter, though the finished cream may be softer or firmer depending on what you choose.
Why didn’t my hand cream solidify?
Different brands and types of ingredients can affect texture. If your cream stays softer than expected, you can still use it in a jar or pump bottle.
Can I use cornstarch instead of arrowroot?
Usually yes. Tapioca starch may also work similarly.
More Homemade Personal Care Products You'll Love
- Homemade Shea Butter Lotion – non-greasy and great for all skin types, including aging skin and acne-pron skin.
- Homemade Lip Scrub – so healthy you can literally eat it!
- Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse – makes your hair super healthy!
- DIY Sugar Scrub – get spa results without the spa prices
- Black Cumin Face Oil Blend – get amazing skin without paying a hefty price
Nourishing Hand Cream (Non-Greasy)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/8 cup shea butter
- 1/8 cup cocoa butter
- 1 tablespoon carrier oil of choice
- 1/2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 5-10 drops essential oils (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the shea butter, coconut oil, and cocoa butter over very low heat until melted. A double boiler works well for this.
- Remove from heat.
- Combine the carrier oil, arrowroot, and essential oils (if using) in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Store in container of your choice. I like these small canning jars.
- Add the carrier oil mixture to the melted butters. Mix well with a fork or hand mixer, but don't over-whip. Allow to cool in the fridge.
Not Wanting To DIY?
If you aren't really in the mood to make your own lotion, or just are out of time, you can buy clean lotions too. I'm really careful to avoid using anything with artificial fragrances.
Poofy Organics has a lot of great options at a reasonable price. Their Skin Hero lotion is fantastic. Use code WNM to get 10% off your first order.
Have you ever made your own homemade hand cream?
Photo credits – Naomi Huzovicova
Would the lotion still work if you doubled the coco butter instead of putting in the shea butter???
I haven’t tried that but I think it should work! Maybe try a small batch to see.
Do you have to include the Aloe Vera Juice? I’m allergic to it.
I think it would work without it. You could try water as well but I do think a reader tried omitting it and it worked. Hope it does!
I have a recipe for a hand cream that is very greasy and I’m looking for something that is not, so I will try this one without the Aloe Vera and then let you know how it turns out and how I like it. The one I have now has peppermint in it, and I think I’ll use it in the next one too. I purchase my essential oils from “Melaleuca” The Wellness Company, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Hope it works out! Please do let me know.
Can I add Beeswax to this recipe? If so how much? Thank you!
Hi there. I’m not familiar w/ how much beeswax you could add to this but I think you should be able to.
Hi Adrienne,
I absolutely love your work! This article was so useful. So much so that I linked to this article in my latest Blog post.
I’ve been making creams and lotions for over 8 years and I started making him because I have psoriasis and eczema and I find that this recipe that you have is one of the best that I have come across so far mainly because it does not have any multi fires or preservatives in it as these to affect my eczema I have done variations on your formula ie replacing certain things and trying different oils and it still seems to work out very well one of the main ingredients that I’ve tried adding and replacing with his hemp oil I finally seems to suit a lot better but as for the rude remarks of the other person he’s not fair some people like me just cannot deal with emulsifiers and preservatives especially preservatives finally a recipe that I can use after a long long look thank you very much keep an eye on your site as this recipe is a good you may have more thank you very much
Glad to hear it! Technically it needs to have some kind of preservative for long term storage or remove the aloe but you can choose what you wish to do. Here is another option: https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/why-i-stopped-using-moisturizer-from-stores-and-what-i-am-using-now/
I love the recipe. I desire knowing how to make my own lotion.
How do you expect this “lotion” to come out properly, when your not making it correctly to begin with? For anyone looking up recipes for lotion, or hand and body cream please do your research! First issue here is you never want to measure your ingredients by cups, spoons… and so forth… you measure by weight, using a scale, grams, and ounces. The next issue here is your mixing together butters and oils which is fine, but turns then adding a liquid (the Aloe vera juice) once you do that you then need an emulsifier. Emulsifying wax, and stearic acid will then thicken the lotion back up. And of course a preservative like optiphen at 1% would be good. Then you can call it a lotion.
Hello Mary –
Yes, to make this correctly a scale would be best but this was done for the person with little time and needing something to whip up easily. I agree with you about needing the emulsifier. Interestingly, the formula works for me fairly easily so not sure why that is. I am consulting with a skincare expert to work on things going forward on my site and will be including more information about emulsifiers and preservatives from that point so that’s something I hope you can look forward to as much as I am :). Thanks for commenting and for reading!
Hi Adrienne,
Wow Mary sounded kind of mean to you ?
I did the recipe as written and it turned out great. I disagree it does not need an emulsifier. It was easy. And i can leave it in the fridge for preservation if it lasts that long.
I’m a professional pastry chef & baker & the measurements worked fine. Some people are “weight snobs” actually any liquid can be measured accurately in Tbs. or cups in a liquid glass cup measure.
Thanks for sharing! Love it ?
Anne Kenney
Thanks so much, Anne and so glad it worked well for you. I hope to have some creams soon with no need for an emulsifier regardless :).
Thanks ! I just reread my post and saw 2 question marks that shouldn’t be there, oops that was accidental. Disreguard the question (?) marks ?
Its cream, I love it.
No problem at all – and thank you again so much! I’m going to be doing a lot more DIY personal care it looks like in the near future. Hope you stick around. You can subscribe for updates here. I’m thinking about doing a skincare / personal care Facebook group too–would that be of interest? https://wholenewmom.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-essential-oils-before-you-buy/
I thought she sounded pretty uppity about it all. She’s sharing her experience. Nice to offer options but you can be nice about it. Just sayin….
Wow Mary, way to be rude..I think it was nice of her to share her thoughts and recipe for her lotion, it may not be professional and she doesn’t claim it to be. You can be helpfully instructive without sounding like a know it all..
I agree, Christal! I was very impressed, Andrienna on how you handled Mary’s rudeness with such class. I will never understand how trolls just spend their time being rude and negative.
I have been using your recipe for months…and absolutely LOVE it. It is the only thing that keeps my dry, Tucson skin moist. 🙂 So thank you! And thank you for your kindness with “everyone.”
Thank you and so glad it works for you!
Sharing knowledge with one another is one of the wonderful things about the internet; however, might I suggest doing so maturely? Obviously Mary’s mother neglected to teach her manners and politeness. Share your knowledge but do not be a punta when you do so!
Mary you need to learn the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’…
Not nice. Maybe you need to learn manners :). I get it – misspellings bug me too – but I have even seen English majors from top universities mess up I/me, etc. And now w/ all the online AI stuff, who knows what anyone is going to know how to spell….we’re doomed. In more than one way. P.S. Sorry for the delay in approving your comment. Lots of spammy ones and rude ones to weed through.
I don’t think you use a jar of this in 3 days. plus, oils and water (aloe) do not mix and you need an emulsifier plus a preservative /ecocert approved/ just to be safe. You can do yourself more harm with unpreserved lotion/ cream than with 1% preservative in it.
If you want to learn how to formulate cosmetics professionally, have a look at Formula Botanica, accredited online school
Thanks! Many choose to not worry about expiration / contamination but I wanted the information in there. Yes that is a good online school- thanks for sharing!
Looking forward to trying this lotion recipe and giving as gifts! What sort of preservative would you recommend? This is the first time I am making a cream/lotion and I don’t want to give something to someone that could be harmful. Thank you!
Sorry but I’m not up on how to determine what kind of preservative to use. I hope to learn more in the future!
Vitamin E is a good natural preservative.
So I missed the note about using a raw shea butter making it liquidy and used just a 50/50 mix of that and coconut oil. Anything I can do?
I’m not sure – sorry! Either way it should be usable at least :).