Easy 3-Ingredient Beeswax Lotion Bar Recipe (Non Greasy)
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Most homemade lotion recipes involve quite a few ingredients, blenders, and more mess than I’d prefer to clean up. These lotion bars are the opposite of that. All you need for these hard lotion bars is three ingredients – plus a pot and molds. That’s it!
You can even use muffin tins if you don’t have other molds, since the bars use all-natural ingredients. We have troubleshooting tips, packaging ideas, printable labels, and substitutions to help you customize your bars.
Table of Contents
What is a Lotion Bar?
A lotion bar is simply lotion in solid form. At room temperature, it stays firm. When you hold it in your hands or rub it on your skin, your body heat softens it just enough to glide on smoothly.
They coat and protect the skin, and are especially helpful for:
- Hands
- Heels
- Elbows
- Dry patches
The basic formula includes:
- Wax (beeswax) – gives structure and creates a protective barrier
- Butter (cocoa butter or shea butter) – deeply nourishing
- Oil (coconut oil or olive oil) – helps soften and spread easily
Together, they create a barrier that helps reduce moisture loss without feeling overly heavy.
You can also add vitamin E for longer shelf life and essential oils if you’d like a light scent or added skin support. If you enjoy working with herbs, you can infuse herbs into oil and then make the lotion bar with the infused oil.
How to Use a Lotion Bar
Using a lotion bar is simple. Hold the bar in your hands for a few seconds to warm it slightly. If your hands are cold, you may need to rub it a bit to get it started.
Then:
- Rub the bar directly on dry areas, or
- Rub it on your hands first, then apply where needed
It works especially well right after washing your hands or getting out of the shower.
Do homemade lotion bars really work?
These lotion bars have been wonderful for my winter dry skin.
I used to coat my hands at night with petroleum jelly because it was the only thing that helped. Regular lotions didn’t seem to make much difference. Plus, many of them have fragrances or ingredients I’d rather avoid.
Since I do a lot of dishes and wash my hands frequently, dry skin used to be a constant issue. These bars have been a simple fix. My only regret is that I didn’t try them sooner. The scent is light and pleasant (especially with cocoa butter), and they absorb fairly quickly.
How to Make Lotion Bars at Home – Step by Step
It helps to start with small chunks or shavings so everything melts more quickly.
Place butter, oil and wax in a heavy bottom pot or double boiler. You may also use an Instant Pot on the “keep warm” setting. Gently heat until everything is fully melted.
Remove from heat. Add optional ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E per 12 ounces
- ~10 drops essential oils per 12 ounces
Pour the liquid into molds and let cool completely (several hours) until firm. If you have lip balm tubes, pour the tubes half full and allow the hard lotion to set up slightly, and then finish filling the tubes. I like to set my molds on a baking sheet to keep them level and easy to move around.
12 ounces of product fills one of the pink rectangular bar molds, making six bars. In the photo below I also filled small containers with lids to use as lip balms.
After several hours, the lotion will be firm and hard and should release easily from the mold.
Using Essential Oils (Optional)
Adding essential oils is optional. I skip them because we are sensitive to them. Start small—about 10 drops per 12 ounces.
Some potential combinations:
- Orange + cocoa butter (smells like chocolate orange)
- Peppermint + cocoa butter
- Lavender + shea butter
Keep in mind that cocoa butter already has a natural scent, so choose oils that pair well with it.
Non Greasy Lotion Bars – Troubleshooting Tips
Sometimes lotion bars have a greasy or slippery feel, especially in warm weather. Other times the bars may feel a little tacky or sticky.
- If your bars come out too slippery:
- Remelt and add more beeswax and/or cocoa butter.
- If they are too sticky/tacky:
- Remelt and add more oil.
Warm weather will naturally soften the bars, while cooler temperatures make them firmer. Don’t be afraid to remelt and adjust—this recipe is very forgiving.
You may also want to experiment with different combinations of oils and butters to see if you like those better. (See the Substituting Ingredients section below.)
What kind of beeswax do you use for lotion bars?
I prefer using unrefined beeswax for lotion bars. It has a light honey scent and a natural yellow color. We buy ours in bulk from a local apiary, and then chop off bits as needed for projects.
You can also use:
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
- Beeswax pellets (easier to measure and melt)
- Refined beeswax (white, with less scent)
If you need a beeswax-free option, substitutes include:
- Candelilla wax
- Carnauba wax
- Soy wax
Candelilla and carnauba amounts = roughly half or less than amount of beeswax. Substitute soy wax in equal amounts. Soy wax is hydrogenated, so it’s not my first choice for skin care.
Lotion Bar Molds
I prefer the basic oval bars or rectangular bars, but the boys liked other shapes when they were little. Any heat tolerant mold will work.
You can also use ice cube trays, muffin tins or candy molds. Stick to the basic recipe if you’re using molds that you plan to reuse for food. (Essential oils can leave a lingering scent and/or flavor in the molds.)
Another option is to pour the “bars” into a salve tin with a lid. You can also use a rectangular soap mold to create a bar that will fit into a rectangular tin.
I prefer to pour the bars separately and store them in the tin. It’s easier to apply the hard lotion if you can hold the bar in your hand.
If you use the rectangular bar mold, fill the cavities to about 1/8 inch below the top edge. That way they will fit in the rectangular tin and the lid will close snugly. The molds and tins are in the table below.
My friend, Casey, made up some simple printable labels that fit on the rectangular tins. (See more practical gift ideas here.)
Substituting Ingredients in Your Lotion Bars
One of the nice things about this recipe is how flexible it is. You can combine different butters and oils with good results.
Butters
- Cocoa butter
- Shea butter
- Mango butter (softer bar)
I find shea butter bars to be slightly tackier and slower to absorb. Cocoa butter gives a firmer bar and a scent I prefer.
Oils
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Jojoba oil
- Fractionated coconut oil
I typically use coconut oil or olive oil, depending on what I have on hand.
Other Options
High-quality tallow or lard can also work well for skin care, though you may want to pair them with essential oils for scent.
See The Shelf Life of Oils for a listing of oil longevity. Note that many cooking oils labeled as “olive oil” are vegetable oil blends with olive oil. For best results, use real olive oil.
Packaging Your Lotion Bars
If you make several bars and don’t use them right away, keep the extra bars in a sealed container or bag. This will help preserve the lovely chocolate smell or any essential oils you choose to add.
As mentioned above, the bar molds fit neatly into the tins, which is great for gift giving or everyday use. To keep hard lotion in your purse during warm weather, a sealed container is best. Pour your lotion “bar” into a container with a screw top or other tight fitting lid. Apply it like a beauty cream.
For applying the hard lotion bar to heels or large areas of the body, use a deodorant style container. It makes the bars easier to hold.
It’s handy to make multiple smaller bars so each family member has their own. I learned this from experience when I first starting making hard lotion.
My younger son loved the cocoa smell so much he rubbed it all over himself after he got out of the shower. He even rubbed it in his armpits. I had been using the same bar as a lip balm, too…oops…
The next time I made a batch, I poured some into smaller containers to use as lip balm, and made my son his own special bar.
PrintLotion Bar Recipe (Non Greasy, with Beeswax)
With only three ingredients and one pot, this is the easiest way to make hard lotion bars and could not be more simple to clean as well. They repair your dry skin, smell great without being over powering, and are not greasy.
Ingredients
Use 1 part each, by weight.
- Cocoa Butter or Shea Butter
- Oil, such as Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
- Beeswax
For instance, 2 ounces of each ingredient. If using liquid oil, you can measure by volume. For instance, 2 ounces of olive oil to 2 ounces by weight each of cocoa butter and beeswax.
If you don’t have a scale, you can use a measuring cup to measure by volume. For instance, as one cup cocoa butter, one cup coconut oil and one cup beeswax. This will make a softer bar. For a firmer bar, use one cup butter, a half cup oil and a cup of wax (or similar proportions).
Instructions
- Place butter, oil and wax in a heavy bottom pot or double boiler. You may also use an Instant Pot on the “keep warm” setting. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can make one by placing a glass bowl or wide mouth Mason jar in a small saucepan of water.
- Heat gently, stirring regularly, until ingredients are melted.
- Pour into molds.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from molds. You can chill the bars in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to speed up the process. The finished bars do not require refrigeration.
Notes
Options: Add 1 teaspoon vitamin E per 12 ounces of bar for increased shelf life. Add essential oils of choice after lotion bar mix is removed from heat, before pouring into molds. Start with around 10 drops per 12 ounces of bar.
Remember, with essential oils, a small amount goes a long way. If you’re using cocoa butter, keep in mind how the EO you choose will pair with the scent of chocolate. Mint and orange essential oils are popular pairings with cocoa butter.
You may also make your bars with herb infused oils, such as plantain oil, which is great for skin issues, or dandelion oil, which is wonderful for muscle aches.
Buy Lotion Bars Online
If you’d like to purchase the bars ready made, you can visit the MadeOn Hard Lotion Store here. MadeOn Skin Care products is a family owned small business that creates non-toxic skin and hair care products for all ages.
You can find these ingredients (and containers and molds) at amazon.com (linked within the post), soaperschoice.com, and many other sites around the web.
Keep in mind that two ounces of each ingredient made three bars, so a bulk purchase would make a LOT of bars.
I hope you enjoy this great recipe as much as we do. This one’s a keeper in our house! Please pass the post along if you find it helpful, and leave a comment if you have any questions or ideas.
More Natural Products and Tips
You don’t need chemicals to smell clean. Try these articles instead.
- Easy Homemade Deodorant & The Best Natural Deodorants
- Make Your Own Perfume with Essential Oils
- 6 Ways to Get the Musty Smell Out of Clothes and Towels
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie is a lifelong learner with a passion for natural remedies and holistic healing. She’s successfully improved her eyesight, cleared her psoriasis, and gotten off of prescription medication.
Originally posted in 2012, last updated in 2026.
Hi made som lotion bars today using a different recipe – equal parts shea butter, cocao butter and beeswax, however the bar is very greasy and my hands feel sticky after use. Any way to remelt and remedy it for a better result?
I’ve only used the recipe that I recommend, so I’m guessing on this, but you might try remelting and adding some coconut oil or olive oil. Shea butter and cocoa butter are both quite firm at room temp, and shea butter will finish a little bit tacky (even in my recipe), so the recipe you used is an odd combination of ingredients. I’d probably start 2 parts of your bars to 1 part oil and see if it helps, trying a small sample first before you try to remake a larger batch. For instance, 2/3 cup of your bar liquid, plus 1/3 cup oil.
Thank you. Tried it with the whole batch (because I am impatient) and tackiness is gone. A bit greasy but a much better result. Thank you. Oh and I used the coconut oil.
Glad you were able to salvage it.
Hi Laurie
I made these today with just a slight variation. I used 2oz. each of coconut oil and beeswax. and 1oz each of the cocoa butter and shea butter. The result is very greasy. Could I remelt them and add more beeswax? Would that make them less greasy and if so, how much more beeswax should I add?
I’m not sure what you mean by “greasy”, or how greasy it might be.The shea butter gives the bars a more sticky/tacky feeling than the cocoa butter. If the bars are too soft, you could try adding an extra tablespoon of beeswax and see if you like the feel better. Coconut oil turns to liquid around 75-76 F, so if it’s warm where you are, the bars will need refrigeration or they should be poured into a container and used more like a balm.
Can I use soy wax as an alternative for beeswax? Can I use arrowroot powder and if so how much? And how much eo/fo do I use and Vitamin E? I want to make approx. 40 ounces of total product. Thank you for your time…
You should be able to use soy wax, but it may give a slightly softer and more tacky product than the beeswax. I have no idea about the arrowroot powder, and don’t understand why you wish to add it. With essential oils or fragrance oils, I’d start with just a few drops and see how you like the results. A little goes a long way. If you want to use vitamin E, I’d probably only use one capsule per roughly 4 ounces of product.
Thank you so much for your response, I had used the arrowroot powder for making my old recipe less greasy. I also had some soy wax so thought I would try it. Thank you again for your info.
Hi!
I found your recipe and want to make the bars, but I have one question first. Roughly how long does it take to melt all the ingredients together? I’ve heard it can take forever to melt beeswax and figured I’d come to an expert to get a straight answer. 🙂
It depends on the size of the wax pieces. If it’s shaved or finely chopped, it melts in minutes. Big chunks will take longer.
Hi would this recipe work good in twist up tube containers like chap stick or deodorant tube?
Yes, it should work just fine for that.
In case of a beeswax allergy, do you think that candellila wax would work? I love the idea of a limited ingredient lotion bar, but I break out in a rash from beeswax based products, even those that are completely natural and limited ingredients.
It would probably work, since all it needs to do is act as a thickening and sealing agent.
I am using the Altoid tin rectangular mold. I think you stated that 12 ounces of product would fill one of the rectangular bar molds. So, the recipe for this amount would be 4 ounces each of shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax – is that correct? And if I wanted to add a fragrance for this amount of product, do you know how much essential oil I would add?
Yes, 4 ounces each should do it. As for fragrance, I’d try just a few drops, as EOs are very concentrated.
Hi , I made the bars with shea butter , beeswax and almond oil. They are hard AND sticky. Like they won’t rub onto skin. They are pretty ! But not working . I did put them in freezer/fridge …..
I would love to know what to add or do if I melt them and re-do. I really appreciate it!
Don’t put them in the freezer/fridge. This will make them too hard to use. Keep at room temp.
I used 1 part each but it came out greasy and sticky. If I remelt, which ingredient should I add?
I’d probably try some more beeswax. It should be noted that when it is very warm (80+F) these bars will want to stay soft and are best poured into a container. They have to stay soft at higher temps so they melt when you rub them on your skin.
hiii
can u please help me to buy this. Iam in kuwait
You’d need to contact Made On Hard Lotion directly and see if they can ship to your area.
yes I contacted but they don’t ship to Kuwait. feeling sad for my daughter. she is 9 yrs old and has an extreme dry skin on her hands and legs. she always feel embarrassed when people stare at her dry skin. I thought this bar will help her. But now no idea what to do.
Have you tried changing her diet, too? I’m guessing the air is very dry there, but often dietary changes can affect the skin in a positive way. She may have a sensitivity to one or more things that she’s eating that make her skin worse. I identify the top allergens and the diet I used to heal my skin in this post – https://commonsensehome.com/anti-candida-anti-psoriasis-diet/
Just curious if there is a way to measure by volume instead of by weight?
I’ve always done it by weight (mainly because the beeswax doesn’t pack neatly into a measure), but you could try equal part by volume, let it sit in the pan to harden and check the texture, and adjust if needed before melting and pouring into molds.
What are the exact measurements? It wasn’t very clear to me. . . 🙂 Great looking recipe though!:)
Use 1 part each, by weight. For instance, 2 ounces by weight of each ingredient.
I was wondering if vitamine E EO could be added to these lotion bars.
Do you mean vitamin E as a preservative? A few drop shouldn’t be a problem.
Hi Laurie, I want to make these as favors for my daughters bridal shower. I tried it for the first time yesterday and they were really melty(is that a word?) I think is the coconut oil, should I try a different type, I know there is one that melts at higher temp?
What’s your room temp? I assume you mean the bars are very soft? As far as I know, there’s not much variation of melt temps on coconut oil, although refined coconut oil is often used for cooking because it doesn’t impart a coconut flavor to the dish.
If you want a firmer bar, I’d remelt and add a little more beeswax and/or cocoa butter. The shea butter will give a bar that’s more tacky to the touch.
use essential oils safely. Learn what is safe and what is not.
I’m excited to try out these bars! Do they get soft and melty in hot weather? I always have a jar of coconut oil around for dry skin and it turns liquid in the summer. Just wondering if the other ingredients will keep it solid?
The bars will get softer in warmer weather. I haven’t had any melt entirely, but we keep the house air conditioned below 80 degrees. If you place gets hotter than that, using the tins or pouring them into containers would be safer.
Any recommendations as to how to get lotion bars to release, intact, from plastic soap/candy molds? I have some cute bee-shapes but the shaped part remained in the bottom of the mold. I let them harden about 18 hours. Is it simply a matter of letting them harden longer? Do you stick the mold in the freezer for a bit before gently the product from the mold? Any recommendations would be appreciated. 🙂
I didn’t do anything special to get mine out, just let them harden on the counter overnight. Cocoa butter will be less sticky than shea butter, so using cocoa butter may work better for detailed molds. It wouldn’t hurt anything to try the freezer, too, to make sure they’re completely set (but they will get more brittle when cold).
Going to give this one a try for sure!
Okay, I am REALLY “green” (as in uneducated about such things!)–you DON’T use water, right? After washing, just put this on, as you would use lotion?
When you want to use the bars, you just rub them on your skin, like you would a liquid lotion. The heat of your skin will melt the bars. Think of applying lip balm. The consistency will be similar.
i’ve tried to find out what the capacity of the linked tins are. the description gives the dimentions but not how many ounces they hold. do you know?
Not without doing the math, which I’ve never bothered to tackle.
I just made up a batch, and you are right, the kid wanted to eat it! I used cocoa butter, coconut oil, and beeswax. Going on it feels rather greasy, but soaks in over time. I wonder if using a more liquid oil, like olive, would reduce this or make it more greasy? Also, can grapeseed oil be used? Also, I am experimenting with adding raw honey. So far, it doesn’t seem to incorporate well. Any thoughts?
I didn’t notice a huge difference in absorption rates between olive oil and coconut oil. Grapeseed oil is very high in omega 6 fatty acids and oxidizes rapidly at room temp, so I don’t personally use it very much. To use honey, you’d probably need to add only a tiny bit, or experiment with some sort of emulsifier, but that could have other effects on the bars.