How to Make Whipped Body Butter with Herbs and Essential Oils
Last Christmas I gave friends and family gifts that I had purchased from some of my favorite local, small businesses. I love supporting small companies and sharing them with other people who I think would appreciate their products. This year, though, I'm revisiting handmade gifts. I tend to switch between handmade and purchased gifts every other year or so. I have already gotten a head start on some of the gifts I am making during the evenings and I am so pleased with how they are turning out! I wish I could share them here but I have family who reads the blog, so I will have to wait until after Christmas. However, I thought it would be a good time to start sharing some ideas for handmade gifts that you could make for your own loved ones this season. Let's start with a luscious whipped body butter made with herbs and essential oils.
This whipped body butter is anhydrous, meaning that it does not contain any water-based products, so you can gift it without having to worry about including any preservatives. That is one of the things I love about whipped butters, aside from that luxurious texture! They are quick and easy to make in larger batches too, which makes them perfect for gift giving.
Ingredients
3 ounces of organic, unrefined coconut oil
3 ounces of organic sunflower seed oil infused with rose petals, chamomile buds and / or calendula flower heads (lavender buds would work well too)
2 ounces of organic cocoa butter
6 drops of sweet orange essential oil
6 drops of lavender (angustifolia) essential oil
6 drops of certified organic jasmine absolute (organic is important with absolutes)
Yields 8 ounces of whipped body butter, but since the butter is whipped into a fluffier texture, you may need more jar space than that. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make a larger batch all at once.
Instructions
Weigh out your cocoa butter and heat it over low heat using a double boiler or a glass Pyrex measuring bowl inside a saucepan filled with an inch or two of water.
While the cocoa butter is melting, measure out your coconut oil, then add it to the cocoa butter.
Once the cocoa butter and coconut oil are thoroughly melted, remove them from the heat and stir in the sunflower seed oil. Add your essential oils and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. You can stick the whole bowl in the refrigerator if you are pressed for time. You want the mixture to set back up into a solid before proceeding to the next step.
Use a sturdy hand-held mixer to begin whipping the butter. It will take a few minutes for it to start looking fluffy and once it does, just keep going until you reach a really light, airy consistency. You may need to use a spatula or spoon to scrape the butter out of the center of the mixer's whisk every so often in the beginning.
Once the butter looks like meringue or whipped cream, turn off the mixer and use a small spatula or spoon to transfer the body butter to your clean jars.
Making whipped body butters is so easy to do. I hope you enjoy this recipe! The smell of the cocoa butter mixed with the light floral aroma of the jasmine and lavender is such a treat. Whipped body butters are best applied when you are fresh out of the shower (dry off first) so your skin can soak in all the nourishing oils without leaving behind any greasy residue. If you decide to give this recipe a try, I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.
