Homemade Body Butter

Getting back from BC this week made my body go into a bit of shock from how dry it is! It was so nice not needing lotion for a week, and when we got back to Saskatchewan, I needed it with a vengeance!

So I decided to treat myself, and make a nice thick, moisture retaining balm. I found this simple recipe on Wellness Mama, and made my own adjustments to it, to really beef it up.

This is what I came up with:

In a double boiler, I melted:

100g cocoa butter
15g beeswax
30g shea butter
90g coconut oil
25g grape seed oil

I stuck that in the fridge to set a bit*, then added:

A splash of glycerin
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Cocoa butter is ultra moisturizing and is great for treating dry and chapped skin and can also be used to reduce the appearance of stretch marks. It is also high in antioxidants, and so helps heal damaged skin, and protect it from environmental factors.

Shea butter contains a ton of fatty acids that help the skin retain moisture and it's natural elasticity. It also heals dry and chapped skin, and can be used to treat eczema.

Beeswax, my new favourite material, is also incredibly moisturizing. It softens the skin and provides a long-lasting barrier against the elements. Beeswax is also anti-bacterial and aids in cell regeneration, making it a great ingredient for dry, damaged skin.

Coconut oil is another favourite of mine, for everything from food to hair to skin care. It is highly nourishing and softening, it soothes dry skin and even helps to heal and clean wounds as it is high in antioxidants and is also antimicrobial and antiseptic. It also has an SPF of about 7!

Grape Seed Oil is a great moisturizer for your whole body, because it won't clog pores! It's also a great addition to thick lotions to make them a bit more spreadable.

Glycerin actually attracts moisture from the air to your skin, so it is a great additive to lotion. However, you only want to add a very small amount, because it can make your lotion sticky if you put too much in - just a splash is all you need to do the trick!
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After that, I split it into two batches, because I wanted two different scents.

In one batch, I put 10 drops of vanilla 10-fold.

In the other, I added 10 drops of bergamot essential oil and 11 drops of lavender essential oil.

I tried whipping this recipe, as the recipe says to do on Wellness Mama, and I just couldn't get it to whip. I'm not sure if I just didn't let it cool enough before attempting this, or if it's because of the ratio of my ingredients. I tend to think it's the latter, and next time i'll try adding more shea butter to see if that allows me to whip it into fluffy goodness!

Since I had the blender out anyway, I ended up whipping in the essential oils and then pouring the batches into sanitized containers to set completely in the fridge.

This butter is nice and soft and goes on fairly oily, because of the coconut and grape seed oils. Personally, I like this, especially where we're living, because I feel that it leaves a nice barrier on my skin to the dry elements! If, however, you don't like that feeling, skip the grape seed oil (or whichever liquid oil you would normally use). Despite it's oily start, I do find that this stuff absorbs into my skin very quickly!

I've been using it for just a couple days now, and i've noticed a huge difference in the feel of my skin. It's super soft and moisturized! As i've mentioned in earlier posts, I believe the key ingredient for this result is beeswax! I'm in love with it!

*a note on cooling your lotion: I have been doing some reading, because a couple of things I have made, with shea and cocoa butter, have gone grainy when they've cooled completely. Apparently, this is because the fatty butters both heat and cool at different rates, and so end up crystallizing in a way. To fix this, you want to heat the butters up slowly (a double boiler does the trick, especially if you add the ingredients one at a time, starting with the one that will take the longest to melt) and then cool them rapidly (ie. stick them in the fridge right away!). I word of caution with cooling them in the fridge: do not cover them or you'll get condensation in your container and that will reduce the shelf life of your lotion! I have found that blending them (I use a milk frother like the one in the picture above) once they've cooled a bit helps mix the butters better and I end up with a nice creamy lotion!