Shower Lotion Bar Tests and recipes

[Mobjack Bay]

I don’t know if’s a direct replacement for Butter EZ, but I believe Cera Bellina can be used for the same effect. I have some that I haven’t had a chance to try. It’s pricey at $2-3 per ounce.

WSP sells Cera Bellina as Smooth & Creamy Lotion Bar Additive: “Crafter's Choice Smooth & Creamy Lotion Bar Additive is a beeswax derivative that has gained tremendous popularity in lotion bar and lip balm formulas. It prevents the grainy texture shea butter typically exhibits when cooled. When added at 5%, shea butter lotion bars are smooth and creamy.”
https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/smooth-creamy-lotion-bar-additive.aspx?

They also sell Cera Bellina as Cera Bellina for a higher price (different manufacturer), here:
https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/cera-bellina-wax.aspx?

From Lotioncrafter: “Cera Bellina has the unique ability to give stability by forming non-granular gels of liquid oils. Besides the consistency regulating properties of beeswax, Cera Bellina has the remarkable capability of inhibiting crystallization in the oil phase and therefore enhancing stability by preventing the formation of granules. This attribute can eliminate the graininess or rice granule effect that can occur when using shea and other natural butters in anhydrous formulations such as lip balms and lotion bars.”

 

[Tammyfarms]

Okay, this country bumpkin had never heard of shower lotion bars until this evening. Now I need to make some! My skin is itchy and dry coming out of the shower lately, partly from the cold, dry weather and partly from my expanding belly stretching over this growing baby.

I made some tallow balm and tallow lotion bars last summer, but I don't really like them - very heavy and greasy feeling, even though they do feel decent after a bit and keep the itching at bay. The tallow smell also masks the lovely EOs I used to scent them.

Anyway, I want to try the DIY Lush Buffy Bar because it looks easiest with the fewest ingredients, and I have most of them handy. I have cocoa and Shea butters and almond flour, but no rice or dried beans. I'll probably experiment by making a one-bar batch tomorrow with almond flour and maybe some orange peel powder.

For what it’s worth, I also tried making a tallow balm last year with just tallow and fractionated coconut oil. I hated it and ended up tossing it. Tossing anything breaks my cheap little heart so that speaks to how much I hated it. I did make a lotion bar that I love with
33% Beeswax
18% Mango butter
30% Tallow
18% Cacay oil
1% Vitamin E
You still get the tallow benefits but not the greasiness.

I think your plan for a Buffy bar will work. I also use almond flour instead of grinding my own and orange peel powder sounds like a great addition. I haven’t used orange peel powder, how gritty is it? If it’s not gritty I would recommend considering adding something that is, maybe poppy seeds?

 

[ackosel]

For what it’s worth, I also tried making a tallow balm last year with just tallow and fractionated coconut oil. I hated it and ended up tossing it. Tossing anything breaks my cheap little heart so that speaks to how much I hated it. I did make a lotion bar that I love with
33% Beeswax
18% Mango butter
30% Tallow
18% Cacay oil
1% Vitamin E
You still get the tallow benefits but not the greasiness.

I think your plan for a Buffy bar will work. I also use almond flour instead of grinding my own and orange peel powder sounds like a great addition. I haven’t used orange peel powder, how gritty is it? If it’s not gritty I would recommend considering adding something that is, maybe poppy seeds?

Thank you! I have used orange peel powder in soap. My husband really likes it for hand washing. He asked me to make more of "that soap with the glass shards in it", so I guess it's pretty gritty.

Thank you for the lotion bar recipe. The one I made had equal parts tallow, olive oil & beeswax. It was really sticky and greasy, great for scraping some off with a fingernail and spreading in cracked fingers or in cracked skin between toes, and even on dry, scaly knees, but not so good anywhere else. I did use a tallow lotion bar on my palms when I milked goats with chapped teats, and just a few milkings later, those teats were supple and soft.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Thank you! I have used orange peel powder in soap. My husband really likes it for hand washing. He asked me to make more of "that soap with the glass shards in it", so I guess it's pretty gritty.

Thank you for the lotion bar recipe. The one I made had equal parts tallow, olive oil & beeswax. It was really sticky and greasy, great for scraping some off with a fingernail and spreading in cracked fingers or in cracked skin between toes, and even on dry, scaly knees, but not so good anywhere else. I did use a tallow lotion bar on my palms when I milked goats with chapped teats, and just a few milkings later, those teats were supple and soft.

I bet that tallow, olive and beeswax bar was oily. Mango is a “dry” oil and really provides a nice balance. I found I didn’t like it at 33% as it was too dry.

 

[ackosel]

I bet that tallow, olive and beeswax bar was oily. Mango is a “dry” oil and really provides a nice balance. I found I didn’t like it at 33% as it was too dry.

I think I even have some mango butter! I don't have cacay oil, though. The liquid oils I have on hand are olive, grapeseed, avocado & castor.

 

[Tammyfarms]

I think I even have some mango butter! I don't have cacay oil, though. The liquid oils I have on hand are olive, grapeseed, avocado & castor.

I would try grapeseed or avocado. Olive is greasy and castor is tacky and draggy in high amounts. Let us know what you think!

 

[VikingChick]

I never had, either! The label of this product actually said "kokum butter." I didn't realize until after the return window had passed that the ingredient list said, in very small print, "Butyrospermum parkii butter and aleurites moluccanus." I knew the first one was shea butter, but had to look up the second one. It wasn't in the SMFriend c@lculator under that name.

According to this wikipedia article, apparently it is either related to, or actually is, kukui nut oil. It is beyond me how one could sell a blend of shea butter and kukui nut oil and label it as kokum butter. Since it was all very confusing, I'd put off using it for over a year. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't as hard as cocoa butter, so I wasn't surprised that my end result was a bit softer. Thank goodness it is all used up, and I don't have to think about it anymore

You were brave to even try it with soap! Sounds like your educated guess as to the SAP value was some good deduction!

 

[ackosel]

I made a Buffy bar yesterday and tried it out this morning. I really like the orange peel powder in it - nice and scratchy, and it goes well with the almond flour. I used 50/50 orange & lemon EOs for scent and it's really nice! I still feel itchy, but not dry. I guess maybe the itch will go away on its own in a few weeks.