Pumpkin Lotion {Pumpkin Spice Body Lotion Recipe}

Keep your skin feeling soft and supple all autumn long with this DIY pumpkin lotion. The homemade pumpkin spice lotion has a luxurious, silky texture and is formulated with natural ingredients that provide moisturization and nourishment. Essential oils impart a delicious pumpkin spice scent and make this homemade lotion a fun addition for fall skincare.

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Homemade pumpkin lotion

Fall can be a trying time for our skin. Once the temperatures and humidity drop, your skin can feel dry and itchy as there’s less moisture in the air to keep it hydrated. Just like you put on heavier clothing to keep warm, you also need to ramp up your skin care.

This homemade pumpkin lotion is an excellent transitional product. It keeps your skin hydrated from head to toe and creates a protective barrier that not only locks moisture in but also draws additional hydration into its outer layer.

Being a lover of all things pumpkin spice, I couldn’t resist to fragrance the lotion with a yummy pumpkin spice scent. The essential oils I used smell enticing and enhance the cream with additional skincare benefits.

Irena and I enjoy pumpkin-spice-inspired bath and body products. You too? Then you may also like our pumpkin spice bath bombs, soap recipe, whipped body butter, brown sugar scrub, lip balm, bath salts, and PSL bath truffles.

Benefits of DIY pumpkin spice lotion

You’ll love this indulgent pumpkin spice body lotion! It feels light like summer skincare but is loaded with moisturizing and nourishing ingredients that pamper your skin.

• Skin nourishment and hydration: The best way to prevent itchy, dry skin is by slathering on a nourishing body lotion. My pumpkin spice lotion recipe contains moisturizers like shea butter, allantoin, vitamin E, and glycerin.
• Delicious scent: I scented the lotion with a delicious pumpkin spice blend that indulges the senses to celebrate the season. We’re going to skip synthetic fragrances and use all-natural essential oils.
• Silky, non-greasy texture: The texture of this DIY pumpkin spice lotion is a dream! It has a smooth silkiness and absorbs readily into the skin within minutes. And the best part? This DIY lotion isn’t greasy in the slightest and won’t leave a smeary film on your skin.
• Matt finish: The lotion has a powdery, matt finish and doesn’t appear shiny or oily.
• Lightweight + pumpable: The pumpkin scented body lotion feels light on the skin, meaning you’ll forget that you have anything on, and can be kept in a pump dispenser.

Pumpkin body lotion ingredients

I have packed this pumpkin spice lotion with moisturizing ingredients that will keep your skin hydrated and radiant all fall long. You’ll need the following materials:

• Distilled water provides hydration for the skin and gives the fall lotion recipe its lightweight, pumpable consistency.
• Vegetable glycerin is a humectant. A humectant is a moisturizing agent that pulls water into the skin and ensures your skin stays hydrated for longer.
• Raw shea butter contains high vitamins and fatty acid levels and is an excellent skin softener and nourisher. The plant butter also acts as an occlusive, meaning it locks moisture in.
• Montanov 68 is the emulsifier and binds the water and shea butter into a velvety lotion. It’s one of my favorite emulsifying agents because it gives a smooth, powdery + non-greasy texture and will keep the lotion emulsified.
• Allantoin is a moisturizing ingredient that can repair and nourish your skin. It’s helpful to soothe minor irritations + itchiness, and prevent dry, rough skin.
• Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals and may help to protect your skin from premature aging. The vitamin also guards the shea butter against oxidation, helping it stay good for longer.
• Essential oils: The lotion is fragranced with a skin-safe pumpkin spice essential oil blend. Some spice oils can be irritating. I tell you which oils are skin-friendly and which you should avoid in just a moment.
• Preservative: Because the homemade lotion recipe contains nearly 70% water, we must add a preservative to prevent microbial contamination. I used Preservative Eco (Geogard ECT), a natural broad-spectrum preservative. This preservative has a marzipan-like bitter almond smell that goes well with the pumpkin spice scent.
• Orange mica (optional) lends the lotion a soft orange hue.

Tools

• Digital scale to get exact measurements. No worries though, measuring cups and spoons will work, too.
• Heat-resistant glass beakers or jars to melt the shea butter and warm the water phase.
• Large pot to set up a water bath.
• Glass stirrer or spoon to mix the ingredients.
• Immersion blender to create the emulsion.
• Kitchen towel to dry the beakers when they come out of the water bath.
• Pump soap dispenser to store and apply the pumpkin lotion.

Essential oils for pumpkin spice body lotion

Have you recently been to a bath shop? The shelves are lined with seductive fall-scented lotions like marshmallow pumpkin latte lotion, pumpkin pecan waffle lotion, salted caramel pumpkin lotion, or pumpkin cupcake lotion. Is your mouth watering too? No? Okay, just me then.

Of course, I wanted to create my own pumpkin-scented lotion. But unlike the artificial fragrances you find in commercial preparations, we’ll be using essential oils to create an all-natural pumpkin spice fragrance.

Here are the oils you’ll need:

• Copaiba oleoresin is has a creamy woodsy scent, similar to cinnamon. The gentle oil is said to relax sore muscles and joints.
• Botanical vanilla extract gives the lotion a delicious vanilla aroma reminiscent of freshly baked sugar cookies.
• Cinnamon leaf essential oil imparts a tasty cinnamon scent and feels warming when applied to the skin.
• Tangerine essential oil adds a subtle citrus note and balances out the sweetness of the other oils.

Spice oils and skin sensitivity

Before we continue, allow me a quick word on the skin safety of spice essential oils. You might be wondering why I didn’t include obvious choices like cinnamon bark, clove bud, nutmeg, or ginger root in my pumpkin spice blend.

Well, some spice oils are highly sensitizing + irritating and can cause adverse reactions. Not at all what we want in a lotion that is applied amply on our body. Instead, I opted for gentle, non-irritant oils such as copaiba and vanilla.

If you have hypersensitive skin, you want to do a patch test for each essential oil to see how your skin reacts. I also recommend that you cut the essential oil amounts in half to be on the safe side. Although cinnamon leaf is gentler than cinnamon bark, you may still omit it.

How to make pumpkin lotion

Homemade body lotion is a bit more advanced than other DIY skincare recipes, so let me break it down for you:

Step 1: Prep work

• Measure everything out and gather your tools. You want your supplies at hand because making body lotion is a time-sensitive process.

Step 2: Heat oil and water phases

• Add distilled water and glycerin into a tall heat-resistant glass beaker or mason jar. This is the water phase.
• Add shea butter and Montanov 68 into a separate jar. This is the oil phase.
• Fill a pot 1 in / 2.5 with water and place both glass jars in the water bath.
• Warm over low to moderate-high heat on the stovetop until the shea butter and Montanov 68 have melted.
• Once the ingredients are liquid, continue to warm both phases for 3 minutes. Montanov cools down quickly, so I like to ensure it’s thoroughly heated through.

Step 3: Create the emulsion

• Take the water phase out of the water. Place it on a kitchen towel to catch any water dripping down from the sides of the jar.
• With your immersion blender ready, pour the oil phase into the water phase. Be careful when handling the jars as they might be hot to touch.
• Blend in short bursts to combine the oil and water phase.
• Continue blending until the mixture looks white and you no longer see any traces of the oil phase, for about 3 minutes.
• Let the lotion cool for 10 minutes. Then blend for another 1 to 2 minutes. Continue this cycle until the outside of the jar feels barely warm to the touch.
• The lotion thickens as it cools and reaches its final consistency after 30 to 40 minutes.

Step 4: Add cool down phase ingredients

• Add the allantoin powder, vitamin E, essential oils, preservative, and orange mica powder (if using).
• Blend for 30 seconds to 1 minute until everything is evenly distributed throughout and the lotion mixture looks uniform in color.

Step 5: Store

• Transfer the pumpkin lotion into a pump dispenser or amber glass jar and seal the vessel airtight. Optionally, apple the printable label to decorate your creation.

How to use pumpkin spice body lotion

Just like you moisturize the face, your body needs moisturizing as well to stay soft and supple. Applying lotion is very simple:

1. Pump a dollop of lotion (about the size of a coin) into the palm of your hand.
2. Rub both palms together to warm up the pumpkin body cream.
3. Using gentle, circular motions, massage the lotion into the skin. Go down from your neck onto the shoulders to your legs and feet.
4. Repeat the process until you have covered the entire body, and enjoy!

I like to use this DIY as pumpkin hand lotion throughout the day to keep my hands moisturized after hand washing.

Packaging, storage, and shelf life

• Pump dispenser: The best storage option for this pumpkin lotion recipe is a pump bottle. A pump dispenser allows you to take out product without directly touching it, which guarantees a better shelf life. I filled my lotion in a rustic-looking soap dispenser. If you prefer to store your lotion in a jar, use a clean spoon to remove the product.
• Storage: Store the pumpkin body cream in a dry, cool place, for example, a bathroom cabinet or a closet. Room temperature is fine, but ensure the lotion isn’t exposed to direct sunlight or near any heat sources. Heat and UV light will break down the emulsion and decrease the quality of the ingredients.
• Shel life: With a broad spectrum, the pumpkin latte lotion will last for 6 months. Chuck it out if you notice a change in smell or texture.

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Pumpkin spice lotion FAQ

Can I use coconut oil or cacao butter instead of shea butter?

I recommend neither of them for this pumpkin lotion recipe. Coconut oil is very greasy and will make the pumpkin lotion oily, too. Cacao butter is a lot harder than shea butter and will change the texture of the lotion.

Try mango butter as a substitute for shea butter if needed.

Can I use another emulsifier?

Yes, you can substitute Montanov 68 for Olivem 1000, Ritamulse SCG, or emulsifying wax NF. Please leave a comment in case you plan to use another emulsifier, and I’m happy to advise more.

Can I use another preservative?

Yes! Optiphen Plus or Liquid Germamell Plus are good alternatives for Preservative Eco.

Do I need to adjust the pH of the lotion?

No, you don’t need to adjust the pH of this pumpkin pie body lotion. Preservative Eco is slightly acidic and gets the Ph to where we want it to be. Of course, feel free to measure the pH and adjust if needed.

Can I add ground spices to the lotion?

Yes, but with reservations. Spices like ground cinnamon will create a slightly grainy texture and shorten the shelf life.