The Best Lotion Ever

As a kid, I had horrid skin. Simply horrid. It was dry, painfully so. I also had lovely patches of eczema at the insides of my elbows, behind my knees, my wrists - just about any place I could bend.

For a while, the doctors thought I was allergic to water and I was only allowed to take a water bath once a week. Other days I had to use Cetaphil to "wash." Ever meet a 5 year old who wanted to bathe? That was me!

At any rate, it turns out I was allergic to lanolin as well as citric acid (lemonade, ketchup, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, tomatoes, etc.). I've outgrown most of these allergies, but I still can't touch anything with lanolin in it. It gives me the skeeves as well as "itchies" (what I used to call my eczema patches).

I used to use this awesome and awesomely expensive lotion called Ala Derm. You can buy it here. I used to buy it by the case. I switched to the cheaper Lubriderm several years ago.

Then a couple months ago, my friend Kathy came to visit and brought me a sample of her "homemade" lotion and I've been using this ever since. It's awesome, I swear. Here's the recipe:

• 1 bottle baby lotion (any brand), 15 oz.
  
• 1 small tub petroleum jelly (the 1.75 oz size, about 2 tablespoons)
  
• 1 4 oz jar Fruit of the Earth Vitamin E Lotion (use this brand!)

Photo courtesy of Amazon.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, if you have it. Otherwise, just mix with a hand-mixer for several minutes. You need to make sure the petroleum jelly is really mixed in well. You can spoon some of it back into the vitamin E tub. I put it all in a Tupperware container.

If I had a bigger bridal party, I'd definitely be making this, putting it into cute containers and giving them as gifts. I might still do it.