body butter newbie

[christellita]

i'm a soapmaker new to the body butter scene and i'm confused.

my first recipe was:
5 oz shea butter
5 oz cocoa butter
3 oz sweet almond oil
3 oz jojoba oil

i combined everything, and melted it in a double broiler (do i melt them all the way, or just until soft).
then i whipped (forever). it finally got harder (but never like whipped cream, and i never put it in the freezer, am i supposed to?) and i poured it in containers and it hardened and i love it.

second recipe:
5 oz cocoa butter
5 oz avocado butter
3 oz jojoba oil
3 oz hempseed oil

i did the same process as before, but this one won't harden at all...what gives?

 

[dagmar88]

I'm not an expert in this; hope Tabitha will take a look at this post, or you could take a look here:
http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewto ... ht=whipped

Normally after you melted your oils you pop them in the freezer for a while. Your second recipe seems to have too much soft oils.

 

[carebear]

dagmar I think they both have the same amount of hard oils??? or am I missing something?

chris, for how long have you let it sit? cocoa butter can take a long time to harden, as in 2 days!!!

 

[dagmar88]

:cry: The truth about my non existing math skills had to come out once, Carebear...
Well, I had mistaken the avocado butter for avocado oil. My bad!

 

[carebear]

har har

Anyway I should have given more detail = avocado butter is really soft, and cocoa butter can take a long time to harden so I find mixes like that challenging to work with. What I do is chop the cocoa pretty fine and try to soften instead of completely melt, then mix into room temp avocado butter. that way I'm more likely to get it to set up while whipping. you can try the ole freezer method where you mix mix mix, put in the freezer for 10-20 minutes, take out and stir in hardened sides, mix mix mix, repeat, but I'm easily distracted so it's not the best for me.

 

[christellita]

ok great, thanks for the tips.
it's sat for just about 2 days now, and it's finally starting to harden a bit.
also, i made a mistake in my posting. i didn't use hempseed oil, but coconut oil. does that change anything?

body butters are awesome! can they be used right away?

 

[carebear]

nope, doesn't really change anything in terms of hardening, but will impact how well it absorbs/skinfeel.

you can use it any time, but be aware that it will continue to stiffen for a few days.

 

[SimplyE]

So how hard/stiff are we all talking???

 

[carebear]

I really can't say - you will have to wait and see!

I don't use cocoa butter in my whipped butters any more, I use shea and mango.

 

[SimplyE]

I don't use cocoa butter in my whipped butters any more, I use shea and mango.

I just used shea, mango AND cocoa. Not much cocoa. Whipped up nice, but still set pretty hard after the beating. I was surprised. I think I used about 25% soft oils...if I remember right.

What is the general opinion, harder or softer...this could be a loaded question

 

[LJA]

I don't use cocoa butter in my whipped butters any more, I use shea and mango.

I just used shea, mango AND cocoa. Not much cocoa. Whipped up nice, but still set pretty hard after the beating. I was surprised. I think I used about 25% soft oils...if I remember right.

What is the general opinion, harder or softer...this could be a loaded question

Not for me. I'm behaving. I already got the stinkeye today. :wink: I personally, like both. How's that for waffling? I think for body butter I like stiffer best. The softer ones are more like creams, and well...I have creams already, ya know? I like my body butter to be spackle-like.

 

[SimplyE]

I figured you would be the first to wise crack, L. :wink:

Spackle like...hard spackle? this stuff blended all nice, but then set up pretty solid. Looks good, all creamy, but not.

 

[LJA]

I figured you would be the first to wise crack, L. :wink:

Spackle like...hard spackle? this stuff blended all nice, but then set up pretty solid. Looks good, all creamy, but not.

There is no science to my method whatsoever but I find that I make it slightly "wetter" than I like, knowing it'll set up some in a day or so. Not hard spackle, but...did you ever get cake frosting in the can? You know...pull the tin lid back and just spread it with a knife? I like that consistency. Not creamy like a face cream.

I really need to get new adjectives...lol. I bet yours is awesome.

 

[Guest]

I am with you on that consistency LJA , easy to put on , melts in fast . Love it .


Kitn