Pine Lotion Bars
This recipe for pine lotion bars is perfect for moisturizing dry winter skin, make wonderful gifts, and smell like a walk through the forest! Makes six 2 ounce lotion bars, or more with a smaller size mold.
Servings 6 2 ounce lotion bars
Cost $10
Equipment
Ingredients
Pine Infused Oil
- 1/2 cup pine needles or other conifer needles
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon castor oil optional
Pine Lotion Bars
- 1/2 cup pine infused oil
- 3 ounces beeswax
- 4 ounces refined shea butter
- 24 drops pine, fir, or spruce essential oil (optional)
Instructions
Pine Infused Oil
- Cut the pine needles into 1-inch pieces and put them in a half pint jar. Cover them completely with olive oil, then add the castor oil if using.
- Cover the jar with a lid and place in a cool place out of direct sunlight for at least a week and up to 6 weeks.
- Once the oil is fully infused and you are ready to make the lotion bars strain out the pine needles, reserving the infused oil.
Pine Lotion Bars
- Create a makeshift double boiler by putting a smaller pot, bowl, or glass measuring cup in a larger pot that has an inch or two of water in it, and bring the water to a simmer
- Measure out ½ cup (120ml) of the pine infused oil (save any excess oil you may have to use topically).
- Put the oil into the double boiler. Add the beeswax to the oil and continue to heat until it has completely melted. A wooden skewer works well as a stirrer.
- Stir in the shea butter until everything is fully liquefied, then remove the mixture from the heat.
- Quickly stir in the essential oil, if using.
- Quickly and carefully pour the mixture into the lotion bar molds. If you’d like you can sprinkle a few cut pine needles into the molds before pouring.
- Let the lotion bars sit undisturbed until they solidify completely. This will take several hours. Then pop them out of the mold and store in tins or other containers.
Notes
For this recipe, it’s ok to use pine or most other conifer needles like fir, spruce, hemlock (the tree, not the poisonous plant), or douglas-fir. The main exception is yew which is toxic.
The pine needles give this infused oil some pine scent, but if you prefer a stronger smell add some essential oils when making the bars.
Castor oil is optional, but I recommend to use it because it is very hydrating and is great for dry skin.
Use the small tree molds to make mini lotion bars.
A cute option for this recipe is to place a few cut pine needles to the bottom of the molds before pouring in the lotion bar mix to make them look pretty.