Lotion bar recipe request.

[Zing]

@Zing Oh good, because I went with mango without tempering. I once tempered shea butter and vaguely recall that it took several hours. I also made two batches of the recipe @DeeAnna shared, with and without lanolin. I ended up making ten 10 g batches so I could try different liquid oils as well as IPM and arrowroot. It was way too much precision weighing for one day, but I’m looking forward to trying the mini lotion bars tomorrow.

You are the Scientist Queen! 10 gram batches??!! My little bullets are 31 grams each and I think those are small! I get sooo compulsive when weighing for soaping sessions. But with lotion bars, if I'm 1-3 grams off, I'm like, no biggie, dump it in the bowl! Throw caution to the wind! Walk on the wild side!

 

[BWt]

@Zing Oh good, because I went with mango without tempering. I once tempered shea butter and vaguely recall that it took several hours. I also made two batches of the recipe @DeeAnna shared, with and without lanolin. I ended up making ten 10 g batches so I could try different liquid oils as well as IPM and arrowroot. It was way too much precision weighing for one day, but I’m looking forward to trying the mini lotion bars tomorrow.

may i request any feedback on your various excursions into balm expertise? 100 grams of balms across ten recipes is a lot of work!

 

[BWt]

Tempering chocolate I understand as it keeps the finished product shiny on the outside. Tempering butters am going to research.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@bwtapestry sure, I will be happy to report back.

 

[Kiti Williams]

My recipe is 1/3 each of beeswax, butter, oil. Personally, for me, I would not use 1/3 coconut oil because I find it too greasy and I'm guessing it'd make a soft bar. I much prefer to use a butter instead like mango, cocoa, or shea.
You will love mmmmmeadowfoam seed oil! Keep us posted on your results and good luck!

I use 1/3 coconut oil in my lotion bars, is absorbs into the skin very quick. No one has remarked on it being too greasy. All of my test subjects [oopps!], testers find it a nice stable bar. It is a bit soft, no more so than a few others bars out there.

 

[Zing]

I use 1/3 coconut oil in my lotion bars, is absorbs into the skin very quick. No one has remarked on it being too greasy. All of my test subjects [oopps!], testers find it a nice stable bar. It is a bit soft, no more so than a few others bars out there.

I'm glad it works for you. What are your other 2/3s? LOL on the test subjects!

 

[cmzaha]

How much Softisan 378 do you use? Also what is the difference between lip butters and lip balm? TIA

I used about 10% Softisan. Lip butters or at least my recipe is much softer and creamier than lip balms which I like much better. Lip balm tends to dry my lips more. My lip butter was loosely based on a Hallstar formula that seems to no longer be published which used Oliven 900, (emulsifier) Oliwax, and Sensolene, which is an emollient as some of the ingredients.

 

[Kiti Williams]

I'm glad it works for you. What are your other 2/3s? LOL on the test subjects!

De-scented Coco Butter and Bees Wax. The wax is yellow and from a local Bee Keeper. The smoke smell is from the upkeep and harvesting of the Honey/wax. It is not noticeable in the completed product. I add in Vit E and Tea Tree oils as add ins.

 

[ToniO]

I'm going to experiment with lotion bars this week. I've never made them before but they sound pretty awesome!
I got these great molds on amazon https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00NN224W4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details and just tempered some cocoa butter today. Going to figure out which butters/oils to add next. Read a great page on the science behind why the temperatures are important in tempering CB that was cool, diff. temps give diff crystals, etc.. https://devilsfoodkitchen.com/2016/07/02/food-science-cocoa-butter/
So basically, stirring often, melt it slowly to 113 F/45 C, cool it slowly to 85 F/ 29.5 C, and then bring back the temp to 89 F/ 32 C. At this stage I put it in ice cube trays and chilled in the freezer for a few minutes and then the fridge for a few. They popped out easily and I now have shiny, tempered CB to use.

Edit: Made a few samples today. Will see how they firm up tomorrow. The bars were a bit too big for being a lotion bar, might be nice to use after a shower but definitely too big to just stick in a bag. I could see using the mold for soap tho, they have a really nice hand feel (maybe a nice charcoal swirl pebble soap..). Bars were 71g/ 2.5oz weight.

 

[BWt]

I'm going to experiment with lotion bars this week. I've never made them before but they sound pretty awesome!
I got these great molds on amazon https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00NN224W4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details and just tempered some cocoa butter today. Going to figure out which butters/oils to add next. Read a great page on the science behind why the temperatures are important in tempering CB that was cool, diff. temps give diff crystals, etc.. https://devilsfoodkitchen.com/2016/07/02/food-science-cocoa-butter/
So basically, stirring often, melt it slowly to 113 F/45 C, cool it slowly to 85 F/ 29.5 C, and then bring back the temp to 89 F/ 32 C. At this stage I put it in ice cube trays and chilled in the freezer for a few minutes and then the fridge for a few. They popped out easily and I now have shiny, tempered CB to use.

Does tempering the cocoa butter before adding it to lotion bars enable the lotion bars to be shiny? Thank you.

 

[Ephemerella]

@ToniO that was flippin' fascinating, thank you SO much for sharing!

 

[MelissaG]

I use cocoa butter in my oatmeal, milk and honey soap. I also do not add fragrance or colorant to that one. I also use it in my sugar scrubs. I use safflower or apricot oil in most of my stuff. Shea in the rest of my soaps. I use mango as my hard oil in my lip balms.

 

[ToniO]

Does tempering the cocoa butter before adding it to lotion bars enable the lotion bars to be shiny? Thank you.

I'm hoping the exteriors of the bars will have a nice sheen to them when I make them (the molds have a glossy interior) but I haven't thought out fully what ingredients I'm going use. The tempered CB has a beautiful shine to it right now and I'm hoping that I've removed any worry of graininess that can happen with the bars and some lip balms I'm making this week also.

 

[ToniO]

@ToniO that was flippin' fascinating, thank you SO much for sharing!

That's EXACTLY what I thought when I saw it! It's SO much easier to do something correctly and remember for the future, when you know WHY you have to do it that way. It took away all guesswork and turned out perfect!

 

[Gaisy59]

I'm going to experiment with lotion bars this week. I've never made them before but they sound pretty awesome!
I got these great molds on amazon https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00NN224W4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details and just tempered some cocoa butter today. Going to figure out which butters/oils to add next. Read a great page on the science behind why the temperatures are important in tempering CB that was cool, diff. temps give diff crystals, etc.. https://devilsfoodkitchen.com/2016/07/02/food-science-cocoa-butter/
So basically, stirring often, melt it slowly to 113 F/45 C, cool it slowly to 85 F/ 29.5 C, and then bring back the temp to 89 F/ 32 C. At this stage I put it in ice cube trays and chilled in the freezer for a few minutes and then the fridge for a few. They popped out easily and I now have shiny, tempered CB to use.

I really enjoyed the tempering read but now my question relates to soap…if using cocoa butter in soap would i have to go through this process ?

 

[Virgogoddess]

Does the beeswax you use from Soapers choice have a discernible odor and if so what does it smell like. Thank you

mine is also from BulkApothecary and it smells a tiny bit like greenish hay with a wax smell. Candle wax smell hard to define. After mixing with other ingredients I do not notice the smell. It could be that the flowers bees pollinate affect the wax odor.

It’s a little natural sweet smelling but not smoky and doesn’t smell like crayons. Does that help? Without spending a fortune on beeswax from a local farm, it’s the best I found.

 

[Christa10]

I read this about tempering cocoa butter: Blog

 

[BWt]

It’s a little natural sweet smelling but not smoky and doesn’t smell like crayons. Does that help? Without spending a fortune on beeswax from a local farm, it’s the best I found.

Yes @Virgogoddess very helpful. Am going to order beeswax from Soapers Choice. Thank you from a fellow Virgo.

 

[ToniO]

I really enjoyed the tempering read but now my question relates to soap…if using cocoa butter in soap would i have to go through this process ?

I've never used cocoa butter in soap but I don't think you have to worry about tempering any butters in soap. The lye is a greedy monster, I believe!

 

[DeeAnna]

@Gaisy -- It's best to start a new thread if you want to change the topic to butters as used in soap rather than when used in lotion bars.

To answer your question, no, you don't need to temper the fats used for soap making. The fats used to make soap do not remain in the soap as intact fats. There's no reason to temper for this reason.