Nourishing Whipped Shea Body Butter

This product is simple to make, very nourishing for the skin and a little goes a long way! It’s 100% natural and as it is anhydrous (doesn’t contain water) there is no need to add a preservative.

Shea butter is an excellent moisturizing agent that melts on contact with the skin, protects against water loss and outside weathering (sun, snow, rain and wind), and boosts the protective layer and barrier repair function of the skin. It hydrates, moisturizes, softens and smooths dry, dehydrated and damaged skin.

Directions For Use

It can be used throughout the day as and when required. Apply a small amount to a clean and dry hand and use the fingers and palm of the hand to gently massage the product onto the body. Only a small amount is needed because it is thick and heavy in consistency and a little goes a long way.

Potential Substitute Ingredients

The sunflower oil (we recommend organic cold-pressed sunflower oil not the highly refined cooking oil) can be replaced with any carrier oils of your choice, for example sweet almond, peach kernel or apricot kernel.

You could use a single oil or a blend and incorporate oils such as avocado or jojoba. Anhydrous products will always feel quite oily on the skin. To reduce the oiliness, you can use drier feeling oils like fractionated coconut oil or macadamia nut oil. Experiment until you find your perfect blend!

Variations

This is a basic body butter recipe and can be varied by using different carrier oils and essential oils, for a different skin feel and fragrance. You can also vary consistency of the body butter.

To make a firmer body butter try using a ratio of 80% shea butter and 20% oils, or even 90% shea butter and 10% oils. A firmer body butter is more suitable for warmer climates. For a light, silky body butter try the recipe above but replacing 20% of the shea butter with 20% cold-pressed organic coconut oil (the solid version).

Here are some options for essential oils you might like to use to customize the recepes for a 100g batch that we give below:

Skin Soother: 0.7% (approx 21 drops) lavender essential oil and 0.3% (approx 9 drops) chamomile essential oil.
Floral: 0.6% (approx 18 drops) geranium essential oil and 0.4% (approx 12 drops) lavender essential oil.
Fresh: 0.6% (approx 18 drops) lemongrass essential oil and 0.4% (approx 12 drops) lavender essential oil.
Sensual: 0.4% (approx 12 drops) ylang ylang essential oil and 0.6% (approx 18 drops) lavender essential oil.

Storage

Keep in a cool, dry place. Approximate shelf-life: six months

Basic Formula

This basic formula can be customized using the guidelines above.

Phase	Ingredient	INCI	Function	w/w%
A	Shea butter	Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter	Emollient	70%
A	Sunflower oil	Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil	Emollient	29%
B	Essential oil	Various, depending on oil chosen	Fragrance	1%

Basic Recipe

Ingredient	Weight in grams (for a 100g batch)	Weight in ounces (oz) for a 4 oz batch
Shea butter	70g	2.8
Sunflower oil	29g	1.16
Essential oil	1g	0.04

Instructions

Combine phase A ingredients and melt in a double boiler.
Once melted, take off the heat and let it cool down to 40°C (113°F). You can speed this process up by placing the container in the fridge or freezer.
Add phase B ingredients.
Cool the mixture until it starts to solidify. You can speed this process up by placing the container in the fridge or freezer and stirring occasionally.
Whip with an electric whisk. If it gets soft or liquid during whipping, cool down some more.
Continue with the process of cooling and whisking until you get your desired consistency.
Scoop into desired packaging.

Another option after step 3 is to simply pour the body butter into a container and leave it to solidify. This way you’ll get a smooth balm-like product rather than a whipped butter.

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