Lotion bar recipe request.

[thetoe]

Hey everyone. I have searched through the forums and found some good info on lotion bars. But I was wondering if my idea would work. I plan to make some today and my recipe is going to be
Beeswax 33%
Almond oil 33%
Coconut oil 30%
Jojoba 3%

Any changes or suggestions? Also, can I use FO or should i use EO?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Carly B]

Your recipe looks fine, and if you don't like it, you can just remelt it and adjust it more to your liking. It's your preference whether to use EOs or FOs. Lotion bar king @Zing uses EOs, I use FOs, for no reason other than I love some of my FOs.

I usually don't put coconut oil in my lotion bars, but they really are flexible and forgiving with their ingredients.

 

[thetoe]

Thanks Carly! I appreciate the fast response!

I also ordered some meadowfoam oil. I may experiment with it.

 

[Zing]

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!

 

[Ephemerella]

Thank you so much for the refresher recipe, I'm excited to give this a go this week!

@Zing do you ever use colorants in your bars?

 

[Zing]

Have never used colorants and it never occurred to me. I recently saw a post here about it.

 

[TheGecko]

Hey everyone. I have searched through the forums and found some good info on lotion bars. But I was wondering if my idea would work. I plan to make some today and my recipe is going to be
Beeswax 33%
Almond oil 33%
Coconut oil 30%
Jojoba 3%

Any changes or suggestions? Also, can I use FO or should i use EO?

Thanks in advance!

I'm with @Zing...too much 'soft' oils.

The biggest problem with Lotion Bars starts with the name..."lotion". A "lotion" is typically an oil and water emulsion using a substance such as cetearyl alcohol to keep the emulsion together. The average application of a lotion is then quickly absorbed into the skin. And regardless of how thick you make the lotion, it still needs a container because it is still a 'liquid'.

"Lotion" Bars as we called them are strictly a mixture of wax, butters and oils and regardless of how much 'starch' you add, will always be "greasy" until the butters/oils are absorbed into the skin which can take several minutes. Because of the amount of beeswax and butters used, they are a 'solid' and will retain it's molded shape unless it is exposed to heat at which point it will start to melt.

I have used a few different recipes for my Lotion Bars. The first one was beeswax, cocoa and shea butters and I later added arrowroot powder. It produces a nice solid, long lasting bar, but too solid as it doesn't glide over the skin. And if not used regularly, will develop a fat bloom which is a bit rough. I then tried approximately 1/3 bees wax, 1/3 butters (cocoa, shea, mango) and 1/3 soft oils (almond, coconut, jojoba), with and without a starch. You definitely need to add a starch. It produced a nice bar, but jojoba oil is a bit spendy so I tried it without it and that was a no-go as the added almond and coconut produced a much softer bar that melted quickly against the skin and I would have to grab a paper towel to wipe my hands off before I could do anything. Fortunately I have found a market for the 1/3 recipe w/jojoba with a high price point so I can keep that recipe, but still need to adjust for a general market at a reasonable price point.

Now @Carly B is correct in that it is easy enough to remelt and add more ingredients, but I don't because 1) I dislike having to do the math, and 2) by remelting, I have nothing to compare what changes I have made to. I originally bought these molds to make Sample Soaps, but found them to be good for testing new scents, new recipes and for sales***. Each cavity holds approximate 0.75oz and I make enough for six cavities (4.5oz).

I use FOs in mine, but if you want to use EOs that is up to you. I would do the same as I do with my FOs and test for overall scent and scent retention.

@Zing do you ever use colorants in your bars?

Not @Zing, but I don't because I don't want the colorant to transfer to the skin. A little sparkle on the skin is okay for evening wear, but not something I want at the office. But then again, you could market a sparkly LB for evening wear.

 

[Ephemerella]

@TheGecko Thank you so much for sharing! On your advice on older posts, I got a cavity mold for testing.

The only lotion bar I've made was a BB recipe and it was a bit soft and left my fingers tacky, great to use in the shower post-cleansing however.

I've got some kokum and mango butters in addition to shea to trial. As well as mmmmmmmmeadowfoam, jojoba, and watermelon seed for the oil component. And I'm going to dribble a little Cera B in to see what happens. I made a body butter that was just primarily whipped shea, but with the arrowroot powder it really went nicely on the skin with zero greasy feel on my fingers and skin. Interesting about your performance in solid bar form.

The sparkle factor is what I was considering, I just wasn't sure how well a mica would blend in. Guess I'm gonna find out

 

[TheGecko]

@TheGecko Thank you so much for sharing! On your advice on older posts, I got a cavity mold for testing.

I didn't find this board until after several months after I started down the rabbit hole and thus I wasted a lot of ingredients because I started out with a 10" Loaf Mold (50 oz). After some spectacular failures...the soap that shattered, the soap I thought was going to catch on fire, the cement soap and the most disgusting soap that led me here, I finally pulled my head out of my butt (mostly***) and bought a couple of 4" Square Molds (20oz) to screw up in.

And yes...going into my fourth year I still have 'failures'...or as I call them: "Opportunities to Learn", but tossing 20oz is easier on my pocket than tossing 50oz.

*** - I didn't test any of my Christmas FOs. I just blindly went in making 5lb batches and lucked out as everyone single FO accelerated.

I've got some kokum and mango butters in addition to shea to trial.

I LOVE Shea Butter...it's my favorite butter. But it's also a soft butter so I wouldn't use above 50% for a 'whipped butter' because of how temperature sensitive it is. Too warm and it'll turn to goop and too cold and it becomes grainy.

When I decided to venture beyond soap, I admit to being a little lazy and cheap...uh...time conscience and cost effective (yes, yes, sounds much better). So I choose products based on what I already had in inventory. My soap making ingredients include Olive, Palm, Coconut and Castor Oils and Cocoa and Shea Butters. Using these ingredients and adding some beeswax, I started making Lotion Bars. However not all FOs I choose went well with natural smell of Cocoa Butter, so I tried Deodorized Cocoa Butter...and then Kokum Butter. The good news is that it worked, the bad news is that I was faced with either switching out my Cocoa Butter and changing my soap or buying DCB/KB to only be used with my Lotion Bars and that kind of defeats the whole purpose of using what I already have in inventory without getting too much into single-use ingredients.

The exception is going to be when I venture into Lotions, but I'm planning on using a "base" as opposed to making it from scratch. Now I know that it would be more cost effective to make from scratch, but I am limited on time and space and it's a completely different set up.

 

[thetoe]

First batch is done. I do have a question. I used white beeswax from bulk apothecary and I have a weird waxy smell in the finished product. I smelled the bag of beeswax and it has the same strong wax smell. Is this normal?

 

[BWt]

Thanks Carly! I appreciate the fast response!

I also ordered some meadowfoam oil. I may experiment with it.

@thetoe The meadowfoam oil absorbs much faster than the coconut oil. Am new to lotion bars and

@TheGecko Thank you so much for sharing! On your advice on older posts, I got a cavity mold for testing.

The only lotion bar I've made was a BB recipe and it was a bit soft and left my fingers tacky, great to use in the shower post-cleansing however.

I've got some kokum and mango butters in addition to shea to trial. As well as mmmmmmmmeadowfoam, jojoba, and watermelon seed for the oil component. And I'm going to dribble a little Cera B in to see what happens. I made a body butter that was just primarily whipped shea, but with the arrowroot powder it really went nicely on the skin with zero greasy feel on my fingers and skin. Interesting about your performance in solid bar form.

The sparkle factor is what I was considering, I just wasn't sure how well a mica would blend in. Guess I'm gonna find out

Mica can sink so be sure to continue stirring while pouring the bars. Both Brambleberry.com and madmicas.com have lovely body safe micas. Please keep us posted with your experiments. The Cera B sounds like a very interesting addition.

 

[BWt]

First batch is done. I do have a question. I used white beeswax from bulk apothecary and I have a weird waxy smell in the finished product. I smelled the bag of beeswax and it has the same strong wax smell. Is this normal?

Beeswax does have an odor. I use bulkapothecary.com as well and yes it. has an odor. It's a bit "hay like." I was surprised when I learned that some perfumers use beeswax absolute for perfume making.

 

[Virgogoddess]

First batch is done. I do have a question. I used white beeswax from bulk apothecary and I have a weird waxy smell in the finished product. I smelled the bag of beeswax and it has the same strong wax smell. Is this normal?

Beeswax can have a weird smell or a smoky smell I’ve dumped weird smelling beeswax a couple of times. I use white beeswax from soapers choice.

 

[thetoe]

This was white beeswax from bulk apothecary and it smells like crayons.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

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!

Dear Jedi Master of lotion bars, Do you temper your butters? And, if you don’t mind sharing, do you mostly stick with mango butter?

 

[cmzaha]

I love adding Softisan 378 to lip balms, lip butters and Solid Lotion bars, which is very similar to the discontinued ButterEZ product of past. This product keeps butters from going grainy. I also add Isopropyl Myristate (IPM) to all my solid lotion bars to cut greasiness. At one time I was going to do a bulk buy from a distributor but Covid hit and I went out of business. I since found it here
Softisan 378

 

[BWt]

Beeswax can have a weird smell or a smoky smell I’ve dumped weird smelling beeswax a couple of times. I use white beeswax from soapers choice.

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

This was white beeswax from bulk apothecary and it smells like crayons.

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.

 

[Zing]

Dear Jedi Master of lotion bars, Do you temper your butters? And, if you don’t mind sharing, do you mostly stick with mango butter?

Just between us two, I don't know what tempering means. I read somewhere -- likely here -- to melt butters on low. So what I do is I melt my beeswax on high, then turn the burner to low, wait for it to cool, and then add the butter.

And please, mind sharing about lotion bars?! Have you read any of my posts?! Yes, I mainly use mango butter which I discovered January 2022. It absorbs quicker than shea butter so it feels less greasy. I occassionally use cocoa butter as well, mainly for a friend that does not tolerate (allergic or something) essential oils or fragrance oils and the cocoa butter has a nice scent. And I recently used kombo butter in a salve. And I once had cupuacu butter which was pretty awesome.

May the Force be with you.
EDIT: Excuse me, it's cupuaçu butter. I think I just swore without the cedilla c.

 

[Microchick]

I love adding Softisan 378 to lip balms, lip butters and Solid Lotion bars, which is very similar to the discontinued ButterEZ product of past. This product keeps butters from going grainy. I also add Isopropyl Myristate (IPM) to all my solid lotion bars to cut greasiness. At one time I was going to do a bulk buy from a distributor but Covid hit and I went out of business. I since found it here
Softisan 378

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

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@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.