Lotion bar evangelism

[Zing]

Oh, my soap peeps! My heart is full. Our young adult son is in town spending time with his old folks. Tonight he says, "Dad, let's make lotion bars tonight. Teach me." I do the super simple 1/3 each of beeswax, butter, and oil. I had a variety of butters and oils for him to choose. He is super stoked about his recipe.

Our Noah is a professional beekeeper and shares facts and stories about these fascinating little creatures that keep humans fed (democracy, dancing, communication, who knew?). He freaked out when I pointed out that as lotion bars cool, the beeswax re-forms hexagons. He's gonna be my hook-up for beeswax and honey.

I had the perfect Friday night to an exceptionally stressful week! Have a good weekend, All!

 

[AliOop]

That does sound like the perfect Friday night!! Isn't it the best to share some happy moments with our adult kids? And the fact that he can keep you supplied in beeswax and honey is an amazing bonus. Life is good

 

[TheGecko]

I enjoy doing crafting things with my adult children.

 

[MellonFriend]

It's so awesome to have a beekeeper in your life to supply you with bee products. My beekeeper sister and I are going to make a bunch of lotion bars today. I've been excited about it for days. Going to try coloring some and we have some new fun molds to use too!

 

[dmcgee5034]

What a wonderful story, @Zing

In a side note, I saw these “body stones” aka ?lotion bars? in a magazine and looked them up.
3.5oz lotion bar for $38!?!?
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/daily-stone?variant=31985942560826Had to share after I picked my jaw up off the floor.
I did think the smaller “pebbles” she makes are cute, and a little jar of mini lotion bars could be a hit.
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/breathe-pebble?variant=

 

[Zing]

What a wonderful story, @Zing

In a side note, I saw these “body stones” aka ?lotion bars? in a magazine and looked them up.
3.5oz lotion bar for $38!?!?
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/daily-stone?variant=31985942560826Had to share after I picked my jaw up off the floor.
I did think the smaller “pebbles” she makes are cute, and a little jar of mini lotion bars could be a hit.
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/breathe-pebble?variant=

My jaw is still on the floor.

What a wonderful story, @Zing

In a side note, I saw these “body stones” aka ?lotion bars? in a magazine and looked them up.
3.5oz lotion bar for $38!?!?
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/daily-stone?variant=31985942560826Had to share after I picked my jaw up off the floor.
I did think the smaller “pebbles” she makes are cute, and a little jar of mini lotion bars could be a hit.
https://www.katemcleod.com/collections/best-sellers/products/breathe-pebble?variant=

Okay, with all apologies if Kate is on this Forum, I've been roaring with laughter for a 1/2 hour
[EDIT: looking at her website]
, so thank you for that. And clearly I need to try some argan oil. And if her customers are willing to pay the 5,000% mark-up, hats off to her.

 

[Kiti Williams]

Wow, mine go for $10.00us and I am a bargain! Mine are 2oz and in a flat round tin.

 

[Paulie]

What a wonderful quality time with your son. Great bonus on the honey and beeswax. I can see how your heart is full.

 

[FrayGrants]

Well while we’re here and discussing lotion bars, mine need some arrowroot powder because they came out a bit greasy. I didn’t have any mango butter and used Shea instead.

How much should I add PPO or some other measurement if you don’t have that one.

Sorry for thread hijacking but I figured it’s better than starting a whole new one for a simple question.

 

[Zing]

Well while we’re here and discussing lotion bars, mine need some arrowroot powder because they came out a bit greasy. I didn’t have any mango butter and used Shea instead.

How much should I add PPO or some other measurement if you don’t have that one.

Sorry for thread hijacking but I figured it’s better than starting a whole new one for a simple question.

No problema!
I don't use powders in my lotion bars. I know at least one Forum-er does, you might search in this sub forum. When mine come out too greasy, I re-melt and add more beeswax.

 

[FrayGrants]

No problema!
I don't use powders in my lotion bars. I know at least one Forum-er does, you might search in this sub forum. When mine come out too greasy, I re-melt and add more beeswax.

Yeah, they already feel like adding more wax could be too much. I did a search and found out between 5%-10% of arrowroot can be used with good results.

Thanks Zing for always putting up with my selfish posting. I just get excited about working on projects and lack patience to wait for answers. Sometimes I just wing it, but that can get expensive

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Nice share @Zing I soaped with my adult son once and it was really nice. He’s on the opposite coast and I don’t get to see him much these day.

 

[pjknight]

At what temperature do you all pour your lotion bars? Do you melt then slowly stir till the formula goes to trace, then raise the temp and then pour? to prevent grainyness??

 

[AliOop]

It's probably the glycerin, which is a water-based ingredient and thus does not fully incorporate into the oils without some sort of emulsifier.

 

[pjknight]

It's probably the glycerin, which is a water-based ingredient and thus does not fully incorporate into the oils without some sort of emulsifier.

thank you!

 

[Zing]

At what temperature do you all pour your lotion bars? Do you melt then slowly stir till the formula goes to trace, then raise the temp and then pour? to prevent grainyness??

I melt beeswax and soft oil first and get my double-boiler boiling. I read somewhere that you should melt butters slowly so I turn the double-boiler down. When the butter is melted, I remove from heat, add essential oil and vitamin E. Then I pour into molds. Sorry to be late in responding. Tell us how it's going with your bars?

 

[pjknight]

I finally got my bars the way I want them. It took alot of trail and error, but I am finally satisfied with the results. I melt my oils similar to what you do, only I take them to trace and remelt if they are too mushy to pour. I do that to prevent grainy bars down the road, and it works quite well.

 

[Gaisy59]

Are we supposed to whip the lotion bars? I thought everything had to be melted together and just stirred by hand.

 

[dragonmaker]

You do not need to whip the lotion bars. I just melt it together, mix by hand, then pour

 

[Gaisy59]

You do not need to whip the lotion bars. I just melt it together, mix by hand, then pour

Ok i thought so but pjknight mentioned the mixture at “trace” so it kinda confused me.