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”
that looks very nice! was wondering where you got your slicer. It’s perfect for soap!
My sister in law sent this to me for my birthday, it is a fantastic soap cutter!.. I will ask her where she got it.. c
Give me a shopping order, Celi, and I’ll send you what you need.
What a wonderful idea.. Do you know of anywhere that sells some of these things in large jars? We need to do some research. I can always come up on the train and we can meet somewhere for a glass of wine and I can pay you for them..I see a plan hatching! c
There is an herbal store ( west of here where you catch the shuttle and old 66 goes through). It is in the downtown area across from the courthouse.
Ah yes, you are right connie, I need to investigate that store, at the very least she will have the Vit E capsules… c
That looks and sounds yummy. Yes, lanolin can be a problem for some skins. Could you use almond oil? And where can you grow a jojoba nut tree on the farmy?
I must find some sweet almond oil.. i have found that in a number of recipes! c
I got mine in the pharmacy in Seychelles, 20 years ago, and I still have a dribble in the bottom of the bottle.
I will be a customer! Oh and rose petal oil mmmm. You have natural bees wax also.. Here she comes folks….And to think we knew her when 🙂
yes to the beeswax, used the last of that up on soap just the other day (sad face) but hopefully there will be more, lets cross our fingers for the bees!.. c
Go go go!!! And make sure that you find a way to ship to Italy!! I’m ready. I have HORRIBLY sensitive dry skin. Nothing, but nothing works very well. Well, some things, but very very few. So I am very happy about this!
I will keep working on it, it is so convenient as a bar too, no pumping or packaging or waste.. c
I love the idea of no packaging and no waste best of all.
It’s on my list to play around with stuff like this. And I’d want to make something like this because my family suffers as you do with dry cracked skin. Can be so painful!
My heels are the worst, I tip toe about! cold makes it worse too.. c
Oh ouch. Winter can be harsh in so many ways.
Mine too!!!!! I file them with a drexel drill!!! 😉 Pumice was taking too long!!! I have to soak them to soften them!! They actually hurt! Cracked heels!! It is a ocld country disease!!! I am sure of it! 😉
Ooh! I had not heard of the fad of using lard in soap. When my great-grandmother made soap, she used lard. Nothing new under the sun, is there?
The Old Codger calls it Laundry soap!! he thinks I am mad going backwards but often says how annoyed he is that they threw out all the old tools, for the milk room and the kitchen and the workshop, we could do with them nowadays.. c
Just reading the recipe feels luxurious! where would I find jojoba oil?
I had to get it on the internet, it is very good for the skin, I use it on my face. c
I use it on my scalp!!! Makes my hair glorious!!! So does the grapeseed oil!!! 🙂 I order from a health food store in Redwood City, CA!
Here on the farm I make goat milk soap for profit. It keeps my girls in hay and feed. I, too get very confused with the soap to lye calculators that are online. I use tallow balm as an all over body “lotion”. It is very simple to make: tallow melted and essential oils added. I do not use lard as it does give you a much softer product and beef tallow is supposed to be more readily absorbed by our skin. I have kept the balm in a squatty canning jar on the counter in the bathroom for more than a year (a little goes a long way) and it has not spoiled.
I look forward to getting some tallow to work with, but it will be a long long time, as Queenie my beef heifer does not calve until next year! And then only if it is a steer. I have the lard though.. c
I get mine from the local butcher shop for 50 cents a pound. I use it in my soap making as well. I have no cows at this time. I plan to own at least one in the spring. Love, love reading your daily entries.
C. your customer list just grew by one more…ME! Can’t wait to try Cinder’s Dry Skin Body Lotion Bar! Mountain Rose Herbs has a really nice line of organic oils, herbs, etc. if you can’t find one you’re looking for…that is until Our John makes his own! That is so cool he’s doing that…will he be using his oils for cooking, patting on his skin, making candles??
Your house is going to smell wonderful on oil, soap, and lotion making day!!
I would love to find a good rose scent, i shall look them up, thank you Chris.. c
Can you grow Calendula Herb (flowers) in summer? If so get Our John on distilling some calendula oil – wonderful for dry skin 🙂 Laura
yes i can, I will get some seeds and sow a planting of them this year. what an excellent idea. And it is so prolific that we should be able to grow enough! You need lots of flowers for a little oil Thank you Laura! c.
Calendula is what you need for your poor heels; you put on a fairly generous amount wrap glad wrap around your heel, then enclose in a sock for the night.
Soubds absolutely wonderful! How did you lemon soap turn out a while back? I did a day with a local lady in Spain this year who did a workshop on distilling plants and herbs to make oil – she had some amazing old copper stills, I really wanted one too!
Your lemon soap is curing as we speak, it takes 4 weeks. However my last batch is so much better I am tempted to wait to send you that one.. c
Ah you are so kind – but it will cost a fortune to mail. I am happy just to think of you using and enjoying it 🙂
I don’t think it will cost too much, and i will enjoy knowing that one of my soaps is in a Spanish bathroom.. c
Ah, thank you!
I wonder if some grapefruit seed extract would do for a preservative? I used to make my own hair gel with it and some flaxseed oil, and I used a few drops to preserve a2 ounce bottle. Never had a problem with it turning. I found it at Whole Foods but I’m sure it is available online. Online ordering, a gift for the modern homesteader!
I came across this in my reading too, I might invest in some, it seems you don’t need much.. c
Man oh man I can not wait to see our gardens grow 🙂
I am with you on that one.. already it feels like we have had a long winter.. c
I know when injuries and cold join together nothing is fun 🙂
Seedlings to start will keep us busy and and checking off the days till the ground is no longer frozen 🙂
Have a Beautiful New Year
HUGS
Grapefruit seed extract is a great preservative, along with Vitamin E. Try MajisticMountainSage (MMS) or Organic Creations for bulk oils and butters online. Also Wellington Fragrance for bulk essential oils.
Excellent .. thank you Emily.. c