Homemade Dandelion Lotion Bars

Dandelions are full of healthy benefits for your skin

I was browsing one of my favorite websites, The Nerdy Farmwife, this week when I saw an amazing recipe for Dandelion Lotion Bars. I have tons of dandelions which grow wild in my yard so it's a ready to use resource. Apparently dandelion oil is especially good for helping chapped or sore skin. I decided to whip up my own batch of lotion bars to see how they work.
The recipe calls for equal parts beeswax, shea butter (or some other kind of butter), and dandelion oil. I made the dandelion oil by putting a handful of dried dandelion leaves in a small Little Dipper Crockpot. I covered them with almond oil and let them steep in the warm slow cooker for a couple of hours.

When the oil was well infused with dandelion I strained it and put it back in the slow cooker (after measuring it so I could get the proper quantities of the other ingredients). I then added some grated beeswax and a tablespoon of cocoa butter. I was running low on cocoa butter so I substituted some coconut oil for the rest of the butter and added extra beeswax to help it thicken. I actually had to remelt it and add more beeswax to make the bars harder but I think that was probably because of the coconut oil substitution.

When everything was melted I added a few drops of peppermint essential oil for scent and a couple teaspoons of green french clay powder to give it a beautiful green color.

I finished the bars by pouring them into molds to harden. I used canning lids (the kind with the metal lid and ring) which I lined with wax paper to make them easier to remove. The bars hardened within a few minutes and I slid them out if the lid "molds".

They came out looking lovely and are really nice to rub over my hands on after a day of washing dishes and pet bowls and doing other hand-drying work. I even had a few extra which I gifted to my mom and sisters!

I think I'll try making some other varieties of lotion bars soon, and maybe trying some different colors and scents too. I'll let you know how it goes!