I had been searching for a super moisturising body butter recipe since I started my quest to go chemical free with all of my skin care. I was looking for something I could use as a daily moisturiser and particularly how to make body butter with shea butter. I also wanted it to be a vegan body butter recipe.
When I started researching, I was really surprised at how easy making an all natural and high quality body butter can be. I was also quite surprised at how easy it is to make body butters with different variations based on different skin needs.
Shea butter has been a favourite skin care ingredient of mine already as I love how it makes my skin feel, so this was an easy starting point for me. Shea butter can be a little greasy on the skin and so I was looking to make a homemade body butter with shea butter that I could make a little less greasy.
Store bought shea butter body butter can be expensive and making your own is usually a very cost effective option. The recipe I have come up with applies really well on my skin and leaves my skin looking better than store bought body butters.
In this guide, I will run you through all about why I love making my own body butter, what body butter is, what my favourite ingredients for body butter are and how I stop it from being greasy on the skin.
What Is A Body Butter?
PinBody butter is typically made from one or a combination of natural butters such as shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter. You can even make your own DIY mango body butter from mango butter or cocoa body butter recipe with cocoa butter.
Body butter is a thick, whipped cream that you can apply to the skin to provide a deeply moisturising effect.
Body butter is a great choice of moisturiser for those with dry skin or those prone to rough and patchy skin. It is also a great option for those who are looking for an all natural skin care product. Body butters do not contain water meaning they do not require preservatives, keeping additives to a minimum.
Read my full guide to what body butter is here.
Why Make A Homemade Whipped Body Butter Recipe?
There are many reasons why I love to make my own homemade body butter with shea butter and I have listed several of these reasons below.
You Can Control What You Add To Your Body Butter
Individuals with sensitive skin or those who have sensitivities to certain ingredients will benefit from being able to pick and choose and know exactly what is in their recipe for body butter.
If your skin is not a fan of an essential oil body butter recipe for example, skip the essential oils.
Cheaper Than Store Bought
Natural body butters can be quite expensive.
Typically, even the best whipped body butter recipe you can make will end up being much more cost effective than purchasing a similar product in store.
Easy To Make
I never realised how simple body butter recipe can be to make. It is super easy to make your own body butter and easy to make with kids too.
A Better Option For The Eco Friendly
When you make your own DIY whipped body butter you can reuse the same container again and again reducing plastic waste.
Alternatively, you can choose eco friendly packaging options like glass jars for your homemade shea body butter.
A Creative And Fun Activity To Do With Kids
Kids love DIY activities and creating recipes and mixing the ingredients. It is a great opportunity to teach them all about the ingredients you are adding.
It also encourages them to want to apply their moisturiser when they make it themselves.
Makes A Good Gift
Store your homemade body cream with shea butter in cute glass jars and label them for a special gift for friends and family.
They will appreciate your efforts, and it could encourage them to venture into the world of DIY and chemical free skincare. You could even add specific essential oils that match their favourite scents for a customised body butter gift.
Click here to find some great bail jars on eBay to package your body butter.
Ingredients For The Best Recipe For Homemade Body Butter
One of the best things about this easy body butter recipe is that you actually only need two ingredients to make it work – shea butter and an appropriate oil (safflower in this recipe but you can substitute for one of the other oils mentioned below).
Arrowroot powder is optional and is recommended primarily to make this body butter feel less greasy. It’s not essential. You can also chose whether to add essential oils or not, but they do make it nicer.
eBay and Amazon Australia are quick and easy places to buy ingredients and all the gear you need. Below, I direct you to the best place to buy each ingredient or you can click here to buy now on Amazon or here for eBay.
Shea Butter
PinIf you experience dry skin, shea butter is a great product for you. It makes the perfect body body as it is full of vitamins and minerals, fatty acids and antioxidants that will soothe, moisture and soften your skin.
Shea butter is easy to spread on your skin and provides a protective barrier on the skin that helps to keep the skin beneath hydrated.
Shea butters’ anti-inflammatory properties mean it is a handy product to have, treating redness, rashes, peeling and rough patches of skin. If, however you are prone to oily skin, it is not always recommended to use shea butter as it can clog your pores.
I have personally enjoyed using shea butter body butter on my dry skin everyday and have found it a great ingredient in my body butter as it gives it a smooth, rich consistency with many great effects for the skin.
If you aren’t the biggest fan of shea butter for your skin or you simply want to try an alternative ingredient, you could swap shea butter for mango butter for a DIY mango body butter. Or you could use cocoa butter to make a whipped cocoa butter body butter recipe.
Click here to buy shea butter now.
Safflower Oil
PinSafflower oil is perfect for this body butter recipe as it is light and absorbs well into the skin making it less greasy feeling than some other oils. It is considered good for your skin as it is full of antioxidants, is anti-inflammatory and will not clog pores. However, no formal studies have yet proven what the benefits of safflower oil for the skin are.
The amounts of vitamin E found in safflower oil means it will provide mild protection from the sun, but not enough to protect like sunscreen would. High amounts of the fatty acid oleic acid make safflower oil absorb nicely into the skin.
If you want to try an alternative ingredient, you could swap safflower oil for coconut oil for a DIY coconut oil body butter. That would make a great coconut body butter recipe instead. Note that coconut oil is a heavier oil and will feel greasier on the skin.
Other alternatives to safflower oil which are lighter are rosehip oil or grapeseed oil.
Click here to buy safflower oil now.
Arrowroot Powder
PinIf you want to reduce the greasiness of your body butter, you can add arrowroot powder to your body butter. Arrowroot powder is made of starch from tropical plants and it will absorb any of the extra oils in the body butter which will help to reduce the oiliness.
The B vitamins that are found in arrowroot powder can help your skin to absorb the other nutrients in your body butter and can even help improve circulation. But if you wanted to switch out arrowroot powder for another ingredient you could try cornstarch or tapioca flour instead.
Click here to buy arrowroot powder now.
Essential Oils
PinIf you love different scents, how they make make you feel and how they can benefit your skin (depending on which type you choose) you will love the addition of essential oil to your body butter.
It gives the body butter something special but essential oils are not for everyone and if they do not agree with you, simply skip them from your homemade body butter recipes.
Personally, I love essential oils and the smell of them always brings a smile to my face while adding benefits to my skin. Here are just a few essential oils you could try using in your body butter and some of their benefits.
- Lemon: Lemon is a clean and cleansing scent, it helps wake you up and is uplifting. It can help with your focus and attention.
- Orange: Orange essential oil is a fresh scent that can potentially help with depression.
- Peppermint: Peppermint oil is cooling and fresh, wakes the skin up and feels great on sore lips. It can help focus the mind and reduce inflammation.
- Spearmint: Spearmint is just a bit sweeter than peppermint but still provides that wake up, cooling effect on the skin and is also good for stress.
- Vanilla: Vanilla oil is one of my favourites and the same goes for many other people. It is a mood uplifter that smells romantic and can help those with depression.
- Rose: Rose oil is a favourite among many people. It is also super good for your skin, smells great and can help stimulate the mind.
- Chamomile: Chamomile oil is known to soothe, reduce stress and help you to relax.
- Lavender: Lavender oil is my personal favourite. It is known to help with stress to help you wind down and still keep you alert. I enjoy adding lavender oil to my body butter for a great smelling lavender body butter recipe.
Please note that in my personal recipe for body butter, the amounts of essential oils I have added is the amount suited to what I have found to enjoy. You are free to add as much or as little as you like.
Adding essential oils is a great way to adjust the recipe to make totally different creams for different needs. For example, a peppermint body butter can help to cool the skin down and a lavender body butter can help to relax you and keep you alert.
Essential oils are a fun way to create different types of body butter that can work for different occasions and suit different likes and dislikes. You could even customise gifted body butter with the scent of essential oil your friend/family member enjoys.
Click here to buy essential oils on eBay now.
How To Make Your Own Body Butter With Shea Butter
PinI was super surprised at just how easy making your own body butter can be. My personal recipe is super easy and based on ingredients I like and have found beneficial for my skin.
All you need to do is simply mix your ingredients together. It’s that simple.
If you want to add, remove or substitute any ingredients from the recipe list, give it a go. You can completely customise your body butter to suit your own personal skincare needs. I have provided a number of substitutes for you to choose from if you wish if any of the above ingredients do not suit your skin needs.
When you have made your body butter, you can store your body butter in an airtight container. Keeping moisture away from your body butter is important as any water exposed to the body butter will potentially reduce the shelf life.
Sealed glass jars are a great way to store your body butter if you want to gift them or just want it to look special. Otherwise any sealed container will do, particularly if you are going to use it daily.
Super Moisturising Body Butter Recipe
This shea body butter recipe is great for leaving your skin healthy and soft. It particularly works well on dry skin that wants some extra moisture and has arrowroot powder to make it a non greasy body butter recipe. I apply it daily and love how soft my skin is.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Shea Butter
- 1/2 cup Safflower Oil
- 1 tablespoon Arrowroot Powder
- 20 drops Essential Oil
- Jar/container
Instructions
- Add the shea butter and safflower oil to a bowl
- Mix with an electric mixer until it's the desired consistency. This is usually a couple of minutes
- Mix in the arrowroot powder and continue to mix for an additonal minute
- Stir in the essential oils
- Place in an airtight jar or container
Notes
This will last about 6 months depending on your ingredients. It can become super smooth in hot weather and less smooth in cool weather.
PinFinal Words
I really hope you have found this guide on my super moisturising body butter useful. I hope I have inspired you to create your own body butter and I hope you enjoy this body butter recipe.
Personally, my skin has really enjoyed using this body butter, I use it every day to provide moisture to my dry skin and I have to say it leaves it feeling great after each use.
Making your own body butter is a fun, cheap, and creative way to create natural and chemical free skin care that you can share with your friends and family. You can try using different types of oils and powders and essential oils to create all different variations of body butters to enjoy.
PinI personally really enjoy vanilla, lavender and spearmint essential oils. However, some days I prefer one over the other and so I like to have a few body butters made up for my different moods/skin needs for the day. It is nice to have a few alternatives to pick and choose from.
I would love to know if you have enjoyed this body butter recipe and hope you have found this guide and recipe helpful.
Want to make more natural skincare that’s fun and easy? Find all my DIY skincare recipes here. You may also like my face cream recipe here and my lip balm recipe here. Also consider my body oil recipe here. Would you prefer to make your body butter with mango butter? Find my mango butter recipe here.
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