Yesterday was dyeing day but at the end of the day I had some spare time and decided to use it to restock my personal supply of lotion bars and lip balm. It took me all of 30 minutes to get out the supplies, make both batches and clean everything up. It's that easy. Lotion bars are great if you have any very dry skin areas. For me, it's my feet. I use a lotion bar every night and sleep with socks on so I don't mess up the sheets. Plain lotion just wasn't enough so I keep a supply of lotion bars in a bag in the fridge and one on my nightstand. It works great. It couldn't be easier to make. First find a mold. I use my small soap molds but you could pour all of this into a plastic container and once it sets up just cut it into palm sized bars. Ice cube trays would work great too. In a microwave safe container (I use a Pyrex measuring cup) mix together equal parts of:
Melt all that in the microwave. If you have Vitamin E on hand you break open some capsules and add some to the melted oils. That's a very messy affair so I usually leave it out. Pour the liquid in your molds and waif for it to set up. You don't need to store it in the fridge but I find that's a safe place to keep it so I don't confuse it with my soap bars. This amount will last me and my friend, Cheryl, a year. I primarily make lip balm for my Mom and friend, Becky. I rarely use it but I keep a couple of them around just in case. Making it is just as simple as the lotion bar from the perspective of mixing the oil but you do have to buy the tubes or pots. If you use the tubes you will want one of these tube trays. Where I buy my supplies the tubes are about a quarter a piece and the tops are a dime. Making this is a little messier and the recipe I use has more ingredients but I have them on hand already for my soap and lotion making. Given how cheap lip balm is, I don't think it would be cost effective to just make lip balm because the minimum quantities for the supplies would be way too big. But if you are already making soap you might want to give lip balm and lotion bars a try. Aside from the tubes and beeswax you probably already have everything on hand.
If you are interested there are tons of recipes on the web and the one I use is here.
Lily
2/23/2017 02:26:29 pm
You can buy vitamin E in small bottle making it very easy to use. Thanks for posting recipes for lotion bars love them. Thank you Vicki! I will save the recipe for the lotion bars because I know they'd make great Christmas gifts. And...on the 'try to learn something new every day' front - I often wondered how on earth anybody would have enough patience to pour home made lip balm into those itty bitty tubes - now I see there's a special 'thing' made for that purpose. Who knew?
Tina in NJ
2/23/2017 05:25:01 pm
How does one use lotion bars? Just rub the bar over the affected areas? Hubby's hands get so dry in the winter the skin cracks. 2/23/2017 11:09:23 pm
I have only made lotion bars one time. I should make a few for my feet now.
Karen Brennan
2/24/2017 01:52:22 pm
Thanks for the recipes, instructions and resources for supplies. My medical problems + all the medications I take dry my skin, mouth and especially my lips. I will definitely try this.
Kristin F
2/27/2017 03:19:29 pm
I did make a batch of lotion bars a number of months ago (actually I think almost a year ago now!) using your recipe and gave several away and still have some left. I like them a lot but would like to try and make my next batch a bit less 'oily' (i.e. a bit harder). I filled 5 of the deodorant containers and also made a few in a silicone muffin mold. The deodorant containers are nice but a bit expensive. I like the mold a lot - very easy to use. I saw a tutorial on the web for making drawstring bags to hold the bars which had a fusible vinyl lining (a product I've never tried but would like to). Thanks again for sharing your recipe. Eventually I'd like to try the lip balm. And, I still need to try soapmaking! Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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