Yes. This homemade lotion is really as sensual and decadent as it sounds.
For years I was disgruntled with my store bought lotion choices. The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database had confirmed that even the most “natural” of body products I had found were still pretty toxic. I had spent an accumulation of hours standing in the health food store trying to find a lotion with ingredients that I was willing to slather on my body – always coming up empty handed. I will admit that I grew to love coconut oil after a shower, but I still longed for a fancy body lotion – one that smelled delicious and left me feeling pampered. A girly-girl lotion.
Then I discovered homemade body butter (inspired by this post that I discovered on Pinterest). I was delighted to find that this homemade lotion is super simple to make, and I got to work concocting the perfect blend of ingredients. The trick, is to use the right combination of solid and liquid oils to make a consistency that can be whipped – just like you would do with softened butter to make a whipped cream frosting.
My two year old calls it chocolate cream, for obvious reasons, and it’s particularly satisfying after a day at the beach. I think you’re gonna love this stuff.
Whipped Body Butter Ingredients
- 1 cup of cocoa butter – find unrefined cocoa butter here
- 1/2 cup coconut oil - find coconut oil here
- 1/2 cup of jojoba oil or other liquid oil (almond or a mild olive would work great too)
Whipped Body Butter Method
- Using a double boiler gently melt cocoa butter and coconut oil until completely liquid.
- Stir in jojoba or other liquid oil.
- Allow to chill in the refrigerator until the oil mixture begins to firm, but has not turned completely solid. This may take longer than you expect – several hours at least.
- Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, whip the semi-solid mixture until white peaks form.
- Scoop into glass jars and allow to chill for an hour in the fridge.
Notes:
This homemade lotion with remain whipped in moderate temperatures. If your home is particularly hot, you may want to store your body butter in the fridge. If you forget and your whipped butter melts back to oil, simple re-chill and re-whip.
The consistency of this lotion is true to it’s name: whipped body butter – and as such, it does leave a thin layer of oil when applied. Personally, I love the idea of my skin drinking up the nutrient-dense goodness from these oils. If you prefer a body lotion that absorbs more completely, check out this simple recipe for homemade lotion from Mommypotamus that I also love. Either way, there’s no need to cover your body with synthetic junk ever again.
You can order high quality coconut oil and raw cacao butter from the same vendor on my resource page.
I am definitly going to try this! Thanks!
Question- Instead of coconut oil, can you use shea butter?
Hi Jen – Shea butter has more of the consistency of the cocoa butter. I would sub it for that.
beautiful
This looks positively amazing. I kind of want to lick it because it looks so awesome.
Can’t wait to try it!
Hi, where on your resource page do I find the information to buy the high quality coconut oil and raw cacao butter? Thanks! =)
You can find the coconut oil and raw cacoa butter here: http://www.holistickid.com/real-food-resources/#coconut
This looks just amazing!
I recently launched a new real food blog carnival called Fill Those Jars Friday. I’d love to have you come stop by and share this on it: http://toomanyjarsinmykitchen.com/2012/08/16/fill-those-jars-friday-august-17-2012/
See you there!
Mindy
Can you let me know how much this would make? I’d like to use it as a Christmas gifts and fill some 7 oz jars.
Hi Amy – I wish I had an answer for you, but every time I make this, I make big batches. I’ve never measured my final product. Sorry!
With the amounts of ingredients listed above I was able to fill almost six 4 oz Ball canning jars.
For some reason my computer blocks all the links on your resource page. Could you just tell me the name of the companies so I can just google them?
Hi Farrah – Wilderness Family Naturals or Mountain Rose Herbs.
Is it possible to add a “reply” button so that readers can respond to specific comments?
Thanks for the great post.
Hi Beth – I don’t think so, but I will look into it. Thanks for the feedback.
Strike that – DONE!
This looks absolutely awesome. I cannot wait to make it!
Thanks Libby! I think you’ll love it. Let us know how it turns out!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
What is the shelf life of this body butter? Does it ever “go off”?
Also – could you add essentials oils?
Just made this and it turned out amazing! My daughter wanted to eat it.
LOVE this body butter recipe! So awesome for my little eczema man and also for my face….kept smelling the cacao butter all night!
Does this work will with your son’s eczema? My little girl gets it so bad and we haven’t found any lotion that really works well. Some just don’t moisturize and others that smell good end up stinging.
Hi Kimberly – I tend to prefer more of a thick salve with eczema, though no cream will really resolve it. To heal eczema you really need to treat from the inside out.
How do you treat excema from the inside out?
Hi Tishara – I explain in detail in my e-book – The Eczema Cure. You can find it here: http://holisticsquid.com/the-eczema-cure/.
I am also wondering about a sustitute for the coconut. My son doesn’t get along with coconut at all…I would hate to slather myself and get him sick.
Hi Angela – I haven’t experimented with alternatives to coconut oil in this recipe, but since coconut oil is solid when chilled but liquid at body temperature, it’s neither exactly like cocoa butter or a liquid oil like jojoba.
I would probably first try to divide that quantity between the two remaining oils, bringing the cocoa butter up to 1 1/4c. and the jojoba up to 3/4c. That may work, but no promises, because I haven’t tested it.
Let us know how it turns out!
You could Try any type of “butter” for Example a Mango Butter… Shea Butter, you can get an Olive Butter… The Substitutes are endless.
But you Definately Will need a “butter” to make this recipe work. If you don’t then it will just be a big sloppy mess. The solid Oil is what makes this firm, and able to be “Whipped” into a nice consistancy.
Made this today and added some organic lavender essential oil (therapeutic grade from a reputable maker) – divine! Oh, and if you don’t have a double boiler (as I don’t) just set a metal mixing bowl on top of a pot of water. Worked like a charm! I have several pregnant friends and am making another batch for them to use on their growing bellies.
Awesome, Anne! So glad you like it. It will make a great present for pregnant moms. Great for postpartum too!
Can you give me an idea of how much each batch makes with your recipe?
How long does this body whipped cream last without the preservatives?
Hi Asti – There is no reason why the whipped body butter should go bad. It only contains 3 oils don’t really go rancid quickly.
I love how smple your recipe is and I decided to make it myself. However I am having a problem with getting my mixture to set up. I have been mixng the oils now off and on for about an hour now, and it is not anywhere near a whipped like consistency-it looks more like coconut cream. Please give me any advice on how to correct this! thanks!!
Hi Kristen – It sounds like you may need to refrigerate your oils so they are semi-solid. Like butter would be if you just left it on the counter. If they are too liquid it won’t fluff. Hope this helps!
Could I add a couple drops of vanilla to make it smell more strong?
Sure!
About 24 hrs after making this it sets like a good lip balm would. I need a softer consistency. What do I do???
try a little less of the solid oils and more of the jajoba. i know when making lipbalm if you want it softer you do less of the solids and more of the liquid oils. it would be worth a try!
Please Help! About 24 hrs after making this it sets like a good lip balm would. I need a softer consistency. What do I do???
Hi Anel – Hmm. I haven’t had this issue. Is it still whipped at this point? Is it particularly cold in your house? Give me some info, and I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.
Thank you Emily! Hmmm, I have used the same ratio coconut oil to cocoa butter, perhaps the coconut oil is the culprit? I’m thinking add a touch of rose water? That brings the shelf life down to 3 months but I’ll fly through it in less! What do you think?
Is it whipped (white) and hard or is it the consistency of lip balm (dense and yellow)?
You could certainly experiment with the rose water. When I make lotion with water or tea it definitely spoils faster. Let us know how it turns out!
It comes out whipped and airy but hard. I have upped the oil now it’s smoooth and silky. Whoo hoo! It’s not going to handle heat at all, though. And heat we have plenty of in South Africa!
Emily,
I’m giving up and doing it exactly your way. Does your body butter remain relatively intact in your climes? Summer is here in South Africa and my product is seperating. Ugh. So I want to know, is it the greater amount of cocoa butter keeping it solid-ish or do you have days where this butter is an oil and you have to start again?
Anel – It will not stay whipped in hot weather. In that case I would store it whipped in the fridge until it cools off. Once it melts to an oil, you just need to soften it to whip again. I usually keep some like this in my car and use it like a balm when I need it on the go.
Hey
im just curious how much volume this gains when whipped?
Hi Amy – At least double the volume, maybe a bit more.
Hi, is there a reason you use glass jars and not plastic? Will plastic make it go bad faster? Thanks!
Hi Faith – It would probably be fine to store this in plastic. As a rule, I don’t usually store food in plastic due to the likelihood of chemicals leeching into our food. So I mostly have glass around and use it for everything.
I use raw shea butter instead of cocoa butter for this same recipe with the same results. I’ve also added white granulated sugar (aka castor sugar) to one of my jars to make a whipped sugar scrub. How much? Until I liked the consistency, I think it was almost a 1:1 ratio. As far as adding anything water based for scent or to change consistency, I don’t as this will cause spoilage as it is a vehicle for bacteria and mold. I suppose you could keep the product in the refrigerator, but then it would be hard when you used it.
I just made some of this and my toddler was very disappointed that it wasn’t whipped cream when he tried to lick the beater. ^_^ It is *super* luscious and decadent! Some for my friend, some for me- best kind of gift. Thanks!
Lol. I don’t blame him, Katy. I sort of want to lick the beater too.
I just attempted this recipe and cannot believe how small the yield is! I must be doing something wrong. After whipping the consistency is more like pudding than this whipped airy white fluffy stuff shown in your pictures. Not sure what I am doing wrong? I used ingredients exactly as listed. When I started whipping my refrigerated mixture looked very yellow and waxy. It did whip up lighter but not white like yours. I made 4 batches and got 4 -500ml jars? Doesn’t sound quite right does it?
Hi Duari – Sounds like you need to keep whipping. It takes longer than you’d expect, an it sounds like yours just hasn’t been whipped long enough.
Is it possible to over-whip this? I put my batch in my kitchen aid 5 pro stand mixer & after about 35-40 minutes the center was nice & light and whipped, but the parts closest to the bowl were still hard. I started removing the parts that were whipped & kept going (have just passed the 1 hour mark). My last bit just doesn’t want to whip up light. A bit disappointing. I wanted to make this sooner but had to wait a week & half for my shipment of cocoa butter to arrive from Mountain Rose Herbs. It arrived today & our gift exchange that I’d planned to make these for is tomorrow afternoon (plans already in the AM so can’t make more then). Not sure I have enough time to make enough to fill my jars tonight (have 2 little ones and don’t want to keep them awake with the noisy mixer). Any advice for the next time I try this since I have lots of cocoa butter now? Keep whipping? Possible to overwhip? Temp in my house is 66 & the oils were soft – butter like to slightly harder when I started whipping. Thanks! It does smell lovely!
Wow! If you have been whipping with that giant mixer for that long…. That is definitely my problem. I am using a hand mixer. If I keep going for an hour it will probably blow up!! Plus my arm will feel like Jello! I have been storing my mixture in the fridge all week as I haven’t had the time for this obviously Olympic proportion mixing session until today. Hoping that a little warm up and I can start mixing! I too am making this for gifts (for coworkers). In retrospect I probably should have made a test batch a month or so ago when I first found this recipe but I didn’t so…..it mis time crunch today. Thank you all for helpful posts! If I hadn’t seen Amy’s post I ,probably would have mixed another 5 minutes and thought “phewy this recipe isn’t for me”. But at least I know what I am up against. I wish that the author would have included a yield with the recipe as well as a little more specifics on what color product should be at certain points as well as EXACTLY how long this mixing process was going to take!
Amy – It sounds like the hard bits on the side are probably too hard to whip and need to be softened. This is a bit like making a whipped butter cream frosting. It needs more firm than liquid but not completely solid in order to whip up nice and fluffy.
I did end up re-melting & starting over with the hardened bits and I did get more to whip. However, my lovely whipped cream has hardened up again since putting in a jar & I have to pull out blobs and let it melt on my skin. The only thing I can think of is that I ended up getting more coconut oil in there than was called for. I will definitely keep trying as I have another pound of cocoa butter to use & the cream certainly makes my skin feel & smell wonderful.
Thank you so much!!! You were exactly right! I needed significantly more mixing! I have to be honest….after my first attempt I was disappointed with the outcome. It didn’ t yeild nearly as much as I would have hoped for the cost of supplies and it was way too greasy! However, after mixing for a longer period of time (mine took about 30 minutes with a hand mixer) VOILA!!!! Perfect! Beautiful! I couldn’t believe how much more this recipe yielded after whipping! I finally felt like I got what I paid for! It smells amazing! and moisturizes like a dream. And I now have enough to give as gifts to my coworkers. Thank you so much for sharing, and for the tip when I got stuck!
The best way I’ve found is to whip the life out of it, then put it in the freezer for 5 mins or so, then whip the life out of it again, then back to the freezer for another few minutes, etc, etc, etc, until it’s huge and fluffy in volume.
Hot Aussie summers have always infuriated me with whipped body butters, but I think I may have found a neat little trick to avoid the ‘heatwave melt factor’, by adding a smidgeon of melted soy wax to the mixture. Don’t ask me yet how much – I’m still experimenting!
I have this shea butter do you think it would work?? http://www.amazon.com/32oz-African-FILTERED-CREAMY-Butter/dp/B002N6SBJ6/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1355699464&sr=8-20&keywords=raw+cocoa+butter thanks
if no db can I just be really careful?
What’s db?
Double Boiler?
Ah! All you need for a double boiler is a bowl placed over a pot of boiling water. I use a metal mixing bowl over a medium sized sauce pan.
I have a question- do you have to whip body butters? could you not leave them as is mixed and like a block?
You could. They call that a Lotion bar.. If your oils are hard enough. You will still get all the moisturizing properties. Either way your whipped butters turn out,they will still moisturize your skin WAY better then any Store bought that is filled with Chemicals.
Help!
I ordered all of the items required to make this as gifts this year. Everything has arrived, except for the cocoa butter. I went searching all over town today, bought my 16 jars, too…and it still hasn’t arrived! Gulp.
Can you think of a sub for the cocoa butter?? Eek. :/
Would any of these work?
http://www.livestrong.com/article/191122-cocoa-butter-substitutes/
You could use shea butter in place of cocoa butter. It has a similar melting temp.
I only have a blender, not a hand mixer or kitchenaid. Could the blender work?
Maybe, but it would probably work better to whip it by hand.
I lovey he ingredients but it became very hard after whipping.
I love ingredients but it became very hard after whipping. Any hints? Maybe I used too much cocoa butter?
I am making this right now and it smells good enough to eat! Yum!!!
Hello, I just ordered all the ingredients and I can’t wait to try this out! I was looking for a quick, simple, natural moisturizer and this is just fab! And it’s cheap if you come to think of it. Where I live for 250 g of final product you pay *calculating this in $*….hm 12,62 $. Woohoo!
I love you Squid! Thank you for the recipe and directions! I used apricot oil, cuz it sounded yummier than jojoba and was way more affordable (hubby is in school so we are poor!) and it all worked beautifully, first try!!! My skin is totally drinking it up. It doesn’t stay oily or greasy at all. Amazing. Thank you thank you! I’m allergic to a chemical that’s in EVERYTHING, so instead of living in a bubble, I’m making my own products. You’ve been so helpful. Thanks a million!
This looks amazing!! I tried making it today, but when I put it on my skin it literally melted on to me like butter/oil, is is supposed to be like that or did I add too much oil ? I wouldn’t mind if it was a little oily but I felt like i greased myself up lol. And if it’s supposed to be like that, is there anything I could add to it to make it thicker and less oily? Thanks, Love your post!
Hi Emily, This body butter recipe looks and sounds wonderful! I will be sharing it on my Pinterest board for green beauty and on Twitter and FB. Thanks for the great recipe!
It”s not super easy to get this to the perfect temperature, but after a few tries I got it. I cut the recipe in half and its a good amount for a regular size jam jar. I have it on a shelf in my not cold or hot bedroom and I can’t wait to see if it holds.
A question about adding essential oils to scent the body butter… does it affect the consistency? And how many drops should I add?
Just made this today and it worked perfectly! I used Shea butter instead of coco butter otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. It is a bit oily, but my skin has been super dry this winter so I love how it just soaks in! Wonderful.
Hi Gail,
How much did your recipe yield approx? Mine came out nice and fluffy but only filled an 8oz jar
I made this with one problem….. it’s not yielding very much. About one 8oz jar full
I whipped it for about 20 min without any change in size. It has a nice white whipped texture, just not very much. Do I need more butter? Should I melt everything down and add more butter? What gives it the size?
Thanks so mcuh
I made this and when I started mixing is got hard then started looking whipped. When I put in containers it eventually hardened and does not look whipped anymore. How can I keep it looking whipped?
Also, it gets all stuck in my beaters, so I have to stop and get it out then continue to mix. Also, the butter on the sides of the bowl that harden, should I just heat them up or heat up all?
The “batter” should be the consistency of soft butter when you whip it. It will harden if you keep it in cold temps and melt in hot temps because it doesn’t contain any nasty preservatives to keep it uniform in all conditions. I consider this part of the charm of natural body products.
I made this this morning as a birthday present for my friend, wish I could attach a photo, it looked so pretty and she loved it. Thanks for the inspiration!
YAY! You’re welcome, Sophie!
I found your post through impintalish and I just love this – it looks so yummy and like it will make your skin baby soft! One day, when I get an awesome mixer, I will absolutely be making this! : )
-Mel the Crafty Scientist
I have made 3 batches of this all with regular hand mixer! first one was christmas gifts for friends, coworkers and family. just ordered next batch of cacao nibs to make next batch. so what i am saying is……… dont wait for a nice big mixer! once you and your friends use this you will never go back to the crap in the stores!
I made this body butter. I LOVE It! After about 3 weeks I noticed that my skin was dry and had dry patches? Have you or anybody else experienced this? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you
Hi! I am beyond excited to make this. Do you think you can use sunflower or safflower oil in place of the jojoba/almond/olive? That is what I have handy.
Thanks!!
I made this lotion tonight ,and it is awesome I love all these ingredients. Thank You for the recipe its awesome.
I’m going to try this. I have been using straight coconut oil on my skin for over a year now. I love it!!! I’m curious, after this is whipped, will it have a tendency to melt like coconut oil does at 76 degrees, or does the cocoa butter and jojoba keep it from melting?
I’ll search when I’m done here, but have you done your post on gut flora that you mentioned?
Thanks! I’m looking forward to your future posts.
It melts, so when the weather gets hot you can either use it as a body oil or store it in the fridge.
I love the way this looks! I’m going to make this for my mom for mothers day and I just bought the ingredients for it. A really helpful lady at the store told me that if I add the contents of one vitamin E capsule after it had been whipped will make it last MUCH longer! Can’t wait to actually make this! Thank you for posting it
I rarely buy cocoa butter anymore, so can i use mango butter instead of Cocoa Butter? Do you think the consistency will be the same?
I’ve never used mango butter, but if it has the same melting point as cocoa butter it should work fine. Let us know how it turns out!
All I have is 7 oz of cocoa butter (8 ounces = 1 cup). If I use just the 7 oz will there be a major difference in how the lotion turns out if I use the regular amounts of the other oils? Thank you! I can’t wait to make this for my mom for mothers day
I’m not sure, so to be safe I would use the proportions of the recipe.
Hey. Made this yesterday but by this morning it had gone hard. So read through some of the comments and re melted the butter … whipped it for 30 minutes this time and it looked perfect, thought I had saved it.. just checked it now its still whipped but gone hard again. . Please help! I’m using an electric hand whisk. Maybe that’s the problem?? I don’t want to waste it all..time and money.. could I maybe add some water? Suggestions please. THANKS in advance x
hi! just saw your comment and wanted to share my experience. this whipped body butter will always be hard at certain temps after you whip it. the whipping keeps it at the right temp (warm-ish) to stay whippy-like
but then hardens at lower temps once the whipping stops. cacao butter and coconut oil will always do this. but, of course, if it is too hot it all will melt. this, i believe, is just the nature of the beast. it is possible adding a little more oil can change this but i am not sure. adding water will change the whole thing all together so would not risk losing it all. i made this last week and i have just been using the hardened mixture as a body moisturizer and it turns to oil the minute it hits your skin anyway. i hope this was helpful – i don’t have the perfect answer. good luck!
s-j90 – if the temp in your house is cold, it will harden. If the temp in your house is hot, it will melt. As Adrienne mentions above, this is both the beauty and curse of all-natural products, but the good news is that it still make a great skin lotion in either of the three densities.
Hi. Regarding the coconut oil. I am assuming you lather on the coconut oil THEN all natural sunscreen on top of this. Does that effect the sunscreens effectiveness?
What about adding in some vitamin e oil, anyone try it? Read it has anti-aging properties.
Also can this be used as a face lotion also or is it just for the body?
Hi Raczyk, thanks for your question. I use it for body and face, though depending your preferences you may find it too heavy for a face lotion. It really is up to you.
are we using cacao nibs or powder
Hi Nikeisha – No nibs or powder… Cocoa BUTTER.