There is lot of Maths in making soap. Mathematics has never been my strong point.
Luckily there are sites to calculate these things. But you still need to know whats what. Each oil has a different make up and use. My children and I have very dry skin so I am working on designing a soap for dry skin sufferers.
And in the meantime I am starting to make soap that may be good enough to sell. I take notes on every batch and it has started looking great.
Everytime I make soap I end up with soft well oiled hands so yesterday I thought, why not make a body lotion bar. I read around and there is lots of talk about using pasture raised lard or tallow to make lotion bars for the skin.
The most popular seems to be one part lard/tallow, one part shea butter, one part cocoa butter or coconut oil then fragrance. Well of course I don’t have any shea butter left and no cocoa butter and yesterday we had freezing drizzle on and off, and ice falling out of the sky all day so I was not going anywhere to buy any even if i could find any round here. So I just set to and did the maths and created a new lotion bar.
Celi’s Dry Skin Body Lotion Bar
- 1 cup melted lard (allow to sit warm for a while with a vanilla pod – for obvious reasons)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon lanolin
- 1 tablespoon jojoba oil
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil.
- dash of lavender (right at the end)
This one has too much liquid oil in it so it is a bit soft. The recipe needs refining. But my skin loves it. I mean really loves it.
Because I did not have any Vitamin E or anything to preserve this, it will need to be kept in the fridge. (Plus if I leave it lying about I am fairly sure that Boo and Marmalade will eat it). Once it was cooler I poured it into a mold, when quite cold I cut it into bars and stored them in a tin in the fridge. I took a chunk and rubbed it into my skin after my bath last night and it is fantastic. (The trick is to rub the lotion into your skin while your skin is still wet from the bath, then pat dry) Just holding it melts the outside of the bar nicely so you can smooth it all over your skin. My hands and feet crack and bleed in this cold, cold weather, so I look forward to seeing if this makes a difference.
Plus I secretly put some on my face and it took years off me, I look Twenty-Twelve!! Not.
Do not put a lid on your lotion until it is absolutely cold, it will evaporate while cooling and the droplets of water may stimulate mould. There are no chemicals or preservatives in this remember.
When I get more shea butter I will certainly add that. Not exactly sustainable but ah well. Time for another trip to Chicago. But no more buying expensive lotions. Life just keeps getting simpler and simpler.
Did I tell you that Our John requested a still for distilling his own essential oils, for Christmas. It is presently set up in the cellar, looking very Mad Scientist-ish. And this year I am planting 100 lavender plants all around the front of the house.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
98 responses to “Making soap and body lotion on a cold day”
What a wonderful project! As someone who cooks and gardens and cleans and washes a LOT of dishes, my cracked and bleeding knuckles are crying out for some of your lotion…
I need to make some more, so I can share! c
I’ve read somewhere that for some people with sensitive skin/allergies that lanolin could be a problem. I use coconut oil and love it on hair and skin. Morning miss c…
In that case I had better make a lanolin free one, though I am the allergy/ sensitive skin girl and lanolin is wonderful on my skin. I think if you look hard enough you will find someone allergic to just about anything.. c
I wish I could send you some of the delicious smells I can grow here. Frangipani, ginger lily, murraya, star jasmine, angel trumpets, brunfelsia. Your John would have a field day with his beautiful still. My lovely scented soy candles need to go into the fridge every so often as they liquefy in the heat we’re having just now. Inside a sealed plastic bag, of course, otherwise they’d make the food taste very odd indeed.
You are living in a wonderland of scents.Heady. Plus you have a longer summer, we have such short summers. I would love a tropical garden.
I would love a tropical garden also!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
¸.•*¨*•♪♫♫♪HAPPY NEW YEAR ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
I wanted a tropical garden all my life, and now I’m living the dream! But no-one told me about the grasshoppers…
Oooohhhhh!!! How lovely!!!! I love Jasmine and Frangipani!!!! Yum!!!! You must smell like a beautiful garden wherever you go! 😀 It is the same thing as Plumeria!!! Moths love it as it draws them for pollination!!! 😉 Men too!!! 🙂 They smell beautiful at night!!!
The jasmine is especially strong at night. But I think my favourite of all is the ginger lily, which has an undertone of spice.
Good enough to eat! That should go on your labels 😉
Exactly!! Labels! c
I whipped 1 cup solid coconut oil with 1 tsp. vitamin E oil and use if on my skin after my shower — I keep it in a jelly jar in the bathroom — stays solid but melts into skin easily!
Just the stuff! I need to find some VitE too it is good stuff.. c
Sounds Wonderful.
(I couldn’t do without my Lavender essential oil – it’s my cure-all for everything).
Clarins charge a fortune for something similar in oil form. They also do solids sold in Switzerland but can’t find it in the UK.
I know, but clarins does smell better!.. c
Okay, so I read that first sentence as “There’s a lot of METH,” and I wondered what dear Celi was up to. Now it makes more sense, although the distillery in the cellar…
I would love to try your lotion. If you set up an Etsy shop or sell directly from your blog, I will buy it!
Math Heather, MATH! I never thought of an etsy shop, hmm. I did try to set one up once but there is so much else!.. c
Here in Oz there are a few regulations about selling handmade soaps and lotions, especially if you’re making from scratch ie being registered to sell and having insurance. I wonder if the US has similar requirements? Your body bar sounds delish!
I am sure i can give away more than i would ever make, these will make wonderful gifts.. c
I agree, giving away or bartering is always very satisfying…and less work than Etsy 🙂
He needs a still to make some Moonshine…lol
Maybe he knows the Baldwin sisters from The Walton’s. They made the “recipe”!! lol
I told john and he laughed! it makes oil an ounce at a time! c
one drop at a time!! ha ha ha .. c
With reference to Mad Dog…mad as usual….you’d be well advised to label the products with a “Do NOT eat” as they look so delicious:)
“Good enough to Eat but DON”T!”.. that’s the one.
OH – I made and EXCELLENT scar balm this summer from cocoa butter and vitamin E. (and that is ALL I used…. it was very waxy, but fabulous) I had some horrible cuts on the top of my toes where I opened a door across the top of them – and after using this mixture on my toes 3 times daily for 3 months – I have only 1 scar.
Homemade is so much better than purchased!
And yes – my dogs did want to eat my waxy balm – so make sure to keep it out of reach.
I look forward to finding some cocoa butter, evidently it smells lovely.. c
Oh it does if you like chocolate.
C, the smell is just divine; I promise you’ll fall in love with it
Love the recipe Celi, and will try it too! xoxoxo
What a satisfying project, Celi! Your soaps sound wonderful. My first thought is how the oils/tallow affect the septic system? I’ll have to research that. When I lived up north I suffered from chapped and cracked skin, and bleeding. In the south we have a bit more humidity but I still have dry skin. I use coconut oil. By the way, math was never my strong point either!
If I do my job right, almost none of it goes down the drain.. I had not thought of the septic system.. I use coconut oil to condition my hair, it is great stuff.. c
Oh my! My hands have been like paper all winter long… Will you be selling these? If so put me down for one or two! In this cold they wont even need special shipping to be refridgerated! I remember my mom makiing lye soap out of lard when I was young. Never thought of doing lotion bars!
Good point about delivering in the Winter!! c
Great photos!