Today I made some body butter for my dry, cracked hands and feet, and had to take a moment to share with you how I made it. If you have never tried homemade lotions or body butters, you truly are missing out!!
I'm one of those people who deals with seriously dry, chapped, and cracked skin during the colder, dry fall and winter months. Always seems like by the time my skin finally starts to hydrate again, it happens just in time for fall to hit all over again. For years I have struggled to find anything that helps (I've tried just about every brand of lotion on the shelf and a few prescriptions).
Homemade DIY Body Butter… for when nothing else helps your dry skin
My mind is always busy, though I am easily distracted. For the past couple winters, Pinterest occupied my mind so I didn't think about those pantyhose my scaly calloused heals tore through. Today, I I thought I'd do something different. I decided to actually making my own. Of course one would think I would do a quick Pinterest search first to find a recipe… Yeah, not so much. Thankfully the end result turned out incredible!
Supplies you'll need:
- Four 8oz wide-mouthed mason jars,
- a small saucepan,
- a butter knife,
- rubber coated tongs,
- and a spoon.
Ingredients:
- One 16oz bag of Mango Butter,
- 1.5-2 Tbsp Beeswax,
- 1-2 tsp Arrowroot powder,
- 2 tsp Coconut oil,
- 2 dropper squirts of Argan oil,
- 1 dropper squirt of Jojoba oil,
- 1 tsp Rose ointment,
- Your choice of essential oils (~120 drops total)
You can chose to replace the mango butter with shea or cocoa butter. They're all interchangeable. I personally chose to use mango butter because it doesn't have as strong of a smell, which helps the essential oils stand out more.
Today I chose to use to use:
I chose these oils because they are fantastic for soothing dry and irritated skin, perfect for cold weather. After the recipe, I'll give more suggestions for essential oil blends to use in your homemade body butter recipe.
** PLEASE NOTE ** Don't be fooled by clever marketing. Not all essential oils are created equally. Make sure you're not wasting your money on fake or altered essential oils (even if they're labeled as “pure essential oil”). Don't miss our explosive report outlining the dirty little secrets of the essential oil industry to ensure you're not wasting your money on brands of oils that legally mislead you through deceitful marketing practices.
Before you get confused by my method of measuring, please understand that I measure everything less than 1/4 cup by estimates in the palm of my hand (I like to think of that as “cooking with love,” which in all reality probably stems from a deep desire not to have to wash more dishes than absolutely necessary… or old habits acquired from the days when I baked with my grandmother).
Instructions:
- Fill saucepan with just enough water to set the mason jar into without the water overflowing into the jar. Heat water to a boil. (I let the pan heat while continuing steps 2-4).Separate the brick of shea into quarters and stuff each quarter into an 8oz wide mouth mason jar.
- Add small a handful of beeswax pellets to each jar. If I had to guess, I used slightly under 2 tablespoons for each jar. It was just enough to fill the palm of my hand and hold without spilling.
- Add a tsp of rose ointment. while you don't necessarily need to use rose ointment, I do because it leaves my skin softer when I use it. It also smells pretty. I use and love the rose ointment from Young Living.
- Drop the jar with the cap OFF into the boiling water, wait for everything to melt. Stir (I used a butter knife) to thoroughly mix the mango butter, beeswax, and rose ointment. I did mine one at a time because the saucepan I had access to at that moment was too small to do them all at once.
- Add a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil and 1-2 tsp arrowroot powder, and pull the hot jar out of the saucepan using the tongs (make sure to set on a trivet or wire rack to start cooling). I also added two dropper squirts of the Argan oil and one dropper squirt of the jojoba oil at this time too. Mix the oil together using the butter knife.
- Add desired essential oils. Based on the dilution chart, I don't use or recommend more than 120 drops of essential oils for adults. When I mix lotion for my son, I don't use more than 45 drops of essential oil total. For this batch, I used 30 drops each of patchouli and geranium, and 45 drops of lavender.
Please note my method I'm sharing with you today is making a body butter. You can turn this into a silky lotion by mixing everything in a double boiler, and then whisking it in a mixer until light and fluffy.
Essential oil blends perfect to use in your DIY body butter recipe
This is where you really may allow your imagination to run wild. There is no right or wrong to choosing the perfect essential oil blend to use in your body butter, though be careful when using photosensitive essential oils, like citrus oils, on your skin within 12 hours of that same spot of your skin being exposed to sunlight.
- Peppermint (you'll only need up tp 80 drops of just peppermint because of how strong it is)
- Oily Skin Helper: 50 drops petit grain essential oil, 25 drops lemongrass essential oil, 15 drops tea tree essential oil, 10 drop geranium essential oil, 10 drop ylang ylang essential oil (best for oily, acne-prone skin)
- Dry Skin Helper: 40 drops each of helichrysum, frankincense, and patchouli with 20 drops each of sandalwood, and rose essential oils (best for dry, aging, damaged skin)
- Walk in the Flowers: 40 drops lavender essential oil with 20 drops each of geranium and Palmarosa essential oils
- Sensitive Skin Helper: 96 drops lavender essential oil, 16 drops each of roman chamomile, helichrysum, and Palmarosa essential oils
- Stressed Skin Helper: 30 drops each of helichrysum, frankincense, lavender, and sandalwood with 15 drops each of roman chamomile, rose or jasmine essential oils. (Perfect for eczema and psoriasis stressed skin)
- Scar and Stretch Mark Helper: 25 drops each of helichrysum, lavender, and patchouli essential oils with 10 drops each of neroli and geranium essential oils.
- Vintage Rose: 80 drops of rose essential oil, 20 drops lavender essential oil, 20 drops of jasmine essential oil
- Gingerbread: 70 drops ginger essential oil, 20 drops each cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg essential oils
Pre-made essential oil blends you'll love in your homemade body butter:
- Abundance* (spicy orange, perfect for fall and setting an abundant mindset)
- Brain Power (woodsy floral aroma that helps with focusing)
- Christmas Spirit* (orange, cinnamon, spruce, perfect for fall and winter)
- Dream Catcher* (grounding citrus-floral aroma that inspires innovation and artistry)
- En-R-Gee (stimulating spicy-pine aroma to naturally boost your energy)
- Gentle Baby* (floral aroma inspiring togetherness and bonding)
- Gratitude* (woodsy aroma with a hint of sweet to inspire thankfulness, personal and spiritual growth)
- Harmony* (sweet woody aroma that inspires balance throughout your chakras, emotions, and mindset)
- Hope (inspires faith restoration by reconnecting with feelings of strength and stability
- Inner Child* (citrusy-floral aroma that inspires reconnecting with your inner child and embrace your true authentic self)
- Motivation (a floral-woody aroma that inspires you to get things done)
- Peace and Calming (a sweet-floral blend to help you relax)
- Sacred Mountain (a soft-wood aroma that inspires personal growth through challenging times)
- Sensation (a lightly sweetened floral perfume aroma that inspired love, self love, appreciation, and affection)
- Stress Away* (vanilla-lime aroma that helps decrease your stress levels)
- Valor (a grounding woodsy aroma that inspires confidence)
- White Angelica (soft floral aroma inspiring optimism and feelings of security)
* is for essential oil blends containing photosensitive essential oils. Be sure to not use these blends anywhere on your body that will see direct sunlight within 12 hours.
This is easy to modify to make your own Chapstick too!
All while enjoying making the butters, I managed to run out of lip balm. I ended up scraping the Shea butter bag for some extra goodness to use and added in a large pinch of beeswax, a pea-sized amount of the rose ointment, a squirt of the Argan oil and a pea sized amount of coconut oil into a 1/4 cup metal measuring cup and melted them down. After removing from the heat, I added 4 drops of lavender essential oil, mixed it together using the same butter knife from earlier and poured as much as would fit into my empty lip balm container (reduce, reuse, recycle). Oh my goodness are my lips in heaven!!
I'm totally impressed!!! Another successful DIY win, and it only took me 30 mins to complete!!
I'm excited to have made something that family members are already asking for – hmmm, sounds like I know what I'll be making for Christmas gifts this year!!
No time or patience to DIY? Here are our favorite nontoxic body butters:
- Body Butter Collection
- Lavender to help you calm down and relax
- Vanillamint to soothe and cool your muscles and skin
- Stress Away to help you unwind
- Valor to help you ground and refocus
- Coconut Lime Body Butter
Where to Buy Quality Essential Oils
** PLEASE NOTE ** Don't be fooled by clever marketing. Not all essential oils are created equally. Make sure you're not wasting your money on fake or altered essential oils (even if they're labeled as “pure essential oil”). Don't miss our explosive report outlining the dirty little secrets of the essential oil industry to ensure you're not wasting your money on brands of oils that legally mislead you through deceitful marketing practices.
We purchase our oils through Young Living because they set a higher standard for essential oils than what the rest of the industry expects. Their Seed to Seal guarantee is unmatched, and shows their dedication to a farm-to-table type of approach.
Warning: DO NOT purchase your oils through Amazon or similar websites!
Any website that allows anyone to sell on, such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart… etc… are terrible places to purchase essential oils. While you may get a “good deal,” knowing who you're purchasing from is difficult. There are many counterfeit essential oils being sold that are causing health ailments, major skin reactions, and a lot of misery. These are NOT high quality essential oils. They are fakes being sold purely for profit.
I also do NOT recommend purchasing from grocery stores, Walmart, Target, department stores, or drug stores. Many of the brands found at those stores have been proven to not actually contain any essential oil (which is perfectly legal to do).
I STRONGLY suggest you know the company that makes your oils, how the plants are cared for, what they do for distilling, how and how many times each batch is tested (and when), and their bottling processes. Many companies throw out fancy language for marketing purposes, but actually have no clue how their oils are made because the oils come from a broker (which are almost always diluted in solvents). Transparency is key.
I highly encourage you to check out our How To Find Quality Essential Oils post for in-depth information about why quality matters, and what to look for.
Where we purchase our essential oils, and why
We purchase our oils through Young Living because they set a higher standard for essential oils than what the rest of the industry expects. Their Seed to Seal guarantee is unmatched, and shows their dedication to a farm-to-table type of approach. This company has proven to me time and time again to be the closest thing out there to buying from your local farmer. They are totally transparent in their processes, and even open their farms so you can see for yourself (or involve yourself in the process).
What's your favorite skin care item to DIY? Do you add essential oils? If so, which scents are your favorite? Comment below to tell us!
Nicole
P.S. If you're looking for more DIY, recipes, tips, and tricks or to geek out on more essential oils and healthy lifestyle info, be sure to hit up our Membership Page and come join us on our journey to a better quality of life!