# Body Butter Or Lotion With These Ingredients?



## RobinHoodFan (Dec 10, 2017)

Hey everyone! Long time no see! I've recently been trying to use up the last of my soapmaking supplies and made 3 batches yesterday. I am going to have more soap than I know what to do with! Funny, when I was into soapmaking it seemed like I never had enough stuff...now I can't seem to use it up! ACK! 

What I'm really in need of is lotion or butter for my skin. So aside from just the normal shea butter and coconut oil whip, can i use any of these oils I have left to whip in there?  Pros, cons? Anything that'll help me get a good creamy consistency like a lotion that I might have on hand?

Olive Oil Pomace
Palm Oil
Castor Oil
Argan Oil
Beeswax (I know this will make it firm up but is there anything I can do/use to make it NOT do that aside from only using a little?) 
I think I also have some vegetable glycerin on hand as well.

THanks for the help!!


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## Kittish (Dec 10, 2017)

The biggest question is, how do each of the oils feel on your skin? I've gone through all of my oils and rubbed just a bit in on a forearm, just so I could get some idea of how greasy feeling it is, how it leaves my skin feeling, and just in general whether or not I like it as a leave on. If you haven't done that, you might give it a whirl. 

I don't care much for olive oil in leave on products, it feels heavy and greasy on my skin. Castor and argan are both supposed to be really nice for skin. I don't know about palm, don't use it. 

For a softer consistency, increase the amount of soft oils you use. For a proper 'lotion' consistency, you pretty much have to add water, which means emulsifiers and preservatives. 

If you have more than just a few ounces of beeswax, maybe make a candle or two with it? I have a pure beeswax candle that I just adore. Other than that, maybe some lip balm, where the added firmness is a good thing?

You can add a bit of glycerin to body butter or lip balm easily enough. In lip balm it'll give it a slightly sweet taste.


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## Cellador (Dec 10, 2017)

Without an emulsifier and preservative, you're probably looking to make a body butter. For a firmer body butter, I typically use around 80% hard oils (shea, cocoa butter, mango butter, etc. ) and 20% oils.
If you want something a little more fluid, you could change those percentages around, but I personally haven't tried that (yet).
I think glycerin is water soluble, so I would suspect it would be difficult to incorporate into a body butter. 
As for which oils/butters to use, I agree with Kittish. It depends on your skin, where you live, and what you're hoping to achieve. Try some oils and butters on your skin and see what feels best for you.


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 11, 2017)

Kittish said:


> The biggest question is, how do each of the oils feel on your skin? I've gone through all of my oils and rubbed just a bit in on a forearm, just so I could get some idea of how greasy feeling it is, how it leaves my skin feeling, and just in general whether or not I like it as a leave on. If you haven't done that, you might give it a whirl.
> 
> I don't care much for olive oil in leave on products, it feels heavy and greasy on my skin. Castor and argan are both supposed to be really nice for skin. I don't know about palm, don't use it.
> 
> ...



Thank You! That was very helpful! I don't know why I didn't think to try them out on my skin first *facepalm*



Cellador said:


> Without an emulsifier and preservative, you're probably looking to make a body butter. For a firmer body butter, I typically use around 80% hard oils (shea, cocoa butter, mango butter, etc. ) and 20% oils.
> If you want something a little more fluid, you could change those percentages around, but I personally haven't tried that (yet).
> I think glycerin is water soluble, so I would suspect it would be difficult to incorporate into a body butter.
> As for which oils/butters to use, I agree with Kittish. It depends on your skin, where you live, and what you're hoping to achieve. Try some oils and butters on your skin and see what feels best for you.



Thank you! Makes total sense! 

Isn't beeswax an emulsifier? I'd still need a preservative though to use water...maybe the glycerine instead?...hmmm...I've got some experimenting to do. Thanks guys!


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## DeeAnna (Dec 11, 2017)

Beeswax on its own is a thickener, not an emulsifier. Any advice you have read about using beeswax alone as an emulsifier is incorrect. If you combine beeswax with borax, the mix can act an emulsifier, but it is tricky to get a stable emulsion with this combo. Far better to use a commercial emulsifier. 

Glycerin is not a preservative in lotion because you can't include enough glycerin to act as a preservative and still have a decent lotion. A lot of additives, including alcohol and sugars, have preservative action only if the percentage is high enough. Alcohol is only a preservative when it's 20% or more in a mixture. A concentrated sugar syrup (like honey at over 80% sugars) is self preserving.  Anything less than that, and sugar becomes a food source for microbial growth. Same with glycerin -- only in a high amount will it have a preservative action.


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## neonstudy (Dec 11, 2017)

You should make a solid lotion bar. You can use beeswax for that. Add coconut oil, some butter, like cocoa butter, or avocado butter, and I add tallow to mine too. I know there's an eww factor to tallow but it works great, especially now that it's winter.


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 12, 2017)

DeeAnna said:


> Beeswax on its own is a thickener, not an emulsifier. Any advice you have read about using beeswax alone as an emulsifier is incorrect. If you combine beeswax with borax, the mix can act an emulsifier, but it is tricky to get a stable emulsion with this combo. Far better to use a commercial emulsifier.
> 
> Glycerin is not a preservative in lotion because you can't include enough glycerin to act as a preservative and still have a decent lotion. A lot of additives, including alcohol and sugars, have preservative action only if the percentage is high enough. Alcohol is only a preservative when it's 20% or more in a mixture. A concentrated sugar syrup (like honey at over 80% sugars) is self preserving.  Anything less than that, and sugar becomes a food source for microbial growth. Same with glycerin -- only in a high amount will it have a preservative action.


Thank you for explaining!



neonstudy said:


> You should make a solid lotion bar. You can use beeswax for that. Add coconut oil, some butter, like cocoa butter, or avocado butter, and I add tallow to mine too. I know there's an eww factor to tallow but it works great, especially now that it's winter.



Ugh..I hate lotion bars. Especially in the winter time. I've made them before but when it's cold, they get so hard and just drag on your skin and hardly do anything. Unless I used too much beeswax last time? I dunno. I just remember it being annoying and would rather something creamy.


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## DeeAnna (Dec 12, 2017)

Yes, you probably used too much wax in the lotion bar you didn't like. Lotion bars are lot like lip balm -- the balm I make after much testing puts a thin, even film of balm on my lips without being draggy and hard in the winter and without being too pasty and melty in summer. Finding that just-right spot for products like this takes some experimentation. Now would be a great time to tweak that recipe to get it just right for winter weather!


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 13, 2017)

DeeAnna said:


> Yes, you probably used too much wax in the lotion bar you didn't like. Lotion bars are lot like lip balm -- the balm I make after much testing puts a thin, even film of balm on my lips without being draggy and hard in the winter and without being too pasty and melty in summer. Finding that just-right spot for products like this takes some experimentation. Now would be a great time to tweak that recipe to get it just right for winter weather!



Good to know! I'll do a little experimenting and see what I can come up with


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## debra062013 (Dec 19, 2017)

*Lotion Bars*

I am fairly new to posting but with your beeswax use it and make bar lotion.

No preservastes needed and last a long time.  

Here is the recipe I use. My legs get scaly for a lack of a better word and when I use the bar I can actually skip the next day. 

http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-lotion-bars-recipe/?awt_l=A59GP&awt_m=3j_OxtnPMZtFQkt

Good Luck


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## dixiedragon (Dec 19, 2017)

I wouldn't use beeswax in a whipped butter - it's just too hard. But a lotion bar or lip balm is nice!


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 20, 2017)

debra062013 said:


> I am fairly new to posting but with your beeswax use it and make bar lotion.
> 
> No preservastes needed and last a long time.
> 
> ...



Thanks! I'll give it a go...although I'll have to sub shea for cocoa butter since I don't have any on hand.


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## Garnet_Tree (Dec 20, 2017)

*Body Butter, Lotion Bars, or Lotion*

I make body butters,  lotion bars, and Lotion for personal use. 

Body butter is essentially a butter and an oil melted and whipped together. Beeswax can be used as a thickening agent. Heavier oils tend to feel really oily, but adding arrowroot powder helps. These are highly preference dependent. My favorite is mango butter with grape seed or rice bran oil with arrowroot powder.

Lotion bars are beeswax and oil. I use them sparingly as they feel very greasy and take a while to absorb into my skin. They last forever and therefore won't use up much inventory. They make great gifts.

Lotion needs an emulsifier and a preservative. I originally tried a beeswax recipe--sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't. Most recently, I have used BTMS-50 with shea butter, avocado oil and aloe vera gel. It's to die for, but it also wouldn't do much to use up your inventory.

Have you considered liquid soap?  It would use up a lot of your castor and olive oil.


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## debra062013 (Dec 20, 2017)

You are welcome and it should use up your leftovers and give plenty of "winter" lotion .



RobinHoodFan said:


> Thanks! I'll give it a go...although I'll have to sub shea for cocoa butter since I don't have any on hand.


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 21, 2017)

Garnet_Tree said:


> I make body butters,  lotion bars, and Lotion for personal use.
> 
> Body butter is essentially a butter and an oil melted and whipped together. Beeswax can be used as a thickening agent. Heavier oils tend to feel really oily, but adding arrowroot powder helps. These are highly preference dependent. My favorite is mango butter with grape seed or rice bran oil with arrowroot powder.
> 
> ...



Wouldn't I need to buy potassium hydroxide to make liquid soap? If there's a way to make it without it, I'm all ears! But I'd rather not have to buy more stuff...just wanna use up what I have left.


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## NoelsSimpleLiving (Dec 21, 2017)

*Beeswax body cream recipe*

Here is the beeswax body cream I make and love....

5oz beeswax
11oz sweet almond oil 
2 oz coconut oil
2 oz shea butter

1 1/4 cup distilled water
2 tsp borax

Heat your oils to fully melt allow to cool to 158 degrees 
Heat the distilled water to 158 degrees and disolve the borax in the distilled water

When both oils and water/borax solution are 158 degrees pour water/borax into the oils and stick blend until fully blended. Optional to add essential and fragrance oils at this point. Wait until the body cream has cooled to 100 degrees before putting in jars or containers.
This is my go to recipe during winter months, it's thick, creamy and absorbs quickly without making your skin feel greasy.


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 22, 2017)

Thanks! What does the borax do? And that's safe to rub into your skin?


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## NoelsSimpleLiving (Dec 22, 2017)

Borax (sodium tetraborate) it acts as the emulsifier. Borax is a naturally found mineral.

It's also a staple ingredient to almost all natural laundry detergent recipes.


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## SoaperForLife (Dec 26, 2017)

Since you don't like lotion bars and you have a limited selection of oils, why don't you make a salve instead of a balm?  One part beeswax to 6 parts liquid oil makes a nice salve and no preservative needed.


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## RobinHoodFan (Dec 27, 2017)

SoaperForLife said:


> Since you don't like lotion bars and you have a limited selection of oils, why don't you make a salve instead of a balm?  One part beeswax to 6 parts liquid oil makes a nice salve and no preservative needed.



Sweet! Thanks! Ratios are exactly what I"m looking for! I did throw a bunch together and it went fairly well..but a few days later I guess the beeswax made it very grainy now. It was smooth for a few days but now it feels very grainy :\ I didn't measure any sort of ration and just slapped it together so that could be the problem...too much. I'm going to try these ratios out and see how it goes. Thanks!


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## DeeAnna (Dec 28, 2017)

NoelsSimpleLiving said:


> Borax (sodium tetraborate) it acts as the emulsifier. Borax is a naturally found mineral.
> 
> It's also a staple ingredient to almost all natural laundry detergent recipes.



It's borax + beeswax that is the emulsifier. Not borax alone. And not beeswax alone. The borax-beeswax emulsifier is unstable and prone to failure, which is why few people use it since there are more reliable emulsifiers available to home crafters.

Borax works as a water softener when used as an additive when for washing clothes, but washing soda is more effective than borax. Washing soda breaks down over time when included in a water-based mixture, however, which is why borax should be used, rather than washing soda, if a person has her heart set on making a liquid laundry soap mixture.

I know, I know -- washing soda, borax, and often baking soda are all included in a ton of the laundry soap mixes out on the internet, both wet and dry, but washing soda is the single best choice of the three, especially for a dry mixture. You can also use washing soda with a water-based soap mixture -- just add the dry washing soda separately. It's the combination of time + water that is the downfall of washing soda.

Save the baking soda for baking and the cat's litter box -- it's really not useful in a laundry soap mix.


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## Nanditasr (Dec 31, 2017)

On the subject of beeswax, does anyone have a weight:volume conversion for beeswax? I have a solid block, and I found this stick deodorant recipe that calls for 2 tbsp beeswax pellets. I just plan to cut off a piece, chop it fine and melt it. Roughly how many ounces or grams would 2 tablespoons be?


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## Nanditasr (Jan 1, 2018)

Nanditasr said:


> On the subject of beeswax, does anyone have a weight:volume conversion for beeswax? I have a solid block, and I found this stick deodorant recipe that calls for 2 tbsp beeswax pellets. I just plan to cut off a piece, chop it fine and melt it. Roughly how many ounces or grams would 2 tablespoons be?



I had been scouring the internet for a while, but just after posting the above question, I found this website: http://blog.andrewkoebbe.com/blog/beeswax-conversion. Hope this helps the others here. 

And perhaps you can also share the results of your experiment: 1 cup pellets = <how many> grams.


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## Laurabolyard (Jan 7, 2018)

Garnet_Tree said:


> I make body butters,  lotion bars, and Lotion for personal use.
> 
> Body butter is essentially a butter and an oil melted and whipped together. Beeswax can be used as a thickening agent. Heavier oils tend to feel really oily, but adding arrowroot powder helps. These are highly preference dependent. My favorite is mango butter with grape seed or rice bran oil with arrowroot powder.
> 
> ...


Thank you!!  Great info, I'll be giving these a try!!


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