Quick and Easy: How to Make Body Butter

Natural body butter is a great alternative to store-bought body lotions. It’s thicker than lotion and typically contains shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, coconut oil, or other vegetable-based essential oils.  

Body butter is super effective at rejuvenating dry skin, especially on more vulnerable areas like elbows and knees. To keep your skin hydrated all day with homemade body butter, I always recommend applying it after a shower to lock in your skin’s moisture.

Making your own homemade body butter is another way of at least attempting to limit your exposure to all those nasty and questionable chemicals found in most lotions and moisturizers. Making your own body butter is so quick and easy that anyone can use it to complement their natural skincare regimen.

• It’s a much better option since you can customize any particular body butter recipe to the scents you prefer while simultaneously using the ingredients your skin needs.
• The basic ingredients found in most homemade body butter variations can all be stored at room temperature.
• Since the ingredients won’t spoil, you won’t need to store your body butter in the fridge.
• Again, the essential ingredients are shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, coconut oil, or other plant-derived oils. Some people may also use ingredients that are not plant-derived, like tallow.

More on that here: “What is Tallow?“

A Brief Look at Common Body Butter Ingredients

The options for the various main ingredients you can use in your own homemade body butter are almost endless. So, let’s take a deeper look at some of the most common ingredients. Remember, there’s no hard-fast rule for homemade beauty concoctions, so experiment a bit with the ingredients you decide to use.

I’d suggest trying each main ingredient by itself if you haven’t used it before to see which one has the qualities you like the best.

Shea Butter

Shea butter comes from the oil-saturated seeds of the African Shea tree. It’s a superb moisturizing oil with well-known anti-inflammatory properties that protect the skin from sunburn while helping the skin heal from abrasions and minor cuts. It also nourishes skin with vitamins A, E, and K, as well as a number of essential fatty acids.

Plus, it’s nutty scent makes it a good natural base for homemade body butter.

Cocoa Butter

Cocoa oil is a very commonly used vegetable oil that’s extracted from cocoa beans. We all know what cocoa beans are used for. That’s right, chocolate.

Due to the strong aroma and taste of cocoa beans, cocoa butter retains these same characteristics. This oil is edible but also quite high in fat. Much of the marketing surrounding cocoa butter claims that it’s a miracle oil for stretch marks, but one scholarly study from 2008 says otherwise.

While it may not be a miracle oil for stretch marks, it is still incredibly useful for optimal skin health.

Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is actually not an oil but a liquid wax derived from the jojoba plant. It keeps moisture in the skin and is more like skin sebum or whale oil than other kinds of vegetable oils. Jojoba oil is non-digestible, meaning that it will pass through the human digestion system without being broken down and absorbed into the body.

Jojoba oil is commonly used for the hair and scalp due to its close similarities to human skin sebum.

Coconut Oil

Among the variety of uses for coconut oil, it’s very commonly used as a base in body butter. One scholarly study even showed that coconut oil naturally has an SPF of about 8, so it’s also a moderate protectant against the sun’s harmful rays.

Not only has coconut oil been demonstrated to be a wonderful skin moisturizer, but one study shows that it’s also proven to be an effective treatment against gingivitis and plaque buildup in the mouth. Besides all the health benefits, coconut oil is especially great for cooking as well, especially in brownies.

Whipped Body Butter

Whipped body butter makes use of the basic natural ingredients above. To make your own, you need ½ cup of shea butter, ¼ cup of coconut oil, ¼ cup of jojoba oil, and 5-10 drops of an essential oil such as peppermint.

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients (except the essential oil) in a glass bowl and place in a saucepan filled with water. You may also place the ingredients in a double boiler if available.
2. Melt and mix all the ingredients on medium heat.
3. When ready, the mixture goes from white to semi-clear.
4. Place the mixture in the fridge for one hour or until it begins to thicken and solidify.
5. Whip the mixture with a hand or cake mixer until it’s fluffy, like whipped cream. While beating, incorporate the essential oil.
6. Place the body butter in your desired container and refrigerate for 1 hour.

You should know that this whipped body cream normally softens during warm seasons because of the coconut oil. To keep it solid, try to store it in a cool place, even in the fridge. Its shelf life is six months at room temperature. Apply this body butter anytime for beautifully supple skin.

Olive Oil Body Butter Recipe

Another homemade body butter that’s so easy to make is olive oil body butter. You’ll only need three ingredients for this recipe. All you’ll need is 4 ounces of unrefined shea butter, two tablespoons of olive oil (preferably homemade herbal-infused oil), and 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional).

Instructions:

1. Place the shea butter and olive oil in a bowl and place the bowl in a saucepan with water (or put the ingredients in a double boiler). Melt and mix over medium heat.
2. Once the ingredients melt, add any essential oils of your choice and remove them from the heat.
3. Allow the mixture to cool until it reaches an opaque color.
4. Using a hand or cake mixer, whip all the ingredients for a few minutes until they reach an airy and creamy consistency. If you’re having trouble reaching this consistency, you should allow your mix to cool a bit more, then try blending again.
5. Refrigerate until it cools thoroughly and store in a cool, dark place.

Now you have your own homemade body butter! Put it inside a jar with a very tight-fitting lid. It has a shelf life of six months if placed in a cool, dry place.

Whipped Body Butter With Cocoa

To make this unique body butter, you need the following ingredients: ½ cup shea butter, ½ cup coconut oil, ½ cup jojoba oil OR almond oil, ½ cocoa butter, and an optional 10-30 drops of any essential oil of your choice. As you may have noticed, making body butter is quite easy, this one is too!

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients (except the essential oil) in a glass bowl and place in a saucepan with water, or use a double boiler.
2. On medium heat, melt and mix all the ingredients.
3. When melted, remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool in the fridge for an hour until it begins to solidify.
4. With a hand or cake mixer, whip it for 10 minutes or until fluffy.
5. Place the mixture in the fridge until thoroughly cooled.

Store your homemade body butter in a glass jar with a tight lid.

Body Butter Bars

These body butter bars are all-natural and wonderful for your beautiful skin. They also make for great gifting opportunities because people love them! Here are the ingredients you need to make these body butter bars: 1 cup of coconut oil, 1 cup of beeswax, 1 cup of shea butter OR cocoa butter OR mango butter, and 1 teaspoon of vitamin E oil.

For fragrance purposes, add any essential oil of your choice.

Instructions:

1. Combine all the ingredients (except the vitamin E oil and essential oil) in a glass bowl and place the bowl in a saucepan with water (or use a double boiler).
2. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat and stir the ingredients until they’re mixed and melted.
3. Remove from heat and add the vitamin E oil and any essential oil of your choice. Stir by hand until the oils are integrated into the mix.
4. Carefully transfer the mixture into your desired molds.
5. Allow the mixture to cool and solidify in your molds.

For extra fun, use various shaped molds for different occasions. Use a heart shape for Valentine’s Day, snowflakes or stars for Christmas, etc. Now, you have an easy-to-make, affordable, and personalized gift! You may become a hit in your town as the go-to person for amazing body butter bars!

It Really Is That Simple

Regardless of which body butter recipe you decide to use, each kind of body butter is incredibly easy to make. Plus, they can be stored at room temperature for up to 6 months, or you can put them in the fridge for a longer shelf life.

Also, it’s very important to understand that the goal of heating up the ingredients in each recipe is simply for melting. The point is not to cook the ingredients!

So, as soon as the ingredients are melted enough to mix, remove them from the heat. If you’re leery, melt your ingredients on low heat the first few times.

Making body butter is one of the easiest ways to proactively take a step in getting your family out of the habit of using products that contain harmful or questionable ingredients. Besides that, making it with your kids will be quite enjoyable.

Don’t have any children? Then, spend time with a friend and show them just how amazing you are at making body butter. Your friends will be impressed and will learn how to make their own nourishing skin balm at home.

Homemade DIY Body Butter FAQs

What are the basic ingredients needed to make homemade body butter?

To make homemade body butter, you typically need a combination of shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and a carrier oil like almond or jojoba oil.

Can I add essential oils to my body butter, and how much should I use?

Yes, you can add essential oils for fragrance and added skin benefits. Usually, a few drops to a teaspoon, depending on the size of the batch and the strength of the essential oil, is sufficient.

How long does homemade body butter last?

Homemade body butter can last for several months. To extend its shelf life, store it in a cool, dry place and use clean hands or a utensil to scoop it out.

Do I need to refrigerate my body butter?

It’s not necessary to refrigerate body butter, but if your home is very warm and the butter is melting, refrigerating it can help maintain its whipped consistency.

What’s the difference between whipped body butter and traditional body creams?

Whipped body butter is typically made with natural butter and oils without water, giving it a thicker, more luxurious texture. Traditional body creams often contain water, emulsifiers, and preservatives, resulting in a lighter feel.

How do I achieve a whipped texture for my body butter?

To whip body butter, use an electric mixer to beat the combined oils and butter until they become light and fluffy, similar to the consistency of whipped cream.

Is it necessary to use a preservative in homemade body butter?

Since homemade body butter is an anhydrous product (does not contain water), it doesn’t require a preservative. Rosemary essential oil is known to be a fairly good preservative, so that could be added if preferred (one drop would be plenty). Regardless, avoid introducing water into the container to prevent bacterial growth.