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Ever since I discovered how to make my original lotion bars, I’ve been experimenting with different variations including sunscreen bars, Vapo-Rub bars, and others. Today’s favorite: bug repellent lotion bars!
They are as easy to make as the original bars, and they seem even more effective at keeping bugs away than regular homemade bug spray, probably because they actually coat the skin with a protective layer. They are easy to take along and the kids can apply it themselves.
Instead of being filled with chemicals and toxins like conventional bug sprays, this recipe actually nourishes and moisturizes the skin while protecting it.
Items Needed
- coconut oil
- shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter (or a mix of all three)
- beeswax
- dried rosemary leaves
- dried whole cloves
- dried thyme
- cinnamon powder
- dried catnip leaf
- dried mint leaf
- Vitamin E oil
- Insect Shield Blend essential oils or lavender and lemon (10+ drops of each)
I also use silicone molds to set the bars. These are the molds I used but I also love these sunflower ones and these heart ones, which would both be great for gifts. There are also simple flower molds and actual bar shaped ones.
Bug Repellant Lotion Bar Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup rosemary leaves (fresh or dried)
- 2 TBSP thyme (dried or fresh)
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup dried catnip
- 1 TBSP mint leaf (optional, but adds great scent)
- ½ cup shea butter (or cocoa butter or mango butter)
- 10 TBSP beeswax pellets
- 1 tsp vitamin E oil (optional, preservative)
- 10 drops Insect Shield essential oil blend (optional, or 10 drops each lavender and/or lemon)
Instructions
To infuse the herbs into the coconut oil
- Using a double boiler or glass bowl on top of a small saucepan, heat about 1 inch of water (in bottom pan) until starting to boil.
- Place the coconut oil in the top part of the double boiler and add the dried rosemary, cloves, thyme, cinnamon, catnip, and mint.
- Cover the bowl or top part of the double boiler and keep the water at medium/high temperature for at least 30 minutes or until the oil has adopted a darker color and smells strongly of rosemary. Alternately, you can fill a crock pot about half full with water, put the coconut oil and herbs in a glass mason jar with a tight lid, cover and keep on lowest setting for several days to make an even stronger infused oil.
- Strain the dried herbs out of the oil using a small mesh strainer or cheesecloth and pour the oil back into the double boiler. The oil will probably be reduced by almost half and you should have about ½ cup of the infused oil. If you have more, save it for next time!
To make the lotion bars
- Add the butter(s) and beeswax to the double boiler with the infused coconut oil and stir until all have melted.
- Remove from the heat and add the Vitamin E oil and any other essential oils.
- Pour it into the molds.
- Leave in the molds until completely set (overnight is best). Or you can speed up the process by placing it in the fridge.
Notes
Don’t Want to Make Them?
If you want to use lotion bars but don’t have the time/ingredients to make them yourself, I found a great small business, Made On, that makes all kinds of lotion bars, soaps, natural baby products and hair products that are up to my standards. Their website is HardLotion.com and they have agreed to give Wellness Mama readers a 15% discount on all orders with the code “wellnessmama” at this link. (Note: Affiliate link… the price is discounted for you and I get a small commission to support my blog!)
How do you keep the bugs away? Share below!
I was just wondering, is this greesy at all?
Slightly when it first goes on but not after a couple minutes
Would this work as just a lotion with the besswax omitted? My mom is allergic to everything bee related. Thanks!
It would, but it would be more of a spreadable lotion than a bar….
Hi WellnessMama, how long do you think these would last? I would guess to keep them out of sunlight if using the essential oils, but if I just infuse?
Hi Wellnesmama, I love your site. How long would you say these last for? Obviously store out of sun if using the essential oils, but would they last for more than 6 months?
The ones I have are over a year old and going strong…
Where do you get mint leaves from? Thanks!
Mountain Rose Herbs carries everything required in most of the recipes on wellness mama.
How do you measure the beeswax? I purchase by weight, but volume is ordered? Do I grate it and then measure the volume?
Yep..
Fantastic find, these bars (and your website) are great! Question…I couldn’t find vitamin e oil so I made six bars without a ‘preservative’. How long will they last before they ‘spoil’? How will I know when they do? Will storing them in an airtight container and out of direct sunlight help them keep longer?
They will still last a really long time since they are all oil based and the individual ingredients have a shelf life of 2+ years…
I’m wondering if you’ve tried mixing the bug-off bars with the sunscreen bars (minus the citrus oils) to come up with one multi-purpose lotion bar that prevents sunburn and bug bites. Seems like a good theory.
Haven’t tried it, but great idea!
I was going to ask this as well, did you try it yet? How did it turn out?
Curious as well. Plz share when someone tries it
I’m thinking about adding a couple tbsp of zinc oxide in order to make it more multi-purpose….pretty much its the only difference between this and the sunscreen recipe I’m planning to use.
Is there a reason lemon grass oil isn’t used? I bought a little spray bottle of bug spray last summer with that as the active ingredient (and the other listed ingredients were natural) and it worked extremely well. The only problem was that the tiny bottle was expensive and I only saw it available for a week and never since. I work in heavily forested areas with dense tick and mosquito populations during the summer so max repelling ability is a must, but I would really love to use a less expensive natural route.
I live in the mountains of Colorado and we have issues with ticks. Spring seems to particularly bad. I found that geranium essential oil seems to work well. I orginally put a drop on my dogs collar. The ticks also seem to like my husband who is very allergic to them. I put some in a carrier oil for him. This year I started making the body lotion bars, so am trying a bug bar with cedar and geranium. The season is just beginning so will have to wait and see what happens.
I live in Colorado as well and just recently made a spray bottle with water, lemongrass and eucalyptus! Its safe for childeren and easy on the eyes, plus smells great. Needless to say we had no ticks. I for get the exact recipe but it went by the cup. google tick spray if u haven’t already
if i wan’t to have it in liquid form, is it going to have the same performance?
Yes, just leave out the beeswax and butters and just use a carrier oil…