How To - 3 Ingredient Body Butter With Shea

Today, we're going to make a deliciously honey-scented body butter. By using a neutral-smelling oil and a neutral-smelling butter, the glorious scent of the beeswax shines through.

This recipe is quite basic - only 3 ingredients - and is a great way to get better acquainted with shea butter.

Shea has all sort of skin-loving goodness to offer, but can be a tad tricky to work with. Not to worry! There's a troubleshooting bit below as well as links to more info.

Shall we get started?

Equipment List

• Heatproof glass container (find one you can pour from)
• Stirring rod (find something that can be sterlized/boiled)
• Container for your balm
• Scale

Ingredients List

This makes a modest, 'try-me' sized portion – about 55 ml

• 10 gr. beeswax
• 15 gr. shea butter
• 25 gr. oil (I used my own calendula infused almond oil, but you can use any oil you like)
• 2 drops vitamin E

Method

1. Weigh out all of your ingredients 
2. Place beeswax and oil in heatproof container
3. Melt the beeswax and oil slowly over low heat 
4. When the wax is melted, remove from heat, add the shea and stir until the butter is fully melted 
5. Pour into your container and let set

How to weigh oil:

• Place a beaker/heat-proof container on your scale
• Set the scale to 0
• Add oil until the desired weight is reached

Consistency

This body butter will set 'medium-hard' and may need to be 'dug out' of the container with a finger, but melts quickly on skin contact and goes on quite smoothly.

If you live in a warm climate, this butter will not set quite as hard as it does for me, but should still stay solid enough to be stored in room temperature.

When I write room temperature, I am referring to 19°-22° C / 66° - 71° F.

Where to Use This Body Butter

This particular combo of shea, beeswax and almond oil is great for dry patches, as an 'after-shave' leg balm, as a foot balm, as a massage aid, as a hand cream, and even as a lip balm.

Troubleshooting

Even though this is an easy-peasy recipe, there are a few things to be aware of - most of which revolve around the shea.

Shea is available as refined and unrefined. Depending on which kind of shea you use and how you handle it (overheat, extreme temperature changes etc), you may experience graininess.

If your mixture looks a bit like lumpy yellow pudding after you've added the shea (see above), you will need to GENTLY reheat the mixture while stirring. When the mixture is fluid and clear, transfer it to your container and let set. Your body butter will be smooth, creamy, and wonderful.


Curious about shea, why it's so good for skin and why it can go grainy? Check the links below.

More About Shea in This Blog

Shea - The Natural Skin Healer
Battling shea butter graininess and winning
How to Body Butter With Shea