Shower Lotion Bar Tests and recipes

[not_ally]

Just wanted to share the experience I had making emulsified lotion bars/shower lotion bars for anyone that is interested or for future searchers. I really wanted to include one in my Christmas baskets, and after doing a fairly comprehensive search for recipes that looked good I tried the following recipes in 100g tester sizes. I’m only going to discuss my reasoning for the top two, since those are the ones I will mostly use going forward. The others are in no particular order:

DIY Lush Buffy Bar from a youtube video by Emilie Lefler,

SMF poster Irish Lass emulsified lotion bar, post no. 19 on this thread: In Shower Lotion Bar

This emulsified lotion bar from Whole Elise: Lotion Bars | Whole Elise

This emulsified lotion bar from Elements B&B: Earl Grey In-Shower Lotion Bars Recipe - Elements Bath & Body Learning Center

The bubble scrub body bar from DIY B&B on Etsy (recipe is proprietary, you can find it on sale on etsy here: DIY in the Shower, Bubble Scrub Body Bars - Etsy

This emulsified body butter from an SMF poster just because it looked like it had nice ingredients: In Shower Lotion Bar

They were all successful in the sense that I would have felt ok giving any of them to people and I think they would have thought “cool, pretty, smells good, feels nice”. But two really stood out, the DIY Buffy Bar and IL’s emulsified bar.

I was actually surprised that the Buffy Bar, the only non-emulsified one, was my favorite. It is the only one with exfoliants, but I think the real reason is that because it is non-emulsified it really left a layer of butter on my skin in a super-moisturizing, well-absorbed and non-greasy way.

It is also extremely easy to make, only has six ingredients, shea and cocoa butters, DIY exfoliants (rice, adzuki beans and almonds, all powdered in a coffee grinder) and FO (although I added a preservative, Optiphen Plus, because I feel like this is a good idea in a shower setting.) The only part I found tricky was pouring the mix into molds. She recommends pouring when the mix is at a “thick, almost brownie batter” texture. Maybe I make my brownie batter too thick but it made the mix too gloppy when I poured, and the bars were not smooth. Not a big deal, you can put them in the microwave and melt a bit, but I didn’t get it right until round two. Anyway, I loved these bar, as did the people I gave them to. I have never tried the LUSH version, so don't know how it compares, but the maker worked at LUSH for several years, so I think they must be close enough.

The other bar I really, really liked was Irish Lasses. Of the emulsified bars, it had the best skin feel and the highest degree of retained moisturizing after rinsing. I felt like that was one of the drawbacks of these bars generally, the emulsification made it so that a lot of the oil washed away upon rinsing. The IL bar was the one that left the most behind/felt great on the skin while still feeling like it was emulsified and easily rinsing away.

Both of these feel amazing in the shower and I think I will use them (and have them around as great little gifts) from now on.

 

[AliOop]

The Buffy Bar dupe recipe by Emilie is one of my faves - it is amazing! Thanks for the reviewing the others. I will give IL's recipe a try!

 

[Kcryss]

I've been toying with making an in-shower lotion but I love this option even more! Thanks for sharing!

 

[not_ally]

@AliOop and @Kcryss, I'm glad it was useful! AliOop, FYI, in the IL recipe I just substituted shea for ButterEZ which is no longer available.

Another note on the Buffy bar, if you get the pour texture right it molds really well. You have to pour after the batter has cooled down enough for the exfoliants to stay suspended. As I said, I pour before it reaches a "brownie batter texture" (as she recommends) I wait until the oily sheen on the top of the mix is no longer apparent, and you can just start to see the beginnings of the batter hardening on the sides of the mixing container (once that happens it starts to move towards gloppiness faster, because those bits then cool everything else down.) I think it is in the low 70's F, temperature-wise.

Anyway, attaching a picture of bars from different molds to show how well this recipe takes molding. I would note that the multi colored one/leaf mold was hard to pour because I made the mix then divided it into three smaller containers, added mica while still hot, and then waited for all three to cool before pouring. But getting/keeping all three containers at pouring temp at the same time was pretty tricky. As you can see, I don't necessarily love how it came out.

 

[AliOop]

Thanks for sharing those tips! I’ve only made the Buffy dupe in round flat cavity molds, since that seemed like it would be easier to hold in the shower.

I thought about trying my smaller heart molds that I typically use for sold hair conditioner bars. They would get used up more quickly and thus be less likely to become rancid or mushy. That hasn’t happened with the larger round ones, but it’s something I do think about.

 

[not_ally]

I'm actually thinking that I will stay with the bigger ones because they will last longer, although your point about just using them up faster without worrying about bigger mushy bits makes sense. I have one of the round ones in the shower now (I think they are about 4 oz). After about ten showers (I think, not sure because my niece may be using it too) - using them pretty lavishly on my arms and legs - it got thin enough to break and I just smushed the pieces together to finish using it. I have NOT been good about keeping it out of the shower/away from heat and steam, though. I think it would last much longer (and it would be a good health/safety measure) if I did, so I'm glad we had this little talk

How many showers have your Buffy dupes lasted for? They are an expensive indulgence because they are 2/3 pure butters and the whole point is that they melt, but if you make them yourself I think they are so worth it! I am too cheap to pay $14 for 3.3 oz at Lush, though.

ETA: I was a little worried about them getting moldy or otherwise nasty in the shower, but decided with them being anhydrous and then adding the preservative they should be OK. Plus Lush has had them on the market for at least a decade, that's somewhat reassuring!

 

[AliOop]

Mine are about 2” in diameter and maybe 1” thick? They last about ten showers for me, and I am the only user. I do apply them quite lavishly as well, and also apply them very early during my shower to keep my skin from drying out. Sometimes I even do a second coat right before I get out.

 

[nadsnads]

Thank you for your review! I've been eyeing a couple of recipes for these bars for a while, but was feeling kind of meh about trying them because I'd made in-shower lotion in the past and really wasn't into the whole concept. The emulsion kind of lingered there all wet and then I'd have to either rinse most of it off, or wipe it with a towel. I'm excited to try the non- emulsified buffy bar since it worked so well for you.

 

[not_ally]

Do try it! The only tricky part is the pour, and if you get that wrong you can pour it back and wait for a bit (if too thin) or remelt for a few second (if too thick) and try again. Also, you do rinse off after you rub it in to wash off the exfoliants, and then just pat dry with a towel. I have really dry skin on my legs - one of the reasons I started making my own lotions/creams - but don't like super oily body butters, and this just really hits the sweet spot for me.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Thank you @not_ally! I haven’t really thought about making an in shower moisturizing product but I am now. It’s really dry here and this may be a great way to combat my oh so dry skin.

 

[Tammyfarms]

@not_ally, did you use the adzuki beans in the lush dupe? They may be a challenge to find locally and I’m not sure what they bring to the party other than an exfoliant. I don’t mind ordering them if they make a difference though.

 

[not_ally]

@Tammyfarms, I did use adzuki beans, I got them at Sprouts, a local chain that has all kinds of beans, grains, nuts and other stuff in bins that you scoop yourself. I have bought them at Asian grocery stores before this (to cook, it certainly never occurred to me to grind them up for b&b products!) do you have any of those near by?

Also, probably easier, I think you could use any other kind of hard dried bean like these small dried red beans (from my local grocery store, Vons), they look very similar:

https://www.vons.com/shop/product-d...88vjKm5LnA0-4p6swSBoCZ2gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[CecileBC]

Thank you so much for sharing those recipes !
Just a quick question: is there a reason for using azuki beans specifically ? Is it the ingredient list of the Lush product ? Thanks !

 

[Tammyfarms]

@Tammyfarms, I did use adzuki beans, I got them at Sprouts, a local chain that has all kinds of beans, grains, nuts and other stuff in bins that you scoop yourself. I have bought them at Asian grocery stores before this (to cook, it certainly never occurred to me to grind them up for b&b products!) do you have any of those near by?

Also, probably easier, I think you could use any other kind of hard dried bean like these small dried red beans (from my local grocery store, Vons), they look very similar:

https://www.vons.com/shop/product-d...88vjKm5LnA0-4p6swSBoCZ2gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you! We don’t have Sprouts or Vons but there are a couple places, about an hour away, that may have some. We make that drive every month or so when we go to our chiropractor. We live in a very rural area of North Idaho, which we love, but there are definitely some challenges when trying to find unusual items.
ETA: I just looked at the link for Vons. The small red beans are Signature brand, which is also carried at Safeway. We have a Safeway in our little town so that may be a good option. We are going to be traveling for the next month and I will keep an eye out for adzuki beans. I have a couple of soap/b&b items I will be looking for while we are out and about.

 

[not_ally]

We live in a very rural area of North Idaho, which we love, but there are definitely some challenges when trying to find unusual items.

@Tammyfarms, that sounds beautiful. Maybe not right now, if you're caught in the cold snap, but I bet the springs/summers/falls are amazing. Well worth the absence of unusual food things.

@CecileBC, the ingredient list is an exact dupe of the Lush one, except for the fact that with mine I add preservative (I used Optiphen at 1.5% and reduced the butters by .75% each.) Theoretically that is not required in an anhydrous mix - and as noted, Lush does not include one on their list - but since it contains food stuffs and is used in a shower I'd rather be safe than sorry. As @Tammyfarms said above, I think the beans only act as an exfoliant, so I would think subbing in something similar should be fine.

The author worked at Lush and according to the video she made a lot of experimental rounds to try and match the Buffy bar, so I am curious to know how close it is. I hope if anyone comes across this thread, has used the actual Buffy bar and makes this one, they will let us know.

 

[nadsnads]

I've made the buffy bars recently with a few modifications:

- I ran out of shea butter so i subbed half the amount for coffee butter, which is made of hydrogenated cottonseed oil and coffee oil. It's a solid oil so it's a lot softer than shea butter. I think it contributed to my bar being much softer than it should be. It's still nice to use but i will run out a lot faster.

- I didn't want the bar to be super scrubby because my legs are irritated lately and i want to avoid over exfoliating. I also didn't want to buy a whole bag of Adzuki beans only to have it laying around mostly unused afterwards. So i replaced all the exfoliants with only ground up almonds. I hated my life trying to grind them up fine enough in my little spice grinder, and once i got them fine enough i wondered whether they'd do anything at all because they mostly felt like another butter when I rubbed them between my fingers. To my surprise they ended up getting gently sbrubby in the bar, but because of the large quantity (and my bar being soft) they left little brown specks everywhere. No big deal.

- My final formula ended up being :
- cocoa butter 31%
- shea butter 18%
- coffee butter 13%
- ground almonds 37%
- essential oils 1%

The pour was just as described! Missed the pouring window the first time despite watching the mixture closely, but reheated a bit and was able to catch it at "medium-trace" and poured without issues!

Loved the finish product, it felt gently scrubby and left me with silky soft skin for the whole day! I'm planning to make it into a lotion bar next without the scrubbies so I don't need to wash it off in my shower.

Thank you again @not_ally for inspiring this experiment.

 

[not_ally]

@nadsnads, so glad you tried the recipe, tweaked it, and gave such good notes on how it turned out. I love when people do that, it is really interesting and helpful for everyone else. That's one of the best things about this board, I think, people are so free with sharing ideas, information, and experience. Better stop now, I'm getting a little misty-eyed

 

[not_ally]

@nadsnads, I just noticed the face, I love it, it's so genial! Where did you get that mold?

 

[Tammyfarms]

@not_ally it is really beautiful up here but it has been a bit on the cold side. It was -25F a couple days ago. Thankfully it’s warming up and was about 17F today. Now it’s snowing and we have another 7” on the ground. That makes about 2 - 2 1/2 feet. I still prefer this to 90 and humid.

 

[nadsnads]

@nadsnads, I just noticed the face, I love it, it's so genial! Where did you get that mold?

this mold is so ancient but it's my favorite. I originally got it at NDA (in 2009!! according to my email receipt it was called "happy face mini mold").

I searched a bunch and I can't find it anywhere the closest i found was this one at WSP https://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/moon-face-soap-mold.aspx