How to Make Lotion Bars
DIY Lotion Bars
I rarely wear gloves while gardening for two reasons. First, it’s hard to pull some of the smaller weeds while wearing gloves. Second, I forget to put them on when I head out for a morning of weed pulling and do not feel like walking back to the house to get them.
So, I do get dry, rough patches on my hands for frequent washing and dirt digging. Hand lotions didn’t seem like it was doing the job of relieving the dryness of my hands. So, I searched for the right recipe to create my own lotion bars!
This is a really simple project that would make GREAT gifts for Mother’s Day or for any gardener. It moisturizers chapped, dry hands and is made from all natural ingredients. You can also use the lotion bar on you legs, feet, face, lips…anywhere! I made small “bars” for lip balm.
Ingredients:
Beeswax– Use food/cosmetic grade. You can get 1 lb blocks of it at stores like Hobby Lobby or Micheal’s. I think they run about $14 or so. Make sure you download one of their 40% off coupons from their website! I got beeswax from Amazon for $11.99. It was already in pellets so I did not have to grate it!
Coconut Oil-You can find this in the baking section in your local grocery store. Try LouAna. At my local Kroger it runs for like $7 for a 30 oz tub. The store brand organic coconut oil is about $6 for a 14 oz jar. You can also find coconut oil in the gourmet food section in Marshalls and Home Goods.
Cocoa Butter-This is an optional ingredient. It’s hard to find in a local store. I had to order mine from Amazon. But it’s a decadent addition! (Coco butter smells like chocolate….YUM).
Equipment:
- Stockpot
- Glass Bowl
- Wood Skewer (something to stir the melted oils with)
- Soap Mold, Silicone cupcake or mini tart pan, or metal cupcake pan.
Bring an few inches of water to boil in your pot. Place the glass bowl in the pot. You are creating a double boiler.
In FL our house tends to get warm and the lotion bars start getting sticky/melty. I keep them in the fridge but wonder if I use more beeswax to keep them harder how much would the ration be?
April,
I agree, I think increasing the beeswax would help with the stickiness. Perhaps instead of an equal ratio of ingredients, you could either increase the beeswax or decrease the coconut oil. I am not sure what the exact ratio should be, so let me get away from fractions (I stink at them). If I were going to do this I would do 40% cocoa butter, 40% beeswax, 20% coconut oil. Let me know how it turns out.
I friend used this recipe and give me the lotion bar as a gift. It is a pleasure to come here and tell you it was ABSOLUTELY wonderful!
I’ve made these several times with similar recipes, but I find they tend to get gooey after a while. anyone have better success, and what ratio of wax/coconut oil/cocoa butter did you use
I used equal amounts of the beeswax, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. I have even left one in my car and it didn’t melt. Maybe use a little more beeswax to help in set? Let me know how it turns out.
Can I use scented oils in these lotion bars. They seem wonderful
Yes! I have made them many different ways. Any type of scented oil should work great.
If you put your tins in the freezer, your lotion bars will come right out from shrinkage. Or you can put your oils in the frig, watch carefully they don’t get fully hard and hand mold. I do this with soap.
I’m definitely going to try this! I’ve been wondering though, are the bars soft enough that you just rub them on your skin as lotion, or are they more like soap and you use them wet?
Karen, you just rub them onto your skin. Your body heat will melt the oils enough to absorb into your skin. Enjoy!
The look beautiful! Gorgeous images and a project I’ve always wanted to do so pinning this to remember 🙂
This looks really interesting (I’ve pinned this) I have lots of pins about making handmade beauty products, perhaps it’s about time I started to try some of them. Love the photographs too.