Lotion Bars!
My most recent DIY project was lotion bars! I have a sweet almost 2 year old niece who has SEVERE eczema, and we are constantly searching for new ways to soothe her itchy skin. After some marathon Google searching, I stumbled upon the concept of lotion bars...and fell in love! They melt just enough when you rub them on your skin to moisturize and protect, but they're solid so it's easier for itchy baby to help use them.
I used this recipe from Wellness Mama as a guide, but as usual I did a little free-styling. I used 2 parts Shea Butter, 2 parts Beeswax, and 1 part Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Since this was a sample batch, 1 part for me was equal to about 1/4 of a cup. After melting the Shea, EVOO and Beeswax together in a "double boiler" (read "glass measuring cup inside a pot") I let it cool until it got slightly solid-ish (so technical.) Then I added some Vitamin E Oil. This part was tricky since I only had Vitamin E CAPSULES...so I poked one end of them with the world's smallest screw driver and squeezed the oil out. I am not recommending this method. However, it worked. After stabbing my fingers repeatedly, I mean adding the Vitamin E, I added about 10 drops of dÅTERRA Frankincense Essential Oil. It's important to add the essential oils after letting the goo cool so that you don't lose any of the awesome therapeutic properties. Then I spooned the slightly liquid awesomeness into a muffin tin to set up. I came back to them once or twice to smooth out the part facing up since they were looking a little rough. An hour or so later I popped them out and felt accomplished! It took almost a full day for them to really set up well, but they were usable as soon as I got them out of the tin.
There you have it! You now can be as good as I am at making lotion bars. Well, I hope you are better!
Hazel
