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This three-ingredient Lotion Bar Recipe makes incredible and moisturizing DIY lotion bars. They are so easy to make and can be prepared in only 10 minutes!
These homemade lotion bars will make you feel like you’re at a fancy spa. But instead of spending tons of money, you can make them in your own kitchen in about 10-15 minutes.
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 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 on your skin until the heat from your skin warms the bar up and releases the moisturizer.
How Do You Store Them?
Anything air-tight will work. Old mint tins, squat mason jars, or even a ziploc bag will work.
Coconut oil is liquid at 76˚F or above, so keep them out of direct sunlight and in a cool dry place for best results. You can also gift it to someone in a pretty homemade DIY fabric gift bag.
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 thisor this.
- An old spoon that you can dedicate to just use with beeswax
Many of these same ingredients and supplies can be used in our homemade chapstick recipe and natural homemade deodorant.
How to Make This Lotion Bar Recipe – Step by Step
- 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.
- Add the coconut oil and sweet almond oil, and stir gently until the coconut oil is melted.
- 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 it 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.
These bars smell so lovely even without essential oils, and they work amazingly well. They have become one of my most requested handmade holiday gifts from friends and family.
Lotion Bar Recipe {Homemade Hard Lotion Bar}
Ingredients
- 1 part beeswax (melted)
- 1 part sweet almond oil
- 1 part coconut oil (melted)
Instructions
- 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 1/3 cup the coconut oil. This allows you to use scale the recipe up to your preferred amount for your molds.
- 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.1 part beeswax (melted)
- 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.1 part sweet almond oil, 1 part coconut oil (melted)
- 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.
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.
My boyfriend has had an on/off problem with eczema. What kind of oil and other ingredients can I add in these to help with that? (Thinking this would make kind of a thoughtful side Christmas present :p)
My MIL has had eczema her whole life. Touching cardboard makes her skin peel off.
She started using these as is and they helped so much. I don’t think you need to add any special oils to help him out.
Okay, great! Thanks 🙂
I had to redo them as i added too much oil by mistake. I reordered my coconut oil last week and it came. I got such an awesome deal 54oz for only $20. I had a $10 coupon so it was only $15 Shipped! I think I’m addicited to making these. If your intrested you can use the same $10 coupon using this link:
I had never made anything like this before today. But I found this on pinterest last night and HAD to give it a whirl! I found some molds at a local thrift store and the almond oil and beeswax at a health food store nearby. (already had the coconut oil) I am VERY impatiently waiting to be able to pop the little suckers out and try them!! I was motivated to this for my friend’s birthday..she just moved and her hands took a wicked beating from all the boxes!! I SO hope this worked!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Making this kinda thing could become a new addiction!! Have you had any luck adding an essential oil to give it a different smell? (not that I don’t like the way they smell..I’m just curious?)
You can add essential oils, just wait until the mixed oils have cooled a bit and then add; some essential oils will break down at high heats & you will lose the scent.
I’m sitting at home for the second day because of Hurricane Sandy. Since I have electricity I decided to work on Christmas presents. I made these this morning (already have lip balm and body scrub done). They turned out great. Though they’re are still setting, I did try some and my hands feel great–soft, not greasy. I have been cleaning up water since yesterday afternoon, so my hands were feeling really dry. They feel great now. Thanks!
Aren’t they great? I love them!
I tried using some beeswax candles that someone gave me and it took forever to melt them and they didn;t even melt all the way. They felt very waxy so I’m not sure if they were 100% BW. My concotion was chunky but I hope that It will fuse together nicely. I only made a small amount because I didn’t want to waste the Coconut oil and almond oil
I have a nut allergy, so can’t use the almond oil. Do you think the avocado oil would work (I happen to have some on hand, due to my allergies to other nutty oils)? Or another oil you recommend? Thanks for the great idea!
Almond, avocado, shea butter, coconut butter should all work fine!
Hi,
This might be a dumb question, but it looks like they come out of the mold hard, like a bar of soap, am I supossed to heat/melt each one as I use it?
Rub them all over your hands. The warmth from your hands will make them soft enough to “release” some of the lotion. It’s exactly like rubbing a bar of soap on your hands.
What was the measurements (estimtaed) that you used to fill the cute silicon tray?
My guess is they’re less than 2 oz each.
Is soy wax an equiv. to bees wax?
I haven’t used it, so I can’t know for sure.
Hi, ventured back to this post (found on Pinterest, and have been back everyday!) My daughter and I made these this past Monday. They are awesome. Its like a little mani/pedi when you rub into your cuticles! We used beeswax, coconut oil, and cocoa butter, one lb each and it made ALOT. We filled a silicone gingerbreadman shaped mold 3x! Thats like 68 little men! I also filled 12 1oz twist up containers to gift. Im using one of my little guys as a lip moisturizer also. Thanks for the inspiration!
The gingerbread men sound adorable! So glad you guys liked them! I just got some cocoa butter with my last Azure Standard order just for this purpose!
Since I didn’t have the almond oil, I tried subbing grapeseed oil. Read somewhere (maybe in a comment here?) that it would work, and I had a 3.5 oz bottle that was just taking up space. Added some grapefruit and tea tree oils (2:1 ratio, since tea tree is so strong) to the mix. They are poured up into plastic racecar Jello Jigglers molds that I forgot I had. Hoping the resulting bars pop out OK. If the break, I can remelt and pour ’em into something else. Thanks for the recipe!
I have been working on an old chicken coop to prepare for chickens coming. Lots of cleaning and some re-construction. I have washed my hands so many times and working with the wood and tools is so drying. I really am going to give this a try, because I am hoping to eventually raise bees and this could be one of my uses for the wax. Thanks for sharing.
I know this is a stupid question, but is candle wax you buy in blocks the same as beeswax. I have some left over from making candles and would like to use it up.
I saw this on Pintrest also. I am SO going to try this one out as it’s nice and simple 🙂 Thanks for sharing
Saw your recipe on Pinterest too! Can’t wait to try! Thanks for all the hints and tips!
About how much beeswax did you use for one batch? I can buy it in 1 lb blocks, but I don’t want to melt the whole thing if it’s going to make 462 little lotion bars.
I also get them in 1 lb blocks, and the picture above shows about 1/5th of the block.
I have made my own lip balm twice now and a batch of salve. I was looking for tips on clean up and found this idea. Use baking soda to clean up with. Just rub the surface or container with the left over oil and waxes on it and the baking soda absorbs the mess. Toss the soda out and wash up as normal. I used this on a pyrex measuring cup that I had used as my double boiler and it worked perfectly.
What a great idea! This looks like something anyone could do at home!
Thanks for sharing!
Christina
I dont have a double boiler. Can I use a pot and heavy glass bowl? Or something like that?
You can, but make sure you’re melting slowly on a low heat.
found this post on pinterest. i’m looking for christmas gifts i can start making. i started out with liquid hand soap and then i fell upon your easy lotion bars. thank you! i cant wait to try this! i just became your newest follower!