Lotion Bar Recipe {Homemade Hard Lotion Bar}

This three-ingredient Lotion Bar Recipe is the best non-greasy formula for dry to normal skin. They are easy to make and can be prepared in only 10 minutes!

I cook a lot. And with cooking mostly from scratch comes approximately 4,398 hours worth of dishes per week. (I’m not good at math…let’s call that an approximate.) My hands are looking busted of late, and I’ve actually contemplated getting dishwashing gloves to prevent further knuckle crackage.

This homemade lotion bar recipe is a godsend.  It totally heals my hands after just a few applications.  I wake up feeling like someone has rubbed tiny baby butts all over my mitts.

What Are Hard Lotion Bars?

Ohhh, my friend, you haven’t lived until you have used a hard lotion bar. It looks like a bar of soap but contains ingredients that are nourishing and moisturizing to your skin.

It is not soap so you wouldn’t bring it into the shower or bath, but you can put it on right after showering.

How Do You Use a Hard Lotion Bar?

The best part is how easy they are to use and store! You simply rub the lotion bar between your hands (or on other places on your skin) until the heat from your skin warms the bar up and releases the moisturizer into your skin.

Another wonderful thing about these lotion bars is that they have pretty much healed a few little patches of eczema that my son Jack had near his mouth and behind ears.

How Do You Store Lotion Bars?

Anything air-tight will work. Old mint tins, squat mason jars, or even a ziploc bag will work.  Coconut oil is liquid at 76 degrees F or above, so keep them out of direct sunlight and in a cool dry place for best results.

How Long Do Lotion Bars Last?

If stored properly (see above) they should last for five-plus years. The lotion bar may develop a harder coating from the wax but they are still perfectly safe to use.

Helpful Lotion Bar Recipe Supply List

• Coconut oil
• Double-boiler
• Sweet Almond Oil
• Cosmetics-grade beeswax
• Silicone baking mold
• Or a cutesy soap mold like this or this.

How to Make This Lotion Bar Recipe – Step by Step

1.  Place 2 cups of water in a medium-sized pan fitted with a double boiler. Place beeswax in the double boiler and allow it to fully melt,
2. Add the coconut oil and sweet almond oil, and stir gently (with a spoon dedicated solely to beeswax crafts) until the coconut oil is melted.
3. Using an oven mitt, remove the double boiler from the pan and wipe the water off of the bottom of the boiler. Pour the melted mixture into your molds, and allow to set for a few hours, or overnight.

Pro Tips/Recipe Notes

• Having a double-boiled dedicated to just wax crafts means you don’t have to spend a ton of time cleaning it in-between recipes. You could also use a mason jar in a pot of simmering water.
• Vegans can use carnauba wax in lieu of beeswax.
• If you have a coconut allergy you can sub in shea butter.
• If you have a nut allergy you can sub in olive or avocado oil for the sweet almond.
• Using an empty deodorant tube makes it super easy to apply this lotion bar recipe and makes it kid-friendly for them to apply themselves.

Variations

Want a scented lotion bar? Add 10-15 drops of your favorite essential oils in step 2 with the sweet almond oil. Please note, I don’t sell essential oils or anything but I do use them myself around the house.

• Lavender is a calming scent that many people love.
• Bergamot is great for when you want to chill out.
• A mixture of peppermint and eucalyptus smells clean and can be very energizing.
• You could even add a sleepy blend of oils (this is the one I use) for a night-time lotion bar recipe.
• Want something that smells like the holidays? Try a holiday seasonal blend.

These bars smell so clean and natural even without essential oils, and they work amazingly well. They have become one of my most requested holiday gifts from friends and family.

Apparently, everyone wants skin that feels like baby butts. I just make lotion bars. I’m not here to judge.

More Recipes Like This

• How to Make Chapstick {Natural Lip Balm}
• Natural Homemade Deodorant Recipe
• Homemade Vicks Shower Soothers

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Making this recipe or others?

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5 from 47 votes

Lotion Bar Recipe {Homemade Hard Lotion Bar}

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

10 mins

 

This three-ingredient Lotion Bar Recipe is the best non-greasy formula for dry to normal skin. They are easy to make and can be prepared in only 10 minutes!

Course: DIY

Author: Sarah Cook - Sustainable Cooks

Ingredients

• 1 part beeswax (melted)
• 1 part sweet almond oil
• 1 part coconut oil (melted)

Instructions

1. Note: by "equal parts" for the ingredients, it would mean you use the same measurements of all the ingredients. Let's say you want to use 1/3 cup of beeswax, you'd then want to use 1/3 cup of the almond oil and the coconut oil. This allows you to use scale the recipe up to your preferred amount for your molds.

2. Place 2 cups of water in a medium-sized pan fitted with a double boiler. Place beeswax in the double boiler and allow it to fully melt.

3. Add the coconut oil and sweet almond oil, and stir gently (with a spoon dedicated solely to beeswax crafts) until the coconut oil is melted.

4. Using an oven mitt, remove the double boiler from the pan and wipe the water off of the bottom of the boiler. Pour the melted mixture into your molds, and allow to set for a few hours, or overnight.

Recipe Notes

Vegans can use carnauba wax in lieu of beeswax.

 

If you have a coconut allergy you can sub in shea butter.

 

Using an empty deodorant tube makes it super easy to apply this lotion bar recipe and makes it kid-friendly for them to apply themselves.

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Muffin Tin

Sweet Almond Oil

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