Homemade Whipped Body Butter

I have decided to take on another new venture in the world of beauty products: Homemade Hand/Body Lotion. One of my good friends has recently started making homemade soap and lotion bars and I have been the gracious recipient of samples which I am in love with! Seeing her and others make these homemade beauty products shows me how easy it is, and hopefully I can inspire you to do the same. It is so wonderful to put a product onto your skin that you know has only a handful of REAL ingredients…it’s so safe you can eat it. Unfortunately, even some “natural” or “organic” products in the store are not always all they’re cracked up to be (surprising? not really). It’s also great for baby skin as a natural but balm or sleepy-time lotion. It can also be used to help with sore and cracked nipples during breast feeding.

Your skin is the largest organ in the body, and while it serves to protect you from the outside world, what you put on it is absorbed right into your body; this includes toxins and carcinogens from the environment, especially personal care products. If you wouldn’t dream of putting a product in your mouth, than you may want to think twice about rubbing it all over your skin.

“Toxins” refer to substances that the body is unable to breakdown efficiently or use, so they are stored or collected throughout the body and can cause damage and disrupt normal cellular and organ function. The body has the ability to breakdown and eliminate foreign substances, but in our toxic world where everything from the furniture we sit on to the food we eat has chemicals, our systems simply cannot keep up. A long-term heavy “toxic load” leads to deregulation within the body and diseases such as cancer.

Here are a Few Ingredients to Avoid in skin care products:

Parabens: used as a preservative and have been found stored in tumor cells of the body. May have an estrogenic effect on the body and are a potential carcinogen
Petrolatum Jelly’s (aka Mineral Oil): clogs pores and takes away the body’s ability to moisturize itself
Propylene Glycol (PEG or PPG): Can cause skin irritation and dryness
Synthetic “Colors” or “Fragrances”: these are foreign to the body and disrupt natural function
…Of course homemade versions won’t contain any of these things

Making your own organic products are cheaper than purchasing high-quality lotions and lip balms…and I’m always looking for a deal!

This homemade Body Butter works on your face, body, lips, hands, feet…really wherever…so you only need one product, isn’t that refreshing?

I typically have VERY dry hands in the winter and spring, but since using my homemade body butter, my hands have not been dry and cracked at all! WOW!

After reading through several recipes and gathering the raw materials, I decided to just go for it. This blog gave a great guideline for general proportions of ingredients to use, but of course I took my own creative liberties and below you’ll find the recipe I found works best.

You just need 4-6 ingredients to make a homemade lotion:

Solid Oil:
Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Lard or Tallow (rendered, available cheap from organic farmers at the market), Coconut Oil

Liquid Oil:
Olive Oil, Almond Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sunflower Oil, Avocado Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, etc.

Emulsifier:
Beeswax (or available at farmers markets)-locks in the moisture

Distilled Water (available at any grocery store for cheap)

Optional: Essential Oils and/or Vitamin E Oil (natural preservative and antioxidant)

2 of My Recipes:

3/4 cup melted Coconut Oil
1 cup liquid oil (I use 3/4 cup organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and 1/4 cup Jojoba Oil)
2.5-3 oz. Beeswax (dry measure, about 1 cup roughly chopped)
1/4 cup distilled water, warm*
1 Tablespoon Vitamin E Oil (optional but recommended)
1/4 tsp. Lavender Essential Oils

Yields 1 Quart

OR Try this recipe

3/4 cup melted Shea Butter or melted Cocoa Butter
1 cup Sweet Almond Oil
2.5-3 oz. Beeswax (dry measure, about 1 cup roughly chopped)
1/4 cup distilled water, warm
1 Tablespoon Vitamin E Oil (optional but recommended)
Optional: 1/4-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Essential Oil

Yields 1 Quart

Directions:

Prepare a double boiler (or a glass container in a pot of simmering water). In the top of the DB or glass dish melt the solid oil (Lard, Coconut oil, Shea butter), liquid oil (Olive oil, Almond oil, Jojoba, etc.) and Beeswax. Stir until melted.
Remove top of the double boiler or the glass dish and whisk in the warm water and vitamin E oil. Use a stand mixer and whisk on high for about 5-10 minutes until it starts to cool and look like a fluffy cream. Scrape down the sides periodically while blending to prevent the beeswax from hardening separate.
Add in essential oils and continue to blend another minute.
Once cooled, transfer into small glass containers and store what you are not using. I like to keep extra in the refrigerator since I make such large batches.

This is a thicker lotion, but if you want a more liquid lotion, use more liquid oil or water, and if you want an even thicker-firmer lotion add more beeswax.

*Note on Beeswax: Beeswax can be tricky to work with, so just make sure you keep it heated and scrape down the sides of the bowls or it will harden back up. Use hot water or put utensils in the dishwasher to clean. It is important to use warm water or the beeswax will harden.

Store extra in the refrigerator-this may cause “weeping” of the water which can be stirred back in or drained out.