I made my first batch of body butter today. I think my life has changed forever. Delightful, decadent and easy, I have wanted to try making it for a long time. I was convinced that it would be difficult and not work the way I wanted. Boy, was I wrong.
I love creamy body butters. Living in a climate that gets quite cold and dry in the winter, they are a must in my house. But two things have always bothered me. They can be quite expensive and also, full of ingredients that are less than desirable for your skin and health.
We often forget that our skin is the largest organ on our body and absorbs what we put on it. If you are using lotions and body butters with chemicals in them (fragrances, preservatives, color additives, etc.) be aware that your skin absorbs the chemicals, too. Not exactly desirable. I often just use almond oil on my skin after a shower but sometimes I want something a little more decadent. Body butters, made with pure oils and essential oils for fragrance are just the thing.
I called my friend Jen Vertanen, who writes the blog, “The Wholehearted Life”, knowing that she has spent years playing with recipes for home made soaps and lotions and asked her opinion on ingredients. She told me to use 75% solid to 25% liquid oil. Sounded easy enough.
I measured out shea butter and coconut oil for the solid, and melted them in my home-made double boiler. (If you don’t have a double boiler, make sure there is space for the steam to escape and you are using heat proof glass.)
I wanted to use rosemary as one of my scents. I didn’t have any rosemary essential oil so I added fresh rosemary as the oils were cooling. I also stirred in the almond oil at this point. Once the oil was cool, I strained out the rosemary, added peppermint (just a few drops, it is strong) and sweet orange essential oils and tried to whip the butter as instructed in other body recipes that I had researched. Nothing happened. I was about to give up and just let the oil harden when I had an idea.
I placed the oil mixture outside (it’s cold…it’s Minnesota) and let it partially set up. At that point, I tried whipping it again in the kitchen aid mixer and, success! A beautiful body butter, so simple to make, smelling delicious and with a texture that was like clouds of silk.
I have to admit, I am pretty excited at how easy it is to make. I used sweet orange, lemon and lavender in my second batch. Heavenly. You can just use the basic recipe and add your favorite essential oils. Just make sure they are skin friendly!
Body Butter
- 1 cup shea butter
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup almond oil
1. Melt shea butter and coconut oil in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
2. Stir in almond oil and essential oils of your choosing.*
3. Wait until oils start to partially solidify then whip until a butter-like consistency is achieved. This should only take a few minutes.
4. Place in clean, glass jar and enjoy! A little goes a long way.
*Not all essential oils are skin friendly or child friendly. Please do your research before adding.
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{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
I am SOOOOOOOO excited to try this!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!! Thank you for the recipe
This sounds amazing. I made some lip balms that I’m very pleased with, and body scrubs, for Christmas gifts. Also made some face creams that contain Coconut Oil and Sweet Orange essential oil. Lovely! I’ll definitely have to try yours. Thanks so much for sharing.
Oh, and wise move adding the caveat “Just make sure they are skin friendly!” I learned this the HARD and PAINFUL way! Using essential oils that are NOT skin-friendly directly on the skin, without a carrier oil, is HIGHLY DISCOURAGED! It has horrendous consequences… like toxic chemical burns! Due diligence into “possible indications” is of utmost importance when playing with essential oils. =\
This is so awesome! I also generally use almond oil for skin hydration because of the chemicals in most body butters/lotions.
I can’t wait to try this!
How long do the body butters generally stay good for ?
Hi,
You state to mix coconut butter but I don’t see it listed in the ingredient list?
Excited to try this! Thank you so much for sharing!
I honestly don’t know yet it should last for a while. You can refrigerate it if you wish. I would suggest it would keep as long as each of the individual ingredients would keep.
Susan, I switched to using coconut oil this past year to shave my legs with and as a moisturizer. I like the fact that it’s chemical-free and keeps me very soft. I think the idea of mixing and whipping it with another oil and herbs is perfect! Can’t wait to try this.
Love it, and pinned it!
Thank you for the amazing recipe. I have yet to try it out, but I cannot resist a homemade, chemical free beauty product! I have one question, is it possible to use another oil to substitute almond oil? I work with kids so naturally, I work in a nut free zone. I would think Jojoba oil would be okay, but what do you think?
Can you recommend a good source for shea butter?
Thank You SO much for this!!
I’ve been using coconut oil off and on for a while now, but it doesn’t leave my skin with
that oh-so-soft feeling, and I NEED that! This time of year more than anything.
I use coconut oil on my face at bedtime now & then as well, but I need to find something
hydrating for the DAY!
Yes, I too would like to know the best places to source shea butter.
This looks absolutely amazing!!! What a perfect gift… its just gorgeous! And man, so good for you. So… where can I buy some????
I three would like to know a good source for the shea butter. Also, does this stain clothing or anything? My hands suffer the most during the cold months and I am wondering if I could use this on my hands throughout the day without worrying about it possibly ruining my clothes. thanks!
Honestly, I just got mine at the local coop. You can check there first. If not, there are a ton of places on line you can order from. Cheers!
Was it sold bulk at your local Co-Op? And is it a virgin organic shea or natural? (From your images it does not look refined.) I’m still looking for a very local source of organic, but so far it doesn’t look good.
Two get places to get products are http://www.camdengrey.com/ and http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
This is a great recipe! You can use olive oil, jojoba oil, hemp oil, etc. in place of the almond oil. If you’re unable to purchase shea butter locally, Soaper’s Choice online is about the least expensive, when you add in shipping…
Thanks for sharing!!!
Susan, I just gave it a try! I found the ingredients. HOW EXCITING!! to see it turn into a creamy consistency is an amazing feeling! at first I was surprised you mentioned how frustrating it was at first to wait to get it hard enough and then shortly after that you write about your second batch, hahahha!! I understand why!! Thank you for sharing!!. I have a question, would this body butter be safe to use on the face??, it is so rich I want to put it everywhere!!!!
Oh so glad you shared this!!! Been looking for body butter, and
can’t find anything I like. So might as well make my own!!
Thankyou!!!
Sounds delisious…
Please just be careful with the citrus blends… and skin friendly is right. We had the Bergamot essential oil. Which I found out is a citrus…. and some citrus’s, actually become pototoxic when exposed to the sun causing bad burns as we have experienced. After several trips to the ER and to the Dermatologist and my daughter burned over 30% of her body and on pain meds WOW what a trip! ……. lime juice too….. Ive seen this a couple times and was shocked at it, Bergamot oil should not even be sold in concentrated form. (my opinion) only .04% is to be used in perfumes… astounding that It is even available in concentrate….
I love this! Your packaging is beautiful, and the body butter looks amazing!
I want to make some too, but I have some allergies- one of them being almonds. Can you recommend an alternative to almond oil?
You could use olive oil, jojoba oil, any organic, liquid oil that is healthy. Cheers!
Whoa, that looks amazing! Almost good enough to eat!
But… Is it absolutely necessary to add essential oils for fragrance? What does the body butter smell like without fragrances? I have quite sensitive skin and an even more sensitive nose and i prefer creams that have no fragrance at all, or at least a very subtle fragrance. I don’t even like wearing perfumes because of this.
I have a few more questions: can i use something like cinnamon buns for a subtle fragrance instead of essential oils? Does the body butter maintain that consistency or does it harden further? How long does the body butter keep for and what are your suggestions regarding storage? I have never made my own body butter so i have absolutely no idea how to go about this.
Thanks very much for sharing!
No, you don’t have to use essential oils. It will smell like the shea butter and the coconut butter. I don’t know what cinnamon buns is but I am guessing it isn’t a natural fragrance? It maintains a light fluffy consistency. It’s shelf life is the same as the ingredients used. Cheers!
I want to make this butter very soon! I’m totally in love with your website and with everything that you post, recipes, etc.! Awsesome! Thank you for being so very generous to share so many wonderful recipes with your viewers. Do you have more beauty recipes? Thanks!
I would love to make this! But I have a question that Im hoping someone can help me with, Im allergic to almonds….could I use almond oil? if not what could I use instead? Thanks
Yes, you can use olive oil, or any other liquid oil that is cold pressed and healthy.
Thank you for sharing such great recipes — raw and otherwise. I love rawmazing.com! If you ever come to Denver, please, please give a class. I would help with whatever you need. Thank you again
Thank you Susan!
Wow, this looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! For shea butter, I found some at my local healthfood store made by Sensibility Soaps. They call is Nourish and say it’s raw, organic shea butter. I want to try it with cacoa butter! Essential oils also act as a natural preservative so anything made with them lasts longer. Thanks for the inspiration, Susan!
I like to get shea butter from AfricaImports.com.
Luscious and Amazing!! Terrible winters here in IA also…..didn’t take long for it to set up right outside the back door!! I used shea butter, sweet almond oil and grape seed oil & threw in a little vitamin E just because – no essential oils for the first batch but will try them on the next batch. Thank you so much for posting this!! I have been looking for a recipe that did not contain water – this is my go to moisturizer from now on!!!
This is a great recipe, and my oil whipped up just fine, but in ten minutes it was melted to oil again. Do I need to just keep it in the fridge? I am not quite sure what I did wrong. Do you have any idea how I can fix that?
Thank you!
I bought the ingredients today to try to make this. I was wondering how much of each of the essential oils you used. I so love this idea of making your own organic body butter. I’m excited to give it a try. Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Laina
Wow, I have no idea. I didn’t have this problem. Did it get warm? The only other thing I can think of is that you mistakenly got the oils mixed up? Both the coconut oil and shea butter are solid at room temp so very odd it would go to liquid.
Another great recipe from rawmazing! Love the consistency of the body butter, and how well it moisturizes. Going to convert a few friends with this…..as long as they don’t try to make me their supplier
Thanks for great idea and how to!
Hi Susan,
Unless I missed it, I don’t see an amount for the essential oil. About how much total did you use for the recipe? Thanks so much!
You can scent to your individual taste.
Thank you so much Susan for sharing this recipe! Would I be able to substitute hemp oil or Macadamia nut oil for the almond oil in this recipe?
could I melt the oils in the microwave oven
I want to try this and was wondering if I substituted the coconut oil for alvacado oil would it still whip up with the Shea butter? I’m a first timer at this stuff
Just ordered my ingredients..cannot WAIT to try.
Just jumping in to say no no no, please don’t put in microwave! It will kill the healthy elements in your oils.
Coconut oil is solid at room temp so if you replace it with a liquid oil I am guessing you will have problems with these ratios.
Oh, good! Glad someone mentioned about NOT using the micro(killer)wave!
I’m encouraged to see a liquid form of lotion go well bc I had the problem of it not thickening. So, I stopped making it & started 2 yrs ago making Hard Lotion Bars…3 ingredients coconut oil, shea butter & beeswax, adding EO if I want. They ALWAYS turned out & moisturize beautifully. I’m going to try this one, hopefully it can be my alternative lotion.
I made this body butter and it turned out great,except that I can’t smell the essential oils. Just a faint smell and I used quite alot of them. It seems that the shea butter ( i used unrefined shea butter) is all I smell. Do you know why?
I made a batch in iowa and it turned out wonderful!! I came to Florida and made a batch and we doubled it and waited until it cooled then mixed it up and put in the fridg for awhile got it out and it looked wonderful. Looked at it this morning and it is back to liquid?? Cant figure it out. any suggestions thank you julie
I just made this and it turned out fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing this. The wonderful smell (I used a little lavendar oil and some dried rosemary that I just scooped out after) are going to brighten up the rest of my winter along with the wonderful, soft skin! Good-bye, dry Alberta winters!!
I just made my first two batches and they whipped up wonderfully! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Don’t tell, but I put them up to give to the Mom’s on Mothers Day!
I noticed two things that may be helpful to others who would like to try this recipe in the future: 1. The scent of unrefined Shea butter does seem to trump most of what I added to sweeten the scent. Next time i will opt for refined. And 2: Keeping it cool (after the melting portion) helps everything along. I can only imagine that the previously mentioned Florida batch heated up a bit. Ill be stowing these Mother’s day jars in the cellar til May.. with my fingers crossed.