This recipe for peony body moisturizing lotion bars is a great recipe and makes beautiful luxurious lotion bars. Peonies are such beautiful wonderful smelling flowers and they are known to possibly have so many health benefits. It is so amazing what we can do with flowers, herbs and weeds from nature!
I love the body lotion bars. They work with the warmth of your hand or body heat to make a wonderful moisturizer with skin-nourishing oils, working better than liquid lotions on dry skin areas.
Benefits of Peonies for the Skin
Peonies are known to possibly provide many health benefits as discussed in this article: “Peony: Amazing 10 Health Benefits.”
As stated in the article, peonies can be beneficial to the skin. They have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in antioxidants. They can also fight aging skin and sooth skin rashes. They contain an active chemical called paeonol which has an antioxidant effect similar to Vitamin E, helping to neutralize free radicals, support the skin barrier, and nourish the skin. Peonies are also good for moisturizing dry skin.
How to Make Peony Moisturizing Lotion Bars
To make salves, balms, lotions and lotion bars, you need to start with an infused oil.
How to Make an Infused Oil
The first step to make an oil infusion is to dry the herbs or flowers. You can let the plants air dry by spreading them in a single layer on a dish towel or paper towel and let them dry for several days. The other option is to use a dehydrator set at a low setting.
I used my dehydrator to dry the peony petals.
The next step is to make an infused oil with the dried flower or herb by steeping the flower or herb in a carrier oil. Different kind of oils can be used including sweet almond oil, safflower oil, avocado oil, sweetgrass oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, jojoba oil or coconut oil.
Add the dried peony petals to a glass jar. The amount of oil you want will depend on how much lotion that you want to make. You will add about twice as much oil as your dried flowers or herbs. For example you can add the flowers or herbs to a pint jar about halfway and then fill the jar almost to the top. If you want less, you can fill the jar about 1/4 up with herbs and then 1/2 way with oil. Also, you can make more than you plan to use for now and save the additional oil for later.
here are several options for making the infused oil:
Slow option: Just add the lid to the jar and put it away in a cabinet for 4 to 6 weeks. Shake the jar every once in a while. You can also put the jar in direct sunlight for a couple weeks to infuse the oil.
Fast double boiler method: Place the oil in a double boiler and heat on low for 1 to 2 hours. Make sure the oil does not boil. Another option is to place the jar in a saucepan of a couple inches of hot water and heat the water on low for 1 to 2 hours.
Fast crockpot method: Add your dried herbs or flowers and oil to the crockpot, make sure that the oil covers the herbs. Heat the oil slowly and keep the crockpot on warm. Try to keep the temp between 120-130 F. Let it heat for several hours.
Making the Peony Lotion Bar
The next step is to strain the dry peony petals from the infused oil.
Once you have the infused oil, you add the amount desired to a double boiler, then add the beeswax and shea butter. The measurements for lotions bars are equal amounts of oil, beeswax, shea butter. A lot of recipes for lotion bars and salves that I have seen use measurements in grams and oz. I feel it is easier with simple measurements. I wanted to start with a small batch, so I used 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup beeswax and 1/4 cup shea butter. Cocoa butter can be substituted for shea butter.
Stir until the beeswax and shea butter are melted.
Pour the mixture into small silicone or heatproof candy molds. I love these flower molds.
Option is to add essential or fragrance oils and coloring to the mixture. I added some peony scented oil and I also tried color with mica powder. I added a 1/8 tsp of pink mica powder. The peony scent was nice and I liked how the color turned out.
Let the mixture set up and harden. It does not take very long to set up to make these pretty peony beauty bars.
Enjoy!
Enjoy making and using this all natural peony moisturizing lotion bar recipe made from natural products and peony flowers. It is very easy to make small batches of these lotion bars. I plan to continue to explore making salves, balms, lotions, and other similar items from plants and flowers found in nature and also from herbs and flowers that I grow.
See my website at www.HawkPointHomestead.com to learn more and for additional made from nature recipes, such as my sage salve recipe, purple dead nettle salve recipe, rose petal lotion bar, and my flower jellies including my dandelion jelly recipe, redbud jelly recipe, lilac jelly recipe peony jelly and apple blossom recipe.
The website also includes canning recipes and other favorite great recipes, plus posts about other homestead-type activities, such as gardening and raising chickens.
For updates, please follow my Facebook page at Hawk Point Hobby Homestead.
Some links are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Peony Moisturizing Body Lotion Bar Recipe
This recipe for peony body moisturizing lotion bars is a great recipe and makes beautiful luxurious lotion bars.
Ingredients
- Dried Peony Petals and Carrier Oil, which can include sweet almond oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, or olive oil to make infused oil
- 1/4 cup infused oil
- 1/4 cup beeswax
- 1/4 cup shea butter
- Optional: Essential oil of your choice, Mica Powder for color
Instructions
- Create the peony infused oil with the dried peony petals and the carrier oil- See Notes
- Heat the infused oil in a double boiler
- Add the beeswax and shea butter
- Heat and stir until the beeswax and shea butter are completely melted
- Pour the liquid into small silicone or heatproof candy molds
- Optional: Add essential oil of your choice
- Optional: Add mica powder for color. I added 1/8 tsp of pink mica powder.
- Let the lotion bars set up
Notes
There are several methods for creating the infused oil which are described in the article.
This was a small batch, that made 2 lotion bars. It can be increased as needed using equal parts oil, beeswax and shea butter.
