2016 Note: This post was first published back in 2013 as I was just learning how to DIY in my bathroom. Since that time I’ve learned a lot about making homemade products, including the safety side of ingredients. While this recipe is extremely gentle and luxurious, and many folks have loved this body wash, it must be used very, very quickly due to the coconut milk. This is a fun DIY to make and freeze, and pull out in a small batches to use “in the moment.” You can find my current body wash recipe over here.
Being a mom is dirty business.
Literally.
Within a few hours minutes I can go from fresh, clean and smelling fabulous to, “When’s the last time she bathed?” How is it that every piece of dirt, marker, food crumb, and well, you know what else, ends up being worn by mom? I truly cherish the dirt and whatever else happens to find its way onto my skin, clothes, and hair, each day. Let me rephrase that. I truly cherish the little people who lovingly adorn me with such well-earned souvenirs. This OCD (or is it CDO?) woman is truly learning to embrace the dirt that comes with the role of mommy-hood.
While I truly am learning to love this stage of dirtiness and fun, I am all for a good scrub down. You’re welcome, honey.
This past year I have been challenged to “clean-up” the non-food items in our home. I’m talking about the products we use on our bodies: soaps, toothpastes, lotions, deodorants, and make-up. Anything that comes in contact with our skin and within seconds our bloodstream.
Nothing like a super clean system filled with pastured, organic meats and good fats, organic fruits, and veggies, soaked organic whole grains, fermented and proboitic goodies and then adding in a large dose of daily toxins.
As I have shared in the past, I have fallen in love with developing my own recipes for toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, and laundry soap. I’ve even ventured down the road of making my own make-up. I’ve also found a local lady who makes wonderfully nourishing homemade soaps. Life has been good.
My beloved soap lady went on vacation last month. I intended to order lots of back-ups, but life got the best
of me, and I forgot. After a few days of grieving and wondering how I would survive a month, inspiration came knocking on my natural door. I decided to try making my own soap, more of a body wash to be exact.
I have a great love for Dr. Bronner’s Soap. If you haven’t tried Dr. Bronner’s you really must. No toxic ingredients and a thousand and one uses (okay, maybe more like ten) for just one bottle of soap. This body wash uses Dr. Bronner’s as well as coconut milk as the main ingredients. Please buy real coconut milk , usually found in a can, not the coconut beverage sold in cartons.
This soap is gentle enough I have also been using it on my children. The lavender is perfect for a nighttime bath!
Nourishing Homemade Body Wash
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk canned
- 2/3 cup castile soap I prefer the lavender or Baby Mild
- 3 tsp vitamin E oil
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 2 tsp vegetable glycerin optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bottle. Shake and use on a washcloth.
- This body wash has a very short lifespan since it lacks preservatives and contains coconut milk, so it's best to keep this body wash in the fridge and use it within a week. If you don't think you'll use this body wash quickly, reduce the recipe, or freeze the extra in an ice cube tray to defrost in small batches. See the 2016 note below. The glycerin may be left out if you don't have any on hand. As an alternative, you can use a nourishing oil, like jojoba, almond, or olive oil.
Notes
*This recipe needs to be used quickly due to the coconut milk. If you’re looking for a body wash that can be stored at room temperature with a longer shelf-life, I recommend use this recipe.
2016 Note: This post was first published back in 2013 as I was just learning how to DIY in my bathroom. Since that time I’ve learned a lot about making homemade products, including the safety side of ingredients. While this recipe is extremely gentle and luxurious, and many folks have loved this body wash, it must be used very, very quickly due to the coconut milk. This is a fun DIY to make and freeze, and pull out in a small batches to use “in the moment.” You can find my current body wash recipe over here.
With the cleaning power of Dr. Bronner’s and the antibacterial properties and hydrating moisture of coconut milk mixed with the antioxidant powers of Vitamin E and Essential Oil, this body soap is a perfect combo for both fighting the dirt and helping this mom relax at the end of a fun, messy day.
More DIYs You May Like:
Homemade Honey and Aloe Facial Cleanser
DIY Homemade Facial Cleansing Wipes
Hi there I am really excited to try this recipe out! Is this good for your face or is it just a body recipe? If not what do you recommend? My skin is horribly patchy sensitive and dry lately and I can’t seem to find anything to fix it! Thank you!
Hey Roxy, You can use this recipe on your whole body (including your face), but I personally like to use the oil cleansing method. You can read more about that method here: https://livesimply.me/2014/07/26/clean-face-naturally-oil/.
Ok-random question. I want to try this body wash for my kids. I have two girls and a boy. Is this body wash safe for the old private part area? Since it ‘s a food, I worry about that. Thx!
Hey Ashley, It is :). You can use this body wash for the whole body, including washing around private parts.
Since the Vitamin E alone would cost about $6.60 per batch could I possibly leave it out or substitute anything for it?
Hey Karen, You can leave the vitamin E out of the recipe. Just make sure you use the body wash quickly (within a couple of weeks) or refrigerate half. The vitamin E adds moisture, but also acts as a natural preservative.
great-thank you!
Loved the body wash I added 2 Tbs of coconut oil with the coconut milk for extra moisture I’m planning on making a new batch with guar gum to make it a thick
Wonderful, Esther! I’m so happy you liked it.
Ooh this is wonderful! How long is it good for considering it has coconut milk and do I need to keep it in the fridge? Silly questions probably but I am very new at this!
Hey Elizabeth, It will last about three weeks (the vitamin E helps with preserving and moisture). If you plan to keep it for longer I recommend refrigerating half of the body wash until needed.
Kristin –
Do you heat the coconut milk first or just mix?
Tamra, Just mix :).
Is there any method you know of thickening this up? I made a batch last night and it’s very very watery.
Hey Alison, It should be watery (more so than gel body wash), but work well when applied to a washcloth or sponge for cleansing. I’m not really sure of anything you can add to thicken it.
I’ve used xanthan gum to thicken up homemade beauty products before and it works great, start with just a little bit and add more if needed.
Awesome, Erin. Thank you for sharing.
How do you keep it from separating?
Hey Tracy, Just shake the body wash before use.
As far as the people asking about bubble baths go… Just add some egg whites. It makes for the best and bubbliest bubbles!
Great tip, Emily. Thank you for sharing.
I have that soap but in bars..
Can I use it aswell?
Whats the amount?
Thanks
Hey Elsa, You can, but you’ll need to melt and dilute the bar in water first. Here’s a good tutorial: http://www.vintagekidsmodernworld.com/2013/01/diy-turn-solid-castile-bar-soap-into-liquid-castile-soap/. I would then use the same amount of castile soap called for in the recipe.
Isn’t Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap already contains Lye which already created suds “Bubble”?
And what is the purposed of this recipe? It is to make bubble bath or is it to add ingredients to Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap, for better quality?
Sorry just a little confused, as there is no form of lye mentioned for this recipe.
Hey Jacinto, Dr. Bronners does contain lye, but the soaps are highly concentrated. That’s the beauty of Bronners, a little bit goes a very long way! If you’ve used Bronner’s soap in the past, then you know it can be a bit drying when used alone (which I don’t recommend on the body due to high concentration), so this recipe gives you a moisturizing, cleaning soap that’s natural and inexpensive. The glycerin is added as the body wash is diluted and doesn’t create the same suds that many are used to with commercial body wash without this ingredient, but you are welcome to leave it out.
Would this work with coconut oil instead of coconut milk?
Hey Kylie, The chemistry of coconut oil is very different than coconut milk. Coconut oil won’t work in place of the coconut milk. You can try this recipe which uses coconut oil: https://livesimply.me/2014/10/30/diy-homemade-kids-body-wash/.
From the oil*
I have another question. Does this make the floor of the tub slippery from the oily? I tried a different homemade wash with coconut oil and was fearful for my life 😉
Hey Holly, Vitamin E isn’t oily like coconut oil or a nourishing oil (like almond or jojoba oil). The type of oil used in the other recipe may have caused the slippery bathroom floor. You can try decreasing the amount of vitamin E if you’re concerned about a slippery surface 🙂 and then up the amount as you go.
Hi, I have some of your liquid castille soap using kirks freshly made up but no bronners. Do I need to dilute it further since it is usually diluted for cleaning?
Hey Aimee, I think the Kirks should be just fine subbed 1:1 for the Dr. Bronners.
Oooh! I love the sound of this body wash. I’m planning on making my own coconut milk -I have a recipe to make it but was wondering if you’ve ever made your own before and have any advise for me? Also, what’s the shelf life of this? Other recipes I’ve read that use coconut say to refrigerate. What’s your experience with this?
Hey Shelby, I haven’t personally made coconut milk at home, but I know there are some great videos and tutorials online. The vitamin E in this recipes helps keep the milk preserved, but even with the added vitamin E I only keep the body wash in my bathroom for 2-3 weeks. You can freeze or refrigerate half of the body wash if you don’t plan to use it all within that time frame.
Hi, I can’t wait to try this recipe! My question is that I found a recipe online for homemade shampoo and it is almost exactly the same as this one except it didn’t have glycerin, so my question is if you know if this would work as a shampoo as well?
Hey Emily, I’ve tried using this recipe for shampoo and it left my hair super oily. You can give it a try, but I haven’t had good success.
This looks great. Is your bodywash liquid enough to work in a foaming pump or is it better in a regular squirt pump? Thanks! Looking forward to trying it!
Hey Megan, This recipe would work great in a foaming pump. I use a regular squirt pump, but you’d get a nice, instant foaming body wash with a foaming pump.
Trying to make sense of your reply to a previous comment…
Is it better to add no oil preservative if the only one you have is olive oil?
I would like to try making this with just Castile and the milk. Would I need to replace the other ingredients with water or milk?
Hey Eliza, I must have misunderstood your question, sorry about that.
I wouldn’t add olive oil to this mixture, just leave out the vitamin e (if you don’t have it), but use the body wash fairly quickly to make sure it doesn’t go bad (or refrigerate half of it until needed.)
You can also leave out all the ingredients. I think it will work well.
Hope that helps :).
Hi there,
I was wondering about the containers you use. They are so pretty! Are they practical or are they for the benefits of your pictures? Can you share where you get them?
Thanks!
Hey Andrea, I buy most of my containers at HomeGoods. They are pretty for pictures but also very practical.