Vanilla and Almond Body Butter with Shea and Cocoa Butter Recipe

I haven’t mentioned it here… yet… but I have been getting into natural beauty products lately.  I’ve been wanting to do this for years but by the time I wanted to start I was living in Atlanta and I knew I was moving to Cambodia.  Why lug a whole bunch of ingredients that may or may not work in another climate.  So, when I moved to 8,000 feet I figured this would be the perfect time to get started.

The reason I have wanted to get started going natural is that I started thinking about all the lotions, body washes, shaving creams, perfumes, etc that I put on my body every day.  And when I read the ingredients I don’t understand most of them.  And, a lot of the ingredients are preservatives… is slathering preservatives all over my body really a good idea, really??  I didn’t have to do much research for me to decide I wanted to make a change.

So, I went to the natural stores [i.e. Whole Foods and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage since that is what is close by] but natural beauty products are quite expensive.   So, I started looking online and still didn’t want to pay the prices listed.

Then I thought… I love to be crafty… why not apply that to my beauty regiment???  I began to research and found it to be fairly expensive to get started making my own beauty products, but looking at the cost vs the amount you get I thought it would be quite reasonable once I got going.

Once I got my job [i.e. a bit of income] I started saving different natural beauty recipes on my Pinterest page.

A quick disclaimer:  I’m not one to go natural just to go natural… meaning I still need it to work as good [if not better] than what I was previously using.  And, I want it to smell nice and I don’t want anyone I come in contact with to know I’ve gone natural without me telling them [i.e. I love fashion way too much to want to look like a hippy].

I’ve been testing different recipes I’ve found and am very excited to start giving you the recipes I have created and fell in love with.

For lotion, I wanted something that would be comparable to Vaseline Cocoa Butter lotion, it’s been my favorite lotion for some time. And, my husband likes the way it smells.  In my research, I found a Vanilla Bean Butter Recipe that Real Fit Mama was kind enough to post on Primally Inspired.  But, I didn’t have vanilla beans on hand and I wanted to add shea butter to the mix.  So I have created my own version that I think SMELLS BETTER than the Vaseline version [bonus]!!

Just to note, I have been using this a face lotion too with amazing results.  My face feels smoother than when I used the extra moisturizing face lotion from the drugstore [double bonus]!

Kristie’s Vanilla Body Butter

Ingredients for Body Butter

 

• 1/2 cup cocoa butter
• 1/2 cup Shea butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil [I may omit this next time and just add a bit more cocoa butter and Shea butter]
• 1/2 cup sweet almond oil
• 1 tablespoon vitamin E
• Vanilla [as much as you want to get the desired scent — I think I used 2-3 tablespoons] I used the same pure vanilla that I use for cooking but you can buy vanilla essential oil if you prefer.

Melt the cocoa butter, shea butter, and coconut oil on the stove. I use a mason jar for the ingredients and put the mason jar in a water bath to melt the butters and coconut oil.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

Add the sweet almond oil, vitamin E and vanilla.

Place in the freezer about 20 minutes or until the body butter starts to firm up.

Whip up the butter with a whisk, electric mixer or food processor until a butter-like consistency is achieved.

Kristie’s Vanilla Body Butter

 

Lather onto your skin and enjoy!!!

I have found two things I may change up a bit about this recipe:

1. I have found is that, as much as I love to cook with Coconut Oil, I don’t like to use it in my beauty products [with a few exceptions] because, for me, it overpowers the rest of ingredients.  That being said, I did use it in my lotion recipe… but I may make my next batch without it to see if I like it more!
2. All the body butters I’ve made so far go on fairly greasy.  Not to fear, as soon as the butter is absorbed into my skin there is no grease left behind but I will be doing some more research to see if I can find a ‘non-greasy’ formula.

Not to fear, if I do find a version of the body butter that I like more I’ll be sure to post it too.  And, if you have any idea please feel free to leave me a comment, I would love to hear your suggestions!!