thanks wdi! those are kind words.
so i've been working on perfecting a medicated lotion recipe. i'm hung up on achieving a full emulsion without resorting to chemical products. my goal is to make a totally chemical free recipe that is based on infused coconut oil and hemp oil, emulsified with beeswax, and complimented with other potent botanical essential oils eg: arnica, st johns wort, and chamomile.
i'd like to create a tutorial to share how to make it, but i'm waiting until i've got the recipe perfected. the ingredients are expensive as fuck, so the frustration of a broken emulsion can put a person off this path of home made medicated topicals, and i wouldn't want to be responsible for that!
mine's not quite there yet, but i don't want anyone who is suffering to have to wait before they try a medicated topical. so while i get mine tweaked and dialed in, check out this great tutorial by monsoon over at fuck combustion! this recipe does use some hard to pronounce ingredients, but they make the emulsification process work better, and the preservatives make the product shelf stable, so it can remain usable for several months or longer.
so i've been working on perfecting a medicated lotion recipe. i'm hung up on achieving a full emulsion without resorting to chemical products. my goal is to make a totally chemical free recipe that is based on infused coconut oil and hemp oil, emulsified with beeswax, and complimented with other potent botanical essential oils eg: arnica, st johns wort, and chamomile.
i'd like to create a tutorial to share how to make it, but i'm waiting until i've got the recipe perfected. the ingredients are expensive as fuck, so the frustration of a broken emulsion can put a person off this path of home made medicated topicals, and i wouldn't want to be responsible for that!
mine's not quite there yet, but i don't want anyone who is suffering to have to wait before they try a medicated topical. so while i get mine tweaked and dialed in, check out this great tutorial by monsoon over at fuck combustion! this recipe does use some hard to pronounce ingredients, but they make the emulsification process work better, and the preservatives make the product shelf stable, so it can remain usable for several months or longer.
Monsoon said:There seems to be a lack of cannabis specific lotion recipes, everything's either salves or massage oils, so I decided to look into regular DIY lotions recipes instead and then just incorporate the weed/hash into the oil phase of the process.
I tried some cannabis lotion recently which seemed to work well on muscle pain so I wanted to try making some myself. I currently only have access to one brand which is over $100 for 8 oz and doesn't list potency or strain used. Making it myself lets me drastically reduce the cost, I can select all the ingredients and set the potency to where I want it. I specifically want a lotion since it's easy to rub a lot on and not be too greasy afterwards.
You should be able to buy all the ingredients, minus the hash oil, from a single store just do a google search to find them. Any place that sells soap and candle making supplies should have everything minus the weed. Some sites say beeswax will work to emulsify, others say it won't so probably best to go with Polawax or emulsifying wax for best results. I used Polawax myself and it worked great.
This is the lotion recipe I used, it's long but detailed and everything is explained clearly:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1020026/lotionmakingtutorial.pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1020026/introductiontolotionmakingthingie.pdf
The site is also worth checking out for more info on ingredients and recipes. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/
The only change you need to make is to decarb and extract the hash oil into the vegetable oil of your choice. Here's how I did it:
Placed pyrex measuring cup in a loaf pan and preheated in oven set to 250F.
When pyrex reached 250F, I dropped in hash oil then returned to oven for 25 minutes or until bubbles stopped.
Right from the oven I added the vegetable oils to be used in the lotion, gave it a good stir and let it cool down naturally.
If you just have abv or bud, you'll need to do a normal extraction first. Good process and discussion here: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/pain-relief-abv-massage-oil.13588/
The only thing I'm not sure about is how potent it should be. This lotion uses 100mg per 8oz and this one uses 180mg per 8oz. A gram of hash oil, wax or shatter will have between 600 and 900mg of cannbinoids on average. I'm aiming for around 800mg per 8oz which is reasonable for me but I wonder where the point of diminishing returns is.
A cup of lotion (250ml) in the end should cost between $2 and $5 plus the cost of whatever cannabis you use in it. You'll need to spend more upfront for everything but most items have a shelf life of 1-2 years so it should be good for awhile.
I was skeptical of the effect of cannabis topicals on pain (I knew it worked for skin) but I've tried it for muscle pain and it does provide some noticeable relief for me especially for acute pain. I can also feel my stiff neck muscles through my skin and after applying the lotion they felt normal again.
If anyone has any pointers, their own recipes or experiences, please share below. I'm pretty happy with my results so far but I'm always looking to improve my methods.
Here's a picture of my first batch, I used Polawax for emulsification, stearic acid for thickneing, fractionated coconut oil and subbed 25% of the water for aloe vera juice. For fragrance I used lavender and vanilla bean essential oils. Turned out pretty well and works great!
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I'll be following along for that salve/lotion work.
