How to Make Your Own Nourishing DIY Lotion Bar

Crafting your own personal care products can be simple and fun. Ditch the toxic waste with this simple and easy DIY lotion bar recipe!

Lotion bars was the very first swap I did. My legs were always so dry and itchy and nothing I could find helped or it was so greasy and gross.

I was starting to learn about ingredients in products and being the cost-effective person that I am, learning how to make my own non-toxic lotion just made sense.

These lotion bars are so nourishing! As with anything homemade, you can customize them to your needs.

It was also through this recipe that my eyes were opened to essential oils and what they really are.

The Truth Behind the Ingredients

One of the most fcommon ingredients found in lotions is:

• Fragrance/Parfum/perfume

If you have any products with this listed on the ingredients, dump it in the trash now. Ok, well at least write it down so you can start looking for alternatives or pop them in the comments and I can offer some suggestions!

Synthetic fragrance is made up of a plethora of toxic ingredients that are more than harmful to your health. They consist of known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, skin irritants and more. If you have any kind of health issues, find the products with fragrance listed as an ingredient.

Essential Oils in Skincare Products

When you look at DIY recipes for pretty much any skincare product, you will find a request for essential oils. But what are essential oils?

At least, that’s what my husband asked me that sent me on a massive hunt to learn more about them and how they’re produced as an ‘ingredient’.

What I found may surprise some of you – it certainly surprised me!

Essential oils aren’t as ‘natural’ as they seem. Far from it in fact. They can actually have the very fragrances youre trying to get away from, in them.

They should just be one ingredient, right? Well, the essential oil market has taken off quite a bit in the last decade.

I could go on and on on this topic because it involves something that gets me fired up – corporate greed and bastardizing something nature made to help us humans, into something that can be patented, made cheaper, and sold to the unaware consumers. All to capture the market that’s trying to get away from processed goods that are making them sick and find a route to heal.

The essential oil industry is unregulated except by pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies lobby the FDA and other government organizations to stop the use of words that they are apparently only allowed to use, like ‘heal’ or ‘antibacterial’, even though there are thousands of studies and evidence to support these traits in plants and their essential oils.

All that to say, labels on essential oil bottles basically mean nothing. “Natural” “organic” “100% Pure” these are all unregulated marketing terms. They mean crap.

To find out the real truth, you just have to know a little bit of the basics on how essential oils are made, and call and ask the companies yourself.

That’s what I did. I dove in (nerd alert!) and loved every minute of it! I didn’t know the big players in the industry, I didn’t know squat. I learned how most oils are made and I learned how they should be made – a way I aligned with and wanted for my oils. Then I started calling and asking questions.

What I found is out of the companies I surveyed, 99.9% of them couldn’t tell me where they sourced their oils, how they were distilled, how they were grown, or what testing methods they used. Or the answers provided used third party suppliers, chemical solvents, and methods that destroyed the therapeutic properties of the essential oils.

Not the kind of quality I want in my products.

Health Issues Masked by Lotions

Our skin needs to breathe. Coating it in petroleum based products, while it may seem to ease the discomfort in the beginning, it actually dries out your skin. This causes a cyclical need to continue using interventions to “heal” your dry skin.

The real problem is the root cause, which most doctors won’t go after because they aren’t taught to. Instead they are taught different treatments to “relieve” the symptoms – the symptoms of which are your body’s cry for help.

Find The Root Cause

Medicine and healing should be about the root cause, not chasing symptoms and using a bandaid method to stop the symptoms. Those symptoms are signals from your body that all us not well.

Your skin is one of the last places an internal issue will actually reflect. Its a last ditch, last resort cry for help! It’s an incredible resource for tracking those symptoms back to a root cause, which is always treatable.

One of the main root causes of dry skin is a thyroid imbalance.

Your thyroid is connected to your hormones and your hormones literally control everything in your body. The way you think, your sex drive, digestion, how your cells replicate – everything.

Thyroid issues are often missed, misdiagnosed, or the treatment is offthe standard western medical system has glaring missing pieces to proper thyroid function and health. But I’ll spare you the rant on that!  

What is a Thyroid Imbalance

Thyroid imbalance is not a strict set of symptoms but rather a large, seemingly random unconnected range of issues, where you just may feel “off”.

• Unexplained weight gain/loss
• Fatigue/trouble sleeping
• Anxiety/depression
• Panic attacks
• Tremors
• Muscle weakness
• Digestive issues
• Heart palpitations
• Feel too hot/cold
• Dry/itchy skin
• Hair loss/fine brittle hair
• Excessive sweating
• Difficulty concentrating/remembering
• Constipation
• Heavy/irregular periods
• Irritable

If you’re looking at this list and going, “oh sh*t, that might be me!”, congratulations! You can start to unpack your health by knowing a potential root cause. I recommend you see a naturopathy doctor for guidance and proper tests.

If any of this resonated with you and caused you to maybe start thinking about what products you’re using or what impact they might be having on you, then let me give you a big giant hug!

You’re on the right track! And you’ve got someone in your corner that has been in your shoes. Remember my itchy, dry skin? Solved by learning all of this (and more), just from trying to make my own non-toxic lotion!

Homesteading has helped me heal. Learning to make this recipe was a stepping stone to realizing I could live a different, better life. And I hope it will do the same for you!

I’ve got loads of resources, life experience and tools for natural healing of your body, and switching out harmful toxins. All you have to do is ask.

I answer all my messages and emails personally and would be happy to help you, for free! I want you to be well ❤

DIY Lotion Bar Recipe

Supplies

For this recipe you’re going to use approximately equal parts of the first three ingredients. There’s no need to be exact, it’s supposed to be fun and simple! If you like you lotion a little softer, lessen the beeswax.

Start with about 1 oz of each to make about a 3 oz bar. If you like it, make more!

• Shea butter
• Coconut oil
• Beeswax
• Removeable moulds or parchment paper lined dish
• Vitamin E (optional) (a few drops to 1 tsp)
• Essential oils (optional) (1-3 drops per bar)

Instructions

• Melt together equal parts shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax. Add Vitamin E (optional)
• Pour into your moulds.
• Once they start to get cloudy, add your essential oils to each mould and swirl with a toothpick.
• Place mould in the fridge to harden or leave on the counter.
• Pop out lotion bars and enjoy!

You can adjust the measurements as you like. The beeswax adds stiffness so if you’d like a softer bar, reduce your amount.

Tip: place your empty mould in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

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