After a spell of making my own homemade soap and body sugar scrubs, I thought I’d venture further into natural cosmetics making.
The next thing I wanted to try was a body butter as my skin gets really dry in the winter and I wanted to try something with natural ingredients that don’t have any numbers in!
I’ve tried to make my own cocoa body butter last week and I have to say it’s simply magical! The final product is so creamy and soft and doesn’t leave your skin too saturated or oily as some shop-bought varieties of body butter do.
If you’ve tried my rose body butter recipe, you’ll love this one too!
My other homemade cosmetics recipes
- Traditional Soap Recipe (Cold Process) >>
- Coffee & Hazelnut Soap Recipe (Melt & Pour Process) >>
- Fresh Peach Sugar Scrub Recipe >>
- Natural & Calming Deodorant >>
Cocoa Body Butter Ingredients
I’ve used only three basic ingredients in this recipe; all are natural and they are even edible! Not that you should attempt to eat the body butter, of course!
The reason why I wanted to make this body butter is because it uses cocoa butter as one of the ingredients and since I regularly make my own chocolates, I had a spare bag of cocoa butter left.
Since I’ve used all edible ingredients, I’m using my small handheld electric whisk to make this cocoa butter and just wash it in very hot water after I use it.
Cocoa Body butter – your shopping list
- CACAO BUTTER >> – I usually buy this one on Amazon
- COCONUT OIL >>
- SWEET ALMOND OIL >>
- PURE ESSENTIAL OILS >>
Cacao Butter
I use a good quality cocoa butter, which has it’s own natural aroma of chocolate, so if you want to you don’t have to use any additional essential oils.
But if you do, use something that will compliment the chocolate aroma, such as vanilla, coffee or stronger essential oils that will overpower the cocoa butter smell, such as lavender, geranium, orange or similar.
You can use any suitable cacao butter – refined or unrefined. I usually buy this one on Amazon because it’s in a convenient size and easy to use.
Coconut Oil
You can use any kind of coconut oil, including raw or virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil is a natural ingredient, so even the type that’s sold in supermarkets in the baking or cooking section is fine to use for cosmetics.
This coconut oil is particularly good as it’s virgin coconut oil and it it has a lovely coconut aroma.
You can also make your own cold pressed coconut oil at home and use it for other homemade cosmetics recipes and diy candles.
Sweet Almond Oil
I buy sweet almond oil to make most of my home cosmetics, because it has a natural ingredients and not too overpowering scent. I usually buy cold pressed sweet almond oil, but other oils, such as grape seeds, jojoba or olive oils are fine too.
Essential Oils
I’ve used edible essential oils for this recipe, but any essential oils for cosmetics use are fine to use. I actually use my chocolate making essential oils, but you probably don’t want to get those as they can be very pricey.
For most of my homemade cosmetics I use pure essential oils, that are specifically made for contact with skin and are also food safe.
I find that since you only need a few drops of these essential oils, it’s better to get a whole set of 8-12 bottles and that way you always have a choice. This essential oils kit comes with 8 different fragrances, such as rosemary, lemon, orange, eucalyptus or tea tree. The best thing, is that they can also be mixed together, so if you wanted to have a Orange & Tea Tree Cocoa Butter, you can do that.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk – electric or hand held (manual)
- Suitable jar containers (I find that these darker glass jars are better at preserving the body butter as sunlight can’t get easily in to spoil the homemade cosmetics). For body butter go for 4 oz or 8 oz jars as anything less than than will be too small.
Instructions – How to make body butter at home
STEP 1
Slowly melt the cacao butter on a double boiler (bain marie) or in a microwave. If you are using microwave melt the butter for 20 seconds at a time, stir and then put back in the microwave.
Be careful not to burn it, as it’s quite a small amount of cocoa butter. Don’t take the cocoa butter to more then melting temperature (about 35C) otherwise the mixture might become gritty later on.
STEP 2
When the cocoa butter is completely melted, remove it from heat or microwave and stir in the rest of the ingredients (but leave out any essential oils at this point).
STEP 3
Leave the bowl in a room temperature to rest and allow the mixture to partially harden, but still soft when you try to scoop the mixture out. This can take up to 1-2 hrs and depends on how cold your room is. The mixture needs to be completely cold and partially set, otherwise, it won’t whip very easily.
STEP 4
Whip the mixture either by hand or use handheld whisk. Beat the mixture until fluffy, which will take a few minutes, depending on how quick you are.
STEP 5
Add any essential oils and give it the final whisk.
STEP 6
Scoop into suitable containers with lids and keep in room temperature, but below 23 C (otherwise the butter might melt)
Use straight away or within a month
This recipe makes about one very large jar or two normal size ones. If you are thinking of making this body butter as a gift, you can easily double up or triple up the quantities to make enough to share with your friends!
Hope you enjoy making this body butter and until next time!
Magdalena
PIN IT FOR LATER
Cocoa Body Butter – Your questions answered
Is cocoa body butter greasy?
No, not at all! Cocoa butter is beautifully thick and creamy, but it doesn’t leave a greasy residue. It’s best to use this cocoa body butter late at night, before you go to bed and you’ll wake up in the morning with smooth skin!
I often use cocoa body butter as a hand cream, but use it only on the top of my hands and not my palms. That’s because if I’m typing or working on my laptop I want to make sure that my keyboard doesn’t get too greasy. But that’s really as greasy as it gets!
How long can I keep my body butter?
This very much depends on the ingredients you use, but since we are not using any preservatives, E numbers or other chemicals to preserve our homemade body butter, it’s better if you start using your body butter as soon as possible and only make what you need for immediate use.
I’ve never kept mine for more than a month, but I’ve seen others mentioning 3-6 months shelf-life.
Make sure you keep your body butter in room temperature of no more than 23C, otherwise it might melt.
How often should I use body butter?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, just use it as and when you needed – every day if you like! The cocoa butter is really nourishing for the skin, so if you have dry skin (or in winter) you can use it every day. If you have oily skin, you probably don’t need to use the body butter than often, perhaps once a week is sufficient.
Can I use body butter on my hair?
Well, actually, you can! This homemade body butter with cocoa butter is natural and melts beautifully. It can be used a hair treatment for dry or stressed hair. Just apply it to the tips of your hair when you are washing your hair instead of hair conditioner or even after a hair conditioner (if your hair is very dry). Rinse with warm water and style as normal.
I sometimes use it as a hair balm on dry hair. That’s usually if I run out of conditioner and just wash my hair with a hair shampoo. When my hair is dry I apply a tiny amount of the body butter to the tips of my hair to smooth it down.
Body butter with cocoa butter
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk (Electric or Manual)
- Small Jam Jars or other suitable jars or pots
Materials & Ingredients
- 120 grams cacao butter
- 60 grams coconut oil
- 60 grams grape seed jojoba, olive, or sweet almond oil
- 5-10 drops pure essential oils optional
Instructions
- Slowly melt the cacao butter on a double boiler (bain marie) or in a microwave. If you are using microwave melt the butter for 20 seconds at a time, stir and then put back in the microwave. Be careful not to burn it, as it’s quite a small amount of cocoa butter. Don’t take the cocoa butter to more then melting temperature (about 35C) otherwise the mixture might become gritty later on.
- When the cocoa butter is completely melted, remove it from heat or microwave and stir in the rest of the ingredients (but leave out any essential oils at this point).
- Leave the bowl in a room temperature to rest and allow the mixture to partially harden, but still soft when you try to scoop the mixture out. This can take up to 1-2 hrs and depends on how cold your room is. The mixture needs to be completely cold and partially set, otherwise, it won’t whip very easily.
- Whip the mixture either by hand or use handheld whisk. Beat the mixture until fluffy, which will take a few minutes, depending on how quick you are.
- Add any essential oils and give it the final whisk.
- Scoop into suitable containers with lids and keep in room temperature, but below 23 C (otherwise the butter might melt)
- Use straight away or within a month
Notes
Originally published 01/04/2020, last updated 09/08/2021
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