4 Ingredient DIY Cooling Muscle Rub

We’ve been getting a lot more active lately which also means a lot more achy muscles. Fitzi has found with his job he is constantly on his feet which in turn is absolutely destroying his knees. I spent memorial day weekend whipping up this DIY Cooling Muscle Rub. This muscle rub will help cool down those overworked and stressed out muscles and leave you smelling like a york patty. While working great for minor aches and pains, the core of this cooling muscle rub is just a very hydrating body lotion. I kept getting the lotion on my hands which of course the logical thing would be to wipe it all over my legs. Today, my legs are super soft and really hydrated, I’m really pleased with how this cooling muscle rub has turned out!

Please note I am not a medical professional nor a mother. All claims this recipe has in curing minor aches and boo-boos are purely speculation and personal experience. This recipe has not been tested by the FDA, DEA, FBI, or any other governmental acronyms. Patch test for potential allergens as with all unfamiliar skincare products. Topical use only; keep out of open wounds, including sunburns, and other orifices (especially there). Not to be eaten, no matter how tasty it smells. In the case of pregnancy and for extreme aches and pains consult with a real doctor, Google doesn’t count.

Ingredients for Cooling Muscle Rub

• 1c Coconut Oil
• 1c Aloe Vera Gel  with Lidocaine (Substitute standard Aloe Vera Gel for moisturizing purposes only)
• 1/2c Beeswax ( Mine were leftover from when I made an alternative to plastic wrap!)
• 2tsp of Peppermint Extract or half as much Peppermint Oil
• Container – Stay Tuned for how I decorated mine!
  *As with all recipes, consider these as ratios. This makes a decent amount of the Cooling Muscle Rub so go ahead and halve it for less.

The Role of each Ingredient

You can go ahead and skip this if you want to. It’s like the introduction to the unabridged version of Les Miserables. It’ll give you an idea of what was going on in Victor Hugo’s time to make him write his highly acclaimed novel. But in reality, most people don’t care about the politics of 19th century France and just read the abridged version. However, this will give you the full idea of is going on behind the scenes.

Coconut Oil is the Carrier

The coconut oil in the Cooling Muscle rub is the carrier and the bulk within the rub. It is a fabulous moisturizer to boot! On the other hand this is also why I would advise against using this cooling muscle rub on sunburns. Oil has a habit of trapping in heat, and like with cooking. The oil will essentially store the heat radiating from the burn and keep cooking your skin, which is: no bueno.

Aloe Vera with Lidocaine is the Star

Lidocaine is a mild topical anesthetic this is what will help numb the muscle pain, this will also help numb the skin. As with the case of all medicines, it should not be used excessively. However, it does do wonders to gently dull the pain and ease away the tension of minor aches and pains. The moisturizing properties of the Aloe-Vera help absorb the medicine into the skin and muscle. If you are omitting the Lidocaine and only making an awesome hydrating lotion you already know how amazing Aloe Vera is to keep the skin soft and supple.

Beeswax is the Stabilizer

If left alone the coconut oil will melt and turn into a difficult mess to apply. The beeswax acts as a stabilizer for the cooling muscle rub to keep the oil and Aloe-vera in a more solid state raising the melting point to make it more of a lotion than a slimy mess.

Peppermint is the relaxant

Peppermint is a natural stress relaxant. It’s a key ingredient in a lot of stress relief remedies. Calming the nerves, in turn, calms the muscle. Several places claim the oil itself is great for muscle pain relief, however, this always comes with the instruction to massage the oil in. I don’t know about you, but I relax during a massage so I cannot honestly say if it’s the peppermint or the massage.

Massage is the Key

The final ingredient that people underrate would be the act of putting on the rub. This is an oil based rub that you need to massage into the muscle. The massage portion will help work out those muscle kinks and help undo those knots. Just applying the rub will have only minimal effect without the application process to compliment it. Take some time to breathe deep and relax into the process of kneading out those aches and pains from the day.

On to actually making the Cooling Muscle Rub

The first thing I did was to melt the beeswax on the stove over Medium-low to low heat. If using the stove you need to be mildly attentive to make sure there are no complications. If this is a passive process for you go ahead and use a double boiler method.  I had these small beads of beeswax, however, if you are using a block of beeswax go ahead and grate out 1/2 cup and allow it to fully melt.

After allowing the beeswax to melt the coconut oil joins the pot. Regularly whisking to help the melting process along and because I was mildly bored.

Finally, I added in the Aloe-Vera with Lidocaine and peppermint. Again keeping it on low heat and almost constantly whisking it to properly immerse all the ingredients.

Cooling the… Cooling Muscle Rub

This is where the process gets mildly tricky. The first thing is to the solution from the heat when everything is blended together. Keep an eye on it! As it cools it wants to separate again which kinda defeats the whole process. Keep coming back and whisking it back to proper shape and breaking the crust that develops on top of the cooling muscle rub. Finally, once it cools downs enough that process will stop happening and you can use a spatula to move it to your container.

The rub will have a light blue hint and contain the texture a buttery lotion for you to use.  I also suggest directly applying it to various pressure points throughout the body. The gentle massage and relaxing effects of the peppermint will help calm the nerves and keep the tension away from the whole body.

Trial and Error with making Cooling Muscle Rub

• Clean your container fully – My Cooling Muscle Rub smells kinda like minty salsa. Not disappointed – just sayin’
• Use a Silicone Whisk if using a Teflon pot– My lotion has some nice Teflon flecks in it. I’m gonna say it gives it character.
• Don’t get too excited to move the cooling rub to its final container before it had a chance to properly cool down. – Remember how I said I got it all over my hands in the beginning? This is what I was doing. At that point I noticed it separating. Then I moved it back to the pot put it was still  made a big mess and I took no pictures of it cooling down cause… it looked messy and weird (which I promise it isn’t if you aren’t being impatient). Just let it chill in the pot to cool down while regularly agitating it.

Thank you for reading my tutorial for some Cooling Muscle Rub. I hope this will help relax your troubles away!