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Why Make Your Own Body Butter?

Here’s why I love this body butter recipe so much:

• Contains only 3 natural ingredients (plus essential oils if you want it to be scented)
• Made with rich, nourishing oils that truly moisturize the skin (not just sit on top of it)
• Cheaper than high-end lotions and body butters
• No preservatives or other yucky ingredients
• Super simple to make!

 

Ingredients for Whipped Body Butter

Shea Butter

Unrefined shea butter is extracted from the nut of the shea tree without chemical solvents and contains natural healing properties that would be lost during the refining process. When shea butter is unrefined it has a naturally, yellowish color whereas refined shea butter is bright white.

I purchase shea butter in bulk from my local co-op but you can also find shea butter online.

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter is the fat extracted from cocoa beans. It has a rich, chocolatey aroma, is solid at room temperature and melts at just below body temperature.

It is a popular ingredient in skincare products because of its moisturizing and emollient properties. 

I buy raw cocoa butter disks like you see in the photo above but you can also purchase unrefined cocoa butter by the jar.

Sweet Almond Oil

Sweet almond oil is an excellent emollient, that helps to soften and smooth the skin by sealing in moisture and preventing water loss.

I usually buy sweet almond oil in bulk from a local store, but you can easily find sweet almond oil online.

Essential Oils

Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts that come from a variety of plant parts including flowers, leaves, bark, seeds, or roots.

They offer beautiful, natural scents as well as therapeutic properties to your skincare products.

Many brands of essential oils are available but my go-to brands for DIY projects are Aura Cacia and Now Foods.

We’ve got lots more homemade skincare products on the blog!

How to Make Whipped Body Butter

Whipped body butter is quite easy to make as long as you have a double boiler and a mixer. Here are the simple steps:

Bring water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. (If you don’t have a proper double boiler, create one by putting a metal or Pyrex bowl on top of a saucepan, keeping bowl well above the water level.) 

Meausre the shea butter by packing it into a measuring cup (like you would brown sugar). Then scoop it out into the top of the double boiler. Add the cocoa butter and allow both ingredients to melt together.

Next, mix in the sweet almond oil and turn off the heat on the double boiler. If you want to add essential oils, now is the time to add them.

I created this tranquility blend with 3 of my favorite essential oils:

Tranquility Blend: 6 to 8 drops each of: geranium, sweet orange and sandalwood essential oils

Let the mixture cool until it has started to set up but is not yet solid. I recommend putting it in the refrigerator for about an hour. It should look opaque and a bit yellowish – like lemon curd!

Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the ingredients until they magically change from lemon curd to whipped cream (takes a couple of minutes – maximum). Just don’t be tempted to eat it!

Carefully spoon the cream into a glass jar, keeping its whipped texture intact. I often use repurposed jelly jars but you may want to invest in a new glass jar if the body butter is for a gift.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of body butter. Shelf life is approximately 3 months. Body butter can be stored at room temperature but you may want to store in the refrigerator in warmer months to keep it solid.

Have you tried making homemade body butter? What is your favorite essential oil to use in it?

More Skincare Posts from Mindful Momma:

• Natural Body Lotions
• Clean Ingredient Face Moisturizers
• Homemade Cleansing Balm