Cuticle Cream Recipe Tweak

[Luckyone80]

So I love Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream but its a little on the greasy side. I found a recipe on Pinterest that I have made that is close to Burt's but it's missing a couple of oils. I want the homemade version to have the same benefits as Burt's but without the greasiness so it might just be that I don't add as much of the missing ingredients. So I wondered if anyone had any advice on the amounts I should use.

Homemade version recipe:
.5 oz Cocoa Butter
1.5 oz Shea Butter
.25 oz Raw Beeswax
1/2 tsp Vit E Oil
10 drops Lemon EO

Burt's ingredients (don't know amounts)
Cocoa Butter
Sweet Almond Oil
Sunflower Oil
Vit E Oil
Lemon EO

So the homemade is missing Sweet Almond Oil and Sunflower Oil BUT it includes Shea Butter instead. Do you think there is much benefit of the almond and sunflower oils?

 

[shunt2011]

They are lighter oils. Shea is greasy so no way around that unless you drop the amount some. But will still be greasy. Or add Mango which is not as greasy but more of a dry feel. Cuticle cream is usually a bit greasy to soften the cuticle.

 

[Luckyone80]

So would you add those two oils to the existing homemade recipe or replace out some of the shea in order to add those?

 

[shunt2011]

That totally depends on what you would like to do. If you take the Shea out and add the other oils you may need to increase your Beeswax. Even if you lower the shea you may need to do that to get the consistency you are looking for. I personally don't mind a little greasiness. Another thing you could do is add a bit of IPM or arrowroot/cornstarch to your formula. I don't care for the arrowroot/cornstarch as I think it adds a graniness to it. I like IPM though.

 

[Luckyone80]

Thanks, I may play around with it and see what happens. What is IPM?

 

[shunt2011]

Isopropyl Myristate. Sorry just saw this.

 

[Cactuslily]

Thanks for the share! My cuticles and hands are a hot mess! My question is this: I love mango butter, but I've read it has astringent properties and can be drying. Is that true? I'd love to try this out!

 

[shunt2011]

I've not made it myself. I would think if you use it at a smaller amount, maybe with shea and the other oils, it might be nice. I'm thinking of giving it a try too. Though I do find my lotion bars help with my dry hands and I rub it into my cuticles and they've been good this year. I use cocoa, shea, avocado, argan or meadowfoam, coconut, beeswax,vitamin E and some IPM.

 

[reinbeau]

Mango is not astringent in that it's drying. That misconception keeps bubbling to the surface and I'd love to know where it's coming from. I adore mango on my old lady skin. As for cuticles, the best salve I've found yet has lanolin in it. It has straightened out my cuticles as well as strengthened my nails. I'll be making that one forever

 

[xoticsoaps]

If shea butter is what is causing you the most grief, you can swap it for Kpangnan butter. It is not a different color shea butter, but a completely different nut butter all together that has similar properties to shea butter and some of cocoa butter, without the greasiness.

 

[Luckyone80]

As for cuticles, the best salve I've found yet has lanolin in it. It has straightened out my cuticles as well as strengthened my nails. I'll be making that one forever

Do you make cuticle salve? If so, do you mind sharing what ingredients are in it?

 

[Luckyone80]

If shea butter is what is causing you the most grief, you can swap it for Kpangnan butter. It is not a different color shea butter, but a completely different nut butter all together that has similar properties to shea butter and some of cocoa butter, without the greasiness.

Actually my homemade version with the shea is wonderful, I was just trying to mimick Burt's version and noticed that theirs DID NOT contain shea but rather included Sweet Almond Oil and Sunflower Oil. I was afraid that if I incorporated those oils into my recipe that they might make it greasy.

I did actually tweak my original recipe and incorporated the 2 oils, for the first week the salve was a bit greasy but it has changed and is now the same consistency as my original recipe so I am very pleased!