I’m a huge fan of topical magnesium solutions (like this DIY magnesium oil spray).  It’s probably because I personally have an incredibly finicky gut so that eliminates (ha! terribly sorry) the possibility of relying on oral magnesium sources.  But I also don’t take a whole lot of oral supplements nowadays in general…which is most likely because I used to attempt to out-supplement a generally horrific diet in my college days!  As a result, I believe in trying to get your nutrients from whole food sources; unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to eat enough magnesium-rich foods on a daily basis…and that’s how I ended up with this recipe!

Note: this recipe has a lot of different liquid oils.  Honestly, you can replace all of the liquid oils with just one liquid oil (and by that, I mean liquid at room temperature)…I just enjoy using different oils. However, for the consistency to remain the same, I would still use the coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter in the amounts I have listed here.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon shea butter
• 1 tablespoon cocoa butter
• 1/2 tablespoon sweet almond oil
• 1 tablespoon jojoba oil
• 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 tablespoon grape seed oil
• 1 tablespoon magnesium flakes
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 15 drops lavender essential oil (optional, but I do find that both lavender and magnesium in general makes me sleepy so I like it for before bed)
• 20 drops vanilla essential oil (optional, I just like the combination of vanilla and lavender)

Steps:

1. Combine all of the oils  and butter into a double broiler.  (I use a makeshift double broiler but pouring 2-3 inches of water into a regular pot and then placing a mason jar with the oils into it…then I turn it on medium heat. It looks like the picture below:)

2. While all of the oils and butters melt together, combine your magnesium flakes and hot water into a small mixing container.  Stir until the magnesium oil has dissolved.

3. Once your oils and butters have completely melted, stir them really well to combine.

4. Slowly, start adding your magnesium oil/water solution to your melted oils/butters. You’re mixing oil and water, so you’ll have to mix well for them to combine. I used a whisk to make this easier.

5. Once you’re combined the oils and water well, place the entire solution into the freezer for several minutes.

6. Get your mixture out of the freezer and stir really well again.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 several times until the solution has cooled down to about room temperature.

8.  At this point, the mixture will still tend to separate after several minutes.  After it’s gotten cooled down, I left it at room temperature and stirred it every 15 minutes or so.  Eventually, it will start to stay combined and turn into an actual butter-y consistency (actually, I’d say it looks a lot like ghee!).

Once your mixture is finished, I would recommend keeping it in the fridge and stirring it every day that you use it so that the oils and water remain combined.  If it ever starts to separate, you can reheat the entire mixture (preferably using the double broiler method but you can microwave in a pinch) and start from steps 5 and 6 to combine once again.

I put it on about an hour before bed and definitely find myself getting sleepy within the hour!