This easy lotion bar recipe uses vegan friendly carnauba wax and is formulated to have a non greasy feel on your skin. Perfect for those hot Summer days!
Now that temperatures are rising and sweat beads have become your permanent accessory, the last thing you want to do is slather thick, oily lotions on your skin.
But even though your hair tells you humidity is at an all time high, your skin can still feel rough and dry.
Sun exposure, salty sea water and the lack of a self replenishing water bottle can all contribute to less than silky smooth legs.
The recipe I’m sharing here with you today uses a few simple, all natural ingredients to create a soft but non greasy lotion bar.
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How To Make Vegan Lotion Bars
A lot of the ingredients in homemade natural skincare products are already derived from plants. Plant-based oils and butters are the main stars of many recipes, on my website as well.
Likewise, most of the lotion massage bars I’ve shared so far are naturally vegan, like my Coffee Bean Lotion Bars and my Cinnamon Roll Lotion Bars.
But I wanted to give you an alternative recipe for the classic beeswax lotion bar.
Although beeswax is NOT made from bees, so it’s okay for vegetarians, it’s still a product made BY bees. This means it has a similar status as eggs from chickens or dairy from cows.
Beeswax is a very common ingredient in homemade skincare and beauty products.But there are other plant-based waxes you can choose from, like jojoba wax, candelilla wax and carnauba wax.
Ingredient #1: Carnauba wax
The most common plant-based alternatives for beeswax are candelilla wax and carnauba wax. I chose carnauba wax because it’s cheaper and therefore makes a more cost effective lotion bar.
Carnauba wax is made from the leaves of a Brazilian palm tree. That’s why it’s sometimes also referred to as Brazil Wax.
This wax is often used in cosmetics as it’s a shiny wax that helps products harden.
You generally need less Carnauba wax than beeswax in a recipe.
That’s the only ingredient we’re discussing in this category. All of the other ingredients are plant-based, so vegan by nature!
How To Make Lotion Bars Non Greasy
Another major concern when making your own lotion bars is how to make them non greasy.
Lotion bars, although amazing and efficient, can leave a bit of a sticky, greasy film on your skin.
These lotion bars are deliberately made with ingredients that are known to be quick to absorb by the skin and therefore won’t leave as much of a greasy film.
Ingredient #2: Mango Butter
Mango butter might not be as well known as bigger sisters cocoa butter and Shea butter, but it does the job just as much.
Better yet, it’s considered a ‘drier’ butter. This means it doesn’t feel as greasy to the touch.
If you’re looking for an alternative for mango butter, you can try avocado butter as well.
Ingredient #3: Grape seed Oil
Most lotion massage bars consist of a wax, butter and oil. We’ve found our wax and our butter, now it’s time to pick an oil.
There are many options you can choose from when picking an oil. I went with one of my favorite oils: grape seed.
Grape seed oil is absorbed pretty quickly into the skin, making it an excellent choice for a fast absorbing lotion bar recipe.
Ingredient #4: Clay
Next up is a not so common ingredient: clay. A lot of lotion recipes use corn starch or arrow root powder to absorb some of the greasiness.
Instead, I used a different all natural ingredient: clay.
I used French green clay and pink Australian clay for my lotion bars. The green clay was perfect to add some color to the cacti lotion bars. And I chose pink clay for the flowers.
If you don’t want to add color to your lotion bars you can go with white kaolin clay instead.
Keep in mind that despite our use of less greasy ingredients, these lotion bars are still an oil-based product. These will always have that slightly oily feel when you apply it on your skin. If this worries you, opt for a water-based lotion DIY recipe instead.
The reason why I chose to make a lotion massage bar is because I wanted to share a simple, easy to make recipe with a few all natural ingredients and without the need to add preservatives!
Non greasy Vegan Lotion Bar Recipe
No more itchy, dry legs! Make your own non greasy lotion bars with simple, all natural and vegan ingredients. These travel size massage bars are perfect for hot Summer days.
Materials
Instructions
- Measure the carnauba wax and mango butter and add to the double boiler.
- Let the wax and butter melt over medium heat. Stir occasionally until all of the wax is dissolved into the melted butter.
- Leave the doubler boiler on the heat and keep stirring while you add the clay, grape seed oil, vitamin E oil and essential oils.
- Once everything is combined take it off the heat and pour the mixture into flexible silicone molds.
- Wait 1 to 2 hours or until set to pop the lotion bars out of their molds.
Notes
- Store lotion bars in an airtight container and keep in a cool, dry and dark place.
- Normally you add the vitamine E and essential oils during the 'cool down' phase (when you've taken the double boiler off the heat. I've found that the wax starts to flake when you do this. Add these ingredients last and take the mixture off the heat as soon as you can.
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