What’s the Difference Between Lotion and a Lotion Bar or Lotion Stick?

For anyone who has experienced dry itchy skin, you know that moisturizers are the key way to keeping it looking and feeling great. We know that lotion sticks are an amazing and convenient way to keep skin soft and silky, especially when you’re on-the-go or traveling, but if you’ve never used a lotion bar or a lotion stick before, we thought it might be worth examining what it is, how it compares to a traditional lotion, and why a lotion stick takes things to the next level.

Traditional lotions typically have ‘water’ or ‘aqua’ as a first ingredient, and it can often make up 85% or more of the lotion recipe. So, while it helps create the thin texture and easy absorption, it means you constantly need to reapply. This is where lotion bars and lotion sticks have the upper hand. On average, many lotion bars can be up to 5x more concentrated than a water-based lotion.

Really dry skin requires a much more concentrated moisturizer that traditional lotion, with so much water, isn’t able to provide. For dry hands and body, lotion bars are a great way to get dramatic results. If you haven’t seen or used a lotion bar before, they typically look like a small bar of soap, but are in fact, a solid lotion. A lotion bar’s moisturizing capability is superior to water-based lotions in that it is typically made entirely from ultra-moisturizing ingredients like shea butter or cocoa butter, for example, a combination of hydrating oils, and either beeswax, or a vegetable-based wax. Beeswax, or many vegetable-based waxes lock in moisture and give the lotion bar its solid form.

Lotion Bar | Duckish Natural Skin Care

Image: Howdidyoumakethis.com

The idea is that you pick up the bar and rub it into your skin exactly where you need it. All you need to do is pick it up and rub into your skin. As you rub, the heat from your body melts some of the lotion bar onto your skin, and voila, you’re done.

While lotion bars are incredibly effective moisturizers, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to the application. The downside of the lotion bar is that while you rub the it into your legs, for example, it also melts in your hands. While your hands may be extra soft as a result, greasy hands aren’t always ideal - like when your phone rings at that exact moment or you need to grab a door knob.

Another potential downside of the traditional lotion bar is that they often come without packaging. So, while the idea of no packaging is great, you have to put your lotion bar in something, otherwise your pretty little lotion bar ends up covered with hair, dust, lint and other unpleasantness. This pick-up-an-rub-in format also limits where you can conveniently use them. But, since you never get dry hands at school, work, in the car, on an airplane, on the slopes, or on a first date, it’s fine right?

Since we all get dry hands at school, work, in the car, on an airplane, on the slopes etc, we needed the awesome qualities of a lotion bar, but in a more convenient, easy-to-use form – a lotion stick. We’ve put all the potent moisturizing power of a lotion bar into mini (0.5oz) and large (2.5oz) sticks that make it convenient to use, ensuring you can avoid dry lips, hands, knees, heels….(you get the idea) no matter when or where. A leak-proof lotion you can put in your purse, pocket or carry-on!

Lotion Sticks | Duckish Natural Skin Care

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