Homemade Lotion Bars

This morning I was feeling particularly crafty, so I searched through my Crafts and Ideas board on Pinterest to find something cool to make or put together. I stumbled a really simple recipe for lotion bars that I had pinned a while ago that looked cool and easy enough, so I ran with it.

You would think that in a major city like Boston there would be a Michaels or a Joann's or a Hobby Lobby on every other corner like in Phoenix, but that is most certainly not the case (in fact, I think the closest Hobby Lobby is in New Hampshire). After researching on the internet for almost an hour where to find the stuff I needed (all of which you can order on the internet, but I wanted to try my hand at lotion bar making immediately), I found a small art supply store that sold beeswax, which happened to be near enough to both a T stop and a Whole Foods, where I could get everything else I needed. Whole Foods, however, costs a whole paycheck, so I tried a local Star Market first, to no avail. Not factoring in the 12 minute walk from my apartment to the Harvard T stop and back, I went on an almost two hour adventure just getting my supplies. And it was hot out, too. Not Phoenix hot, of course, but about 85, which is hot enough to the point where you wouldn't want to have to walk several miles in it like I did. Fortunately there was also a Starbucks next to this art supply store :)

Anyway, the lotion bars turned out awesome! And easy! :)

Here is how you can make your own:

First, acquire the following items (the picture is not a comprehensive representation of what you need--like you'll need a stove, for example, but I thought that was a given)

Beeswax

Coconut oil*

Almond oil*

Measuring glass

Small muffin tin or other similar baking mold 

(metal or silicone both work)

Double boiler

Sauce pan

Oven mits

Possibly a knife

(***if you have any allergies, you can substitute almond oil with jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, avacado oil, or even olive oil, and you can substitute coconut oil with cocoa butter or shea butter--there are a lot of different ways to mix it!) 

A double boiler is used for melting or steaming delicate foods, like chocolate. If you do not have a double boiler, you can create one by simply putting a small-medium pyrex bowl or heat-proof metal bowl atop an even smaller saucepan (I used a Calphalon 1 qt. sauce pan). You want the bowl to fit tightly over the saucepan, so that steam doesn't escape and ruin your concoction, but you dont want it to fit so tightly that it becomes difficult to lift it off the saucepan, lest you burn yourself. Fill your saucepan about an inch high with water and let it boil lightly (simmer?). You do not want your pyrex bowl touching the water beneath it; it should hover at least a half inch above where water could touch it.

I also should mention that you might consider adding a hacksaw to the list above, as that is just about what it takes to cut through beeswax. I used a metal butter knife, not realizing how hard beeswax is. I would've used a bigger, better knife, but I didn't want beeswax stuck to my good Henckles. If you have a sturdy butter knife and struggle hard enough, eventually you will be able to break off a piece. Some recommend freezing it, putting it in a bag, and then throwing it on the floor to break it into little chunks, but I didn't want to wait for it to freeze and I wanted exactly 1/4 of it broken off.

 

Now I didn't want to have a lot of lotion bar mix left over, and I didn't want to have too little to fill my mini muffin tin, either. To determine how much lotion bar mix I would need total, I poured 12 ounces of water into my pyrex measuring glass, and poured that water into my muffin tin. Once the muffin tin holes were completely full of water, I saw I had three ounces of water left in my measuring glass, meaning I used 9 to fill the tin and would need 9 ounces of lotion bar mix. If you're not totally anal about stuff like that like I am, you can skip this step.

It was convenient that I needed 9 ounces to fill the tin, because to create the lotion bar mix you need a 1:1:1 ratio of beeswax to coconut oil to almond oil. So for me that was three ounces of each thing. Unfortunately, I bought my beeswax in a 1 lb. (16 oz) brick, so I was going to divide that brink in 4ths and then divide one of those fourths into 3/4 to get my three ounces. However it was so darn hard cutting the beeswax, and I got so excited when I finally broke off my piece, that I totally forgot to cut off a fourth of the chunk I managed to break off! So my ratio was more like 4:3:3. Oops! That just means my bars will be a little less moist than if you do it "right," but this will ultimately make little difference, as this recipe will turn out even if you eyeball things. Plus, I probably added about 4 ounces of coconut oil by accident later, which fixes that. Furthermore, if you mess up really badly you can always take your bars, melt them down, add whatever you need more of, and re-set them. Anyway, back to the directions. 

Melt your beeswax in your double boiler/pyrex bowl. 

 

Until it looks like: 

It looks like the beeswax is boiling but that's actually condensed steam from the water boiling below. Your beeswax should not be boiling, ever, at any point.

It took about 20 minutes to melt all the way, but will melt faster if you break it into smaller pieces (I was done struggling with my butter knife, so I just let it be).

Then add your almond oil, and let the white yuckies melt away. (1 ounce of almond oil is 2 tablespoons, so I used 6 tablespoons)

The almond oil melts pretty fast. I went to grab my camera from the living room and when I got back to the kitchen it had already melted down to this!

Once the almond oil has melted, add your coconut oil (again, 6 tablespoons)

Let the coconut oil melt completely. At this point, you can add a few drops of essential oils to make your bars smell good. Pour your mixture into your mold, using oven mits to hold the bowl, which will be hot, and to protect you from any hot steam. I transferred my mixture into my measuring glass because it had a spout, making things easier to pour. However, the measuring glass was comparatively cold, so a thin layer of my wax mixture stuck to the glass, which was annoying to clean later, so unless you know you'll make a huge mess, I'd just poor straight from the bowl. Since the bowl is hot, less of your mixture ends up sticking.

Like I said, you can use plastic or silicone molds to make these. I hope to get some cute molds so I can make more bars and give them as gifts and things. 

After about 10 minutes or so, they look like this! A nice creamy color, compared to the dark yellow of the beeswax. I'm sure it was the coconut oil that did that. Coconut oil, by the way, is more often a solid at room temperature--which I thought was interesting--and should probably be stored in the refrigerator if you have any left over. I stored my beeswax by wrapping it back up in its paper and putting in a ziploc bag. I read it should be stored in a dark space, so I put it in the back of my cupboard since I'll probably be using it again soon (I also read that you can store it in the freezer, too).

The bars should be left alone for a few hours, I think, to ensure that they are solid before you try to take them out. If you used a silicone mold you should be able to pop them out like you would with an ice-cube tray when they're ready. Getting them out of a metal tin is a little more difficult, but still pretty easy. Once I was sure they were set, I stuck them in the freezer for about five minutes (like you do with the Yankee Candle wax pellets), and placed a sheet of wax paper on the counter. If you turn your tin upside down, some may just plop out. If they don't immediately plop out, gently press on the bottom of each bar, and they should pop out just fine.

So yeah! That was my project today. I'm going to make some lip balm next time since I have leftover beeswax :) I found a shop in Harvard Sq. that sells all kinds of little jars that will be perfect for homemade lip balm containers.

(One more thing: If you've made the lotion bars you're probably wondering how to get all the beeswax off your nice Pyrex! You would do it the same way you would get candle wax off of a glass holder. Once the bowl has cooled, put it in the freezer for an hour or so until the wax is hard and frozen. Chip away at the wax until you've gotten all of the solid pieces off. Heat about 1/2 cup of vinegar in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to warm it. Dip a sponge in your warmed vinegar and wipe the wax residue off. Then wash like normal.)

If you decide to try the lotion bars, especially if you substitute ingredients, let me know how it goes! :)