How to Make Lotion Bars

This blog is brought to you by: Wellness Mama

How to Make Lotion Bars

I’ve finally reached a point where I make all of our toiletry products by hand. I’ve saved a lot of money doing this with bulk ingredients, and I love that I’m not putting any chemicals on my family’s skin.

I’ve made lotion in the past, but was excited to stumble on this great variation, which is solid at room temperature and looks like a bar of soap. It is also even easier to make than lotion because it doesn’t require any emulsifying with water, which is the tough step. These are solid at room temperature like a bar of soap, but when rubbed on the skin, a tiny amount melts and is transferred to the skin, leaving a highly moisturizing and very thin layer.

There are endless variations on this lotion bar recipe too. You could add any mixture of essential oils, or add zinc oxide to make a diaper rash bar. I’ve also modified for a deodorant bar that is more like stick deodorant (that recipe coming soon) and travels well. I’m infusing oil for a neosporin imitation bar and my homemade sunscreen bars are drying now (I’ll post those too!).

These are fun presents, and could be made for baby shower gifts, birthdays, Christmas gifts, or for pregnant moms to use to prevent stretch marks. Did I mention it is super easy?

The Ingredients:

• 1 part coconut oil
• 1 part shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter (or a mix of all three equal to 1 part) [NOTE: Shea and Mango Butters are currently out of stock, but Cocoa, Illipe or Kokum butter can be used in equal parts and all are available here]
• 1 part beeswax (can add an extra ounce or two if you want a thicker consistency, which leaves less lotion on the skin when used)
• Optional: Vitamin E oil to preserve. I added 1 tsp vitamin E oil for  this recipe made with 1 cup of each ingredient)

 

This recipe can be adjusted to make any quantity that you’d like. I made with 1 part=1 cup so I used 1 cup of coconut oil, 1 cup beeswax and 1/3 cup each of shea butter, cocoa butter and mango butter (though I could have used 1 cup of any of the individual ones). I also added about 50 drops of lavender essential oil. I set them in silicon baking cups though any mold or shape would work. The recipe I used made exactly 12 lotion bars.

How to Make:

Combine all ingredients (except essential oils if using) in a double boiler, or a glass bowl over a smaller saucepan with 1 inch of water in it. UPDATE: Combine in a quart size glass mason jar with a lid instead and place this in a small saucepan of water until melted. This will save your bowl and you can just designate this jar for these type of projects and not even need to wash it out…

Turn the burner on and bring water to a boil. Stir ingredients constantly until they are melted and smooth:

 

Remove from heat and add the essential oils.

Gently stir by hand until essential oils are incorporated.

Carefully pour into molds or whatever you will be allowing the lotion bars to harden in. I used these silicon baking cups, though any mold would work.

Allow the lotion bars to cool completely before attempting to pop out of molds. These could be made in different shaped molds for different holiday gifts (hearts for valentines, flowers for Mother’s day, etc.) or made in a square baking pan and then cut into actual bars.