4 Beauty Products You Can Create Using an Instant Pot

The Instant Pot, a versatile seven-in-one kitchen appliance, gained immense popularity after its remarkable sales performance during Amazon Prime Day in 2016, moving over 215,000 units. However, its capabilities extend beyond cooking large family meals swiftly; it can also be used to create cost-effective beauty products at home. Here are some DIY recipes to try. (See also: 9 DIY Beauty Masks Made From Food)

Revitalizing Anti-Aging Face Cream

According to Dora Vandekamp, a certified integrative nutritionist and fitness expert, who runs the blog Biohack Your Beauty, this recipe for an anti-aging cream will keep your skin moisturized and velvety.

Ingredients

1/2 cup organic jojoba oil
1/2 cup organic coconut oil
1/4 cup beeswax
2 tablespoons organic cocoa butter
2 drops of Frankincense essential oil

These ingredients can be sourced from local craft stores, Walmart, Target, or online retailers such as Amazon.

Instructions

Combine the jojoba oil, coconut oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter in your Instant Pot. Set it to the “Keep Warm” mode and let the mixture melt slowly for approximately 20 minutes. Once melted, add the Frankincense essential oil and transfer the blend into a Mason jar. For optimal freshness, use the cream within six months.

Solid Lotion Bars

One of the most popular recipes found online for Instant Pot beauty products is hard lotion bars, which provide the concentrated hydration of traditional lotions without the mess. They also make excellent gifts.

Lindsey Dietz from the blog Traditional Cooking School by Gnowfglins details the entire process—from grating cacao butter and beeswax to melting the mixture in the Instant Pot using various essential oils, then pouring it into silicone molds to cool. For added fragrance, she suggests using skin-friendly oils like ylang-ylang, cypress, lavender, sandalwood, or frankincense.

You can find a variety of silicone molds at craft stores or through Amazon, and this simple project is a perfect opportunity for self-care.

Herbal Hand Salve

While I’ve always been a fan of Burt’s Bees products, I recently tried a homemade herbal hand salve recipe using the Instant Pot, and I might never turn back.

This salve is ideal for preventing dry, cracked skin during cold months. Inspired by a recipe from Natural Beauty Blog by AJ, it starts by infusing antibacterial oils from lavender buds with jojoba or sweet almond oils. Once prepared, combine this oil with grated beeswax in the Instant Pot, stir until fully melted, and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Pour the mixture into small Mason jars or tins. If you make extra, you can use it as a thoughtful gift during the holidays. (See also: 9 Easy Mason Jar Gifts You Can Make)

Herbal Soap

Chris from Joybilee Farm utilizes her Instant Pot to produce herbal soap, using a stainless steel insert which is nonreactive and perfect for this task. Her soap recipe combines various oils, cold water, a lye solution, essential oils, and frozen milk.

She explains, “The insert is suitable for melting fats, mixing oils, stirring the lye into the fats, and cooking the soap after reaching trace, thus reducing the curing time.” It is also vital to use nonreactive glass for the lye solution, regardless of whether it’s herbal tea, milk, or water, opting against metal containers.

Soap-making is intricate and can involve hazardous hot liquids and chemicals, so be sure to wear gloves and protective eyewear throughout the process.