DIY Lotion Bars

I have been wanting to make homemade lotion bars FOREVER. I have a major pet peeve with store bought lotion because it is so chock full of chemicals. And then it doesn't even work very well, at least not for me.

We live in a very dry climate. It is so dry here that when I visited Phoenix this last summer, it actually felt humid to me. Yeah, I know.

So, with some of my birthday money this year I purchased the ingredients to make some lotion bars. I got the supplies from Mountain Rose Herbs. Cost breakdown:

Beeswax: $11
Mango Butter: $4.50
Cocoa Butter: $5.00
Coconut Oil: $20.00

Total: $40.50

I used all the butters but only a portion of the beeswax and coconut oil. By my best estimates, the cost for the lotion bar alone came closer to $22.00. The recipe made 12 bars worth, so about $1.85 per bar. I have a bunch of beeswax leftover for future recipes.

You can buy these on Etsy for as little as $4.00 per bar. But you'll pay closer to $6 with shipping.

I thought these were so incredibly easy to make, there is no way I'd buy them from anyone else. Luckily I already had several scents of essential oils on hand so I did not have to buy that. I followed this recipe exactly and used lavender essential oils:

http://wellnessmama.com/4770/how-to-make-lotion-bars/

I shared one bar with my chiropractor and one with my bible study group. Connor has one and I am still using one. They do go pretty far, and I have a bag of them in my refrigerator. I'm interested to see how long they all last.

I used a boring old muffin tin for my molds. :) I was so tempted to buy some really cute silicon molds in fun shapes. Now that I am convinced this recipe works so well, I will attempt to make these a lot prettier next time. Especially for giving as gifts! :)

As far as quality goes, I am very impressed. I've been using the lotion twice a day and haven't needed to reapply in between. At night I slather myself up, and in the morning I am still soft. Usually I wake up with dry, cracked hands and cuticles no matter what I do.

My cuticles are normally dry and peeling and just horrible in general. Painful! Now, I've noticed they are the healthiest I have ever seen them. It's like a miracle!

Even Connor has suffered from the dryness; he'll scratch at himself until he bleeds no matter what we put on him. This lotion has been a soothing relief for Connor, and best of all it is pure and natural and healthy for his sweet baby soft skin!

I'll just quickly remark that I know what you put inside your body can affect your skin. We all drink a ton of water, we eat a lot of healthy fats, we take cod liver oil and coconut oil. We do a lot that ought to hydrate our skin from the inside out. I've just come to the unhappy conclusion that a harsh climate is just too harsh at times, and we have to use something really effective and healthy on our skin as well.

I am feeling confident that this is it! I plan on making more. This recipe rocks because it's so versatile. An extra ingredient or two turns it into deodorant or sunscreen. I'll be trying the sunscreen version next I think.