LotionBars101.

What is a Lotion Bar?

How Do You Use a Lotion Bar? 

Even though we did not invent lotion bars, at Rodina Botanicals, we love the ease of their application, eco-friendly, zero-waste nature and their compact form which is also perfect if you are often on-the-go or even for travel.  

What is a lotion bar? Is it a soap bar? Do you use it with water? How do you use a lotion bar?

These are some of the questions that we are often asked. Some of you are still probably wondering and that is totally understandable as lotion bars are still not as commonly used. However, they are slowly gaining their popularity, especially in recent years. 

No, lotion bars are NOT soap bars. Even though they often resemble soap, they are solid blocks of lotion. Simply put, they are basically lotion in a bar format. They come in different sizes and shapes. The beauty of lotion bars is that they remain in solid form until they meet your warm skin. All you need to do is to rub this solid bar along your cracked heels, feet, elbows, knees, dry skin in general and any rough patches on your body. Their soothing properties will melt into your skin, provide extra moisture and hydrate your skin without clogging your pores, if formulated correctly. 

What are some of the ingredients you will most likely find in natural lotion bars?

Natural lotion bars are usually made with three ingredient categories: carrier oils +butters+ wax. You will find different blends of carrier oils, such as jojoba oil, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, hemp seed oil, extra virgin olive oil as well as natural cosmetic butters such as cocoa, shea and/or mango. They also contain some form of wax, typically beeswax or candelilla wax (vegan option). The wax not only helps for the lotion bar to remain in a solid form at a room temperature but also provides additional protective layer on the skin. 

What are some of the specific ingredients you should look for in your next lotion bar or skin moisturizer in general?

Beeswax

Beeswax that is ideally sourced locally. Excreted by worker honeybees, beeswax contains wax esters as well as fatty acids and is high on vitamin A. Unrefined beeswax is yellow in color with honey-like aroma & smells divine. Beeswax has various applications, including being a key natural skincare ingredient. It creates a protective, yet loose barrier between our skin and the environment. It also has anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral properties. 

Why do we love beeswax?

Beeswax acts as humectant, so it “attracts” water.

• Helps to keep skin hydrated. 

• Holds moisture.

• Forms a protective barrier to help combat environmental factors.

• Does not clog pores and the skin is able to breathe.
  
  
  
  

We love this ingredient so much that we include it in many of our other products, including our Pure & Simple Lip balm for those chapped lips, Wood Conditioner for any of your wooden kitchen spatulas, salad bowls, cutting and charcuterie boards. We also cannot forget our Pet Paw Balm for our canine members of the family. Finally, many of our herbal balms such as Botanical Goodness calendula balm to soothe cuts, scrapes and sunburns as well as our Herb Garden in a Tin for mild eczema and extremely dry skin contain one of our favorite ingredients, locally sourced beeswax. 

What are some of the other ingredients your lotion bar should contain?

Carrier oils that are noncomedogenic and will not clog your pores, such as avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, grape seed oil, hemp seed oil to name a few. Natural butters such as cocoa butter, mango butter, and shea butter. These help to keep your skin hydrated. You will also find essential oils being used in many lotion bars to enhance the scent of the lotion bars and added skin benefits and vitamin E oil for its antioxidant properties.

Essential Oils and Rodina Botanicals

We use a variety of high-quality, organic essential oils but very sparingly. Our belief is that essential oils, including the scent should complement the product rather than overwhelm it.  We are very intentional about what essential oils we include in our product formulas.  With the exception of our WakeUP Sunshine MYLOTIONBAR and its chocolate-peppermint scent, most of our scents are soothing and very subtle.  

Herbs

At Rodina Botanicals, we love working with herbs and botanicals such as calendula, rosemary, comfrey, lavender, nettle, etc. and incorporating these into many of our products. We prefer to use a natural infusion method when we infuse our carrier oils with herbs. It takes a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks for our oils to be infused. 

What are some ingredients that lotion bars should NOT contain?

Even though the below is not all-encompassing list, natural lotion bars should not contain any of the following ingredients that are often found in many of the commercial lotion products:

• Alcohol,

• Benzoyl Peroxide,

• Formaldehyde, 

• Parabens

• Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA),

• Phthalates,

• Salicylic Acid,

• Synthetic fragrances.

Since Rodina Botanicals’ mission is to provide our clients with clean, pure beauty for the entire family with organic, plant-based ingredients, our MYLOTIONBARS as well as rest of our clean skincare products do not contain the abovementioned toxins, endocrine disruptors and irritants. Since many of our clients, including myself, suffer from various autoimmune diseases, we also shy away from gluten, soy, or palm oil in our products. Our natural skincare is created by hand in small batches using our own plant-based and herbal formulas. 

In general, most natural lotion bars tend to be free from potentially hazardous chemicals and irritants. However, as always, do your own due diligence work, read the product labels before purchasing any new skincare products. Even if products are all natural, one can be sensitive to a specific ingredient, including carrier oils, butters and essential oils in the product. As such, we encourage you to always conduct a wrist or patch test with any of your new skincare products.

Lotion Bars, Travel, and the Environment.

Here are our THREE additional reasons why you should give lotion bar a whirl and why we love them.

They travel with us no matter whether we head out to hike in Great Smoky Mountains in summertime, to ski at Steamboat Ski Resort, or to bike at Peninsula State Park in Door County in the autumn.

One, they are zero-waste, eco-friendly, biodegradable, and compostable alternatives to traditional body lotions. Lotion bars are typically packaged in recyclable metal tins.

Two, they are a perfect companion while you are on the go as they are ideal for pockets, purses and for travel in general as they take very limited space and come in a solid rather than a liquid form.

Third, we are big fans of lotion bars as they last longer than conventional lotions, apply easily and are less messy. No more bathroom counters covered with excess lotion at our house!

Added bonus is that they are not only more practical but also more economical as a little goes a long way.

Note: Each of our bars is hand-made in small batches, without the use of synthetic materials or chemical preservatives. As such, we recommend keeping your lotion bars away from situations where the temperature might exceed 75-80 F degrees as bars might lose their original form. 

How long does a typical lotion bar last?

That really depends. Our clients use them for a variety of purposes, some use them strictly for those tough dry spots or even as a lip balm; others use them in lieu of liquid lotion, especially when traveling. The beauty of the lotion bars is that they have multiple applications. It is totally your call, how you choose to use your MYLOTIONBAR. Plus, little hands can easily apply lotion bars on their own with no, or minimal mess.

In terms of actual shelf life, if stored properly, natural lotion bars should last up to two years. Just like with any product, it is NOT one and done. Consistency of application is key here. 

Story of our Rodina Botanicals MYLOTIOBARS.

Have you ever walked into your off-springs’ bathroom and their liquid lotion is everywhere on the counter and maybe even on the floor, yet judging by their dry skin, the lotion never made it anywhere near the kids’ skin? This could be either because they do not like the feel of the lotion, or just simply have too much fun pumping and squeezing it out of the bottle and could not be bothered applying it on,

OR 

have you ever traveled and decided to skip bringing your lotion because you already reached your maximum allowed 3.4 oz of liquids in your carry-on yet upon arrival at your final destination regretted not bringing it?

Both of the above are the real reasons behind our MYLOTIONBARS. This mama simply got tired of lotion-covered bathroom counters, and the waste associated with it. Several times I also skipped bringing my favorite lotion while traveling and regretted it later, especially since my skin is very sensitive.  

So next time you are heading out of town, do not forget to pack your favorite lotion bar.

Do not have one yet? We got you covered! Give them a try, seriously!

Your skin will thank you!

Until next time,

Anita

LESS IS MORE!,

in product ingredients +

application.

Anita is a founder and owner of Rodina Botanicals. Rodina Botanicals is a maker of small-batch, clean skincare products for an entire family.

We at Rodina Botanicals:

• want our clients to enjoy their life to the fullest and not be distracted by mosquito bites, dry cuticles, eczema, or dry and cracked skin.

• make all our products in Barrington, IL, U.S.A.

• use eco- and travel-friendly packaging.