Edible Body Butter ??

[cp chick]

A friend of mine asked me if it's possible to make a flavoured and sweetened body butter (similar to Jessica Simpson's discontinued line) that can be ingested if someone happens to... erm... nibble on her skin.

I use CB, SB, SAO and Vit E in my regular body butter. I was thinking to use honey as a sweetener and vanilla baking extract as a flavour. The extract does contain water, though. However, since it already contains BHT as it's own preservative, would that suffice, or would another one be required?

Any insight would be appreciated, as she really likes this kind of product.

Thanks,

 

[Genny]

If it contains water, then you'd need an emulsifier, too.
Also, are you saying there's a preservative in the vanilla extract or there's a preservative in your body butter.

If you mean just in the extract, then you'd need another preservative, since the preservative in the extract would not be enough to cover everything.

 

[cp chick]

Yes, I meant to say that the extract has its own preservative. Of course, any additional preservative would have to be food grade.
The only water would be in about 1 ml of extract in a 200 g batch, so I didn't think about her requiring an emulsifier.

Ok, so maybe my friend won't be able to make this... Tks Genny.

 

[carebear]

yea, and you'd have to make sure all the oils are food grade too.
and for personal use, just the preservative -

I don't think you meant for sale, but as an FYI, for sale there are all sorts of things to consider - if marketed as edible does that make it a food cuz there are regulations out the wazoo in some areas for selling food...

 

[cp chick]

Well, I really thought it was an ambitious project myself.

I had given my friend a pot of my regular body butter and she asked if it were possible to make one that could be edible. Not to say that someone would eat it with a spoon, (I should hope not!!) but in the intimate setting she described, or if one of her toddler nieces or nephews put it on their hands, she wanted somthing that would be safe to put in their mouths.

There was no plan to sell it. Really, I would have found a formula and then showed her how to make it. However, the magnitude of gathering ingredients and equipment and the learning curve would could be a deterrent to her.

Tks for input carebear. Much appreciated.

 

[Sanguine]

Aren't there already body care products, massage oils and others that are "edible"? Maybe you can find some inspiration there...

 

[cp chick]

Aren't there already body care products, massage oils and others that are "edible"? Maybe you can find some inspiration there...

Yes, there likely are other brands available, but she really wanted to try to dupe the "Jessica Simpson" type, as she really loves it. She loved it enough to pay $20 for 155g!!! :shock: It sucks when you really like a product and they discontinue it. Oh well, c'est la vie...

 

[Sanguine]

Can't the ingredient list of that product lead you in the right way?

 

[cp chick]

Well, yes, I have looked at the label. I'm sure it would be possible if one were well-versed in making body products, and had all of the proper food grade ingredients. Unfortunately, that's not the case. I think it's a lot more in-depth than my friend may want to go, but perhaps we'll come up with the solution.

 

[carebear]

virgin coconut oil has a coconutty smell and taste. add some lip balm sweetener if you want it a little... sweet. then call it a day.

 

[cp chick]

virgin coconut oil has a coconutty smell and taste. add some lip balm sweetener if you want it a little... sweet. then call it a day.

Yes, I love using virgin coconut oil to make my popcorn. I don't usually use it for soap/lotion because it's cost prohibitive, but come to think of it, it wouldn't be any more expensive than what she's been paying. If she doesn't like how it turns out, I'll use it myself. :wink:

Tks for the suggestion - I'll have to try a small test batch.

 

[Sanguine]

I just saw someone on the tv make edible chocolate massage oil, could that be a point of interest?

 

[cp chick]

I just saw someone on the tv make edible chocolate massage oil, could that be a point of interest?

Someone else will have to try that one...

 

[cmzaha]

Body Butter Edible

I think I would replace the Shea with Food grade coconut oil. I use raw shea in my kissable massage candles but I have to clean it first by heating and washing it. I am not real fond of refined since I cannot be sure how it was refined. You can use lip balm flavoring oil then you do not have to worry about preserving.

 

[Fragola]

For flavoring, you could look into using essential oils or oil infusions.

Many natural essential oils are safe to ingest in small amounts (and in this case, the amount would be extremely small).

There are many flowers, spices or other edible ingredients which can be infused into oils or butters. Writing this, I got an idea which I plan to try - infusing cocoa powder into oil.

Certain unrefined oils have a very nice flavor by themselves - for example, coconut oil.

Or maybe you need a different approach ... jump into the cooking forum and work out a nice moisturising buttercream or icecream recipe.

Or even chocolate, since it was mentioned above - you can modify a piece a chocolate into a cream with a slightly lower melting point.

 

[cp chick]

Made a small test batch using virgin CO and veg. shortening. It's not as firm in texture as my regular butter, so I'll get a small container of food grade CB from my health food store.

I did manage to get a lip balm flavour oil though, as suggested and it worked well.

The liquid honey made it a bit sticky. All of the powder sweeteners I have tried don't dissolve in hot oil, so I'm left with a gritty feeling. However, liquid stevia lip balm sweetener is available from my regular soap supply company. Next time I make an order it'll be on my list.

Thanks for all your great suggestions folks. One last kick at the can, and if it doesn't work out, no can say I didn't try.