DIY Ultra Moisturizing Whipped Body Butter - Hippy Homemade Holidays

Body butter has to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Seriously, before I had first learned to make body butter myself, I had only ever used lotion. That first time that I slathered on my own body butter concoction and felt just how soft and smooth it made my skin, I never want to go back. My skin has never felt softer, and happier with me!

The best part is, this makes a really great holiday gift. Whether you scent it with essential oils or leave it plain with the nutty scent of the butters, everyone out there could use a good moisturizing body butter during the winter. You can put this butter into a really cute glass jar such as a mason jar, decorate it and fill all the stockings in the house with it! My favorite scents to wear would be lavender lemongrass, lavender and vanilla, and any sort of citrus combination that I can possibly come up with. (Though be careful about putting body butters with citrus oils in them and then going out to tan afterwards. Citrus oils can cause a sensitivity to sunlight, so be sure to use your butter AFTER you go tanning.)

Body butter is made with oils and butters, not water

The truth is, not only is it really easy to make, it is so much more moisturizing than lotion because it's not made with water. Being made with only oils and butters also means that there is no need to worry about preservatives either. Anything made with water needs a preservative to prevent bacteria from growing. Water also makes it where it sinks into the skin immediately so you get immediate moisture with a lotion but not an all day moisture. With body butter, the moisture is super healing to the skin because it keeps the skin hydrated for a much longer period of time.

  DIY Ultra Moisturizing Whipped Body Butter

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup unrefined shea butter
• 1/2 cup unrefined mango butter
• 1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
• 1/2 cup carrier oil or any combination of oils
• 2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the butters and coconut oil in a double boiler (or makeshift one with a pyrex/glass bowl over a pan of water) and melt.
2. Once the mixture has completely melted.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool quickly in an ice bath. (larger bowl underneath filled with ice and water to help the bowl above it cool quicker.)
4. In a separate smaller container, combine liquid oils and arrowroot powder. It's easiest to combine the arrowroot powder into the oil with a fork.
5. When it looks like the butter is half-way hardened, meaning there is still a small pool of liquid on top, pour in the liquid oil/arrowroot powder concoction and take out your electric hand mixer or emulsion blender.
6. I usually use the whisk attachment on my electric hand mixer, blend until there are no chunks of hardened butter left. This can not be done by hand. I usually take a spoon and chip away the bottom pieces first to make it easier to blend in the final result.
7. If you added the liquid oils too soon and it's still not solid enough to pour into your containers, put the bowl of body butter mixture back into the ice bath for a minute or two more then blend with it there in the ice bath.
8. Spoon the butter into the containers that you plan to store the butter in.
9. If adding essential oils, this would be the point that you would add them into the butter. I like to add them into each container individually so that I can tailor make the butter's scent to the person I am giving it to!
10. The consistency of the butter will be more solidified into its true consistency, overnight.