Body Butter Recipe

I found a great article that can help us all. Honestly the more I research the more I'm freakin out!
http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/holiday-gifts-whipped-body-butter/

You can make whipped body butter without melting the ingredients.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/easy-whipped-shea-butter-2/

Thanks LSG. My other question is how do I keep the whipped, lightweight consistency of my butters. For some reason I keep reading they turn hard and the oils separate. Sounds like a real challenge.

Soapsavvy, I am by no means as experienced as most others in this group, but when I started using
80% butter
18%oils
1% vitamin E
1% fragrance oils
My body Butter started to get better. Used a little more than half with mango and the rest shea (mango being drier). The oils I split between a light fast absorbing oil and a slower heavier oil. That way I was using less powders to keep it from being greasy. I'm not close to my recipes and notes, but I think I have that right.
I whipped my butters and back to freezer many times through the day and my oils never separated.
I also read everything I could on butters and somewhere got the idea to add some glycerin and aloe vera gel (in very small amounts) to the butters and it was softer. I tried an almost all shea butter and not tempering it, it also stayed softer. I quit experimenting for awhile because I have so many jars around I need to use up. Oh, one last thought I talked to a friend the other day and she said she was still using the butter I gave her and she loved it. It was the shea butter recipe on wholesale supplies plus. I like that one also, but have since started using unrefined butter so it has a little different feel to it. Hope all this makes sense because I am going on memory.

Here is a nice article on oils and butters..

http://www.humblebeeandme.com/a-guide-to-carrier-oil-substitutions/

I prefer a bit more oils. I generally keep my butter at 70-75% and use oils like Meadowfoam, Avocado etc for the rest. I find it stays a bit softer and not so hard to scoop out.

lsg said:

You can make whipped body butter without melting the ingredients.

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/easy-whipped-shea-butter-2/

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I wonder with that, how easy is it to mix in things like tapioca flour and so on?

I have used tapioca flour without a problem. Here are the notes I have made for using it with whipped mango body butter.

Chunk up butter and put into mixer bowl. Turn mixer on low, going from low to medium to high over the next minute or two. Mix on high until butter becomes a little bit fluffy looking and creamy. Stop mixer, add meadow foam oil, Vit E, essential oil, tapioca powder and Phenonip. Using spatula, fold mixture together to incorporate tapioca powder. Turn mixer on low and run on low until ingredients are well incorporated. Over the next minute or two turn mixer from low to medium to high. Mix for at least two minutes on high until mixture forms peaks like frosting. Put into sterilized containers.

shunt2011 said:

I prefer a bit more oils. I generally keep my butter at 70-75% and use oils like Meadowfoam, Avocado etc for the rest. I find it stays a bit softer and not so hard to scoop out.

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I will have to try upping my oils, (going to have to try Meadow foam, I'm reading so many good things on it). Have you ever used dimethicone for slip?

LisaAnne said:

I will have to try upping my oils, (going to have to try Meadow foam, I'm reading so many good things on it). Have you ever used dimethicone for slip?

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I have not. I use IPM to help with the greasiness.

:angel::angel::angel:
Thanks so much Lisa, that sounds like good information. You guys are all wonderful!!!

LisaAnne, can you convert that recipe to how many cups of butters, oils, vitamin E, and fragrance I'd need if I wanted to make say a gallon or so of a body Butter? Thanks so much!!!

You really want to use recipes in weights so they can be consistently replicated. This is what I would do, though I know there are other methods out there - this just works for me and is quick/painless.

Base everything off of the primary ingredient. Now, I might need to adjust my recipe a bit if I find it doesn't make quite enough for my containers. To prevent that, I normally up my desired yield just a bit (better t have too much than not enough).

In this case, I looked up that a gallon of Cocoa Butter should weigh 3488 gms. Here's the conversion site i found that tidbit on (http://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/food-volume-to-weight).

Now off to Excel!



It's easy-peasy to play with the recipe in a spreadsheet - adding oils, adjusting yield, or whatever. Just make sure that you keep the percentages summing to 100%.

ETA: That's a lot of yield for an untested recipe. I'd make a few tests of a much smaller amount before taking the plunge.

"...how many cups of butters, oils, vitamin E, and fragrance I'd need if I wanted to make say a gallon or so of a body Butter..."

Wowser. That's a lot of body butter to make using an untested recipe. LisaAnne might have the bestest recipe in the world, but the recipe is only part of a successful product -- the maker and her methods are just as important.

I make 100 or 200 grams of an untested recipe to begin with, give this small batch a good trial, and usually make several tweaks before scaling up. I would need to KNOW I really like a particular recipe, know I can make it well, and know I can sell/use/give away the product in a reasonable time before I would leap into making a large batch.

For example, I was on Trial 7 of an emulsified sugar scrub before I was happy with the performance and texture of the scrub. My Trial 1 batch was based on a reputable recipe from an experienced maker, but it really didn't meet my expectations. Good thing I only made a 100 g batch of the base paste (everything except the sugar)!

I agree with SnappyLlama that a good scale is an absolute must. Volume measurements might be fine for a quick-and-dirty experiment, but weighing is honestly a much better and more consistent way to make B&B products and soap.

I agree with DeeAnna.
Even following someone's "perfect" recipe you would have to adjust it for your ingredients to your taste.
Some of the variables include: your skin, your climate, your water, your ingredients - even if they are the same different manufacturers supply different stuff.

DeeAnna said:

"...how many cups of butters, oils, vitamin E, and fragrance I'd need if I wanted to make say a gallon or so of a body Butter..."

Wowser. That's a lot of body butter to make using an untested recipe. LisaAnne might have the bestest recipe in the world, but the recipe is only part of a successful product -- the maker and her methods are just as important.

I make 100 or 200 grams of an untested recipe to begin with, give this small batch a good trial, and usually make several tweaks before scaling up. I would need to KNOW I really like a particular recipe, know I can make it well, and know I can sell/use/give away the product in a reasonable time before I would leap into making a large batch.

For example, I was on Trial 7 of an emulsified sugar scrub before I was happy with the performance and texture of the scrub. My Trial 1 batch was based on a reputable recipe from an experienced maker, but it really didn't meet my expectations. Good thing I only made a 100 g batch of the base paste (everything except the sugar)!

I agree with SnappyLlama that a good scale is an absolute must. Volume measurements might be fine for a quick-and-dirty experiment, but weighing is honestly a much better and more consistent way to make B&B products and soap.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, I totally agree. I by no means have the answers. It was a good starting point for me and I've played around with those numbers many times. I learned the hard way to make small batches of anything until I find something I love. Everyone's likes and needs are different.

Body Butters

Ok guy's, lets say that I want to create (12) 14oz containers of body butters with the ingredients below. The first 3 are classified as being fast absorption and the Palm oil being a very slow absorbing oil. How much of each would I need to use? I just don't want to end up with a product that is too greasy, but still be hydrating and moisturizing. Thanks so very much!!! Jesus, i need to take a chemistry class quick!

Mango butter
Grapeseed oil
Argan oil
Meadowfoam
Palm oil
Vitamin E
Arrowroot Powder- because it'll helps the oils from the body butter to sink into the skin faster, leaving a less greasy feeling)

"...I want to create (12) 14oz containers ... I just don't want to end up with a product that is too greasy, but still be hydrating and moisturizing...."

Here's what I hear you saying in this thread --

You're in a big rush to make a large amount of a product that you've apparently never made before using a recipe that someone else is going to figure out for you because you're unwilling to take the responsibility or are too much in a hurry to figure it out yourself. And on top of that, with as much as you say you want to make, I'm betting you intend to sell or give this untested product to others.

You have legitimate expectations for this type of product, but you are showing no interest in making sure your product meets expectations before making a large batch. Honestly, you're better off buying a body butter base from a reputable commercial maker and using that if you are in such a rush.

If the butter HAS to be hand made by you, then take the time and trouble to do it right -- make small batches, test them, and make sure your product is the best that it can be -- and then scale up production.

As the others have said. You need to experiment with your chosen ingredients until you find the combination that works for you. It took me many times until I found the best for me.

Here's what you hear ME saying DeeAnna?
I am interested in creating a product that I've never made. I'm collecting as much data about the product as I can. I came to and choose this forum because people here are knowledgeable and willing to share what they've learned.
" You're in a big rush to make a large amount of a product that you've apparently never made before using a recipe that someone else is going to figure out for you because you're unwilling to take the responsibility or are too much in a hurry to figure it out yourself."
WRONG AGAIN! I'm in no rush. I've found the ingredients I want in my Body Butters, but I'm just not sure how much of any of the ingredients I'd need. I'm not unwilling to take responsibility for anything and I will eventually figure it all by myself, but having the basics won't hurt. If I was as lazy or in as much of a rush as you inferred, I'd simply buy a body butter base, add some fragrance and color and be done with it. That's not the route I elected to take.
Personally I don't give a damn what you bet, because I'll tell you straight out that if I produce a great product, I have every intention on selling it, NOT THAT IT'S ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS. WHAT ARE YOU THE BODY BUTTER POLICE OR SOMETHING?
At the end of the day, the product will be created solely by me and how and what I do with it will be at my discretion. In the future if you can't tame that snake in your mouth don't respond to my post.

Courtesy cost nothing, please read over your response carefully and think about how it will seem to others reading it before clicking that "Post" button. Also remember to count to 10, 20 or 100, (if that is what it takes), before replying to something that might offend you. Better yet, just ignore that post and go on. This thread is now closed.