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Easy Homemade Lotion Bars

10/25/2013 By Charlene 33 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Homemade Lotion Bars - so easy and a perfect gift idea!



Here is a fun homemade gift idea.  This is also really nice if you or the little ones suffer from dry skin during winter, if you are a gardener or you just wash your hands frequently. I like these things for girl friends and housewarming gifts and for teachers as well– I promise they wash their hands nonstop and can probably use a little extra moisturizing.  I love these types of homemade items for those of you with little girls in particular.  I think it is fun to make this kind of thing with the kids- especially older girls where it can be hard to find things to spend quality time together.   These products cost a small fortune in the fancy soap shops so why not make your own!

These lotion bars you simply pop out of the molds and when you are ready to use just rub them between your hands to soften and moisturize- knees, hands, feet etc…

You can keep these on the counter in a pretty soap dish and then the extras you might want to put in a jar or a Ziploc and pop in the fridge until you need them.

I thought these lavender ones would be so pretty in a Mason jar tied with twine and a little sprig of lavender.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Ounces Beeswax
  • 2 Ounces Shea Butter
  • 2 Ounces Coconut Oil
  • 3-4 drops Lavender Essential Oil (or oil of your choice- optional)
  • 1 tbsp Vitamin E Oil
  • Food Coloring (optional)

These will have a very subtle fragrance of coconut oil if you don’t want to use an essential oil.

Also when you are shopping, if you can find beeswax pellets they are much easier and faster then trying to cut through blocks of beeswax.

Directions:
In a microwave safe bowl (or double boiler) melt beeswax. Once beeswax is melted, add in shea butter, coconut oil and vitamin E oil. Continue to heat on low until all butters and oils are melted.

Allow to cool for 2 minutes and add in your coloring and essential oils.  I actually like these without any coloring but I have purple pictured above to give you an idea of how that would look.  You can choose from any essential oils you like- peppermint, tea tree, lemon, rosemary etc….

In a silicon mold, pour your mixture in. If any air bubbles appear on the top, spritz the tops with rubbing alcohol to remove.

Allow to set on the counter for 1-2 hours until completely opaque.

Carefully remove from molds and enjoy!

All the supplies you need to make these can be found at Natural Food stores or you can actually get great prices on these things from Amazon (including silicone molds in tons of shapes and sizes).

A few other ideas you might like:

satin hands

Homemade Sugar Hand Scrub

Homemade Bath Bombs Recipe

Homemade Oatmeal Bath Bombs 

Homemade Almond Butter Recipe- so delicious and so simple to make!

Homemade Almond Butter-– this stuff is so good!

Filed Under: Crafts and DIY Ideas Tagged With: christmas gifts, homemade gift ideas, homemade lotion bars

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Comments

  1. jean says

    10/25/2013 at 11:13 AM

    Tips like this are the reason you are my favorite money saving blog!! Thanks for all you do!

  2. Charlene says

    10/25/2013 at 11:18 AM

    Jean, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that :). Sometimes the ingredients are a little pricey- beeswax and shea butter and stuff but once you buy it and have it on hand there are so many things you can make.

  3. Emily says

    10/25/2013 at 12:17 PM

    Charlene,
    Where did you get the mold to make yours? They look to be the perfect size. =)

  4. Jessica says

    10/25/2013 at 12:44 PM

    I couldn’t agree more. My favorite blog too! 😀

  5. dodi says

    10/25/2013 at 1:05 PM

    These would make great little gifts for Christmas or a birthday. Thank you for sharing 🙂

  6. Charlene says

    10/25/2013 at 1:23 PM

    Emily, amazon. You can find silicone molds at the craft stores too for like $11. I have a star one from IKEA and actually the Target Dollar Spot has them but they are pretty flimsy. I am going to repost my bath jelly recipe soon and those will be in a heart shaped mold I got after Valentine’s Day. 🙂

  7. Jean says

    10/25/2013 at 2:44 PM

    I absolutely mean it! your website makes my life as a stay at home mom of 3 possible! So this may be a silly question but what else do you use the beeswax and shea butter for? and will silicone ice trays work?

  8. Becky says

    11/02/2013 at 9:34 AM

    Just finished making these! They are amazing, thank you!

  9. Charlene says

    11/02/2013 at 12:17 PM

    Becky I am so glad!

  10. Charlene says

    11/02/2013 at 12:25 PM

    Jean- I am not sure if ice trays will work just because it might be hard to get the bars out. You can certainly try it though :). I think you might be able to use cupcake liners too. And the beeswax and shea butter can be used for other beauty products like lip balms, lotions etc… I will be posting a lot of homemade items like this for the holidays so hopefully you find a few things you like :).

  11. jenni says

    01/29/2014 at 9:04 PM

    Is the 2oz of coconut oil melted or solid?

  12. Charlene says

    01/29/2014 at 10:31 PM

    Jenni- if yours is solid right now it won’t matter. You are putting into a warm liquid over heat so it will melt on its own really quickly. 🙂

  13. Deena says

    04/24/2014 at 10:25 AM

    I don’t have a scale to measure out ingredients. Are you using a measuring cup or scale?

  14. Charlene says

    04/24/2014 at 10:45 AM

    Deena- is it possible to look at the packaging on your bags to determine oz? I didn’t use a scale- I just looked at the size of my products and used 2oz of each.

  15. Jen says

    08/02/2014 at 11:06 PM

    So this might be a dumb question but how do you use it? Does it melt into a blob with the warmth of the hands or is it like rubbing a dry bar of soap on your skin?

  16. Tami says

    10/25/2014 at 10:58 AM

    How many small bars does this recipe make?

  17. Mary Mellen says

    10/26/2014 at 10:42 AM

    I would just like to know if there is a secret to printing these recipes. I can get the picture but I’d like to print the directions. Thanks

  18. Angie says

    11/03/2014 at 3:10 PM

    Would you please tell me the name of the mold you used? I like the shape but don’t know where to buy a mold. Thank you.

  19. Charlene says

    11/04/2014 at 12:30 PM

    Hi Angie– sorry I don’t remember where this was from but you can find them at craft stores like Michael’s. They are little clear plastic trays and priced around $3- so just use a coupon and they are super cheap. You want to look for the soap making section- usually it is a tiny one. Hobby Lobby might have a bigger section 🙂

  20. Michele says

    11/21/2014 at 8:12 AM

    Hi Charlene, I made lotion bars similar to these a couple months ago and I used cupcake liners in my muffin pan and that worked out fine.
    Also, for Mary Mellen’s question about printing, I just use the print preview option under file, that way I can see what is being printed and I can skip printing the extra stuff.

  21. Ameera says

    12/13/2014 at 9:10 AM

    Hello Charlene, I was just wondering how many lotion bars this recipe would make?
    Thank you!

  22. Charlene says

    12/13/2014 at 9:40 AM

    Ameera- this is 6 oz of product so it will depend on the size that you make the bars. You should be able to see an oz size somewhere on your mold to give you an idea of the quantity.

  23. Ame says

    01/15/2015 at 9:13 AM

    My food coloring didn’t work… What kind do you recommend? It never mixed.

  24. Charlene says

    01/15/2015 at 10:29 AM

    Hi, there is colorant available at craft stores that is made for this type of use. It can be hard to find- I see it at Michael’s in the very small section with candle making supplies. If I remember it is super inexpensive- just $2 or so and you can use a coupon 🙂

  25. Chelsea says

    02/22/2015 at 3:07 PM

    Hi Charlene,
    Love these ideas! I am so excited to try making lotion! What is your most trusted source for unrefined shea butter? Thanks so much in advance!

  26. Angie says

    07/18/2015 at 10:26 PM

    the coconut oil…is it the solid kind you can eat Or is it the fractionated liquid? Thank you!

  27. Stephanie says

    01/18/2017 at 4:46 PM

    I just found this blog tonight and I love it. I can’t wait to go through it and see what all you have to say. Thanks again.

  28. Charlene says

    01/18/2017 at 7:36 PM

    How kind of you to say Stephanie- thanks for stopping by!

  29. Alessia says

    01/28/2017 at 11:14 AM

    I so love these!I’d like to give it a try, any alternatives to beeswax?

  30. Melissa says

    01/01/2018 at 12:15 PM

    What could I use as a replacement for the coconut oil? I am allergic to coconut and it is hard to find body products without it.

  31. Charlene says

    01/01/2018 at 12:52 PM

    I always use coconut oil but I found this for you 🙂

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/allergic-to-coconut-oil-alternatives_us_559ed671e4b01c2162a62d89

Trackbacks

  1. The Ultimate Guide to DIY Christmas Gifts | MostCraft says:
    10/08/2015 at 10:46 AM

    […] via My Frugal Adventures […]

  2. Pain Relieving Lotion Bar – Real Talk Real Food says:
    02/09/2018 at 2:28 PM

    […] time making lotion and I loved it! It was time consuming but super fun. I got the recipe from My Frugal Adventures. I got raw beeswax from sunnyvalehoney.com. It was $6!! I was amazed at the smell and sight of the […]

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I'm Charlene- thank you for stopping by MY FRUGAL ADVENTURES! I am a Mom to two little girls living in gorgeous Northern California. This is a fun place to find simple & affordable inspiration for everything from gifts to home improvement to travel to children's crafts to what's for dinner tonight! READ MORE >>>

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