How to Make Lotion Bars
It’s May and Mother’s Day is right around the corner.
As a mom, I love handmade, heartfelt gifts from my children. Bonus points if it’s something I will love or actually use.
If you are looking for something you can make with your kids to gift to someone on Mother’s Day, you just might love these lotion bars.
Lotion bars are like bars of soap, except they are NOT soap. They are a combination of moisturizing ingredients blended together and held in a bar-shape by adding beeswax.
When they are rubbed in your hands, your body heat melts the lotion and you can then apply it onto your skin.
They are extremely easy to make!
I started making these about five years ago when I needed a lotion that would not irritate my son’s sensitive skin. I never even flinched when he tried to eat it. I absolutely love the idea of putting on my kids’ skin something safe enough to eat!
I make it in a batch big enough that I can store the extras in the refrigerator. When we need a new one, we simply take it out, and store it in a container at room temperature (be careful, because it will melt in the heat).
A quick Google search will result in lotion bar recipe variations galore, but this is the one I love:
Lotion Bar Recipe
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 – 1 ½ cups of a combination of the following: shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter
Try to use shea, mango, and cocoa butters that are raw and unrefined.
When I am using essential oils in the recipe, I tend to omit or decrease the cocoa butter, because it has a strong scent that can sometimes be overpowering.
Also, I find cocoa butter wafers easier to use since cocoa butter hardens quite a bit.
- ½ cup beeswax pastilles
The amount of beeswax can be adjusted to suit your taste. I prefer a consistency of lotion bar that is not too stiff or waxy and very easy to soften with the fingers.
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
Combine all of the above ingredients, except the vitamin E, into a quart sized mason jar with a lid. I have one solely dedicated to lotion making. Fill a small pot of with a couple inches of water and bring to a boil. Place the mason jar in the small pot of water until all the ingredients are melted. Then, remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Add the vitamin E and essential oils if desired. Gently stir then pour into molds.
I use silicone cupcake molds. This recipe will fill about 12 of them.
Let the lotion bars cool completely before removing them from the molds. I even transfer the lotion bars to the refrigerator while still in the molds to speed up the cooling process.
Let me know if you tried this recipe. Share below!
