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Dry skin, to me, is one of the most uncomfortable feelings. When I use normal store-bought lotion, I have to reapply every time I wash my hands and sometimes it feels too light to really do the trick. My hands dry out more than ever this year because I am washing my hands more often than I was used to, so regular lotion won’t work for me.
I did recently find a liquid lotion that I love. It’s made locally, in Reno, NV, by a small business. Its main ingredient is shea butter, a heavy nut butter native to Africa.
Years ago in a small gift shop in Las Vegas, I saw lotion bars for sale but I didn’t buy one because it was “expensive,” maybe around $8 for a tin container with a lotion bar inside. I remember being curious about them though, and that memory stuck with me until I ran across a lotion bar recipe on a blog when I was supposed to be looking for a bone broth recipe.
The most basic recipe is equal amounts of beeswax, shea or coco butter, and coconut oil. From there, the maker can add and/or substitute almost any oils or butters. Oils can include sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, soybean oil, olive oil, or avocado oil. Butters can include kokum butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, or shea butter.
I use a glass canning jar in a pot of hot (not boiling) water on the stove to melt the beeswax, butters, and…
