As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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.
I love your blog! your sarcasm is a lot like mine. I made these for xmas presents this year and I had to steal one for myself. I didn’t have almond oil so I used castor oil, glycerine, and a chunk of cocoa butter. enough to make up for the one part almond oil and it was lovely. Plus I added a few drops of peppermint oil and it smells like mint hot chocolate. thank you. oh and since I don’t have little molds I just filled the bottoms of my silicone muffin cups. worked great.
Do you recall approximately how much of each ingredient you used to fill one set of the silicon molds. I just purchased the same mold at Joann’s and want to try this out but am afraid of making too much
I’m so sorry, but I don’t!
The good news is that these can firm up very quickly, so if you make too much, keep it simmering on the stove until the bars are firm, and make another batch.
Any replacement for the coconut oil? I’m severely allergic.
Thanks!
I can’t speak to how these will turn out, but you could try shea butter. I know if you’re working with shea, it has to be melted for at least 20 minutes, or it will be very grainy.
Thanks for the recipe. My wee one and I suffer from eczema. My mom got us a lotion bar like this a year ago and the seller hasn’t come back around. I can’t wait to make these.
First of all…thank you Sarah for the great recipe and for so patiently answering the same questions again and again. 🙂
I have made these bars both with beeswax for myself and with a couple of different beeswax alternatives for my vegan girlfriend. We used Candelilla wax first but had to change it to half a part wax to 1 part of each oil because the wax is much harder. It worked out ok but wasnt nearly as nice as the soy wax which we did one part each just like with beeswax.
The soy wax ones are almost identical to the beeswax ones! We also used the same recipe mixed with beet juice to make a tinted lip chap and it turned out great!
Thank you for the information about the soy wax, I am severely allergic to beeswax and was hoping someone had tried an alternative 🙂
My 1st attempt at making these, I poured it into plastic (not silcone) molds. I moved them around after they setup (maybe 15 min), they r cracking. Is it because I moved them around too soon? or do I need to get silcone molds? Thanks for any suggestion.
I’ve only used my silicone mold, so I can’t speak to how they’d do it other molds. I know I moved mine a little after pouring them, and they didn’t crack. I’ve found silicone molds at Goodwill for $1, so it might be worth the investment to try those.
I have made several batches of the lotion bars, and they have turned out great! I used a kitchen scale and measured 4 ounces of each ingredient. This worked well and was the perfect amount for the mold I used, which was the same one Sarah used. These are going to be wonderful gifts for friends!
Hi Michele, it sounds like your beeswax ratio to oil was a bit high. You might want to try remelting them, and adding a bit more oil. I’ve done that before and added a splash of olive oil and they turned out great.
Hey Sarah I can not wait to make them but I was wondering if you add any scents? Do beeswax candles work the same as beeswax?!
I know others have, but I have not. Essential oils seem to be really drying on my sensitive skin.
Thanks for sharing this, I love how easy and simple it is! 🙂
Made these yesterday and they worked great. I love the way they make my hands feel. They did not really have a smell so I re-melted them today and added some spearmint essential oil. Now they have just a hint of spearmint which is perfect. Thanks for a great idea! love it!
I’ve made these, but I used a microwave safe bowl and the microwave instead of a double boiler. I don’t nuke it but for 15 seconds or so at a time. And just until melted and stir, stir, stir!
I just made these with my kids and plan to give some as stocking stuffers. Well, maybe! I love them. Your recipe and directions were so easy to follow. Thank you so much. I did change and used grapeseed oil but only to cut the cost about $10. I just need to find somewhere to purchase more molds. I could only find one, its a gingerbread. Although it fits the occasion I would still like to make different ones for the rest of the seasons. Next batch I am going to try some essential oils just to spice things up a little. Even with all the oil it doesn’t make my skin greasy and my daughter absolutely love them. I think this will be our new obssesion! Lol! Thank you for sharing!
i made mine in mini muffin tins- worked great
I love this idea and really want to make some. My son seems to get eczema behind his ears and while I found a great all-natural lotion for it, making my own would be way cheaper. I love the idea of pouring the mixture into an old deodorant or glue stick container, but wouldn’t the hot liquid affect the plastic? I’m trying to reduce the amount of plastic in my house so while reusing the containers is great, I don’t want phthalates or anything to leech into the lotion bars. Any idea if that would happen?
Hey sorry but can you confirm what weight of beeswax and coconut oil you would use per ml of almond oil? Im not familiar with cup.measurements (maybe it’s a British thing?!) but I’d LOVE to make these- what an awesome post!
Oh goodness, I’m sorry but I’m not familiar enough with ML to give you a conversion for this. Honestly, I just eyeball it too.
Abour how many pounds of Beeswax makes one batch? (one of your pans?)
Hmmm, I would say I use a scant cup of (hard) beeswax (I eyeball it), so maybe 1/3-1/2 lb?
could soy wax be substituted for beeswax?
I’ve never used it, so I don’t really know the answer!
question: have you ever tried to add a scent or fragrence to yours?? if not, do you think you could?
Oh hell yeah! Stuff I can buy in a shop I actually frequent, no silly searching high and low for all kinds of fancy cr@p and a recipe I can follow without consulting the science department of the nearest university. I love you. Think it’d go down well if I used my Halloween skull ice cube moulds for this? Seeing as I just found the perfect stocking fillers for all kinds of people, they should be grateful… right? *cough*
Off to find some more easy recipes, you seem to be just my kinda gal!
Sara,
Can you tell me what the what the consistency is once you rub these on your hands? Mine isnt tacky but seem like a thick coat on my hands. after a while my hands are soft, but i was just curious.
April, it sounds like ours are very similar. Mine take a bit to rub in to my hands, but once it is rubbed in, my hands are very soft.