Lotion Bar Advice

[dibbles]

Last year I made a balm, which I loved, but it was greasy for awhile until it absorbed. I think for this winter I'd like to try to turn it into more of a lotion bar. My original recipe was

62.5% shea butter
25% jojoba
12.5% beeswax
1 tsp cornstarch

Writing this down, it looks awful, and I admit to winging it with what I had on hand. But it really was good for intended dry heels. I know the 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 hard oils, 1/3 soft oils thought. What I don't want is to end up with a draggy skin feel, so I am wondering about the amount of beeswax there.

In addition to the above, I now have cocoa butter, mango butter, sweet almond, apricot kernel, avocado, coconut, palm and olive. And a couple of ounces of IPM. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. This is all new to me.

 

[traderbren]

I made a lovely lotion bar with 1/3 each beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil. It was not draggy, and absorbed quickly. I love that as a starting point.

 

[doriettefarm]

I made some recently that were very similar to traderbren's recipe with just a few tweaks. I used 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 cocoa butter and split the liquid oil portion using avocado oil and fractionated coconut oil. It wasn't greasy at all and I would be quite happy with it for summer but might need something heavier for winter. Next batch I may use all avocado or RBO for the liquid oil portion.

 

[dibbles]

Thank you for the suggestions. Good to know 1/3 beeswax wasn't draggy, and since winter is coming to Minnesota, I'll probably opt for something all oil - I love avocado and will probably use that. I will just hope the cocoa butter doesn't get all fussy with me. May split that with a little of the mango just for fun. I need to just try something. Worst case, I think I can just melt it all down and tweak it if I don't like it.

 

[doriettefarm]

dibbles - since you're in a much colder climate than I am you might do just fine dropping the beeswax a bit. Maybe 25% instead of 33%? And if cocoa butter isn't nice to your skin go with the shea butter (or shea/mango) since it's worked for you before. If you drop the beeswax to less than 1/3, I'd just make up the difference with your butters and go from there. I'd also leave out the cornstarch and if it feels too greasy you could remelt and add some IPM.

 

[Paintguru]

Remember to account for hardness changes if you start moving between butters. Here is one of Susan's recipes from http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

MY FAVOURITE LOTION BAR RECIPE
28% beeswax - to harden the bar
10% fractionated coconut oil - this is a very light oil, very emollient
25% sunflower oil - conditioning for the skin
3% rice bran oil - high in Vitamin E
30% mango butter - creamy and emollient
2% IPM - (an ester) IPM helps greasy things feel less greasy and sinks in quickly
2% cyclomethicone - this silicone helps with the glide
2% vitamin E - to prevent rancidity and good for my skin
1% FO

 

[dibbles]

dibbles - since you're in a much colder climate than I am you might do just fine dropping the beeswax a bit. Maybe 25% instead of 33%? And if cocoa butter isn't nice to your skin go with the shea butter (or shea/mango) since it's worked for you before. If you drop the beeswax to less than 1/3, I'd just make up the difference with your butters and go from there. I'd also leave out the cornstarch and if it feels too greasy you could remelt and add some IPM.

A much colder climate is putting it kindly! I do think I'd be ok using less beeswax, thanks!

 

[dibbles]

I finally had a chance to play around with this a little and made a 2-ish ounce test batch. Will have to test it over the next couple of days, but it might be a winner. Thought I'd share.

13 grams beeswax
10 grams coconut oil
10 grams sweet almond oil
10 grams cocoa butter
10 grams mango butter
IPM @ 5%
Vitamin E @ .5%

The hardness seems about right to me, and it absorbs quickly. Thanks all for your input.