Silky Smooth DIY Body Butter Recipe
How to create a light and creamy homemade body butter using all-natural ingredients. Scooped from the container, it's as light as thick cream and melts into your skin without any oily residue. This is a citrusy-scented and water-free formulation that does not require a preservative. It makes two 120 ml (4 fl oz) jars or one half-pint jar but you can use the toggle button in the ingredients field to double or triple the recipe. The photos and DIY video at the bottom show a double batch.
Servings 2 jars (120 ml / 4 fl oz)
Cost $20
Equipment
- stand mixer or whisk
- 2 small dark glass jars (4 oz /120 ml) 4 fl. oz/ 120 ml
Ingredients
Solid Oils
- 57 g shea butter (refined)
- 7 g cocoa butter
- 6 g cetyl alcohol
- 5 g coconut oil (refined) or virgin
Cooling phase A
- 46 g sweet almond oil alternative liquid oils: grapeseed oil, apricot kernel oil, safflower oil, fractionated coconut oil
- 1.3 g vitamin e oil (optional)
- 0.5 g bergamot essential oil approx. 1/8 tsp (optional)
- 0.5 g lavender essential oil approx. 1/8 tsp (optional)
- 0.3 g sweet orange essential oil approx. 1/16 tsp (optional)
Cooling phase B
- 6 g cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Instructions
Preparation
- Using a kitchen scale, measure the ingredients in the solid oils group into a small stainless steel pan. Measure the Cooling Phase A group into a jar and the cornstarch into a small container.
- Lay your utensils out and have the mixer set up and ready.
Melt the Solid Oils
- The solid oils and cetyl alcohol need to be melted over indirect heat. Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan a third of the way with hot water. Bring it to a simmer, and set the pan of solid oils inside. Stir and allow all the solid oils to fully melt.
- Remove the pan from the heat and set it on a potholder. Allow it to cool for one minute.
Add the Cooling Phase A Ingredients
- Next, pour the Cooling Phase A ingredients into the mixer bowl, or another kitchen bowl if you're using a hand mixer or whisk. This includes the liquid oil, vitamin E oil (optional), and essential oils (optional).
- Pour the melted butters into the bowl now, too, and stir well.
- Refrigerate the bowl until the oils turn opaque and the middle is slightly thick. This takes about thirty minutes.
Whipping the Body Butter
- Sift the cornstarch into the bowl using a sieve. Stir well.
- Ideally, using an electric mixer, whip the mixture for three to five minutes on high. Use the silicone spatula to push the solid oils at the sides of the bowl back into the center. The aim is to create a lot of tiny air bubbles in the mixture, so don't stir them out at any point past this step.
- Put the bowl back in the refrigerator for ten minutes. When you take it out, the mixture should all be white and set enough to not move when tilted. Bring it back to the mixer.
- Whip for three to five minutes longer. The homemade body butter will be creamy, glossy, and white when finished. It reminds me of a very creamy cake icing or even meringue.
Storing Body Butter
- Spoon the body butter into containers* and leave it to set for a full day before using. Store in a cool place and use within a year or six months of opening.
Video
Notes
Dark glass jars are ideal since they protect the oils inside from UV light. Small clear jars are fine, too, but store them in a dim to dark place to ensure a good shelf life.