"Winter is coming"...question about whipped body butter

[whitewitchbeauty]

How do you get shea butter to not get seedy in the body butter? That happened to me last time.

 

[Cactuslily]

I've never had that issue before, but for this batch of WBB, I used unrefined Shea, so I heated other oils, then added Shea to the warmed oils so it melted gently. I had no issues.

 

[shunt2011]

How do you get shea butter to not get seedy in the body butter? That happened to me last time.

If you mean grainy you just need to temper your butter. Melt it and then hold it for about 20 minutes then chill it. I don't find that with whipping it that it gets grainy though. At least from my experience.

 

[cerelife]

My whipped body butter is two parts refined shea butter (because I despise the scent of raw shea butter) to one part coconut oil, with a touch of Avocado oil and Tapioca starch to tone down the 'greasy' factor.
I melt nothing - I just beat the ever-loving fool out of it with a commercial Kitchen Aid mixer until it's the consistency of a nice fluffy mousse - and it stays that way I've never tried using cocoa butter, but I'm not sure even the Kitchen Aid could deal with that brick-like hardness, so not much help there.
I live in the Deep South (where we are convinced that we're going to freeze to death if the temps drop below 50 degrees), and I LOVE WBB in the summer since it feels great and provides a nice, subtle sheen on the skin, and I often add a touch of gold mica to mine for added oomph. But in the winter I don't love it as much...so I'm currently working to formulate a lotion recipe that will work better for us in the cold months.

 

[JayJay]

My whipped body butter is two parts refined shea butter (because I despise the scent of raw shea butter) to one part coconut oil, with a touch of Avocado oil and Tapioca starch to tone down the 'greasy' factor.
I melt nothing - I just beat the ever-loving fool out of it with a commercial Kitchen Aid mixer until it's the consistency of a nice fluffy mousse - and it stays that way I've never tried using cocoa butter, but I'm not sure even the Kitchen Aid could deal with that brick-like hardness, so not much help there.
I live in the Deep South (where we are convinced that we're going to freeze to death if the temps drop below 50 degrees), and I LOVE WBB in the summer since it feels great and provides a nice, subtle sheen on the skin, and I often add a touch of gold mica to mine for added oomph. But in the winter I don't love it as much...so I'm currently working to formulate a lotion recipe that will work better for us in the cold months.

I have a kitchen aid and I would like to try this. I'm looking to give body butters for gifts. Are you using the mixer attachment or the whip attachment? I be only made body butter once before and I used a hand cake mixer. I was fan of how it turned out. Oops I just noticed you said that you used commercial kitchen aid. I have a regular one. I wonder if it would still work.

Side note: I'm from the Deep South too and I know what you mean about thinking we are going to freeze to death. HAHA! I knew one lady who would keep her kids home from school temps dropped below 40. Well it only happened once a year or less. She wasn't going to send her babies out there to die. LOL When I went away to school farther north, I found out how good we had it with those mild winters. MY poor skin turned into alagator hide when I left the south.

 

[JayJay]

If you mean grainy you just need to temper your butter. Melt it and then hold it for about 20 minutes then chill it. I don't find that with whipping it that it gets grainy though. At least from my experience.

I also read that sometimes Shea gets grainy if it has been melted too many times at high heat. The issue is that one never knows how many times the product has been melted down and what temperatures were used before one purchases.

I would switch vendors if my Shea tuned grainy after a gentle melt.

 

[newbie]

I just made a Dog Paw Balm/wax but I have to admit that I like it better than my body butter, for me. It's heavier but my skin feels heavenly!!! I think it will be much nicer during the drier winter months. I didn't scent it because it's for dogs but I don't even care.

Made it with approximate proportions (by weight) of:

4 parts Olive Oil
4 parts Coconut oil
2 part shea butter
1 part beeswax
perhaps 1/3 part lanolin
a few drops of vit E oil

It may have been a touch over 1 part of beeswax. I had read a recipe that used volumes but I just used weight. In the middle of melting it down, I came across something that said the volume of grated beeswax was half of what I assumed the weight would be. I fished out the unmelted chunks of wax. I should have used 1 oz but had put in 2 oz and I fished out 0.7 ounces. To try to even up the proportions, I added a little bit of the other ingredients but it was not a precise thing. At any rate, the proportions I listed per weight are very close. Glorious!

 

[navigator9]

I just made a Dog Paw Balm/wax but I have to admit that I like it better than my body butter, for me. It's heavier but my skin feels heavenly!!! I think it will be much nicer during the drier winter months. I didn't scent it because it's for dogs but I don't even care.

Made it with approximate proportions (by weight) of:

4 parts Olive Oil
4 parts Coconut oil
2 part shea butter
1 part beeswax
perhaps 1/3 part lanolin
a few drops of vit E oil

It may have been a touch over 1 part of beeswax. I had read a recipe that used volumes but I just used weight. In the middle of melting it down, I came across something that said the volume of grated beeswax was half of what I assumed the weight would be. I fished out the unmelted chunks of wax. I should have used 1 oz but had put in 2 oz and I fished out 0.7 ounces. To try to even up the proportions, I added a little bit of the other ingredients but it was not a precise thing. At any rate, the proportions I listed per weight are very close. Glorious!

I'm still hoping to get a dog, and I'm copying this so I will have it ready. And of course, I will try it out on myself for quality control! :wink:

 

[newbie]

I've never used a dog paw wax so i don't know if my consistency is right. It's dab-able and almost like vaseline. Melts on my finger tip and is easy to put on the dogs without having to rub their paw pads. It's possible it's supposed to be harder and in fact, it probably is because they mention putting in lip balm tubes but I know my dogs wouldn't tolerate having that type of consistency rubbed over their pads. More beeswax would do the trick but I don't want it too hard.

And m skin feels great today yet from last night's application!

 

[cerelife]

I have a kitchen aid and I would like to try this. I'm looking to give body butters for gifts. Are you using the mixer attachment or the whip attachment? I be only made body butter once before and I used a hand cake mixer. I was fan of how it turned out. Oops I just noticed you said that you used commercial kitchen aid. I have a regular one. I wonder if it would still work.

Side note: I'm from the Deep South too and I know what you mean about thinking we are going to freeze to death. HAHA! I knew one lady who would keep her kids home from school temps dropped below 40. Well it only happened once a year or less. She wasn't going to send her babies out there to die. LOL When I went away to school farther north, I found out how good we had it with those mild winters. MY poor skin turned into alagator hide when I left the south.

JayJay, I think a regular Kitchen Aid would do just fine! Refined shea butter is a little softer than the raw stuff, so just use a spoon to chunk it and the coconut oil up before you turn the mixer on and you should be good to go. I use the whip attachment and usually start at a medium setting to get everything blended together and looking kind of smooth, then I crank it up to high for 5-7 minutes to get that sweet 'mousse-like' consistency! BTW, add your Tapioca starch to your butters and then drizzle your avocado oil/fragrance on top or you will be like this woman...I once made the unfortunate mistake of adding it last so I feel her pain, LOL!
http://www.memedroid.com/gallery/317548
Yep, my first venture out of the South was also to college (Prescott, AZ) and I had NO clue how dry and COLD it could get there!!!

 

[DeeAnna]

I can say, now that I've tried it, that a regular KitchenAid with the whip attachment works fine. Go for it, JayJay!

On the subject of adding starches to make the butter feel less greasy -- what do folks prefer? I've heard of arrowroot and cornstarch. Are there other favorites?

I tried the butter without any starch and it was just too, too greasy for me. I loved the soft, airy texture in the jar, but I didn't care for the greasiness on my skin.

So I added cornstarch (UK translation -- corn flour? That's the only starch like this that I have in the house). It's not bad, but I feel a wee bit of grittiness when I apply the balm to my skin. I used about 10% ppo, and that firmed the balm up quite a bit after sitting for 24 hours. The texture is like a refrigerated chocolate mousse -- airy, but firm. The firmness keeps me from using too much, so that's not a bad thing. I like how the butter melts instantly on my skin even with the added cornstarch.

I didn't have any personal opinion about how much to use, so I just followed the general guideline in the link Navigator gave (Post 9). That was "...1 teaspoon per 1 - 2 ounces of main ingredient...." which I translated to about 3 grams cornstarch per 30 g of fats. This seems pretty much like the max I'd want to use -- I'm thinking about trying maybe 5% ppo and see how the texture is at that dosage.

 

[dixiedragon]

I made some in my regular kitchen aid and I just used the regular beaters. I couldn't find the paddle attachment that some recommend. Don't be discouraged if it takes a while to get there - My oils were still too warm when I started and I'd whip and whip and the oils wouldn't be whipped, just still liquid. So I popped it back in the fridge for a few minutes and tried again.

 

[kumudini]

DeeAnna, I learnt to use corn starch/ IPM in WBBs to decrease greasiness and to help easy absorption into skin here, on this forum from Shari specifically. I use both at 1% each and my WBBs are so much better than without them. They spread and absorb way more easily, there's only a brief period of stickiness from the 20% glycerine I use. I think that 1% is plenty, don't see a necessity to increase any further.

 

[newbie]

I use tapioca starch at 1 tsp per 8 ounces of oils and it doesn't make the butter completely grease-free feeling but it takes only a minute or two to work in. I don't feel any grit at all.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, wow, you guys are using a LOT less than what the article calls for. That's probably the reason why I'm getting a slight gritty feel. Okay, I can see the direction I need to take!

I don't think I've ever seen arrowroot in my small town grocery stores, but I wonder if I might find tapioca starch in the baking aisle. I just remembered -- I also have a modified corn starch called Clear Jell (used to thicken food for canning and freezing) that I might try.

Thank you for the advice -- much appreciated!

 

[Obsidian]

Deeanna, do you have any grocery stores around that sell grains/flours/etc.. in bulk bins? Thats where I find my arrowroot powder. Health food store might also carry it, I like it a lot more then cornstarch. I have used tapioca flour before in lotion, it was nice too.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, we do have a favorite grocery store that sells in bulk - People's Food Co-op in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I'll look for arrowroot powder and tapioca flour there next time I get to the city. Thanks for the tip, Obsidian!

 

[doriettefarm]

I scored some tapioca starch at the asian grocery store . . . lots of goodies to be had there.

 

[Dorymae]

Asian grocer is where I get arrowroot. Good luck.

 

[cerelife]

I've tried all three of the starches mentioned (corn, arrowroot, tapioca) in WBB, and tapioca is my hands-down favorite!
It's lighter and fluffier (not sure how else to describe it!) than the other two and seems to do more combat the 'greasy' feel of WBB - just MHO. I use 2T per 10oz of oils and it works like a dream!
I get mine from WSP and a pound will last you forever
http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/tapioca-starch-pure.aspx