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What is a lotion bar? It is a soap-hard manifestation of moisturizer you can make yourself that doesn’t go bad and doesn’t contain:
. . . and stuff like that.
And lotion bars are child’s play to create. So easy. The only somewhat exotic ingredient is beeswax, and that really isn’t exotic at all. Ask your local beekeeper or find some online or in some craft stores. Vegans can substitute candelilla wax for beeswax.
I have a Cadillac lotion bar recipe, but I will lead with the, um, shall we say Ford Escort of lotion bars.
EVERYMAN’S LOTION BAR RECIPE
1 part vegetable shortening
1 part vegetable oil
1 part beeswax
Melt the shortening and beeswax a double boiler or a little pan in a bigger pan of simmering water. Stir in the vegetable oil. Pour into cups/molds and let cool. Pop out of “mold” and it’s ready to use. The beeswax will fragrance the bars with a nice, light honey smell, or you can stir in a little essential oil before you pour it into the molds.
To use: Let the warmth of your hand melt a little of the bar and rub into dry skin–hands, feet, elbows, etc.
Yes, it’s oily at first. It’s REAL. And it does absorb in.
Here’s the Cadillac version:
LUXURY LOTION BARS
1 part shea butter
1 part avocado oil
1 part beeswax
1200 IU vitamin E (1 lg. capsule) per every 6-8 oz. other oils
essential oil (optional)
Melt shea butter and beeswax in a double boiler or small pan in larger pan of water on the low heat setting of the stove. Stir in avocado oil and vitamin E and essential oil (optional). Pour into mold(s) and allow to cool. Pop out of mold if desired or leave it in a dish and scrape off a little as needed.
Note: Shea butter can occasionally become grainy. To avoid this, use just enough heat to get your ingredients to melt. Once your ingredients are blended, cool your mixture quickly by pouring into shallow container(s) in a cool room or popping it into the fridge to cool (not the freezer).
P.S.: A little light reading about that stuff in lotions and other bath and body care products:
- phthalates
- parabens
- formaldehyde
- PABA
- ethanolamines
- petroleum
- chemical sensitivity/allergies
- bisphenol A
- animal testing
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dee–I use either beeswax from my bees or from the hobby store, online soaping suppliers, or local beekeepers. To find out how to measure how much you need, there are many websites with detailed instructions for how to make candles. How much you will need will depend on what kind of candles you are going to make. Some of the beeswax you will find from soaping suppliers is sold in little beads which are easy to pour and weigh on a scale.
In place of veg oil and shortening could you use coconut instead?
I may try this with Palm Shortening and coconut oil!
I don’t understand why not go cruelty free. I realize other vegans before me made the job easy, if we think about it there’s a lot of sad things going on for the animals and Earth and we really should wake up.
I loved your tips and will try.
Blessings.
Thanks for your recipe, I made 12oz. of these today with 1/2 shea butter 1/2 cocoa butter as 1 part; 1 part coconut oil & 1 part beeswax. They look & feel awesome. I need it after grating all that beeswax
I really want to try these. In the Cadillac version, do you think it would work to sub almond oil for the avocado oil? I already have shea butter and beeswax, and avocado oil has been impossible to find.
Katie–Sure, that would be just as good!
Can you tell us where to buy Shea butter?
thanks!
Marilyn–Your best bet would be to search “soaping supply” and shop around them to find the supplier you like/is closest to you, etc. I’ve only ever found in online. Good luck!
This is something that I would love to try. But on my quest to get the material needed, I am having trouble finding 1200 IU Vitamin E. Can anybody help me out on where to buy it from?
Cherriea–Don’t worry about the exact amount of IUs–just squeeze a couple of smaller tabs in there and it will be just fine. Amounts don’t have to be perfect. If you get into this more than casually, you can get vitamin e in bulk form (bottles of liquid e) from soaping supply companies.
Walmart generally has pure Vitamin E in the lotion aisle. In my store, it’s about halfway down the aisle on the top shelf, near the “repair” creams. I make very small batches, so I didn’t buy mine from my soap supplier (I use Brambleberry). The other option is to buy the capsules intended for oral use (found in the vitamin aisle) and just pierce the capsule and squeeze it in. This would take several capsules, but it does work.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I’d like to assist you in enhancing the healing properties of your blends. If you heat the oil in a pan with the herbs Calendula, Comfrey root, St. Johns Wort and Plantain, it becomes a very powerful, yet wonderfully gentle healing balm. Just strain the herbs out before combining oils & waxes. Blessed Be.
I have been making my own lye soap and lotions for several years now. I won’t use anything else! I am so glad to have found this site. I already love it! I make the Cadillac lotion bars too. Some of the ingredients are different, but the basics are still there. I also make a whipped body butter. My MIL swears by it. She puts it on here eczema and it has helped her more than the expensive prescription medicine the doctor gave her a prescription for.
I just made another 30 minis today – 12 unscented and the rest with peppermint eo. I love the scent of peppermint on a foot product. This is one of the easiest, quickest natural products to make yet is better and a whole lot less expensive than any I’ve store bought. I put this on my feet every night before climbing into bed and in the morning after bathing under my socks. I, too, make whipped body butters in different scents and I never go a day without it. I put it on after drying off and minutes later by the time I’m ready to dress, it’s absorbed. Lip creme and lip scrubs, bath salts, and soaps – it all started six months ago for me and I’m a true weekend and evening addict.
Where is the recipe for the whipped body butter I am hearing about?
I am trying desperately to get your book, but both Barnes and Nobles are out of stock and there are two people ahead of me at the library waiting for a copy! Contracts on your popularity! I love your emails as well as your site! Thank you for sharing with us all!
Melissa–I’m afraid the recipe isn’t on the blog, you’re right, it’s in the book. I’m sorry you’re having trouble getting your hands on a copy! Amazon has it in stock, and also from the publisher: http://www.shopwoodworking.com/little-house-in-the-suburbs-y1010, but those are both online sources. If you ask your local bookstore they can probably order it for you!
Thank you for your kind comments, it really is good of you.
Love reading all recipes and comments. Products made naturally are much, much better for a person than what the stores sell with all the chemicals in them. Thank you and can’t wait to get your book.
I put a little bit of cornstarch in mine to help cut the greasiness. It love it.
I am getting older and have gotten very dry skin. I am interested in making your Luxury Lotion bars BUT….call me stupid, but I do not understand 1 part this and one part that. Is there soem way I could understand it better, like 1/2 cup of this and 1/4 cup of that. I just don’t want to guess and waste my ingredients. Could some one email me and tall me how they break this recipe down….nextmission@aol.com…….thank you!!!!
To Marilyn: I’ve made these with similar recipes and love them. I found Shea butter and other oils at Drug Emporium ( in central Texas).
I also used Shea butter for first batch and then coconut oil for the second and found that the coconut oil liquifies a little quicker when using the lotion bar.
Love reading about all your tips and products!! Thanks so much for sharing. I do have one question? In this lotion bar receipe, how much is one part? Does it just depend on how much I am making, and then I would sub in 1/2 cup for 1 part? That is my guess, but I hate to waste materials so I thought I would clarify first.
Thanks,
Dawn
Dawn–Yes! “Part” can mean any measure you choose. You guessed correctly. Thank you and good luck!
I am anxious to try your items, I will be sharing them with my daughters and a adult day care center for the women’s day, its a special bath and pamper day for older women. They enjoy themselves, and makes their days brighter, some have no family so its very special diay for them. If you would have suggestions for fragrance for men I would appreciate any ideas, thanks
Sharon Miller–Peppermint is a fragrance that works for both men and women. Also, for check the essential oil blends offered by some of the soaping suppliers–they always have one or two especially for men. Another consideration for seniors: you might do a little experimentation beforehand with slightly reducing the percentage of beeswax to make a softer bar that, while still firm, goes on a little smoother for the more delicate texture of older skin. What a lovely idea to have a pamper day craft for adult day care. Your thoughtfulness is inspirational.
I buy cocoa butter, almond oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil and shea butter at my local co-op or whole foods market. Bees wax i get at Michaels, but I would assume hobby lobby or Joann Fabrics would carry them too.
Daisy, I used Vanilla Sandalwood for a lotion I made for a male nurse. He loved it.
Sounds great. They wash their hands so much I’m sure it really helps.
Deborah, where did you get the Vanilla Sandalwood for the lotion for the male nurse?
I got the Sandalwood Vanilla from http://www.starrvilletyler.com It is close to where I live, but they do mail orders, too.
Where do you purchase round molds for mini lotion bars? Or are you using mini muffin tins?
TIA.
You can use muffin tins. I have done that. You can also buy soap molds from soap supply companies or use small dishes or even plastic pudding cups, paper drinking cups, etc.
I have had very good luck using silicone molds. At my local Joann’s I found a 24-cavity soft silicone mold that makes small sort of “sunshine” shapes. Silicone molds are easy to unmold and very durable. I love them for lotion bars and for soaps as well!
Zelia — A 24-cavity mold is just what I had in mind. I’ll have to make a trip to Joann’s. Thanks!
I try the recipe with soy wax but it was really very soft. Please help me ……
Eri–Hm. I’ve never tried it with soy wax personally. The only thing I can think of is to re-melt and add more wax in hopes that once the proportion of wax to oils is greater you may get it to harden more. HTH!
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