Easy Moisturizing Homemade Lotion Bar – DIY Guide

Introduction

Lotion bars are extremely moisturizing and are a great way to include in your all-natural skin care collection. Just what is a lotion bar? A lotion bar excludes water and is a solid moisturizer rather than a liquid lotion. This can consist of a mixture of carrier oils, butters and waxes which melt as you apply it across your skin. The great thing about homemade lotion bar making is that since there is no water you are getting a much more concentrated amount of nutritious ingredients for your skin. This means a little goes a long way so the bar tends to last a while and they typically have a long shelf life.

There are many great reasons to shift to a lotion bar. One is that they typically do not require preservatives and are typically free from toxic chemicals. Most recipes are very customizable so by making your own lotion bar to include natural ingredient you like and leave out all the harmful chemicals. This makes lotion bars a great pick if you are shifting your life into a more natural living environment.

Making your own homemade lotion bar is really very simple and can be very beneficial. For this homemade lotion how to guide I have included a very simple recipe for your reference. You can change this as you see fit.

Process Steps for Lotion Bar

Preparing equipment

Start by ensuring all of your working surfaces are as clean as possible. Also, it is important to wipe down the table you are using and all ingredient containers before you begin. Next make sure to clean and disinfect all measuring tools, containers and equipment that you will be using during the lotion bar making process.  Keeping a clean work environment can help minimize introduction of microbes and bacteria into the lotion. Gather the equipment and tools you will need, some examples re below:

• Handheld blender (I tend to use an immersion blender)
• Large glass measuring bowl
• Utensils for weighing out ingredients (I like disposable or stainless steel).
• Measuring Cups or other measuring utensils
• Digital Scale
• Double boiler pot (to melt the butters/oils/waxes) and/or heat proof containers.
• Funnel
• Heat gun or thermometer
• Mold or final container

You should also have your personal protective equipment (PPE) laid out for use. Wearing PPE not only keeps you from contaminating your homemade lotion bar but also protects you from potential injury. You may see me repeat this in many of my articles, but I always like to say, safety first! PPE is a barrier for you skin from your ingredients and environmental hazards such as heated liquid, heated surfaces and any spills or splashing that may occur during the lotion making process.  I would recommend at minimum to wear the following while making any at home skin care product.

• Gloves
• Aprons
• Face and or Eye Protection
• Heat resistance gloves when working with heated surfaces.
• Face mask if working with powered ingredients

Measure Out Ingredients

Measure out all of your ingredients that you will need to heat up. This includes your butters, oils and waxes. Make sure the ingredients you are measuring at this point can withstand greater than 70C temperatures.

Keep in mind essential oils, preservatives, vitamin E and many other ingredients degrade when heated. You do not want to lose the beneficial properties of your ingredients because you heated it up too much.

Melt Lotion Bar Ingredients

Place your heatable ingredients in a heat resistant container. If you are microwaving this can, be a glass bowl or other microwavable container. I do prefer to use a double boiler to help control the heating process. I like to heat the water in the double on medium high till it is simmering. Then I turn down the heat to medium to low once I place pan of oil in the water to melt. Keep an eye on the temperature and adjust as necessary. You do not need the water in the boiler to be boiling and you do not want your oil to start to boil.

There are some butters that can be heated to much or too quickly and turn grainy. One example is Cocoa butter which melts between 93-101°F. This can be similar to melting chocolate if you heat it to much it also becomes grainy. If you would like to check temperature of your oil during the process you can do so with a thermometer and or a heat gun. Turn up or down the heat as needed.

Mixing

Once your oils, waxes and butters have fully melted, you can then start the mixing them to make a homogenic product. If using a double boiler transfer the heated mixture into a heat resistant mixing bowl. If you microwaved your ingredients and your bowl is not large enough for mixing, transfer your mixture into a heat resistant mixing bowl.

I prefer to use a glass mixing bowl. Be very careful and use your PPE for transferring and mixing your ingredients as the oil mixture is very hot. I like to stir with an immersion blender as it reduces splashing and blends the emulsion nicely. For a bowl I like to use a large glass measuring bowl (one that you can easily pour out of once the mixing is complete).

Adding heat sensitive ingredients

There are so many ways to customize your lotion bar. You can include fragrances, essential oils and even vitamin E, which can act like a mild preservative. Many of these types of ingredients are heat sensitive. This means that you can destroy many of the beneficial properties of these ingredients, which would negate your reason for adding them into your lotion bar. Do a little research on the ingredients you are adding so you know what temperatures they can handle.  

Allow your oil mixture to cool to temperatures that will not degrade your heat sensitive ingredients. You can monitor this with you heat gun or thermometer. While you are waiting for your oil to cool, you can measure out our other ingredients that you will be adding. Once your mixture has cooled, add in the additional ingredients as needed and thoroughly mix them all together.

Filling and Storing

Once all ingredients have full been blended in, you can fill the oil into a heat resistant mold or into a final storage container. There are many different fun mold shapes you can select. I like to use a silicone mold so you can remove the lotion bar easily. If you are going to pour your mixture into molds, make sure you do have a final storage container that the mold can fit in.

If you are not wanting to shape your lotion bar you can pour the oil mixture into a lotion stick or a deodorant stick. This makes a great less messy way of being able to apply your lotion bar onto your skin.  Whatever container type you choose, make sure it is cleaned and disinfected before you pour in your product. It is a good idea to select a fairly airtight container to minimize exposure to the environment. This can help reduce outside contaminates.  

Allow your lotion bar to cool over the next 24 hours. You can speed this up by cooling your lotion bar in the refrigerator.  Make sure to store your final produce in in a cool dark place.

Clean your equipment with soapy warm water to remove any remaining oil. Store your equipment in a clean dry area so you can re-use them for next time.

Basic Lotion Bar Guidelines

To summarize a good start to a basic homemade lotion bar with wax can include the below:

• 32 – 33% Carrier Oil (Example: coconut oil or Jojoba oil or a mixture).  
• 33 – 34% Butter (Example: Shea or Mango butter)
• 33% Waxes (Example: Beeswax)
• 1 – 2% Additional ingredient (Example: fragrance, essential oil, vitamin E)

If you are wanting to make a lotion bar that does not include wax keep in mind the below percentages, you may have to play a bit depending on butter type or if you are adding a fragrance:

• 20% Carrier Oil (Example: coconut oil or Jojoba oil or a mixture).  
• 80% Butter (Example: Shea or Mango butter)

Basic Lotion Bar Recipe

I have included two very basic recipes for shea butter coconut oil lotion bars below, one with beeswax and one without any wax. No fragrance was included in either recipe. However, if you are wanting to include a scent, you can adjust the carrier oil amount by the amount of fragrance you are adding in. Also, you can choose any carrier oil or butter you would like for replacement. Remember the recipe is for a reference and can be adjusted to your needs.

Reference the below links for the recipes:

• Recipe #1 – 3 ingredient lotion bar that includes beeswax as an ingredient. Click on the below picture for the recipe link.

• Recipe #2 – 2 ingredient recipe that does not include any form of wax. Click on the below picture for the recipe link.

I hope you have found our homemade lotion bar how to guide educational and that you can put the basic guidelines to good use. We encourage you to share your experience and thoughts. If you have your own recipe, comment with pointers for our other readers!