Coconut oil can get really hard if your house gets cold and products made with it can get hard in cooler temperatures. You could store it in a warmer spot (still below 76 degrees though) and it will soften some, however it’s fine to use as is. You can scoop it out and it will melt on your skin. If you know your house is always really cold in the cooler months you can replace half or all of the coconut oil with a liquid oil in the recipe to keep it softer.

You could replace the grapeseed oil with arnica oil.

Kim

You should probably be able to add it, however Vitamin D is a hormone and it is possible to get too much from supplements. If you do add it you might want to keep an eye on vitamin D levels to make sure they don’t become toxic.

Emulsifying wax is needed to combine the water soluble and oil soluble ingredients together. You could use beeswax instead of the candelilla wax but it doesn’t work as well. If you’re adding borax it might not dissolve very well but you could try dissolving it in the hot water with the magnesium. It can irritate the skin and is controversial to use in skincare products. If you want to add a preservative you would need to do some research to see which ones would work best for the pH of the lotion and if it’s water or oil soluble (then you’d know whether to add it to the oil or water phase). You could reach out the preservative manufacturer for more specific directions on that. Leucidal plus might work and that’s used at 2-4% which would be a maximum of 2 and 1/2 scant teaspoons here.

Thank you

Leucidal complete might work. It’s used at 2-4% and helps extend the shelf life of products. A 4% dilution would be 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of leucidal in this recipe. You can get it here. https://www.amazon.com/Leucidal-all-natural-Preservative-Skin-Perfection/dp/B01LYI82KS?&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=224ca750cde8403cb671251dcd7d2be5&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Most rose waters (hydrosols) come already preserved with a preservative. Rosemary extract could work, but you would need to be sure it’s one that’s water soluble. The ones I’ve found are all oil soluble and would only work in a water soluble product with an emulsifier. It’s also not a broad spectrum preservative as it slows oxidation but doesn’t prevent microbe growth like a true preservative. Optiphen is nature identical but it is synthetic and not a natural substance.

Is organic rose water better alternative to distilled water. Otherwise you can use natural preservative like Optiphen or Rosemary extract if you use distilled water.

Any liquid carrier oil will work. Sweet almond, avocado, fractionated coconut, etc.

The original recipe used 3 TBSP of shea butter and omitted the carrier oil. It also used only candelilla wax (with a beeswax option) instead of also using emulsifying wax. The new recipe is less greasy feeling, absorbs faster, and holds together better without seperating, but you can always use the older version if preffered.

The recipe has a total of about 7,500 mg of magnesium.

If I buy the topical magnesium through the link, will that also have a short shelf life? If yes, i am thinking maybe I should share it with another person.
Unrelated to the magnesium, I thought I heard you say that progestin is better than taking estrogen-as it doesn’t cause cancer. I heard on antihero podcast that progestin has side effects and should be avoided. Am 62 and have issues with hormonal imbalance but don’t know what specific blood tests to do. (The podcast is Naturally Nourished-how to naturally increase your progesterone.)

You could try reducing the candelilla wax (not the emulsifying wax).

You might be able to use the magnesium oil instead of the flakes dissolved in water (which is essentially just making your own magnesium oil). Maybe 1/2 cup of the premade magnesium oil would work here?