Whipped Body Butters / Creams

[Cal]

Hi

I've made some test batches of whipped body butters and they whipped up really light and airy. However, although they still melt nicely on skin contact they have 'set' a bit. I would like to stick with butters oils and cornstarch at the moment and I would be grateful for help with the following queries ...

1). How do I keep that 'I forgot it wasn't whipped dairy cream and nearly licked the beater' consistency? Am I searching for the Holy Grail here without additives and water?

2). I hate the smell of unrefined Shea butter which is what I used. I am going to try and get hold of some steam refined for my next batch. Does it whip up the same?

3). I have seen pics on google images and on YouTube where the whips look soft still and the butter creams still look creamy and they say there are no additives. Is this just down to technique?

4) if I use my current Shea for soap will the smell come through? (I'd rather give it away than waste it)

(Sorry for all the questions; I have manually trawled through the pages and can't find answers. When I enter a search it comes up with a page of numbers and says 'debug mode'. I've tried over a few days )

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cal

 

[ilovedoxies]

Cal, I can't really answer your questions because I'm new to the whole body butter thing. I have found it difficult to find answers to my own questions. Seems like the answers I get only lead me to more questions, lol!!

I recently tried to whip cocoa/shea/coconut oil/apricot oil/glycerin/honey. It whipped up nicely but it's a little too oily for my liking once it is applied.

I haven't tried it with the corn starch, what does that do?

Also I'm going to try again with a little beeswax.

 

[Cal]

Thanks for your reply Ilovedoxies (everyone here has such creative names - except me). I'm new to this too. I agree the more answers you find, the more questions are generated. The cornstarch is supposed to absorb some of the grease and assist with glide. The whipped butters I have made seem to absorb nicely without being greasy. I have made them for face cream. I don't want to go down the lotion/preservative route yet but needed something light. I made two different batches with slightly different ingredients and my daughter and I are trialling them by putting one on the left side of our face and one on the right. So far, so good except for (to me) the awful lingering scent of Raw Shea everytime a breeze blows across my face

I didn't use glycerin. Does that keep the consistency creamy once set?

I wonder if anyone else can help with the other queries?

Cal

p.s. Ilovedoxies, I have tried making a butter with beeswax and it set like an ointment. It is good for really dry patches. I put it in a few 4oz jars and would have been better using balm tins. Having said that my daughter thought I was giving her face cream and slathered it all over her face. She says it's great and got rid of all the dryness. The beeswax made it too thick and oily for me but maybe I didn't use the right quantity. Each to his own

 

[LisaNY]

If it's too firm for you, then decrease the butters and increase the soft oils a bit. Personally, I like the whipped shea to set a bit. If not, I have a heck of a time getting the weight I need for my jars. I have to pound, pound, pound the jars on the counter. Also, the more light/whipped it is, the less stable it is in the warmer weather.

I usually wait a day before putting my whipped shea into jars, because I like it to set a bit.

All this being said, I'm actually reformulating my body butter recipe and melting it/pouring it instead of whipping it. I want something more stable for my summer market.

 

[Hazel]

I see you already got an answer from LisaNY while I was typing. I also got a little distracted and wandered off for awhile.

I'm not an expert, either. I had read if you added a soft oil to shea it helped to keep it whipped and I did find this worked. Your results may vary. :wink:

I made whipped shea back in mid December and it still looks and feels like whipped cream. Unfortunately, I can't remember if I used 70% shea/30% oil or 60%/40%. I made it because I had small amounts of FOs left over from some soap batches. I thought if I whipped some shea, I could split the batch and make several jars of different scented whipped butters. (Off topic - I'm not a floral person but Peak's Hyacinth FO is lovely in a whipped butter. Makes me think of spring. ) Anyway, it doesn't feel very greasy and absorbs quickly into my skin. I did add about 1% vitamin E to it to help slow rancidity.

Some of the fluffiness is due to the technique. You have to melt the shea, then cool it rapidly (frig), take it out and set in a ice bath, whip a bit, put it back in the frig, take it out, repeat and repeat until it fluffs up. I have to eat crow and confess I bought the ultra refined shea from WSP. I know I've complained about them in the past but this shea is so nice. I don't even melt it. I just weigh it out, throw it in the bowl and turn on the mixer. It's a little more expensive than regular shea but it saves a lot of time. I don't have to melt it, stick in the frig, whip it, stick it in the frig, whip it, and so on into infinity. :roll: Plus I've never had it develop the "grittiness" like other shea.

LisaNY is correct that it won't be stable in warmer weather. It will lose its fluff.

 

[Cal]

LisaNY - thank you for your response. I hadnt thought about stability in warm weather. Living in the cooler UK climes the jars are currently sitting in my centrally heated bedroom and are remaining slightly set, so perhaps I am best to leave the formula as it is. It is easy to get out of the jar. If we have a once in a decade heatwave this summer I will be able to test them out. Also it's a good point about the weight of the product. I hadn't thought of that. I am intending to do markets eventually, once I've road tested everything, and weight/ volume is something I will have to consider.

Hazel - thank you also. I will experiment with the percentages you suggest. I will also try and work out the percentages of the oils/butters I used for reference. I have put vit E in as well. Thanks for the FO suggestion too. I didn't use the heat/chill method. I softened the Shea and gently melted the CO and Cocoa Butter and mashed all together before adding other oils. This then whipped up really nicely from this stage without chilling. On the whole I'm pleased with the result - just would have liked it to retain the really creamy texture.

Cal

 

[LisaNY]

You're very welcome! Also, give your new recipe some time. After a week or so, it can change in consistency. If you are able to get it out of the jar fairly easily, that is a good thing.

 

[semplice]

I just made a batch yesterday. I use a 70/30 oils/butter ratio. Whipped shea IS very sensitive to direct sunlight and heat. I can't ship it in the summer because I live in a state that had 20+ days of triple digit weather last year. Ugh!

 

[Cal]

Gosh Semplice - triple digit. Makes our cooler summers sound ideal Thank you for posting the picture and ratios.