This creamy purple passion lotion bar is a lovely little twist on my classic solid moisturizer recipe. It’s rich, smooth and melts beautifully into the skin, leaving it feeling soft and nourished without any heavy or greasy residue.
What makes this one a bit special is the texture. Thanks to the combination of cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, and kokum butter it glides easily over the skin while still feeling firm and long lasting.
And of course, I couldn’t resist adding a little color and scent to make it feel just that bit more fun and indulgent.
About The Ingredients Im Using
Cetyl Alcohol
Although cetyl alcohol brings most of the thickening to the lotion bar, it’s not the only reason we chose it. Cetyl alcohol helps the bar feel more elegant, it melts into warm skin quickly with no dragging or greasy feeling, all whilst giving good moisturising benefits. Helping the stay hydrated for longer.
Stearic Acid
This brings hardness to the lotion bar so that it doesn’t melt too quickly in your hands or in warmer weather. It also contributes to a slightly thicker, creamier feel when the bar melts onto the skin. Stearic acid also leaves a protective cover on the skin to help lock in moisture.
kokum Butter
This is a dry butter that can sometimes look crumbly. It has a low comedogenic rating of zero, which basically means it will not clog pores. It is suitable for all skin types including oily and acne prone skin.Because it melts quickly into the skin without leaving a greasy residue, you still get all the conditioning benefits of other butters, leaving the skin feeling soft, smooth and hydrated but not oily. Making it the perfect choice for our body butter bar.
Sweet Almond
Sweet almond oil is a lovely, versatile oil that suits most skin types. It’s rich in fatty acids that help soften and condition the skin, leaving it feeling smooth and comfortable. Although it’s a lightweight oil, it has a moderate absorption time, which works really nicely alongside our drier butter. This helps give the lotion bar a little more glide so it spreads easily over the skin rather than feeling draggy.
Camellia Oil
Camellia oil is rich in oleic acid, which helps give the skin a lovely boost of hydration while also supporting the skin’s natural barrier. It’s also packed with antioxidants that help bring tired, dull-looking skin back to life, leaving it feeling soft, smooth and healthy. One of the things we really like about camellia oil is how beautifully it absorbs into the skin. It gives plenty of nourishment but without leaving that heavy or greasy feeling behind, which makes it a lovely choice for skincare products like lotion bars.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E plays two roles in our recipe. Its anti oxidants so it helps to stop the oils in lotion bars from going rancid, giving you extra shelf life. Vitamin E also has gentle soothing and healing properties which is great for dry itchy skin.
Fragrance Oil/Essential oil
This has been added mainly for the aroma, we used a floral scented fragrance oil as we felt it paired nicely with the butterfly mold. Using an essential oil would keep the lotion bar natural and give added benefits. We would have chosen rose geranium or lavender here.
Mica
We’ve used a mica here simply for aesthetic reasons, as we wanted to have a little fun with this one. That said, the bar still looks just as lovely when it’s left in its natural colour.
Substitutions
- Cetyl Alcohol, this is the back bone of the recipe and so i dont think a substitute would work well here.
- Stearic Acid, i would go for a wax such as bees or berry wax. Lower the quantity to about 15g and increase one of the oils such as the sweet almond.
- kokum Butter, mango or cupuacu butter would be good. Shea butter would also work
- Sweet Almond, any heat safe oil you have to hand can be used
- Camellia Oil, any heat safe oil you have to hand can be used
- Vitamin E, this helps preserve the oils. If you are going to use your bars within a couple of months you could leave it out.
- Fragrance Oil, using an essential oil, would be great, something simple like lavender would be lovely with the purple mica.
- Mica, choose a different colour or leave it natural
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- 27 grams Cetyl Alcohol, 42 grams Kokum Butter, 18 grams Stearic AcidWeigh the cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, kokum butter, sweet almond and camillia oil into a clean heatproof container.
- To melt the oils, place the beaker into a water bath ( A shallow saucepan with a couple of inches of simmering water). Give the oils a stir every now and again as they melt. You can also use a microwave on a low heat setting using 30 second bursts, stirring in between blasts. The beaker will be hot so take care when handling it.
- Once melted remove the beaker from the water and stir well. Stir the melted oils until they have cooled to around room temperature.
- 30 grams Sweet Almond Oil, 30 grams Camellia Seed OilNow add the sweet almond and camellia oil into your melted oils.
- 1.5 grams Vitamin E Oil, 1.5 grams Essential Oil or Fragrance OilWhen the oils have cooled it's time to add the vitamin E and the fragrance/essential oil. Stir well to make sure they are fully incorporated.
- 1 pinch Mica PowdersAdd the mica and stir until blended, with no lumps. If you find your oils have started to harden you can gently re melt them until.
- Pour the oils into the mold. Once they have started to skin over, transfer to a refrigerator for an hour until fully hardened.
- When they are solid, the lotion bars can be removed from the mold.
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Final Thoughts
This is one of those lotion bars that feels a little more luxurious than the usual simple blends. It’s smooth, creamy and absorbs beautifully, making it a pleasure to use on a daily basis.
It’s also a great example of how small tweaks to a recipe can completely change the feel of a product. By adjusting the balance of butters, oils and fatty ingredients you can create something that feels really tailored to your skin.
Whether you keep it simple or play around with colors and scents, this is a lovely recipe to come back to whenever your skin needs a little extra care.
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