Zero Waste Homemade Lotion Bars: Easy Recipes with our Bulk Ingredients!
Many of you have asked us to carry more ingredients in bulk for your DIY projects. You love making your own home and beauty products but you are frustrated because you can’t get your ingredients zero waste, without the single use packaging.
We listened and we are thrilled to now carry 12 high quality ingredients in bulk: baking soda, white distilled vinegar*, borax powder, beeswax pellets*, epsom salts, bentonite clay, witch hazel*, rose hydrosol*, golden jojoba oil*, sweet almond oil*, shea butter* and aloe vera* (*organic).
If you are curious and want to try making your own natural products, this blog post is for you. One of the most common products people are making with our bulk ingredients is a LOTION BAR, and we are going to explain to you how to do that!
Why are Bars Among the Most Sustainable Solutions?
At Fillgood, we LOVE solid products and bars! Did you know that most liquids you use at home have a solid version? Soap bars of course but you can also find shampoo and conditioner bars, solid dish soaps, dog shampoo bars, toothpaste tablets, stain remover sticks, toilet cleaning bombs, etc.
Why do we love these alternatives so much? Because they are:
- Free of any plastic packaging. A simple paper wrap will do.
- Solid at room temperature.
- Easy to carry around with you.
- Travel-friendly and TSA-friendly. No more liquid spill in your suitcase.
- Last longer, since they are so concentrated.
- Space saver, because there’s no water.
- Mess-free, which is especially appreciated with kids.
More Good Reasons to Make Your Own Skin Care Products
Back to our homemade lotion bars! Why are DIY skin care products so popular?
1 - When you make your own beauty products, you control what you put in them. No more harmful chemicals like in so many mass produced lotions; you can use a few high quality natural and organic ingredients, and nothing else. It’s good for your health and good for the planet.
2 - High quality lotion bars can be a little expensive. If you are on a budget, it’s cheaper to make your own. And it’s even cheaper when you buy your ingredients in bulk because you can get as little as you need for your first experiments. No need to buy a pound of shea butter or beeswax when you only need 4oz. No waste and you’re saving money.
3 - Finally, once you master a recipe, it’s an infinite source of gifts for your friends and family! With the help of cute silicone soap molds, you can even have fun creating a heart shaped bar for Valentine’s day or Mother’s day, or a flower shaped bar for your winter holiday gifts.
DIY Lotion Bars: a Good Introduction to DIY for Beginners
We chose to highlight homemade lotion bars in this blog post because they are pretty easy to make with a few natural and safe ingredients. When you use them, they are hard but slightly melt when rubbed on warm skin, leaving it soft and protected. And it’s the perfect zero waste and plastic free TLC product!
The butters and oils commonly found in recipes are rich and moisturizing, a real treat for dry skin and chapped lips, especially in winter. A lotion bar is indeed a multipurpose product that you can use on your body, your hands, your lips,... some will even moisturize the tip of your hair.
Here are examples of natural ingredients commonly found in recipes: coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, a few drops of essential oils (lavender, neroli, sage, rose, geranium… get creative!), cocoa butter, mango butter, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, vanilla extract, plant extracts, dried flowers, etc
If you can, buying organic ingredients is always better because it means that the plants were grown without the use of toxic chemicals, which is better for mama Earth, our health and the farmers’.
Coconut oil: a great moisturizer, it’s easy to find coconut oil packaged in a glass jar.
Shea butter: it deeply nourishes the skin and is excellent for dry, damaged skins.
Beeswax: it locks in the moisture brought by oils and butters.
Essential oils: Each one has a different effect on the mind and the body. Lavender helps with relaxation and sleep. Geranium reduces stress and anxiety. Eucalyptus is great for sinus congestion, aches and pains. Since you only need a few drops, a small glass bottle will last a long time.
We recommend you to start with a simple recipe, and then, if you’d like to experiment a little more, you can slightly change the composition, according to ingredients properties.
Finally, you probably already have all the equipment necessary in your kitchen: silicone molds, measuring cups, a double boiler, a scale. That’s it!
Our Favorite Lotion Bar Recipes
We’re excited to share these recipes! Lotion bars can be made with 3 simple ingredients. It’s like a base to which you can add different essential oils and a few other things for more specific needs.
The base: Simple and easy
We found this recipe on Wellnessmama.com but we slightly modified it after trying several other recipes.
Ingredients:
- 1 part extra virgin coconut oil
- 1 part shea butter (or cocoa butter or mango butter)
- 1 part beeswax pellets
- 1 tsp vitamin E oil (optional - it helps preserve your products longer but is not required because there’s no water in lotion bars, which means a very low risk of bacteria development)
Equipments: a food scale, a double boiler or a saucepan and a glass measuring bowl, a spoon to stir, a silicone mold with a fun shape or metal tins.
Follow these simple steps:
- With a food scale, weigh equal amounts of coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax. We recommend starting with 1oz for each ingredient instead of 1 cup. It’s best to use weight than volume, it’s much more accurate.
- Combine all the ingredients except the vitamin E in the glass measuring bowl.
- Place the bowl in the saucepan filled with water. Heat over medium heat; stir constantly until everything has completely melted.
- Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Add the vitamin E and mix.
- Pour the mixture into your molds, where the bars are going to harden.
- Allow the bars to cool completely and become hard before removing them from the molds.
Cleaning tip: "Wipe out your measuring bowl while it’s still warm for easier cleaning and then wash with hot soapy water. You can use the small amount of the mixture still clinging to the inside of the bowl to rub on your feet and elbows, or as a lip balm. Be sure to put socks on as the soles of your feet will be slippery until the lotion is all the way absorbed."
Now that you know the base recipe, here are a few variations. Don’t forget the final touch: use a heart-shape or a flower-shape soap mold to make the perfect lotion bar!
Pain relief: with menthol crystals, peppermint essential oil and arnica oil.
Lavender: with lavender essential oil and dried lavender flowers.
Vegan lotion bar (no beeswax): made with cocoa butter, shea butter and sweet almond oil. The almond oil can be replaced by jojoba or avocado oil.
You can find many more variations on this page: https://wellnessmama.com/4770/lotion-bars/
You Would Love to Make Lotion Bars but You Just Don’t Have the Time
We totally get you! On our website, you can find a great selection of zero waste sustainable bars, ready for you.
Romance and Stimulate, by Verdant Wild, made in Santa Cruz.
Romance is a romantic, decadent body butter, scented with organic roses, geranium and raw cocoa butter.
Stimulate is a seasonal spring lotion bar, scented with organic matcha green tea, peppermint and bergamot.
Chagrin Valley lotion bar in a metal tin, easy to carry around in your purse.
Coconut smoothie, Hemp mago mint, Primrose lavender rosemary or Three butter. Natural skin-loving moisturizing plant oils and butters are combined in a unique formula that is solid at room temperature but will melt nicely on your skin.
A large format for all your moisturizing needs! Available in 4 scents: Cocoa Shea (vegan), Lavender rosemary, Citrus blossom, Vanilla.
Whatever you choose, DIY or not, we hope you will have a great experience trying these bars. It’s such an easy way to avoid plastic packaging while taking care of your skin with high quality moisturizing butters and oils. Enjoy!