Quick and Dirty Body Butter

Ok, the body butter isn't actually dirty, everything is crystal clean to start with, I promise! But my pictures are less than inspiring and my recipe is ridiculously easy but I still thought I'd share. I actually never know what to call this.

In the soap and lotion making world there might not be strict, consistent definitions for certain applications, but in general I consider a lotion to contain oil and water in an emulsion, and body butters to be, well, butters (shea, cocoa, mango, kokum, etc.) So this little recipe that is a mixture of Oil, Butter, and Palm Stearic? Eh, I guess I'll still call it a body butter.

This is a pretty greasy recipe, I have some friends who live in drier areas who like it, or use it in winter. I wouldn't consider it an everyday moisturizer for most people, but a heavy-duty, occasional one.

I keep all my recipes in percentages so I can make any size batch any time I want with minimal math. This particular batch (well, 3 batches really) happened to be an order for a good friend.

This is my recipe, but please don't get overwhelmed at the complexity!

MareMare's Body Butter

70% Liquid Oil
15% Solid Butter
15% Palm Stearic (Stearic Acid)
Vitamin E oil (a few drops)
Fragrance oil (use to smell, keeping under manufacturer's percentage recommendations)

For two batches I used olive oil, the third was half olive, half jojoba oil, along with shea butter and 3 different fragrance oils.

Weigh first three ingredients into large pyrex bowl. Microwave in thirty second/one minute bursts, stirring in between. When melted fully, or very close, remove to counter and begin stick blending, trying not to incorporate too much air into it. Stick blend occasionally as it cools. When it begins to thicken slightly, but is still a pourable consistency, add in fragrance oil and vitamin E oil. I like to add a little fragrance, stir, and then add more if needed. For 22 ounce batches I probably used around 10 mL of fragrance.

Since this does not contain water, there is no need for preservative. Pour into bottles or jars and allow to set up overnight. Label immediately if you are using different fragrances so you don't get them confused.

Since this was for a friend who needed it sooner rather than later, I just slapped some labels on with the fragrance. The body butter is on the left. As you can see it is very thick and definitely not the prettiest. On the right is my rash creme, also 3 ingredients: unrefined shea butter, tea tree oil, and lavender essential oil. It's wonderful on my contact dermatitis and it's also great on bug bites!

My friend likes earthy, musky scents so I made her 2-3 bottles or jars each of Dragon's Blood, Moroccan Rain, and Oakmoss.

Soapy Soaps!

I was getting ridiculously low on soap...I had probably less than 2 dozen bars that would be reasonable to swap or sell, and I have had several e-mail or Craftster pm inquiries lately! So I got myself into the soapin' kitchen (it's my regular kitchen actually) and got to work. 4 hours and 1 frantic call to my friend Jen later, I had 4 batches of soap! 82 bars altogether.


The following day, Aidan "helped" me cut them and put them on the curing racks. I have an awesome professional cutter that cuts a whole log at once, and after I positioned the soap log he pushed down on the bar to slice them. He's a good helper. :) He also said that I'm a "good soap cooker." I don't cook my soap, it's cold process, but compliments are always appreciated! I love 4 year olds!


Calendula Green Tea, with dried Calendula petals and green tea powder for a light green color (that will fade to a brownish green) with a light, fresh green tea fragrance.




Unscented Oats 'n Honey, yum! I actually put in a little less oats than usual, but I think that's ok. I've been out of this for soooo long, but luckily I had a nice bar from Jen that was similar, but also contained egg yolk!


Lavender! This is wonderful for sensitive skin, and I love the light purple swirl in it.

And my absolute favorite bar of all time~Shea Luxury! This is 60% unrefined shea butter, without any colorants or fragrances. Yeah.