DIY Peppermint and White Chocolate Lotion Bars

These DIY Peppermint and White Chocolate Lotion bars smell good enough to eat and are the ideal moisturiser for seriously dry winter skin. They fit perfectly into your purse (or pocket - guys) without melting or goop-ing, and you can use them to rub on anything from chapped legs to to cracked lips!Better yet, these nourishing lotion bars are simple to make and contain only 3 ingredients + essential oil! Making moisturiser doesn't get easier then this, and if you're new to DIY-ing, then this is a great place to start!This Christmas season, my *lucky* family will be receiving moisturising lotion bars, made with nourishing avocado oil and cocoa butter, in their homemade, holiday gift baskets.

About the Ingredients

Avocado Oil: cold pressed avocado oil is golden in colour and contains vitamins A, D, and E, amino acids, and lecithin. A popular oil in skin care as it moisturises and softens skin, increases elasticity without leaving a greasy after-feel. Avocado oil is also high in sterolins (plant fat), which are extremely moisturising, and known to reduce signs of ageing, extreme dry skin, eczema, sun damage, and blemishes.Avocado oil penetrates the skin better than most plant oils. It penetrates through the epidermis and into the dermis layer of our skin, leaving it hydrated and smooth and contains monsaturated fats, providing an SPF between 4-15!Cocoa Butter Wafers: I use cocoa butter wafers because they are easy to work with and are not deodorized which gives these lotion bars that chocolatey scent that pairs so lovely with the peppermint essential oil.Cocoa butter contains natural antioxidants. It is naturally rich in Vitamin E as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals. Cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, a quality that, coupled with the natural antioxidants, prevents rancidity."Beeswax Pastilles: organic beeswax pastilles are used in this recipe to solidify and stabilize the oils, preventing them from melting too easily in heat. I only work with the pellets for my DIY recipes because they are SO much easier to measure out. You can find organic, beeswax pastilles here.Peppermint Essential Oil: peppermint oil us great for headaches, digestive upsets, mental fatigue, colds, flus, muscular aches and pains, and reduces the appearance of blackheads. Find certified organic peppermint essential oil, here!

How to Make Peppermint and White Chocolate Lotion Bars

You'll Need

• Kitchen scale – you could convert grams to tablespoons, but a kitchen scale will make your DIY-life a lot easier!
• Medium, glass bowl for melting the oil
• Large pan
• Silicone molds (I LOVE these!)

Ingredients

• 150 grams avocado oil, cold pressed (buy organic, cold pressed avocado oil HERE)
• 150 grams cocoa butter wafers (buy organic cocoa butter HERE)
• 100 grams beeswax (find organic beeswax pastilles HERE)
• 20-30 drops peppermint essential oil (buy organic essential oils HERE)
• 5 grams vitamin E oil (optional - buy organic vitamin E HERE)

Method

Melt the avocado oil, cocoa butter an beeswax using a double-boiler method. To do this, add the ingredients to a medium, glass (or metal, but not plastic) mixing bowl, and sit the bowl in a pan of simmering water.Remove from heat and add the essential oils and vitamin E oil (if using).Stir and pour in to silicone molds and leave to cool completely. You can set them in the fridge for a couple hours to speed up this process.Pop them out of the molds once cooled and store them in small tins or jars for easy transportation!