Dog nose and paw balm question

[BigDog]

Hello all,

Made up some Nose and Paw Balm for my dogs using a recipe from Martha Stewart’s website that was endorsed by the American Kennel Club. I see many similar recipes online, also with an almost 30% ratio of beeswax. This is so HARD (obviously) that it is extremely difficult to work with. Tried refrigerated cool down, room temp cool down and even whipping but it still is too firm.
I just cannot believe this is a good recipe and pictures I have seen with articles show a softer result.
I converted the recipe to percentages and added in a bit of Vitamin E. The only thing I can think is that I used solid coconut oil instead of fractionated (recipe did not specify fractionated) but I would not imagine that to make a great difference.

28.1% Refined Shea Butter
28.6% Coconut Oil
28.6% White Beeswax
14.2% Olive Oil
.5% Vitamin E

How can a recipe this stiff (rock hard almost) be popular?

Is there something I am missing?

Does someone here have a better recipe?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[bookworm42]

This looks very similar to a lotion bar recipe which is normally 1/3 of beeswax, hard oil (Shea), and soft oil(coconut/olive). They tend to be hard especially in the winter but do great once you rub it on skin and they start melting. Lots more info about them on this forum if you search for it.
The Shea and beeswax are the big contributers to the hardness. I would decrease one or both of them and increase the coconut oil or olive oil.

If you want something really soft you could look into doing a whipped body butter with the same ingredients minus the beeswax.