Coconut oil, shea butter, Vitamin E, beeswax, and essential oils combine to create luxurious DIY lotion bars to combat dry hands. Warm a bar with your hands for a few seconds then rub across dry skin. To use on feet, rub the lotion bar across heels and bottom of feet, and put on a pair of socks before going to bed.
If you like making your own bath and body products you’ll definitely want to try our homemade lip gloss, bath bombs, and peppermint sugar scrub!
Homemade gifts are my favorite. I love to make and receive them. For Christmas, my mom made lotion bars to give out as gifts. I suffer from dry skin, especially on my hands. And not just in the winter, but all year long. I’m sure it is due to the fact that I have young children and am constantly washing my hands after diaper changes, wiping noses, and cleaning. I’m sure weather also has something to do with it. That cocoa butter lotion bar that she sent me took my cracked knuckles and gave them a nice makeover within a couple of days. I now use a lotion bar every night before going to bed and I have had soft hands all winter!
Homemade Lotion Bars
Lotion bars look like a bar of soap, but don’t get wet or lather. These lotion bars warm in your hands and are easy to rub on elbows, dry hands, knees and feet. Today I am going to share how I made my own lotion bars with my favorite essential oils: lemon and lime.
The beauty of these melt and mold type projects is that you can customize them however you’d like! Your favorite ingredients, base oils, and essential oils. If you are allergic to coconut oil, you can use olive oil. You get the idea.
DIY lotion bars are incredibly easy to make and only require a few ingredients. I love making beauty products and already had a lot of the supplies in my cupboard from when I made lip gloss and melt and pour soap last year.
You will need equal ratios for this recipe, so that is easy to remember. I went with 2 oz. ratios.
Homemade Lotion Bar Recipe
Homemade Lotion Bars
Equipment
- glass pour measuring cup
- small baking sheet
- lotion bar mold (silicone soap molds work great)
Materials
- 2 ounces coconut oil
- 2 ounces shea butter
- 2 ounces bees wax pellets
- 2 capsules vitamin E oil
- essential oils for scent optional
Instructions
- Fill a sauce pan with about 2" of water and bring to a boil. Place a mason jar or smaller pot inside (double boiler**) and add your shea butter, beeswax, and coconut oil and heat until melted.
- Transfer to a pourable measuring cup. Cut the tip off of the vitamin E capsule and add it to your liquid mixture.
- Add essential oils, to your liking. As a reference, I used about 15 drops of each of the lemon and lime essential oils. Stir. If your mixture is lightly scented, add a few more drops and give it another whiff. If it smells just right, add a couple of more drops as it sometimes seems to lose potency when it has hardened.
- Pour your mixture into your molds.
- Allow lotion bars to sit until the tops start to look solid (about 15 minutes). Carefully move to the refrigerator and allow to set completely about 30 minutes.
- Pop your lotion bars out of the molds. Store solid lotion bars at room temperature for a long shelf life.
Notes
**I used to make these by microwaving them, but learned that you lose so many of the valuable properties in the coconut oil and shea butter that way. Using a double boiler is super easy to do and works great—and you get all of the benefits of these amazing oils!
If you enjoy making your own beauty products, you may enjoy this collection of homemade beauty gifts that I put together below!
This post is a refresh of a post originally shared in 2014.
Where did u buy your essential oils? Which brand did u use?
Hi Monica,
There are several companies (doTerra, Young Living, etc.) that sell essential oils and my friends rave about their quality. I purchased mine from a seller on E-bay after reading positive reviews. I am not an expert on oils, but these worked perfectly for my soaps and lip gloss that I made. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com/usr/wf-medical Hope that helps!
Although lemon/lime can be a wonderful scent, be very careful using it & sun exposure. Citrus essential oils can cause sun sensitivity. Skin can be more sensitive to sunlight & can burn easier. Just use caution when applying a citrus lotion & limit time in direct sunlight.
Good to know, thanks Krystil!
I just made my first batch of these (minus the vit e oil and using cocoa butter), and I am in love with them!
I work in child care, so I’m always washing my hands and they get very dry, sore and cracked. After two uses my hands feel better than they have in years. They’re no longer sore or dry, and the cracks seem to be healing already.
Thank you for sharing the recipe 🙂
Yay! Your hands sound like mine! I couldn’t believe the results after the first few days. No more cracked knuckles. Glad they helped you to!!
How can I measure 2 oz if the products are solid or should I melt down then measure?
Hi Karen, I just use a small kitchen scale to measure them. You could also melt them down, that would work too!
Pinned. These are a great little homemade gift idea – and I’ll have to keep one for myself. I get dry hands in the winter, too!
Thank you, Lisa! The winters are so rough on my hands, but the lotion bars really help!
Is there anything you can use to substitute for the bee’s wax?
Hi Rachel, honestly I don’t know! I’m sorry that I’m no help to you!
Hello, could you tell me how to measure the good quantity of Vitamin E with a spoon maybe ? Thank you !!
I love the smell of fresh citrus in the bathroom. These are perfect for the holiday season! Thanks for sharing! Stopping by from the Create & Crave party.
Can’t wait to try! Do you buy your beeswax on Amazon or where else can you find it?
Hi Erica! I’ve purchased it on eBay and amazon, but you can usually find it on etsy too. Hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing! These sound awesome and I can’t wait to try 😀 I’ve stopped on by from the Totally Terrific Tuesday party!
(Sorry if I posted twice… I was getting an error!)
I love making homemade lotion bars! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us!
I’m excited to try this. Thanks for the tutorial!
Lotion bars sound amazing. Goodbye dry hands! Thanks for sharing…
This is such a great idea!
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Hi, this recipe looks awesome! I have a question though, because it’s coconut oil based will it melt in a warm bathroom?
If so, should I store in fridge?
Thanks!
Britt
Hi Britt! I stored them under my sink and didn’t have any issues. They could be stores in the fridge though!
Oh this is great Brandy. I love walking barefoot except when it’s really cold outside which means my heels are as hard as rocks and have a tendency to crack sometimes. Your lotion bars may be just what the heel doctor ordered. Can’t wait to make some
My hands have been so dry this month so definitely going to give these a try! Thanks for sharing on Inspiration Monday 🙂
This soap looks beautiful and I love the idea of knowing exactly whats in it.
I seriously need to make some of these. Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party @DearCreatives. Happy New Year btw. See you again soon. 😉
What a great idea! I can’t wait to try this!
I’ve made these before, but only with beeswax and essential oils. I really love the idea of adding vitamin E and coconut oil. Now, I really want to try these! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Great post and quick video!
Hi Brandy, these lotion bars look great! And I actually have all the ingredients at home, yay! 🙂 Thanks for sharing at the Friday Favorites linky party. I hope you’ll come back next week to link up your projects so I can stop by again!
Thank you for this recipe, Brandy! I just made some unscented bars for my husband and some lavender rosemary ones for myself. We both love them.
I’m so glad! They really do help!