These gorgeous DIY lotion bars are made with nourishing coconut oil and mango butter and scented with floral fragrance oils. They are a great homemade gift idea for Mother’s Day, a birthday, Valentine’s Day or a bridal shower. Make them in several color and scent combinations to create a bouquet of flower-shaped lotion bars.
Of all the homemade bath and beauty products I’ve made, I think these DIY lotion bars might be my favorite.
Gorgeous, right? And they smell like some of my favorite spring and summer flowers. Plus, they feel amazing on your skin.
While they may look like flower-shaped soaps, they’re actually a solid lotion. But when you hold the DIY lotion bars in your hands and rub them on your skin, the oil begins to melt and the bar softens. Then you can get all those skin-nourishing benefits of the oils and natural butters used to make them.
Because they’re solid, lotion bars are great for travel. They’re also fun to use as part of a massage.
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How to Make DIY Lotion Bars
To make these pretty flower-shaped DIY lotion bars, I used these silicon cake molds: the Mini Flower Cake Silicon Mold and the Flowers Silicon Treat Mold from Michael’s. If you can’t find these exact molds, you’ll find lots of other options online.
The pink mold I used makes six 4-ounce DIY lotion bars. The smaller blue mold makes six 3-ounce lotion bars. The recipes below are formulated for those particular molds. If you use a different mold, you may have to adjust the ingredient amounts. (Time to dust off those math skills!)
Recipe for six 4-ounce DIY Lotion Bars (Using the pink Mini Flower Cake Silicon Mold)
- 7.8 ounces coconut oil
- 7.8 ounces mango butter or cocoa butter
- 7.8 ounces beeswax pastilles
- .6 ounces flower fragrance oil (here’s a great set with lots of different floral scents)
- .6 ounces color block (I made three separate batches of DIY lotion bars and used Shimmer Magenta, Fizzy Lemonade and Shimmer Queen’s Purple from Brambleberry)
Using a digital scale, measure out all your ingredients.
Cut the color block into small pieces so it will melt quicker.
Combine the coconut oil, mango butter or cocoa butter and beeswax pellets in a medium glass measuring cup. Microwave in 30-second increments, until the beeswax is completely melted. Stir well after every 30 seconds, to blend and help with the melting.
Add the color block and stir until it is completely melted and incorporated with other ingredients. If necessary, you may need to return the measuring cup to the microwave for 10 or 20 seconds.
Once the color block is melted and fully blended, add fragrance oil and stir to combine.
Pour into silicon molds and allow to cool for several hours, or overnight, before removing them carefully from the molds.
I love how you can see flecks of fine glitter in the lotion bars made with the shimmer color blocks.
Recipe for six 3-ounce DIY Lotion Bars (Using the blue Flower Silicon Treat Mold)
- 6 ounces jojoba oil
- 6 ounces mango butter
- 5.4 ounces beeswax pastilles
- .6 ounces color block (I used Shimmer Queen’s Purple from Brambleberry)
- .3 ounces fragrance oil
Using a digital scale, measure out all your ingredients.
Cut the color block into small pieces so it will melt quicker.
Combine the jojoba oil, mango butter and beeswax pellets in a medium glass measuring cup. Microwave in 30-second increments, until the beeswax is completely melted. Stir well after every 30 seconds, to blend and help with the melting.
Add the color block and stir until it is completely melted and incorporated with other ingredients. If necessary, you may need to return the measuring cup to the microwave for 10 or 20 seconds.
Once the color block is melted and fully blended, add fragrance oil and stir to combine.
Pour into silicon molds and allow to cool for several hours, or overnight, before removing them carefully from the molds.
The DIY lotion bars made with jojoba oil are a bit firmer than those made with coconut oil, and they don’t have that nutty coconut scent. But they both work should equally well for moisturizing your skin.
You can leave the lotion bars out, sitting on a pretty plate or soap dish. But don’t leave a lotion bar sitting on a piece of furniture or carry one around loose in your purse. Remember, they are oily to the touch!
You can store these DIY lotion bars wrapped in parchment, plastic or fabric bags. Or you can use candle tins; just be sure to check that the bar will fit in the tin.
You may enjoy these other homemade beauty products:
Summer Days Coconut Oil Lotion
Dry Skin Treatment Lotion Bar Tubes
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