This vegan solid lotion bar recipe is made with soothing oat butter, plantain infused olive oil and lavender essential oil. It’s the perfect treat for sunburned skin this summer. Also try this vegan friendly moisturizer DIY on dry or rough feet, hands and elbows!

Because plantain is currently growing wild in abundance this time of year, I chose to include plantain infused olive oil in my vegan solid lotion bar recipe. Plantain not only helps with sunburns, but it is also beneficial for those with skin rashes and chapped skin as well as insect and spider bites. For eczema and psoriasis, the regular use of this herb in a salve or cream can also help in relation to those skin conditions.

What is plantain?

Plantain has the distinction of being a weed. However, plantain has historically been used not only as food but also as a healing herb in numerous cultures around the world. Native Americans traditionally used this plant to treat wounds and fevers as well as to draw out toxins from stings and bites.

There are two types of plantains and often you’ll find both while foraging as they do often grow together in the same area. The plantains with broad leaves are called Plantago major while the other narrow-leaved plantains are called P. lanceolata. Both have similar properties for medicinal and herbal usage, however many herbalists prefer the broadleaf plantain for its larger and softer, edible leaves.

Plantains have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-microbial properties. Because of this plantain is well suited to soothe insect bites and superficial wounds in addition to promoting healing. It also contains allantoin which is used to help with skin regeneration making it an excellent component in formulations created to help reduce the appearance of scars.

When foraging for plantain leaves, you should choose an area where you know the plants have not been treated with chemicals. Choose unblemished slightly mature plantain leaves over new leaves as these will contain a higher concentration of potent phytochemicals that are beneficial for skin care applications. (Learn more about plantain here.)

To make my vegan solid lotion bar recipe you will first need to infuse foraged and dried plantain leaves in olive oil. You can learn how to make an herbal oil infusion here.

If plantain is not readily available in your area or you are unsure if the plantain in your area has been chemically treated, you can purchase broad-leaf plantain at Mountain Rose Herbs for your infusions. Alternately, Mountain Rose Herbs also sells pre-made Plantain Herbal Oil. This small-batch Plantain Oil is solar infused in a window on site using certified organic Plantago major leaves, organic olive oil, and a touch of vitamin E oil.

Once your plantain infused oil is made, you are ready to create my soothing lavender & oat vegan solid lotion bar recipe.

Lavender & Oat Vegan Solid Lotion Bar Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

Ingredients:

1 oz. candelilla wax
2 oz. oat butter
2 oz. plantain infused olive oil
.05 oz. lavender essential oil

Instructions:

Using a digital scale weigh out the candelilla wax and oat butter and combine in a double boiler. Heat until melted then remove from heat.

Next, weigh out the plantain infused olive oil and stir into the melted wax and butter. Follow with the lavender essential oil, weighing it first for the correct amount needed. Mix well.

Evenly pour the melted lotion mixture into the mold of your choice. As I am not vegan, I used single serve ice cream containers for molds. However, this basic guest round silicone mold also works for similarly sized solid lotion bars.

Allow the lotion bars to fully harden, then gently remove from the molds.

My vegan solid lotion bar recipe yields 3-4 small lotion bars depending on the size of the mold you choose to use.

Notes on Substitutions:

If you do not wish to use oat butter, you can easily substitute another hydrogenated butter for the oat butter. (Learn about oat butter here.) Alternately, you can also substitute the oat butter with refined shea butter which will make a slightly harder lotion bar.

If you prefer to use a fragrance oil for your solid lotion bar, you can substitute the lavender essential oil with .1 oz. fragrance oil of your choice.

For colder climates or for use during winter, you can increase the plantain infused olive oil to 2.25 oz. to make your vegan solid lotion bars slightly softer. This will allow them to melt faster when applied to skin.

Once you’ve made your vegan solid lotion bars, you will need to package them to protect them from dirt, dust and other elements. I wrapped mine tightly in foodservice film then decorated them with washi tape and stickers I purchased at Target. You can then place them into 2 oz. metal tins to store them in after they’ve been opened for use.

To use, simply massage the lotion bar onto dry skin and massage in. Alternately, you can also use this lotion bar in the shower after bathing to help lock in extra moisture. Then rinse and pat dry.

Want to sell this product?

If you want to create products from my vegan solid lotion bar recipe to sell, you’ll need to follow FDA guidelines for labeling your product. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling cosmetics, I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale.

If you like my lavender & oat vegan solid lotion bar recipe then you may also like some of my other vegan friendly moisturizer DIY’s including my Jackfruit & Kiwi moisturizing sugar scrub recipe, my summer blueberry sugar scrub recipe, my natural rose body balm recipe with tea seed oil, and my rose body butter recipe.

To discover more natural skin care recipes like this one, be sure to follow my DIY Bath and Body board on Pinterest. You can also find and follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Also, don’t forget. If you make homemade soaps or bath & body products I will be featuring your creations on Soap Deli News blog on my weekend wrap up posts! Simply add the hashtag #soapdelishowoff to your instagram posts for a chance to have your handmade products featured!