I have fairly dry skin, and with winter approaching and bringing with it several months of dry air, I decided to try some recipes for some different kinds of lotions/moisturizers. I found a recipe that looked promising, but it was for lotion BARS, and I wanted to try something more lotiony/buttery, so I adapted it slightly to turn it into a body butter.
You will need:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup shea butter (or mango butter, cocoa butter, etc.)
1/3 cup grated beeswax or beeswax pellets/pastilles
1 teaspoon vitamin E oil (optional)
Essential oils of your choice (I used lemon & lavender)
Measure out your coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax, and put them in a pint jar. This will be your double boiler. :)
Put the jar in a small pan of boiling water, and stir frequently.
It will take awhile for everything to melt, but be patient...it will all liquify eventually. :)
After all your solids are melted, add the vitamin E oil. I only had vitamin E in capsules, so I just poked them with a pin and squeezed the oil out. Gotta do what you gotta do. :)
Next add your essential oils. I honestly can't remember how much I added....probably 10-20 drops of each oil...but I basically just added oils until I liked the smell, so do likewise. :)
I put the whole jar in the fridge to help the lotion cool more quickly. I kept checking it and stirring it. Once it had started to set up a bit (like the above picture) I poured it out into my stand mixer.
I whipped it on high for several minutes, then put it (mixer bowl and all) back into the fridge for a few minutes...
...Then I whipped it for a few more minutes on high, and put it back in the fridge for a few MORE minutes...
...And repeat....
....ahhhh, NOW we're getting somewhere. :) Basically just keep alternating whipping and cooling until it gets to the consistency you're looking for. :)
Now when I call this "body butter," I mean it. :) It has a nice, fluffy texture, but when it gets warm (from say, your body heat) it melts into an oil. Once you rub it into your skin you WILL be oily for awhile, but it will eventually soak in!! :) If the excess oil bothers you, just gently blot it off with a clean cloth. I wouldn't recommend using it right before going somewhere...after getting out of the shower or just before bedtime works well. :)
And there you have it! Whipped Body Butter! :)
