Veering a bit away from a food recipe today for something that is actually quite topical in this current COVID-19 Pandemic era we are all living in. Since we are all washing our hands incessantly now a days, this DIY body butter recipe could not have been more appropriately timed (and I filmed this way before I even knew what social distancing meant!).
I’ve been making body butter for myself for years. I really don’t buy body moisturizer for myself anymore. I just use my own DIY body butter. I find it very moisturizing for my skin, especially in the excessive dryness of winter time. And even more so, I’m finding it has been very helpful to combat the dryness from the excessive hand washing we are doing these days.
And, now that we are all sitting at home looking for things to do to pass the time, how about you take some time to make yourself some DIY body butter? You probably have some of the ingredients at home already, and the rest are easily found on amazon so you won’t need to leave the house to make this super moisturizing DIY body butter.
The key ingredients are: coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter and cocoa butter. The coconut and olive oils are very moisturizing, while the shea butter, along with being moisturizing, also has great anti-inflammatory properties too. It is great for sunburns, scars and stretch marks too! Finally the cocoa butter helps to form a protective barrier over the skin to help keep all that good moisture in. I find the smell of cocoa butter is a bit too chocolately sweet for me, so I go easy on it and then add some essential oils to the mix to make it smell even better!
I make a big batch of this, about 3-4 large jars (I got these large mouth jars from the dollar store) worth and it lasts me for almost a year (well, not quite, most of the time I end up giving a few jars away to friends and family so I need to make more sooner than that!).
Be warned, this is a super hydrating moisturizer, so if you have very oily skin, you may not like it. My skin is on the normal to dry side, and I find that once I have applied this body butter, normally right after a shower, I don’t need to re-apply for at least 24 hours.
Since it is super moisturizing, it does take a few seconds to absorb into the skin, so give it a good massage into the skin to make sure it absorbs well before getting dressed and you will avoid staining your clothes.
I love how my skin has this lovely glow, without looking greasy, when I use this stuff.
Let me know if you give this DIY body butter a go and tell me how you liked it!
DIY Body Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup shea butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa butter
- 10-20 drops essential oil (optional)
- 3-4 large glass jars
Instructions
- Create a double boiler to melt the ingredients so they don't burn:Place a medium sauce pan with 1 cup of water on the stove over low heat. Top with a large heat proof bowl (glass or metal bowl will work – be careful, this will get hot!). Make sure the heat is not up too high or the water will boil over. It should stay at a low simmer.
- Add the olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter & cocoa butter to the bowl and allow them to melt slowly.
- Once all the ingredients have melted, give them a quick stir and turn off the heat.
- Allow them to come to room temperature for a few hours, or place the bowl in the fridge for about 1 hour. It should firm up enough to be soft to the tough, but not completely hardened. If you leave it in the fridge too long and you find it is too hard, just leave it out to come to room temperature before proceeding to whip it.
- Whip the body butter using a whisk or just give a vigorous stir with a spatula. It should blend together and look like a thick icing.
- Add essential oils, if using, and stir them in well.
- Portion out into your glass jars. Store at room temperature in an air tight container away from any direct sunlight.*
