This Easy Bar Soap to Shower Gel DIY is so simple and fun that you might suddenly find yourself with way too many homemade shower gels. As an avid Lush fan I know the excess soap struggle all too well. I currently have 5 different bottles of shower gels and creams in my possession not to mention the various other soups, jellies, etc. I get to choose from everyday. As obscene as that sounds, my collection is pitiful compared to other Lushies out there. There are people with entire closets and rooms dedicated to their collections. I’m not that intense, but I am a big fan. My shower and bath products are almost exclusively Lush.
I’ve tried many of Lush’s bar soaps, and while I’ve never been disappointed I’m just not a bar soap kind of girl. I like a soft and sudsy loofah, you know? I buy their bar soaps, but then forget about them because I have so many other types of soaps that I’d rather use. Despite being moisturizing and deliciously scented, my bar soap collection often goes ignored.
A couple of months ago I was catching up on All Things Lush UK’s youtube channel when I stumbled upon one of her DIY videos about turning a Fun bar into a shower gel. I instantly thought about applying that concept to a few of my favorite bar soaps.
Starting with Lush’s Rock Star bar soap, I shaved the soap down and combined it with Whole Food’s 365 Fragrance-Free Shower Gel. I let it sit for a few hours to allow the shaved soap to dissolve into the unscented shower gel. When it was mostly dissolved I gave the homemade gel a go in the shower, and it was spectacular! It left my skin crazy moisturized, and thanks to it’s high concentration of soap I didn’t need to use a lot of it on my loofa to get a good lather. Also, the smell lingered on my skin for a long time post-shower which I loved.
Starting with Lush’s Rock Star bar soap, I shaved the soap down and combined it with Whole Food’s 365 Fragrance-Free Shower Gel. I let it sit for a few hours to allow the shaved soap to dissolve into the unscented shower gel. When it was mostly dissolved I gave the homemade gel a go in the shower, and it was spectacular! It left my skin crazy moisturized, and thanks to it’s high concentration of soap I didn’t need to use a lot of it on my loofa to get a good lather. Also, the smell lingered on my skin for a long time post-shower which I loved.
I have yet to try this recipe with a non-Lush soap, but I’m confident that the brand doesn’t matter. One thing that does matter is the bar soap’s type.
Rock Star is a very soft and (for lack of a better term) buttery soap so it dissolved into the unscented shower gel pretty easily. For this post I repeated my recipe with one of Lush’s waxier bar soaps, Sexy Peel, and it did not work as well. While it mostly dissolved into the shower gel, there were still chunks of shaved soap in the end product. Days later they were still there, and I ended up needing to strain the soap. The Sexy Peel shower gel moisturizes well, and smells great, but the texture isn’t the best. Try to stick to softer soaps as opposed to waxy glycerin soaps.
Rock Star is a very soft and (for lack of a better term) buttery soap so it dissolved into the unscented shower gel pretty easily. For this post I repeated my recipe with one of Lush’s waxier bar soaps, Sexy Peel, and it did not work as well. While it mostly dissolved into the shower gel, there were still chunks of shaved soap in the end product. Days later they were still there, and I ended up needing to strain the soap. The Sexy Peel shower gel moisturizes well, and smells great, but the texture isn’t the best. Try to stick to softer soaps as opposed to waxy glycerin soaps.
I am all about making my own shower gel with bar soaps now. It’s such an easy and relatively inexpensive way to better my experience with my favorite soaps. Do you have a favorite bar soap that you wish was a gel? Make it happen!
p.s. Things have been quiet this week because I’m prepping for our trip! If you’re not already, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so that you can keep up with me while I’m on the west coast 🙂
Easy Bar Soap to Shower Gel DIY
makes about 1 cup of shower gel
inspired by All Things Lush UK
Ingredients:
- 2.5 ounces bar soup
- 1/2 cup unscented shower gel, plus more if needed
1. Using a cheese grater, grate the bar soap into a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Add 1/2 a cup of unscented shower gel to the grated soap, and use a fork to mix the two together. Keep stirring the mixture for about a minute or two to aid in the dissolving process.
3. Allow the mixture to sit until the bar soap has fully dissolved into the shower gel. Honestly, I would leave it overnight.
4. Transfer the finished shower gel to a bottle or jar, and store it in the bathroom. Give it a shake before each use if it separates.
5. Use as you would any shower gel.
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