Non-greasy lotion bars are my go-to for moisturizing the body. Ever since I ditched commercial creams, body lotions and started making my own skincare products, I was looking for this one perfect item that would be easy to make, quick, not messy, and affordable. I wanted to be able to not only use it myself but also to offer it to friends and family as gifts.
I want to give my loved ones only natural skincare products, and use this occasion to convince them how important it is to avoid the chemically overburdened and over-processed, and sometimes really, really harmful, drugstore-bought products.
What is a Lotion Bar?
A lotion bar looks like a bar of soap, it smells divine, it’s hard at first but melts on contact with the skin. They are fully customizable – you can use whatever oils and butters you want. To make a lotion bar non-greasy, you should go for light ingredients like grapeseed or jojoba oil and mango butter, like in the recipe below.
If you’d rather have a more oily lotion bar – to use on drier areas – you can substitute with more emollient oils like olive or sweet almond oil, and richer butters like shea or cocoa butter.
You can make them fancy using a nicely shaped silicon mold. Or, you can make them in a muffin pan which you already have in your kitchen. You can scent them with essential oils or just go for the natural aroma of cocoa or mango butter. Possibilities are truly endless.
How to Make Lotion Bars?
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Below are DIY recipes for two versions of an equally lush lotion bar. The first one is less greasy, and the second one is more emollient. As you can see, the recipe takes three equal parts of the three main ingredients. You can adjust accordingly, depending on how many bars you want to make. The following recipes makes 4 smallish bars.
Non-Greasy Lotion Bar
- 1/3 cup of non-greasy oil, (jojoba, grapeseed, or hempseed work best)
- 1/3 cup of shea butter
- 1/3 of wax (white or yellow beeswax, or if you are vegan, go for carnuba wax)
- Essential oils of choice for aroma (optional)
Emollient Lush Lotion Bar
- 1/3 cup of emollient oil, (olive, coconut, sweet almond work best)
- 1/3 cup of cocoa butter
- 1/3 of wax
- Essential oils of choice for aroma (optional)
Some of my favorite essential oils to use in these lush lotion bars.
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Additives
You can always add some extras like Matcha, cinnamon, cocoa powder, vanilla, or honey. It’s optional, and if you choose to add, do not add too much, no more than 1 TBS, to keep the right proportions of other ingredients
Procedure
First, heat up everything except the essential oils in a double boiler. I use a measuring cup immersed in a pot with boiling water. Keep melting until the wax is completely melted down.
Take off the heat, let cool for a few minutes, add the optional essential oils.
Pour into your molds and let cool and harden for a day.
Take out of the molds and store in metal tins.
How to Use?
Warm up in your hands and massage all over, or only into places where extra lush moisture is needed (elbows, knees, heels). Enjoy!
Body Oil Recipe to Combat Dry Skin
Love the idea of making my own lotion bar, they seem quite simple to make as well! I would love to get all creative as well and put designs on the bars!
Chloe xx
They are really fun to make, for yourself and as gifts. Try it!
I love this idea! I may have to try this when I am not that busy. Thank you for the suggestion.