Make Your Own Lotion Bars

Reader Contribution by Claire E
Published on December 14, 2012
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Since my last post, I’ve worked more on my grandmothers’ Christmas presents, and I think I’ve figured out what they’re getting. Therefore, if you’re my grandmother, stop reading now. This time, I mean it.

Having always been fascinated by the many uses of herbs and essential oils, I wanted to give skincare products as gifts this year. I recently read something about hard lotion, which I had never heard of. It’s just like regular lotion, only it contains beeswax so it’s solid at room temperature. Beeswax also seals moisturizing ingredients into the skin when the lotion is applied.

I decided to make a hard lotion to moisturize feet for my grandmothers. To the simple recipe I got off a website, I added cocoa butter and a variety of oils. I’d wanted to include rosemary oil, an antimicrobial, but since we didn’t have any, I used rosemary extract instead.

I found that making the lotion was surprisingly fun. I prepared a double boiler and added my ingredients. First came the beeswax, which had arrived in miniscule pearls. When I opened the bag, the resinous sweet scent of honey wafted out.

Next I added the soft coconut oil and shea butter, which came out with no problem. The cocoa butter, however, was a different story. My first impression of it had been: porous cement. I attacked it with the teaspoon and did manage to get enough out by scraping the top off flake by flake.

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