Learn how to make a moisturizing homemade body butter stick. Made with natural ingredients like coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax, you can make the perfect body butter to soothe and hydrate skin.

Homemade body butter in clear twist up container.

I love making my own lotions, whipped body butter, and soap bars, along with just about every other skin care and hair care product. For some DIYs such as homemade makeup and shampoo, it may take a little bit of experimenting to get the perfect recipe for your personal skin or hair type.

However, when making body butter, you can hardly mess that up! Today’s recipe is inspired by one of the most popular recipes on the blog, homemade lotion bars.

As much as I love lotion bars, this body butter stick is even easier to use and store. So if you are looking for the perfect body butter, look no further! This one will quickly become your favorite!

Table of Contents

Lotion Stick Recipe

Two body butter sticks on white and black stripe towel.

Making a lotion stick is so easy to do and doesn’t require any special equipment. All you need is a few natural ingredients, a small saucepan, and an old deodorant container.

Head over to my online resource library to get your free printable label for your body butter stick.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Get my full disclosure HERE.

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup shea butter

1/2 cup beeswax

15 drops essential oils (optional)

Twist-up stick storage container (this container works great, or if you have any old deodorant containers, those work well too).

Homemade Body Butter Stick Instructions

Melt all the ingredients, except the essential oils, in a small saucepan. Set over low heat and stir occasionally to keep from sticking.
Once ingredients are melted, remove the bowl from the heat.
Let mixture cool slightly and then stir in essential oils.
Pour the body butter into the twist-up storage container.
Allow the body butter to cool completely, then twist the body butter up when ready to use.
Store in an airtight container for up to one year.

This recipe will make 4 lotion bar sticks. Double the recipe and give them as gifts or use them as stocking stuffers this year!

How to Use Lotion Bar Stick

Using the lotion bar stick is easy and one of the best parts about having lotion in this form. Simply twist the lotion up and roll it gently on the skin.

If desired, massage the lotion into the skin with your hands. Reapply as needed.

Best Ingredients for DIY Lotion Stick

Lotion bar sticks on towel with greenery behind them.

In this recipe, I am using coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, and essential oils. If you want, you can add in vitamin E oil for extra benefits or substitute any ingredients as needed.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has excellent properties for the skin, making it a great addition to any lotion, including this homemade lotion stick. It is very hydrating and can soothe dry, damaged skin.

To make a lotion bar without coconut oil, you can substitute it for a number of different vegetable-based oils. However, you will want to use less to keep the right consistency since oils such as olive oil, avocado oil, and almond oil are quite a bit thinner than coconut oil.

If using a different oil instead of coconut oil, use 1/4 cup instead of the 1/2 cup that the recipe calls for.

Shea Butter

Shea butter comes from the kernels of the shea tree and has some great benefits for the skin. I love adding shea butter to my skincare recipes because it is anti-inflammatory, can help with breakouts, and has anti-aging properties.

In this recipe, shea butter can be substituted evenly for mango butter or cocoa butter. Or you can even use a combination of all 3 butters if you really want to get fancy!

Mango, cocoa, and shea butter all can help moisturize and soften the skin.

Beeswax

Beeswax can be used for more than just making candles. It is the ingredient that turns traditional body butter into a body butter stick. It will give your lotion stick the perfect consistency as well as add its own benefits to your skin.

Beeswax leaves a protective barrier on the skin, is very hydrating, and can be used as a gentle exfoliator. If you prefer to make this recipe vegan, you can substitute the beeswax for soy wax.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are optional for this recipe but a great way to customize your body butter stick. Adding in essential oils will give you aromatherapy benefits, promote healthy skin, and give your lotion a beautiful aroma.

The top 3 essential oils to add to any lotion or DIY body oil include lavender, frankincense, and tea tree. These oils can benefit almost all skin imperfections!

Other essential oil blends to try are rose, jasmine, wild orange, lemon, or cedarwood. Below I will share combinations for different scents.

Best Essential Oil Blends for Homemade Body Butter Stick

Forrest Blend

5 drops Siberian fir
5 drops bergamot
3 drops lime
2 drops cedarwood

Citrus Bliss

5 drops wild orange
5 drops grapefruit
3 drops lemon
2 drops lime

WARNING: Citrus essential oils can cause photosensitive reactions and shouldn’t be worn in direct sunlight.

Floral Blend

5 drops lavender
5 drops geranium
3 drops lemongrass
2 drops cedarwood

Clear Skin Blend

5 drops frankincense
5 drops lavender
5 drops tea tree

Baby and Kid’s

3 drops lavender
3 drops chamomile
2 drops wild orange

If you are making this body butter stick for a child or baby, you may want to dilute the essential oils more or consider leaving them out altogether. The baby and kids blend oils are very gentle and great for kids’ sensitive skin.

Body Butter Stick

You can purchase body butter sticks in most stores or on Amazon, but to be more sustainable, you can save empty deodorant containers to use for this project.

Once you run out of lotion, you can make a new batch and pour it straight into the old container.

These body butter sticks would make the perfect addition to any gift or can be added to a homemade gift basket.

If you enjoyed this post, leave a comment or review below and let me know what you think! I love to hear from you!

And if you are looking for more great recipes, check out some of these favorites below!

Homemade Body Butter Stick

Laura Ascher

A moisturizing body butter stick with nourishing natural ingredients to soothe and hydrate skin.

4.60 from 10 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe

Project Type body butter

Category skin care

Prep Time 5

Active Time 10

Additional Time 30

Total Time 45

Yield 4