Natural Face and Body Recipes

Aromatherapy Body Butter Recipe Ingredients 1/4 cup (1.5oz) Cocoa Butter 1 cup (6oz) Shea Butter 2 tablespoons Kukui or Sweet Almond oil 1 tablespoon Jojoba oil 1 tablespoon Rosehip or Sea Buckthorn oil 1/4 teaspoon Vitamin E (or 1 capsule) 1 teaspoon Corn Starch (reduces the "greasy" feeling) Lavender Flower Blend Lavender Spice Blend 20 drops Lavender essential oil 20 drops Lavender essential oil 5 drops Frankincense essential oil 4 drops Patchouli essential oil 2 drops Palmarosa essential oil 4 drops Sandalwood essential oil 2 drops Rose Geranium essential oil 2 drops Cedarwood essential oil Directions Put about an inch (2.5cm) of water in the bottom of a medium-sized pot and heat to a low simmer. Place the Cocoa and Shea butter in a large heat-proof glass measuring cup (such as Pyrex.) Place the measuring cup in the water and warm slowly over a low heat until the butters are melted. Cook at a low heat for about 20 minutes (helps reduce the "grainy" feeling of the cocoa butter.) Do not allow to boil (or even simmer!) Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Using a metal spoon, stir to combine. (A wooden spoon absorbs the scent of essential oils.) Using an electric hand mixer, whip the butter continually for several minutes (just like you would frosting.) As you keep mixing, it will start to look like whipped cream. The more you whip it, the lighter it will become (surprise!) Option 1: Cold Water Bath. Set the measuring cup into a large bowl filled with ice water to help cool the butter faster. Whip the butter continually until peaks form on top. Option 2: All Day Method. Let the mixture sit for several hours to cool and set. As it's setting, whip every couple of hours during the course of the day until the mixture has set to the correct texture. Spoon into dark glass or PET plastic jars. To reduce air bubbles, tap the jar sharply on the counter occasionally as you're filling it. Makes about 8 ounces (250ml) of lavender body butter. Customizing Your Aromatherapy Body Butter Recipe This recipe makes a fairly firm aromatherapy body butter. To make it lighter, replace the cocoa butter with shea butter. Stirring the mixture with a spoon will give you a very firm consistency, more like a bar than a whipped butter. Pour the body butter into a deodorant tube or a silicone cupcake mold and let it cool. You can reduce the strength of the scent by decreasing the number of drops of essential oils. Don't increase the essential oils, however, since they should only be a certain percentage of the total body butter recipe. You can customize your blends further by changing your carrier oils. Avocado or Evening Primrose oil could be good for this body butter recipe. Read the carrier oils page and see what might work for you. You can also try replacing some of the carrier oils with lotion to reduce the "greasy" feeling. Play around with the recipe - experiment to see what you like best. One of the great things about making body butter is that if you're not happy with the consistency the first time you make it, you can re-melt the mixture and re-whip it. Don't be afraid to whip and whip and whip it! Try this trick for healing dry, rough or problem skin: After your shower, don't dry off all the way - just pat most of the water off your skin. Next apply lotion to your damp skin and finally, to lock in all that healthy moisture, apply your aromatherapy body butter. It really works!