Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Set up a double boiler with the water at a gentle simmer, making sure the top bowl does not touch the water.
- Add the oil, shea butter, and beeswax to the top of the double boiler and stir now and then until everything has melted together.
- Take the mixture off the heat. If using essential oil, stir it in 10 drops at a time, up to about 25 drops.
- Pour the mixture into lotion bar molds, or into a muffin tin lightly greased with a neutral oil.
- Let the bars set at room temperature for about 1 hour, or refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Pop the bars out of the molds. Use right away or store them in tins somewhere cool.
Notes
Yield: One batch weighs about 4 1/2 ounces (52 grams oil, 44 grams shea butter, 28 grams beeswax pellets). That fills about two 2 ounce bee molds with a little left over, or four 1 ounce molds.
Ratio: Keep the oil, butter, and beeswax in equal parts by volume and you can scale the recipe up or down.
Firmer bars: Measuring by volume makes a fairly soft bar. For a firmer bar in warm weather, use equal weights of oil, butter, and beeswax, or add up to half again as much beeswax.
Softer bars: Use a little less beeswax, or swap some of the shea for mango butter.
Essential oils: Add them only to the melted mixture, 10 drops at a time, up to about 25 drops per batch (0.5 to 1 percent). Never put them straight on your skin. Leave them out for an unscented bar.
Vegan option: Use candelilla wax in place of beeswax, starting with half as much.
Storage: Keep the bars somewhere cool and away from heat. They keep for 1 to 2 years.