Homemade Lotion {Bars}

A few of my kiddos have skin issues in the colder months. When Bradley was little he would get these dark red patches in his elbows, behind his knees- and as he has gotten older, his hands crack open and bleed on his knuckles, poor kid. Megan does too. I was grateful for a practical doctor that just had us mix Aquaphor and a tube of Hydrocortisone Cream together and that was as good as any prescription we tried, and that did the trick. But honestly- hydrocortisone is a steroid. Do I really want to put that on their skin for 5 straight months? Not really....

When I made the Whipped Body Butter, I learned some things. Did you know it takes a minimal 26 seconds for most substances to be absorbed into the skin? Thus a major reason for rethinking hydrocortisone cream and other options this winter. 

I have been on the hunt for lotion "bars" per say. I have come across a lot, and most use beeswax. Not a fan of bees wax here. Number one, I cannot stand the smell. Blame it on a horrible pregnancy- I have post traumatic stress when I smell it! Lol! Since people have bee allergies or are vegan and I might give some of these as gifts, I looked for an alternative. I went on a search. There is cocoa butter, candelillia wax, and then I found some info on Kokum Butter. Kokum butter helps to regenerate skin cells. It has the ability to soften and soothe dry, irritated or burned skin. It helps to prevent dry skin, and it reduces fine lines and wrinkles. It is also a great option for sensitive skin. And there is the added awesome factor that it absorbs and leaves the hands feeling non-greasy in a matter of minutes. Awesome, I am sold! Not to mention it is really cost effective to make it at about $8/ batch. And with 6 people in our family using it almost daily, it is lasting about 2 months per batch. (Yes, we have 7 in our family, but my husband can't be convinced to use any form of lotion, period! Lol!)

I have really enjoyed learning to make home made products! If anything, it is really fun to see what you can do for yourself. It has also been really interesting to see how these homemade products affect us without all the preservatives and unnecessary chemicals. My husband has been telling me my hands are really soft. Being a mom, where dishes, cleaning, and hand washing are mandatory- I will take it this stuff is really working! 

I have to give a little disclaimer. I have been doing a couple of batches of trial and error recipes for the last 4 months. Once you use the bars to a point, they kind of break? (Thus the reason I feel like I cannot state this is for bars). So I started to put them into little jars. The cooled consistency is like a hard clay, but when it comes in contact with the skin it melts after a couple seconds. So the jars makes it nice. I keep one in my night stand drawer for use as I am going to bed.

Homemade Lotion

1/2 C. Coconut Oil

1/2 C. Shea Butter

1 1/4 C. Kokum Butter

1 tsp  Vitamin E Oil or Omega Oil

40 drops Essential Oils (or less depending on how strong you want your scent)

Note: Kokum butter and Shea butter have stronger smells. That is why I used 40 drops of essential oils, but you can do as you wish.***

 
This is the Kokum Butter. It smells like crayons to me. :) It is just kind of crumbles in the container. The large chunks will take the longest to melt.
     

I use this kind of Omega oil. It lasts a long time when you are using it in skin care products.

So we are gonna do the double boiler method again. Remember, a pan of boiling water under the pan with the ingredients? I use mason jar rings to keep the top pan up off direct heat.

Stirring things around regularly helps them melt faster. Combine all the ingredients except the essential oils.

Depending on how large your chunks of Kokum Butter are will depend on the melting time. Once it is all melted, add the essential oils and stir.

Pour into silicone molds. This one is for soaps. Each rectangle measures 3" x 1 1/2"x 1". It takes almost overnight for everything to really set up. I made mine about 3 pm and at about 9 pm I tried to pop one out and it was like I didn't use enough hard ingredients, but in the morning, it was all good. If you notice your bars do not come out hard enough you can always melt it all down, add  more kokum butter, and try it again.

Next time I think I will increase the Kokum Butter to 1 2/3 c. to see if it will make them harder. I will keep you updated when I find the answer to keeping them in bar form. But until then, this stuff really works! My bestie gets really dry hands to and I gave some to her. When it was gone she called to hit me up for more. My kids also haven't had any cracked or bleeding skin since using this!