Recently, I made my first batch of lotion bars. I’ve been using essential oils for years. They help me on so many levels. But I wanted to try making lotion bars. I’d been seeing so many cool pictures of these trendy creations, and I wanted some of my own.
Lotion bars have a distinct advantage over lotion in a bottle. For one, they’re all natural. You make them yourself. So you know exactly what’s being added. No parabens, phthalates, artificial fragrances or other toxins. Also, lotion bars are more portable than a bottle of lotion. You can slip one in a little container, and tuck it in your purse. It won’t spill. Nor will it melt, if you add enough beeswax.
Typically, lotion bars are made with essential oils. This means they smell wonderful. You can also make therapeutic lotion bars, such as the stress relieving version I made, using a special essential oil blend. You can make bars to soothe and heal dry cracked hands. Or, you can make bars designed to keep the bugs away.
How Much Essential Oil to Add to Lotion Bars
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People who’ve just started using essential oils may not realize their strength. They’re highly concentrated, so only a little bit is needed. I was amazed when I learned just how strong they are, which is why we can usually operate on the principle that less is more. Personally, I like to use the minimum amount needed. Just to give you an example, one widely cited comparison is that one drop of peppermint essential oil is the herbal equivalent of anywhere from 15 to 70 cups of peppermint tea.
Essential oils are incredibly strong. So you can’t put them directly on your skin. First, you need to mix them with a carrier oil. One of the most popular carriers is fractionated coconut oil. Unlike regular coconut oil, this glides smoothly and easily on your skin. The standard dilution for using essential oils in a carrier oil is 2 percent. This means you add 3 drops of essential oil to every teaspoon of carrier.
Adding Essential Oils to Lotion Bars
Even though the standard dilution is 2 percent, unless you’ll be using the essential oil/carrier oil mixture on a large part of your body (then it’s 1 percent), I decided to drop this ratio even lower when making my lotion bars. I think that’s a good idea, because then it’s possible to use them throughout the day.
My bars were designed for keeping my hands moist, as well as relaxation. One option would be to use lavender essential oil, which is considered soothing to the skin. Certain other oils, such as ylang ylang and patchouli, are also noted for their calming actions. These are included in Plant Therapy Meditation Synergy Blend. This is what I added to my lotion bars. The result was a heavenly smelling bar that I could use on my hands.
Mediation Synergy Blend is sold by Plant Therapy, one of my very favorite essential oil companies. It sells a wide range of 100 percent pure single oils and blends. I trust this company, and I know its oils are thoroughly tested. So I don’t feel as if I have to go the MLM route in order to get a good oil.
Plant Therapy Lavender Oil
Plant Therapy Meditation Blend
How To Make Your Own Solid Lotion Bar
I found various lotion bar recipes on the Internet. Pretty much all of them called for coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax. These are the three ingredients I used to make my lotion bars, in equal amounts. I used 1/2 cup of each of these three ingredients. Then I added just 8 drops of Meditation Synergy Blend. This is far less than a 2 percent dilution. But the scent was still strong enough. If you need coconut oil, shea butter or natural beeswax, and you can’t find them locally, they’re available online.
Organic Shea ButterWhite Beeswax PelletsOrganic Coconut Oil
Easy to Make Lotion Bars
Making DIY lotion bars is incredibly easy. All you need to do is gently heat the three main ingredients in a solid stainless steel pan over very low heat. You need to watch it closely, so it doesn’t smoke. You may also want to add the beeswax a minute or two before the coconut oil and shea butter, since it takes a little longer to melt. Next, you put the pan aside to cool for a few minutes, before adding your essential oils. Then your pour this still liquid mixture into a silicone mold and wait until it hardens.
Disclaimer
These statements have not been approved by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use essential oils unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.
I have used as much as 2% essential oils in my lotion bars and many times the scent disappears in the oils and I could barley smell anything at the end.. I have added the scents when the oils cooled etc and still I’m having this problem..do you use shea butter with a scent or unscented ..please help
Hi Sharon, I haven’t had this problem at all. I will say the scent is subtle, but it’s there. I use refined and unscented shea butter. Are you using an oil from a well-established company, not necessarily MLM?
I’m making foot moisturizing bars intended to be use for dry,chapped feet. In What concentration should I add essential oils blend in my product so that it would be physically useful for dry feet and give soothening effect? My active ingredient here is essential oil,so it is very crucial to know perfect conc. to be added. Please help.
Also essential oils I’m going to add are eucalyptus,peppermint,cederwood oil,clove oil,camphor oil and citronella oil. So please tell me what should be the overall concentration of all these essential oils blend?
Neha, I’m not a professional aromatherapist, just an avid essential oil user. If it were me, I’d keep it to the recommended safe concentration of 2 percent. This is the equivalent of 3 drops of essential oil to every teaspoon of carrier oil. The other ingredients in this recipe – coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax – are also very active ingredients. These three ingredients do an excellent job of moisturizing in and of themselves, even without the essential oils. So that’s what I’d do and I wouldn’t worry at all if you’re a drop or two off on the essential oil. I’d definitely stick to the recommended concentration. Thanks for reading my blog.
I wouldn’t recommend melting the ingredients straight into a saucepan. It’s far better and safer to slowly melt them in a mixing bowl sat over a little boiling water in a pan. If Shea Butter melts on too high a heat it will become grainy.
It works perfectly for me in a saucepan over very low heat. I’m a big fan of doing things as easily as possible. A lot of people don’t have double boilers. But you must watch it closely.