At some point in time, we hit an age when our skin no longer retains its natural oils as well as it did in youth. For some of us it happens already in our 20s and other manage to have a greasy T-zone through our 30s. Either way, you eventually might find that light lotions don’t do the trick anymore and you need the big guns. Enter: the lotion bar. A lotion bar, is just that. A semi-solid bar of moisturizer that usually leaves a thick coating to soothe dry skin. This coating is generally thicker and richer than that left by a bottled lotion, so lotion bars are a great moisturizing asset for winter and dry climates.
Most moisturizer bars can be made at home with simple ingredients. In fact, I would suggest always making your own bars since you can avoid all the unnecessary junk the commercial brands will add. Most recipes have beeswax in them to help the bar retain a solid state at room temperature. This allows the maker to use cheaper oils. I tend to avoid using beeswax in my recipes since I don’t like going through the trouble of sourcing ethical beeswax, plus, I like the consistency offered by butters and coconut oil better. So, this is a vegan lotion bar with a shea butter base. What can I say? I am a dry skinned older woman who likes the butters.
Homemade Lotion Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups of shea butter
- 1 cup of virgin coconut oil
- 1/2 cup of jojoba oil
- 30 drops of essential oil (I love a rose and lavender combo.)
Supplies:
-
- small sauce pan/pot for melting and spoon for light stirring
- Measuring cups
- Container or silicone mold for forming the bars
Directions
- Combine coconut oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter into a pot.
- Warm on stove on low heat until liquefied. Stir slowly and continuously.
- Add the essential oils and stir gently. Remove from heat.
- Pour mixture into a soap box mold for slicing or silicone molds for shapes.
- You can place the molds into the fridge for quick solidifying or if you have a cool room, let them turn solid at room temp.
- Once solid, you can remove the bars from the molds. If using a soap box mold, you want to slice the brick into bars quickly so they won’t melt in your hands.
Store in a glass container with cover. If your bars are softer due to oil ratios or warm room temps, you can store them in the fridge. They will last longer in the fridge anyway since we didn’t add any preservatives. You can substitute other oils for the jojoba oil if you prefer. Avocado oil work nicely. Also, the essential oils can be any combo you like, or you can skip them all together. Some people do not like the odor of raw shea butter and prefer to ad a scent. A few drops of vanilla and sandalwood together can be a nice light scent if you don’t go too heavy.
