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
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
I didn’t know it was so easy. I’m thinking those would be great in a Christmas basket! Now my question is where can I buy those ingredients?
Thankyou for posting these recipes! I love this and am going to try this with my kids… yay!! WE are trying to get away from toxic living all around, and this is a great homemade remedy right here!
stephanie–yep, very easy, and I love how they just pop out of the molds when cool–you’ll see. I get my fancy oils and beeswax (natural, non deodorized because I love the honey smell) online from Essential Wholesale, but there are a number of places, do a search on soapmaking suppliers, they usually have everything you need for lotion.
amy–I’m with you, once you try the homemade version of something it is hard to go back. More homemade skin care recipes coming this week.
Thank you for this wonderful post just in time for Christmas! I love making things myself, but haven’t ventured into toiletries that much. I make my own earth-friendly cleaning supplies that I enjoy, so this is right up my alley.
I am going to make these for Christmas! I have printed it off and plan on starting to get the stuff, set aside a day and make to my heart’s desire.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Those look easy and like everyone else, I think they would be great Christmas gifts.
Good post.
Have a wonderful day.
Pam
garden4life–if you make your own cleaning supplies this will be a snap for you.
dayphoto–sounds like a fun day!
Pam–Thanks! I appreciate you and your kind comments. Hope you have a wonderful day, too!
Thanks for posting this! I know what I’m doing this weekend.
achtung!–thanks! It’s sooo easy. Have a good weekend!
I bought my beeswax at Hobby Lobby this afternoon, and my lotion bars are almost completely cooled off. I was surprised to see a wide selection of soap-making ingredients on the shelf in my Hobble Lobby. Too convenient!
mother hen–oh I like that. No waiting for stuff. I hope you like them. And thanks for your post–it really made our day–I love the way you write. You have the gift.
I’ve been wanting to make these for a while, and I’ve finally been able to! (I had to search a bit for the beeswax.) I added some rose fragrance and a bit of red mica, so they are a nice pink-orange color with a light rose-honey scent. So pretty! I also added a little less than half a teaspoon of cornstarch, since I read on another website that it can help cut down on the greasy feeling. I have six small bars of these cooling now, but being the impatient (and waste-hating) person I am, I scraped some of the cooled mix left on the inside of the bowl and rubbed some on my hands and arms, and I can tell already that I’m going to love them. Thank you for the recipe!
Honey-rose has got to be so warm and lovely a scent. I want a sniff! Thank you and I hope you like them!
I love these! I made a batch using oil-extracted jewelweed, and they’re great for poison ivy and other skin itches. Since jewelweed extract doesn’t keep very well, I also put in quite a bit of lavender and tea tree oils, so it also keeps bugs away.
Oooh, that sounds particularly nice, AcerRubrum. Very cool ideas.
I use pure coconut oil on my skin, it is the best moisturizer I’ve ever used. Soaks right in and is non greasy. I use it on my face also, and am amazed by the results. It looks great under my mineral make-up an gets rid of acne, because Coconut Oil kilss bacteria, viruses, etc. The best for skin is Virgin Organic Cold Pressed Unrefined Coconut Oil. (Best price is Azure Standard which sells a whole gallon for $37.00) or you an buy much smaller quantities to start out. Other uses are too many to name but: hair conditioner, make up remover, cooking oil, aftershave, shaving cream, etc…..
Heather, that sounds great. Coconut oil benefits are something that I have only recently begun to hear about. One of those “best kept secrets” I guess. Glad to know your experiences with different uses of it. Thanks for the tip on pricing.
TL — Was this posted on Tipnut? I’m thinking I saw it there and that’s how I found you in the first place. Am I right?
Yours is the first blog I ever visited!
Always in Blue–I can’t remember! Possibly so. Keep on visiting, we love you guys!
FANTASTIC! I am collecting directions for bath products I can make at home and this Christmas I am planning on making gift baskets for all my friends and family. Your lotion bar will be the perfect addition to my bath bombs, sugar scrubs, coffee scrubs, and soy candles!
You are so creative! Wish we could get together 4 real and not just blog.
I am definately down for this – a “must do” for Christmas. Will check out the lip balm and lotions as well. Pretty sure I can survive without dimethicone (is that even legal?) and titanium dioxide in my life!
Thanks for all the great ideas!
Thanks for sharing =) Love making lotions! Try using almond oil with some orange essential oil soooooooo nourishing and aroma therapeutic!
Wow! First visit and I feel quite at home! I’m always whipping up something and everyone I know in real life thinks I’m crazy. Well, not too crazy since they are now buying my stuff.
I’ve stopped buying things with ingredients I can’t pronounce. Looking forward to a long visit.
Kimberly–Welcome! Glad you found us!
Mid-winter celebration present making time!!! I have been wondering what to get my family and friends for the season, and was starting to think that a trip to the dollar store for some bubbles (everyone loves bubbles!!) might be in order, but now I found something even better! Of all the random websites I have stumbled across over the years, this is BY FAR the best one!!! Thanks for being awesome!
This is so neat. I’ve never heard of a lotion bar before. Nifty!
Could you use olive oil or canola oil? What kind of olive oil? Vegetable oil is either corn or soy. Corn, when ingested, gives me a horrible headache. Due to a reaction to soy and health concerns my OBGYN doesn’t want me eating or even putting anything with soy in it on my body.
Johanna–Absolutely. Olive or canola would be just great.
These are really neat! I linked to them on my weekly roundup (post is under my name). One of the my “little luxuries” is yummy smelling lotion, so I like the idea of playing around a bit with scents. Thanks for sharing!!
I can’t wait to give these a whirl–they sound so easy! Now, to find me some beeswax..
these look great.. I actually just bought a lotion bar through a wonderful company that has these.. but I’d love to try my hand at making them.. I wonder if you could share how much beeswax you use for however many.. I did check out Essential Wholesale but wonder how much to buy.. love your blog.. will be visiting often
Hi Tina–Thank you! Here’s one method: Once you find out the capacity of your molds, multiply that amount by how many bars you want. Then divide that amount by 3 to see how much of each of the 3 major ingredients you will need. Happy lotion bar making!
okay, that makes sense, thanks.. do you use special molds.. are a certain type required.. I have some candle molds I’ve never used… do you think that would work?
Love this recipe! I used a pyrex dish in the microwave to melt the ingredients together, which worked great. For gift giving, I’ve been using paper “candy and nut” cup for a mold that can go with the bars. They are greeted with rave reviews. Thank you for posting this recipe!
Wendy, are you talking about just using the paper cupcake/muffin liners? I’m thinking that’s the same as the candy and nut cups?
Hi! Can you just use muffin tins with cooking spray for the molds? And also how about butter flavor crisco? Or do I have to get the un-butter kind? LOL
thanks, been wanting to do this for a long time. hubby has eczema.
Tigerlily–I don’t think the cooking spray would be necessary, but you can use it if you like. I’ve never tried it, so I can’t say for certain, but I doubt the butter flavoring would change the consistency. It may increase the possibility that someone would want to eat the bars, or that smelling them would induce a craving for popcorn!
Tomato Lady,
Thanks so much for your reply! I make soaps too and I found when people smell my chocolate soap they say it smells good enough to eat! I will go ahead and get some regular shortening. I am thinking the butter flavor may be a little overwhelming when added to the beeswax. Your info is great! Keep it up, I am sure I will be back with questions!
I put mine in cookie tins. I just pop them in the freezer to cool and they pull away from the sides on their own.
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