Skin Care: Make Your Own Body Butter

I’ve always had quite sensitive skin. Harsh chemicals and fragrances irritate, my skin can become very dry and I can get break outs of eczema on my hands. Because of this, I try to make sure the products I put on my body are natural, but I don’t always know what ingredients are going on in the things I buy. I still want to smell nice, I still want soft skin and I don’t really want to have to worry about some weird chemicals hanging out in the stuff I buy at the shops.

So I thought I’d have a go at making my own products at home using natural and organic ingredients and I couldn’t believe quite how simple it all was. You’re basically mixing up a few things, melting others in a bain marie, adding essential oils for fragrance and you’re good to go. If you can make a simple recipe, you can make your own beauty products, I promise.

I made three different products – a salt scrub, a body butter and a bunch of lip balms. It was all so surprisingly easy and I had such fun making them. Not only that, but my house smelled absolutely AMAZING! I couldn’t wait to use it, and smell that good myself.

Rosemary, Peppermint and Lavender Body Butter

The next product I created was Body Butter. Now Body Butter is essentially a combination of 75% solid oils and 25% liquid oils. I used unrefined organic raw shea butter and pure coconut oil as my solids and almond oil for my liquid.

Shea Butter is naturally rich in a number of vitamins like Vitamin A, E, F and K and it works to balance and normalise the skin while keeping it clear and healthy. It’s very hydrating, so is particularly good after sunburn as it will cool and soothe sun-damage skin. If you’re pregnant, this body butter can naturally prevent stretch marks. Even better, it’s good for keeping your skin looking youthful and glowing by preventing premature wrinkles and facial lines!

Coconut oil is another wonder product, easily absorbed and has anti-oxidant properties which protect the skin from free-radicals. This means skin is stronger and healthier. It also has a very mild, slightly nutty scent which is reminiscent of sunny holidays. Nothing like a feel good summer scent to get you going in the morning or to pamper yourself before bed.

I used a combination of rosemary, peppermint and lavender essential oils to give my body butter a fresh scent. Peppermint is pretty strong so you want to use it sparingly but the lavender calms the zestiness down just a bit, leaving you smelling simply gorgeous.

Now, when you apply this, it melts almost immediately on your hands which may seem a bit unusual. Don’t be alarmed by this, it really doesn’t go on greasy or leave an oily film. It will absorb quickly so that you’re just left with soft glowing skin.

Here’s how it’s done…

Melt shea butter and coconut oil in glass bowl over a pot of simmering water until fully liquidised.

Remove from heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Once cool, add almond oil and essential oils and stir until well mixed.

Place bowl in freezer for approximately 20-30 minutes until mixture just starts to solidify. After mixture has solidified (it should look like the image below), remove from freezer and whip until soft peaks start to form.

Once whipped, transfer into airtight jar and store in the fridge.

Now because these contain some natural ingredients (especially due to the almond oil content), they are best stored in the fridge, although you’ll still get a couple of months use out of them before you would need to throw them away – and believe me, you’ll definitely use them up before you have to do that!

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