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Summer Rain Creamy Homemade Body Wash, Made in Minutes

Here’s how I make my creamy homemade body wash with shea butter and essential oils. It’s so much better than other body wash recipes!

Are you looking for a body wash that doesn’t dry your skin out, or are you searching for a new body wash recipe? Either way, unlike shampoo and deodorant, body wash is one of those few skin care products you can frequently change with ease and without regret! (My chamomile lavender body wash, for example, is so easy to make you could finish it quicker than it will take you to read this article.)

Hey, body wash is something you can change, even just for fun or to use your new scent combination obsession. And it’s totally worth making your own. Because in just a few minutes, you’ll have enough to last a few months. And you’ll be asking yourself why you didn’t try this body wash recipe sooner.

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Body Wash doesn’t need be just soap. We can load it up with skin loving ingredients and our favorite scents. Learn how I make my own summer rain creamy body wash.

What makes this homemade body wash creamy and smooth?

Let me put it this way,

Soap doesn’t need to be just soap.

Instead, load it up with skin-loving ingredients and your favorite scents.

It’s the unique combination of nourishing natural ingredients for the skin that makes this homemade body wash so smooth and creamy. Did you know you can find my 20 Essential Ingredients For DIY Natural Skincare recipes here? Check out what I used to make this homemade body wash recipe below.

What makes this homemade body wash creamy and smooth?

Here’s what makes this body wash recipe unique:

Shea Butter

Choose from refined shea butter or unrefined shea butter to cleanse your skin without drying. Shea butter has a lightly nutty scent and melts on contact with the skin. High in vitamins E, A, and F, it is an intense moisturizer known for healing dry scalps, cracked heels, and eczema.

– This is the ingredient you’ve been missing in your body wash if your skin feels tight and dry after a shower.

Apricot Kernel Oil

Popular for its anti-aging benefits, apricot kernel oil is an extreme moisturizer. Yet, it absorbs quickly into the skin while providing vitamins and deep moisturizing benefits. It adds a premium touch to skincare.

Liquid Castile Soap

Castile soap is a concentrated vegetable-based soap made of ingredients you can actually pronounce. This soap is gentle on the skin and effective against dirt, grease, and unwanted germs.

You might be surprised to learn that castile soap can be used to clean just about anything and everything: your face, shower, and even your dirty dishes! This why I use it in my aloe vera face wash, liquid laundry soap, heavy-duty kitchen cleaner, and more.

But, when it comes to a homemade body wash, it’s best to choose a Castile soap to meet your skin type needs.

What's Your Skin Type? Take our Quiz!

Do you have normal, dry, mature, oily, or combination skin? Take our Skin Type Quiz now to discover yours!

Aloe Vera Gel

A powerhouse for natural skin care products, aloe vera gel, is antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and astringent. Known to support the healing of sunburns, cuts, and wounds quickly. It’s a homemade body wash ingredient you don’t want to skip.

You’ll find it in my recipe for an Aloe Vera Face Cream too. Quench the thirst of your skin and improve oil production with the help of aloe vera.

Vegetable Glycerin

As an excellent humectant vegetable glycerin attracts water and helps to maintain moisture in the skin. It feels incredibly smooth on the skin! And vegetable glycerin boots the lather in soap recipes.

Essential Oils

This body wash recipe includes essential oils for fragrance. Essential oils not only provide a wonderful natural fragrance to homemade skincare products and cleaners but also contain powerful cleaning properties. Learn more about why I use essentials oils every day here. And take our skin type quiz above for essential oil recommendations to match your skin type needs.

Now that you know what’s inside this unique homemade body wash recipe let’s make it!

Related To: Bath Bomb Beginners Guide

Related To: How to Switch to Clean Beauty

Homemade Body Wash Ingredients

Here's how to make creamy body wash at home.

How to Make Homemade Body Wash

1. Using the double boil method, melt shea butter on low heat or in the microwave at 30-second intervals.

2. Remove mixture from heat once melted and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine apricot oil, aloe vera gel, and vegetable glycerin.

3. Stir well and pour in melted shea butter. Continue mixing and each drop of essential oil.

4. To reduce bubbles pour the mixture into a bottle using a funnel. Next, pour liquid castile soap into the bottle as well and then remove the funnel.

5. Place the pump dispenser on the bottle and swirl to blend the ingredients.

This creamy homemade body wash lathers nicely, and the scent combination smells like clean summer rain. You can feel the combination of shea butter, apricot oil, and vegetable glycerin, adding a protective layer to your skin as the water beads up.

After washing, lock in moisture with one of my favorites Moisturizing Pumpkin Lavender Body Butter. And don’t forget to exfoliate once or twice a week with one of Summer’s Best DIY Body Scrubs!

You May Also Like:

Have you made this natural body wash recipe? Tag #lifenreflection on Instagram to share yours. Or Pin this summer fresh beauty recipe to make later.

50 Comments

  1. Hi, I love this post. I want to know what preservatives are to be used for increasing the shelf life?

    Regards,
    Prasanna

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Prasanna, I recommend making skin care products in small amounts. You could add a teaspoon of raw honey to the body wash help extend the life. It great for the skin too!

  2. Kristy, where did you get the bottle pictured in this recipe?
    Love all your diy receipts!!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Debbie, I actually washed and reused a bottle. I got in a free cleaning kit from the Grove Collaborative. It had Mrs. Meyers natural hand soap it. You can get one too with this link – https://www.lifenreflection.com/grove I am about re-purposing when I can!

      1. Thank you Kristy, I too reuse when possible, sometimes I have to go to Goo Gone to get stickers off of bottles and jars lol!!!
        The things we do to save and protect our environment……:)

        1. lifenreflection says:

          Right! 😉 I use just a dab of lemon essential oil and a cloth or small bristle brush to remove stickers from jars and bottles. A friend of mine told me how to she used it remove stickers from the new windows she had put in. Then she said the funny thing was she later noticed the windows were cleaner where she had removed the stickers. So then she added the lemon eo to a one to one mixture of distilled water and vinegar to clean the windows!

  3. Hi again Kristy..hope all is well with you.
    I would like to make this body wash, but I have only one essential oil for this which is
    Spearmint ..could you help me out by telling me what other essential oils I can use for this recipe in place of the ones you use???
    Regards,
    Debbie Hannam.

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Hi Debbie, do you have lavender essential oil? I love to pair lavender with spearmint! And lavender is very calming to the skin, which alone makes a great essential oil for body wash.

  4. This recipe sounds so great! I’m excited to try it out! I’ve never used apricot oil — is there a similar substitute for that? Those oils sounds like such an amazing blend too! Great post — thank you so much for sharing!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Amanda, apricot oil is a great carrier oil for the skin. You can substitute for another carrier oil for skin such as sweet almond oil or FC coconut oil.

  5. Hi Kristy,
    I have an aloe vera plant and wanted to know if I could use the juice instead of the gel and how or if it would effect the composition of the body wash? Thank you so much for all of the amazing info!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Thanks Amanda, you can certainly use that, I grow aloe vera too! The consistency will just be a little thinner. But this recipe is really creamy so thinner is A.O.K.

  6. Hello —
    Thank you for the recipe! Two questions: 1. What is the anticipated shelf life of the soap? 2. Does the castile soap separate from the glycerin/aloe/butter/oils?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Mary, two months which why we don’t make a lot in the recipe, so you can use it up in that time. Just slightly near the end of its use. If shake it before each you’ll be fine. You can add an emulsifying wax if you prefer.

  7. Hi, I tried out your body wash and I really like how to leathers up and washes. Just I’m not a fan of the very glycerin-y after feel on the skin, how the moisture has been locked inside. Can you maybe recommend how to change up the recipe to make it little less “locked in moisture” and more moisturizing? Thanks so much!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Madara, if you’re looking for a less moisturizing body wash try my coconut body wash recipe.

  8. KIMBERLY M LANZALOTTI says:

    I love your recipes they really feel great and can’t wait to see how my skin will look! Thank you!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Awe thank you Kimberly, that means a lot!

  9. I just made this and love it? What can I do to make the next batch a little thinner?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      You can adjust the thickness by reducing the shea butter and adding more castile soap until you have just the right amount of creaminess you’re after.

  10. Hi,I would love to try making this,what can I use in place of vetiver?Thanks?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Brenda any essential oil safe for skin will do. I choose calming aromatherapy oils for this recipe. Lavender, chamomile, and ylang-ylang to name a few would pair well in this body wash recipe.

  11. Hi! I tried this recipe and loved how it turned out, however the Shea butter solidified. Do you think I used too much?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Either you used too much or where you stored it is cold. Try warming the bottle up under a warm shower spray or bath water first. If that doesn’t work separate it and add more castile soap.

  12. Hi Kristy
    Is it possible to make this body wash without vegetable glycerine as I don’t have any on hand?

  13. I followed your recipe and the Shea butter solidified. I added an extra 1/2 cup of Castile soap and it didn’t help. Any suggestions for next time?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Add less shea butter and warm it in your hands if needed.

  14. Hello I noticed there is no water in this recipe. How would you recommend incorporating oatmeal into this body wash ?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      There’s no water in the recipe to keep bacteria out. You could add colloidal oatmeal designed for skincare.

  15. Hi can I use herbal oils that I’ve infused using the alcohol Intermediary Method? It’s more potent chamomile oil BUT it does have ever clear alcohol. Would that affect it at all?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      I wouldn’t recommend it the alcohol could be drying to your skin.

  16. Jay Clark says:

    I tried this recipe and it was seemingly awesome at first, but it definitely dried out my skin once I washed it off. What can be added to replenish the moisture that this strips away because more oils isn’t the solution. I’ve been playing with it all day.

    Thanks in advance

    1. lifenreflection says:

      That’s odd, I’ve always found it to be moisturizing. You may be taking too hot of a shower that dries out the skin. If you’re dealing with especially dry skin, apply a lotion after cleansing in the shower before stepping out.

  17. Where would I find your coconut body wash recipe? Could you please provide the link?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Sure Daphne, you can find the recipe here

  18. Nicole Harris says:

    Hi there

    I trust you are well.

    I made you body wash recipe last night as I was struggling with my own recipe.

    However.. I’m not sure if your recipe is suppose to foam or not?

    Please help me on that.

    Regards
    Nicole

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Nicole, it’s not a foaming soap recipe. It’s a creamy body wash.

  19. Hi! Love your blog … ☺️ … like some other posters, my body wash solidified. Would it work to re-melt it and add more Castile soap to make it thinner? Anything else I could do to avoid solidification? Thanks!

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Thanks Julie, yes could totally do that and it will still be creamy.

  20. Love the wash! Just wondering why it almost solidified?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      A lot of it depends on the temperature. Try adding less shea butter and more castile soap next time.

  21. Lauren Karis says:

    Hi, My name is Lauren. I really got value. Thank you so much.
    Please how can I get your ebook?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Awe thank you Lauren, you can find many of my available books here, on Amazon, or at Barnes and Noble.

  22. I made this recipe and it has solidified in my jar, I thought it was a body wash, I was expecting it to be more like a liquid. Any advice?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      It’s possible either the shea butter wasn’t fully melted, or your room temperature is too cool, causing the shea butter to solidify. You can attempt it again with less shea butter as well.

  23. I made this and it seems very thin does it thicken up after it sets for a couple hours
    If not how can I make it thicker?
    Thank you
    Tina

    1. lifenreflection says:

      If you place it in the fridge, it will thicken up more.

  24. Hi there! I was going to use mango butter instead of shea butter. Will it still come out of the pump or do you think it needs to be put in a jar?

    1. lifenreflection says:

      Great question! Mango butter is about the same consistency of shea butter so it should be ok in a pump.

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