You are going to love this Massage Candle aka Lotion Candle Recipe. Lotion or Massage candles are candles where additional oils and butters have been added to give the perfect slip for massages. On the surface a massage candle looks just like a regular candle, but it is actually a massage oil in solid form.
You might be thinking that whoa, hot candle wax is going to be too hot to use. The ingredients that we use along with the soy wax, creates a candle with a low melting point. This means that it is going to heat up to just above skin temperature.
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Lotion Candle Recipe
Equipment
- Scale
Ingredients
- 3.18 ounce | 53% Soy Wax
- 2.10 ounce | 35% Avocado Oil
- 0.60 ounce | 10% Kokum Butter
- 0.12 ounce | 2% Sugared Strawberry Fragrance Oil
Instructions
- Melt the soy wax, avocado oil and kokum better in your pouring pot. Once all of the oils and wax have melted remove from heat.
- Wipe the bottom of the pouring pot to get all the water off the outside of the pot.
- Check the temperature of your melted candle wax. For the Sugared Strawberry Fragrance Oil, the flash point is 200° F. We do not want to add the fragrance to the hot oils until it is below this point, otherwise you can burn off the fragrance oil and wont have as strong of a scent.
- Add your fragrance oil and mix well. Like really well, give it a solid few minutes of mixing to get the fragrance to bind with the oils.
- Pour the wax / oil mixture into your container. The wick is going to want to fall over on you. You can use a wick pin or a popsicle stick to hold the wick upright in the center of the candle.
Can you use any candle wax for a lotion candle?
NO, you definitely cannot. You need to make sure that all of the ingredients (wax and fragrance oil) that are in your lotion candle are skin safe. Using a candle you have laying around would not be safe.
What wax is used for lotion candles
I recommend using soy wax to make your lotion candle recipe, just make sure that on the packaging it says that it is skin safe. We use soy wax because it is made from the oil of soybeans.
What are the benefits of lotion candles?
The first, and in my opinion the biggest benefit is that the lotion candle warms the lotion up for you. This way you are not putting cold lotion or massage oil on your skin. The lotion candle is also jammed packed with skin loving and moisturizing ingredients.
How do you use a lotion candle?
A lotion or massage candle is made up of soy wax and other skin loving ingredients. To use it, you are going to light the candle and allow a pool of wax to form. Once you have a pool of wax, blow the candle out. Pour the candle wax on to your hand and then use it for a massage. For safety reasons, you never want to pour the candle wax directly onto someone’s back.
How do you make a body safe candle? Are lotion candles safe?
There are things that you do to ensure you are making a skin safe lotion candle recipe. We make it safe by selecting ingredients that are skin safe and using them at a safe rate for our skin. The butters and oils that we ass help to ensure the melting point is not too hot. Although this candle is formulated to have a low melting point, if you leave it lit for too long, the oils will get hot.
What ingredients are in lotion candles?
Wax
Choosing a skin safe Soy Wax
- The reason why we use soy wax is #1 it is skin safe. And you have to be thinking, is it safe to pour wax on your skin? You want to be sure that you only use wax that says on the package that it is skin safe.
- The second reason is that it has a low melting point. Meaning that it does not take long for the wax to heat up and create a pool of wax on the top of your candle. This means that the wax gets warm and is able to be used right away, it doesn’t actually get hot.
Butters
When making a Lotion Candle or a Massage Candle, the wax could end up being a little harder or softer depending on the butter that you use. If you are using a soft butter (like Shea Butter) it is going to be softer. If you are using a brittle butter (like Cocoa Butter) the final candle will be a little harder. I am using Kokum Butter which is very brittle.
This is important because in some temperatures you are going to need to make your candle a bit harder to ensure it stays in solid form in the heat.
Oils
Since we are making a lotion candle that is intended to have some slip, we want to stay away from dry oils like grapeseed, safflower and sunflower oil. Those oils will get absorbed into the skin right away and will take away that lasting slippery feel that makes a good massage oil.
Some slow absorbing oils are sweet almond oil, olive oil and avocado oil. I used avocado oil in this candle and it did still have a good slip.
Fragrance
Choosing a skin safe and candle safe fragrance oil
- The fragrance oil or essential oil that you use needs to be safe for use in candles as well as safe to use for skin. When determining the use rate, you will want to use the leave on skin use rate. For example, Sugared Strawberry Fragrance Oil can be used in candles at 10% and in lotion at 2%. For this fragrance, we would put up to 2% in our candle.
What kind of wick to use for a massage candle?
You want a larger wick because you need the wax to pool. With a larger wick, you get a larger pool quicker.
Choosing a container for your lotion candle
When you are choosing the container that you will be putting your lotion candle in, I recommend using a shallow container. This is because we are not actually leaving it burning very long and we are dumping out all of the melted wax. If you use a container that is deep, you are probably going to wind up with a lot of tunneling and a lot of wasted oils.
Making a lotion candle – How to make lotion candles
Melt the soy wax, avocado oil and kokum better in your pouring pot. Once all of the oils and wax have melted remove from heat.
Wipe the bottom of the pouring pot to get all the water off the outside of the pot.
Check the temperature of your melted candle wax. For the Sugared Strawberry Fragrance Oil, the flash point is 200° F. We do not want to add the fragrance to the hot oils until it is below this point, otherwise you can burn off the fragrance oil and wont have as strong of a scent.
Add your fragrance oil and mix well. Like really well, give it a solid few minutes of mixing to get the fragrance to bind with the oils.
Pour the wax / oil mixture into your container. The wick is going to want to fall over on you. You can use a wick pin or a popsicle stick to hold the wick upright in the center of the candle.