Solid Body Butter – Base Recipe and How to Customize It

Ever dreamed of making one of those wonderful solid lotion bars? They're a joy for the eye (just pick your favorite silicone mold!), super practical (they take up little space and are perfect for travel), and nourishing for your skin. Also, you can add your favorite scent, making them a whimsical pleasure to use every single time.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through an easy and effective solid lotion bar recipe. It’s great just as it is: hydrating, nourishing and with a lovely feel on the skin. But think of it as your base formula: you can customize it endlessly by adding your favorite actives and ingredients.

Below, you'll find detailed tips and instructions on how to tailor it to your needs.

Understanding the Structure of a Solid Lotion Bar

A solid lotion bar should be firm enough to hold its shape while offering a pleasant, gliding texture when applied to the skin. It shouldn’t feel too greasy or too dry. While everyone has their own preferences, this recipe provides a balanced structure suitable for most skin types and uses.

Cocoa butter is the star here, the best one for both body bars and lip balms. It gives the bar the perfect consistency, slip and sensory feel. There’s really nothing like it.
Candelilla wax adds the right hardness, feeling and heat resistance. After years of experimenting, I’ve found candelilla to be superior to beeswax for this kind of formulation. It creates a beautiful consistency with a more elegant, dry touch. Beeswax can work, but it often results in a stickier, greasier finish.
Fractionated coconut oil is a must-have in any DIY cosmetic formulator’s toolkit. It’s lightweight, conditioning and hydrates beautifully with a professional silky feel.
Macadamia oil enhances texture while providing nourishing, restoring and softening benefits due to its high oleic acid content. It’s a top choice if you want a rich and velvety feel without overcomplicating the formula with too many oils.
Tocopherol (Vitamin E) is essential in oil-based formulations to prevent oils' rancidity and extend shelf life.
Natural fragrance or essential oils bring the bar to life. I often use Douceur Lactée from AZ, one of my all-time favorites with its sweet notes. Always check the IFRA sheet or supplier recommendations for safe usage levels. Prefer natural blends based on essential oils or their constituents. If your skin is sensitive, you can skip the fragrance and simply increase macadamia oil to compensate. Choose a scent you adore, it will make the experience whimsical every time you use your bar!

Ingredients for the Base Recipe

Cocoa Butter: 35g (35%)
Candelilla Wax: 21g (21%)
Fractionated Coconut Oil: 30g (30%)
Macadamia Oil: 12g (12%)
Tocopherol (Vitamin E): 0.5g (0.5%)
Natural Fragrance or Essential Oils: 1.5g (1.5%)

Procedure

Melt all ingredients except for tocopherol and fragrance in a bain-marie.
Remove from heat, wait 1 or 2 minutes and stir in tocopherol and fragrance (the mixture should be liquid, still).
Pour into silicone molds.
Let them set at room temperature for a few hours.
For easier unmolding and a perfect texture, refrigerate for 1–2 hours. Leave them in the mold for at least 24 hours before use.

How to Customize Your Lotion Bar

Customizing this bar is not only easy but also so much fun. It's the perfect entry point into the world of formulation… but be thoughtful! Even small changes can affect texture, glide, and absorption.

solid lotion bar recipe

Adding Liposoluble Actives

To add actives, reduce one of the oils by the same amount. For example, if adding 0.5g of bisabolol, remove 0.5g of fractionated coconut oil.

Here are some great options:

Bisabolol (0.5%) – Soothing and regenerating. Ideal for sensitive or irritated skin. Add in the cool-down phase.
Liposoluble Hyaluronic Acid (1%) – Provides hydration. This oil-soluble version is added during the heating phase but may increase slippage. Please note that I’m NOT talking about the common hydrosoluble version. Learn more about it here.
Squalane (5–10%) – Lightweight, barrier-repairing and silky. Add during the cool-down phase.
Coenzyme Q10 (0.2%) – Antioxidant and regenerative. Pre-disperse in a little fractionated coconut oil and add in the cool-down phase.
Bakuchiol (1%) – A gentle, plant-based alternative to retinol. Great for body and facial use.

Adjusting Butters

Cocoa butter is essential for the structure and feel and I would not replace it, unless you want to use it for the face.

You can replace it with kokum butter for acne-prone or facial formulations. It’s hard enough, has a drier finish that feels better on the face and is not comedogenic. Never use cocoa butter for facial products. Find a solid facila lotion bar recipe here and a all-over and non comedogenic lotion bar formula here.
Avoid shea or other soft butters unless you properly rebalance the formula, as they can cause texture issues. Simply replacing cocoa butter with them is a very bad idea, as they have a different melting temperature and are not hard enough. Cocoa butter is really essential for a good feeling and structure. Also, they could easily create clumps, especially in case of weather fluctuations. You can almost safely replace part of the oil with a 2-4% of butter, but the result could not always be as expected. Do some tests in small batches.

If you're advanced and want to experiment with other butters, adjust waxes and oils accordingly. Doing some tests will let you learn a lot, even when the results are not as expected. Otherwise, stick to the base or follow a tested recipe.

Switching Oils

Choose oils based on their fatty acid profile and skin feel:

Keep at least some fractionated coconut oil for the silky texture.
Coco caprylate can replace part of the fractionated coconut oil for a lighter feel (up to 15%). It’s known as a great silicone feel replacement for natural compliant cosmetics.
To replace macadamia and keep a similar feel, use oleic-rich oils like hazelnut or avocado.
Sunflower, raspberry, pumpkin, or passionflower oils have a lighter feeling and should be added in the cool-down phase, but sunflower can be added since the beginning.
For sensitive skin, use oils like calendula, chamomile-infused or oat, but better if in small amounts, as they’re heat-sensitive. If you add too much in the cool down phase, they would make the mixture partially solidify and you’ll have to re-heat.

Wax Variations

I recommend sticking with candelilla wax. If you do switch:

Beeswax adds creaminess but can be sticky and make the bar more greasy. You’ll need a little bit more than candelilla, as it’s softer.
Other waxes have different feels and melting point. Make some tests or check other lotion bar recipes for reference. Keep the melting point in mind to avoid breaking the bar structure and get a cosmetic that is too hard or soft.
Floral waxes like rose wax can be added for scent, but not as the primary wax due to their low melting point. Adjust candelilla wax slightly and test in small batches.

Fragrance and Natural Scenting

Use fragrances and essential oils between 0.5% and 2%, depending on safety guidelines of the ingredient you are using.
Consider naturally scented oils like coconut, monoi or pequi. Use at 20–30% for a noticeable scent (find a full guide about it here). I suggest you to have a look at my pequi oil solid lotion bar recipe.
Floral waxes can also contribute to gentle scent notes.

Pro Tip: Always Test in Small Batches

Trying a new version? Scale the recipe down to 10g for testing (just divide the dosage by 10). You can use tiny chocolate molds.

If your bar is too hard, re-melt and add more oil.
If it’s too soft, add a bit more cocoa butter or wax.

That’s it! I hope this base recipe inspires you and helps you understand how customizable solid lotion bars can be. Follow it as-is or tweak it as you prefer.

Share your creations with me on Instagram, I’d love to see your wonders come to life! And most of all, enjoy every moment of your formulating journey!