Flowery Lotion Bars
And just like that, another summer comes to an end. The late afternoon is bathed in warmer tones, and temperatures are no longer overwhelmingly hot. These last afternoons have been marked by one of my favorite end-of-summer rituals: the neverending bottling of tomato sauce to fill the pantry shelves, gleaming roasted peppers bathed in olive oil, and more and more pickles. Jars line against each other, and I feel like my best squirrel self.
In the apothecary, herbal oils, tinctures, and botanical syrups are also starting to fill up shelves. I’m straining some of my herbal-infused oils these weeks, which have been infusing for enough time now. Some of my favorites for creative afternoons of skincare concoctions are the ones made from flowers, such as calendula (Calendula officinalis) and rose (Rosa spp.).
Did you make herbal-infused oils this summer, too?
Today, I’m sharing with you one of the easiest skin care preparations you can make with your infused oils… Lotion bars — and more exactly, flower-infused lotion bars! Talk about a little bit of summer in skin care form 🌸
I originally published this recipe in Taproot Magazine (RIP) in 2023, and think this is the perfect season to revisit it.
Calendula and rose are unique and special herbs, worth getting familiar with individually, and both share the same gentle action upon the skin. With anti-inflammatory, astringent, and vulnerary actions, it’s no wonder that they are traditionally called on to support skin issues. What better way to celebrate these joyful and friendly herbs than to bring them together in a nourishing, skin-soothing recipe?
Lotion bars happen to be delightfully easy to make. In fact, many of us herbal experimenters have accidentally created a lotion bar of sorts when making salves for the first time by adding too much beeswax!
The first step in making herbal lotion bars is to prepare an herb-infused oil that you will combine with other moisturizing ingredients and beeswax to achieve the perfect consistency. Lotion bars are solid at room temperature and can be rubbed directly on your skin, or warmed between your hands to coat your palms before giving yourself a soothing massage. They are easy to carry around and, wrapped in some parchment paper and tied with twine or stowed in a small tin jar, they make beautiful gifts!
Flower-infused oil
This recipe calls for rose and calendula, but you could use just one of these herbs or replace them both with skin-soothing herbs that meet your specific needs. If you do not grow herbs yourself, buy them from an organic supplier. Halve or double this recipe as needed. Makes ½ cup.
ingredients
1 heaping tablespoon dried calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)
1 heaping tablespoon dried rose petals (Rosa spp.)
½ cup organic carrier oil of choice, such as olive oil, sweet almond oil, or sunflower oil
Note: To avoid including any residual water in your oil, which will reduce its shelf life, make sure that your herbs are completely dry before infusing them.
directions
Spoon the dried herbs into a clean, dry mason jar and pour the oil over them. Cover tightly with a lid and shake to combine. The herbs should be completely submerged. Add more oil if needed.
Set in a warm, dark place and allow the herbs to infuse into the oil for 4 to 6 weeks, shaking the jar every few days.
Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Strain the infused oil, then gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much oil as possible. Compost the herbs. Transfer the strained oil into a clean, dry jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Infused oil will keep for up to 1 year in a cool, dark place.
Flowery Lotion Bars
Now that your flower-infused oil is ready, it’s time to harness all that scrumptious flower power and make your lotion bars.
Makes five 50 ml bars.
Ingredients
¼ cup flower-infused oil
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup shea butter
½ cup grated beeswax or beeswax pearls
tools & supplies
Double boiler (see note)
Round soap-making silicone molds
Note on tools and supplies: You can improvise a double boiler by placing a Pyrex measuring cup or small saucepan inside a larger pan containing 1 to 2 inches of simmering water.
directions
In the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, combine the infused oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax and stir until melted and combined.
In the meantime, lay out your silicon molds on a stable work surface in a quiet corner.
Carefully pour the melted mixture into the molds. Let it sit, undisturbed, for about 1 hour, until the side of the mold feels hard to the touch.
Gently pull one side of the silicon mold away from the bar, then push up on the bottom of the mold to pop out the lotion bar. Repeat to release all the bars.
Lotion bars will keep for about 1 year in a cool, dark place.
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! Or, if you have other lotion bars recipes up your sleeve that you want to share, I’d love to be inspired by you.
Are you feeling autumn creeping up on you and prefer something a bit spicier (no pun intended!)? I shared these spiced lotion bars a couple of winters ago during a solstice crafting extravaganza. It’s a seasonal favorite as the days get colder and the nights grow longer.
If you’ve been feeling the herbs calling your name and are ready to take your first steps into the world of herbalism (or deepen your knowledge!), I’d love to highlight that Herbal Academy’s Back-to-School Sale is here and ends September 10. This is one of their biggest sales of the year, so it is a really good time to take advantage of the extra accessible pricing and sign up for one of these online and self-paced courses. I always love sharing about these sales because it was during an offering like this I took the plunge into the Intermediate Herbal Course, with a payment plan, and never looked back.
Also, if you enroll in any course during this sale, you’ll unlock access to a bonus portal that includes a decade’s worth of their ebooks (you’ll find recipes or photos from yours truly in one or two of these ebooks, actually! 🥰)
I love being part of this vibrant herbal community, both as a student and a team member — let’s be study buddies?
Photo taken for The Herbal Academy
