I used to be a drugstore junkie. There was a Shopper’s Drugmart, our Canadian drug superstore, at the corner near our house while attending high school and there was one near my house while attending university. I’d slip in a few times a week, sometimes for legitimate items, such as toilet paper, but mostly to check out the new lip glosses or eye shadows. I spent long hours and dollars there, and ended up filling my body (and medicine cabinet) with a lot of useless junk.
There’s an inspirational quote (I think on people’s Lululemon shopping bags) that says, “do one thing a day that scares you.” If you find yourself nearing the end of the day without having scared yourself, then I suggest you check out this terrifying website, which lists pretty much every beauty product on earth, even natural brands, and all the toxins that they contain. If you’ve already scared yourself sufficiently today and don’t appreciate the fear-mongering of most health sites, and I can’t say I blame you, I’ll offer you a synopsis: all cosmetics sold at most drug stores contain ingredients that are toxic. Harmful chemicals are cheaper, more stable and tend to preserve creams better, so, when it comes to drugstore fare, toxins are here to stay. That’s the bad news. The good news? You don’t have to put up with it. There are plenty of easy, cost-efficient and incredibly nutritive cosmetic recipes online. I’m about to share one with you right now.
Whipped Shea Body Butter
Rub this beautiful silky mixture into dry winter skin and reap the benefits of vitamin-rich, nutritive shea butter, which is very moisturizing and contains skin-nourishing vitamins A and E.
Ingredients:
1 cup unrefined shea butter (you can order it here). Cocoa butter works well too.
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup of a light oil such as almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil or even jojoba oil. You can even mix them up to your liking.
Optional: a few drops (10-15) of an essential oil for fragrance. I used soothing lavender. (It’s also the only essential oil I own).
Directions:
Create a double boiler using a glass bowl and a large pot. Put all of the ingredients in the glass bowl, fill the pot most of the way with water and put the glass bowl in the water. Turn the stove onto medium heat and melt the oils. Stir frequently while heating until all the oils have melted and the mixture is uniform. This takes about 10 minutes.
Remove the glass bowl from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
After the hour, the mixture should be solid, but still uniform. Using a hand mixer whip everything on medium-high speed for 10 minutes until the oils have a creamy consistency. Add the essential oils half-way through. After 10 minutes of whipping, spoon the body butter evenly among glass or plastic containers (such as mini mason jars). Put back in the fridge to chill for another hour.
This makes an amazing gift and is one of the best body butters I’ve tried (take that, drugstore brands)! It can be stored at room temperature and, although it contains no preservatives, usually keeps for a few months. The body butter absorbs well into skin, doesn’t feel greasy and gives skin a soft, velvety texture. Who needs drugstores now?
Other homemade natural body care recipes you might like:
Great idea as raw shea butter is quite ‘annoying’ to handle!
Well, the mixture is very hard if it’s not whipped. Once whipped it goes on a bit greasy but absorbs incredibly well and keeps skin moisturized for a long time! And it’s very simple to make.
Yup, I agree its the best that can happen to dry skin 🙂
I was just looking up whipped shea butter recipes a couple of days ago, and decided on this exact recipe (with almond oil)! Same wavelength… 🙂
Crazy! The one I went off of for this called for 1/2 cup shea butter, 1/2 cup cocoa butter, 1/2 cup almond oil and 1/2 cup coconut oil. Because cocoa butter is more expensive I just doubled the shea butter. But it works really well and goes on just like Body Shop’s body butters, but without the random additives and strong scents (and price, of course).
Awesome! Any suggestions on what to use for the almond oil? The stuff you eat or one specifically for the skin?
I just used the Sweet Almond Oil by Now, which I had left over from 1st year massage. Really any combo of olive oil, almond or apricot kernel or grapeseed works well, as long as its a thinner, liquid oil.
Yeah, I’ve used the Now one in the past and it’s good, I’m just trying to find out if there’s a difference between cosmetic and food-grade, I’m not finding anything too conclusive online, it seems like it depends on the brand and processing.
Hmmm… yeah not too sure about that one. I don´t know if the Now brand is edible (probably not) or if food-grade works well on skin. I imagine it would be fine, though. Food-grade coconut oil has been fine.
Made a batch yesterday. Fabulous! I followed the recipe exactly, even including the lavender essential oil (I added about 25 drops). It is lovely to apply before bed.
Oh! I didn’t need to whip it with a machine. Did it by hand and it turned out great, FYI.
Yay! You made it! I’m really glad that it can be whipped by hand! I was wondering about that and have the luxury of my mom’s mixer so I never had to try it. It was pretty hard after it’d been in the fridge. I’m going to try that with the lotion I made, which has a solid look to it and needs to be mixed up a bit to give it a creamier look. Thanks for the feedback and for trying it out!
I just made this, and it’s awesome! Thanks for the recipe! I scented mine with cucumber and peppermint essential oils.
No problem! Thanks for the comment! And cucumber and peppermint sounds like a delicious, cooling combination.
Cocoa Butter and Coconut Oil are always going to make it much harder (especially the Cocoa Butter) – and the Shea will increase thickness and density, also contributing to hardness – which is great in Summer, but not always so great in Winter.
When I make a very similar version to this lovely recipe in cold weather, I add up to 75% of liquid oils and tend to cut way back on the cocoa butter, so my recipe might look something like this:
75% liquid oil/s
5% Cocoa Butter
10% Coconut Oil
10% Shea Butter
It’s still going to lean towards the ‘firm’ end of the spectrum, but I find it’s much more manageable and spreadable in the depths of Winter with the extra % of liquid oil added.
I’ve been making soap with these ingredients and wanting to make a cream. I just never knew what proportions. Thank you!
No problem! I hope you enjoy it!
I’m new at this and I made my first batch of body butter attempting to recreate Evanhealy’s whipped Shea butter with patchouli and vanilla. Mmmmmm, not exactly but close! Here is my question, can you use soy butter with any body butter recipes? I tried making a small sample but the EO smell went away rather quickly. O, also… The bowl and pot, that part of your recipe? Do you have to melt down all the ingredients? I just beat the Shea butter with the jojoba, let it sit in the fridge, bring it out let it get to room temp, beat again and then put EO in. Can you tell me the difference and how the melting down would be important?
Thank you!!
From my on experience and what I have read, I heat the butter, coconut oil and whatever other oil you chooses together. Then I remove it from the heat, let it site for a few minutes, then add my EO’s and vitamin E oil, if using. Your fragrance will hold.
Great, Linda,
Whatever works!
Thanks for commenting.
I just made my first batch of body butter, it leaves my skin feeling soft and silky. The only thing is that it dissolves on my skin very quickly, I thought that the consistency would thicker when you put it on. Is that the way it’s supposed to go on, it almost melts instantly.
Hi, Cathy!
Yes, depending on how whipped the mixture is, it does dissolve quickly into skin, almost like rubbing whipped cream into skin. However, because it’s made of oils and butters, the moisturizing benefits are there. To make it thicker, if you prefer, simply add more shea butter to the mixture and less of the other oils. Hope that helps!
I didn’t measure the ingredients exactly and I may not have used a whole cup of shea butter. As for the finished product, it appears creamy but goes greasy in my hands or as soon as it is rubbed on. I used olive oil. Can this effect be lessened with another oil or maybe more shea butter? I still hope to use this first batch but want to perfect it.
Well I now see the answer to my question above. I didn’t scroll down far enough. Sorry.
Furrealz? That’s maelolrusvy good to know.
Just whipped up a batch. First attempt at anything like this and I love it. Just wiped clean the beaters and smothered the kids and myself in this lovely butter. Post more recipes plz!
Hi, Saara, thanks for the comment! I’m glad you liked the recipe. I makes great gifts as well. At the bottom of the post are links to more body care recipes. For food and body care recipes, visit the link “recipes” at the main menu of the site!
I began my journey after becoming sick and tired of spending lots of money on products that sales you dreams and broken promises that never seems to pan out as advertised. I’ve even paid top dollars for shea butter products which smelt wonderful and applied like a dream, BUT they had lots of things in them I wasn’t comfortable with applying onto my body on a daily bases.
So started a journey to find a more natural good for you products,when I stumbled across this recipe. Made it? Love it!, Can’t wait to make more of it
I’m glad you like the recipe, Cynthia! For more where that came from, click on the “recipes” link at the top of the page and scroll down to natural body care recipes. Some great ones for dry winter skin!
Hi there,
I’ve been making this recipe for a few months now and love it, I now make it for myself my sister and my mum. I wanted to make it for my aunt who is fighting cancer right now. The meds they have her on make her skin very flaky and sensitive, but I don’t want to just give her a batch of something that could make her worse. Do you think this would be safe for her? Thanks so much
Not having assessed your aunt’s condition I can’t correctly say if the cream would be safe for her. It contains no chemicals, allergens, or preservatives and so can be used on sensitive skin, however, to be on the safe side I’d recommend talking to her doctor or naturopathic doctor. I think it’s wonderful that you’re taking such good care of her! Remember to take the time to care for yourself too, as we care for others it’s often easy to forget about our own needs. Thanks for commenting!
How much does this make?
Looks great. Talia, where do you buy your essential oils?
Hi Talia. Just found your site and love the recipes. I noticed some folks made the butter in the winter…do you have different amounts that you use for the warmer weather? Can’t wait to try it!
I followed this recipe to the letter and it did not work. It never “whipped” and just stayed a liquid cream
Nevermind my previous comment. I did not let it get hard enough in the refrigerator, I put it back in the fridge and then it whipped perfectly. I apologize! Thank you.
I had the same issue. I gave up and put it back in the fridge and an hour later, I just happened to look at it and it was firm. I whipped it some more and it was perfect!
I love the silkieness. Thanks
I loved the recipe -I’m making it for the second time. The only note I need to make is to add the essential oil while whipping it. Directions say to add all ingredients before the boiling process and I just added the essential oil to the boiling process. I will add more while whipping.