Making body bars

[kestratroi]

Hi guys. I'd like to try my hand at making body bars, like the ones I love to buy from Lush. So I want to try to duplicate them as much as possible. The website helpfully lists ingredients, which I will use as a guide, but doesn't give proportions. Is there a rough guide out there to help me make body bars that will remain solid at room temp, but

Comments

[beignet05]

This might be a good place to start: http://www.crunchybetty.com/how-to-make-lotion-bars

[kestratroi]

Excellent, thanks!

[atalanta0jess]

One thing to be aware of (and I am FAR from an expert on this) is that home made stuff made from things that spoil...will spoil. If you put banana or avocado in a body bar, it will go bad. You can totally use fresh ingredients like that in home made concoctions that you plan to use very quickly, but I'm guessing body bars don't fall in that category.

[kestratroi]

Well, I would have thought so too. But that's how they make them at Lush, just puree bananas and avocados with oat milk and pour it into the oils. No preservatives. You can see a video on the website here:

https://www.lush.co.uk/product/252/King-of-Skin-Body-Butter

[atalanta0jess]

I am highly suspicious. Anything with water can spoil. The oat milk makes it even worse. You're right though, it clearly says no preservatives. And that people thought it couldn't be done, so I guess I'm one of those people, and I guess us people are wrong. :p

[mycologynerd]

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2010/05/question-how-does-lush-use-fresh-fruit.html?m=1

[caliginous]

texasnaturals.com has body bar bases that are pre-set, you just melt, add your other stuff, and use. They've got tons of ingredients that won't need much in the way of preservatives, including avocado and banana extracted stuff.

[kestratroi]

Thanks, but I've already bought all the oils and butters.

[hellish]

I made them using this recipe, which is pretty similar to the other one posted so it might be redundant: http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/bathbody/ss/cocoabuttermass.htm