DIY All Natural Whipped Body Butter

One of the first beauty products I switched to all natural and starting making at home, was lotion. I had experimented with pure coconut oil, then decided that while it has great transdermal properties, once it soaked in, my skin still felt dry. Then I tried pure shea butter. I loved how thick and creamy it was, but it never seemed to soak into my skin very well.

So I thought, why not combine them?

Then I threw in some jojoba oil and vitamin E oil just for good measure, and to help with the liquid consistency. 

My first attempt I simply put one part shea butter and one part coconut oil into a bowl, squirted in some oil and then went to it with a hand mixer hoping for a whipped lotion of sorts. Which I got as a result, however there were little chunks of shea butter throughout the lotion, and it wasn’t ideal when using.

The second attempt, I put all of my ingredients in the Vitamix and gave it a whirl until it looked thoroughly blended. The result was a very smooth lotion, but it was very dense and produced what visually looked like almost 2/3 to 1/2 of amount as my first attempt, even though I used the same amount of ingredients. I also felt like I used too much at a time when applying it, because it was so dense as opposed to being more airy and spreadable.

On the third attempt I blended everything in the Vitamix, then transferred it to a bowl and whipped it with a hand mixer.

It was at this point I learned a key point in getting the perfect whipped consistency…you have to get your mixture thickened up first.

So this is what I have worked out to be the best method, although I warn it may leave your kitchen with a light film of shea butter and oils, and all together it can take a little over an hour from start to finish. BUT, you are left with a pure, all natural, and much cheaper lotion/body butter than you could buy, that I can testify has been the only thing to help save my skin from this harsh, dry South Dakota climate.

Yields 25+ oz.

1. Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

2. Transfer to bowl and chill in refrigerator for approximately 1 hour until thickened/solidified.

3. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whip until mixture is incorporated with air and starts to form peaks.

4. Store in containers with lids, and use in place of commercial lotions.

Read why coconut oil is a moisturizing, acne and wrinkle fighting, deodorizing powerhouse for your skin here.

Read why shea butter is a moisturizing, healing, protecting superfood for your skin here.

Read why jojoba oil is an anti-aging, blackhead busting, skin nourishing liquid gold for your skin here. 

Read why Vitamin E oil is a free radical repairing, scar removing, natural moisture retaining essential for you skin here.

Most all natural (and organic) lotions I’ve seen range from $6-12 per 8 oz. bottle. Total cost for these quantities of the ingredients comes to $65.55. So far I have made 3 batches (I use a combination of containers so I have to calculate per oz.) yielding about 25 oz. of lotion each (75+ oz total), which brings the total per oz. to around $0.87 or $6.99 per 8 oz bottle. However, we have also used our coconut oil in cooking so I’m was not working with exactly 32 oz., and I just ran out with this batch of lotion. I am also no where near out of shea butter (I still have over 3 lbs left), or jojoba oil. So the actual cost per oz. of homemade lotion is actually much lower than the above calculation, as I would guess with the purchase of another jar of coconut oil I could easily get another 3, if not more like 5, batches out of the remaining ingredient supply. Calculating the additional coconut oil purchase (bringing total ingredient cost to $79.84) and 3 additional batches (6 batches total), that brings the cost per oz. to about $0.53 per oz, or $4.26 per 8 oz. bottle. A fraction of the cost of purchasing commercial lotions.

Another unexpected use is using this as a makeup remover. Jojoba oil is a great all natural makeup remover and this can act as a cream remover. Just swab a cotton ball through it (it only takes a very small amount) and use to remove makeup. It even works well to remove waterproof mascara, as I learned on our vacation!

The tub on the left holds about 9 oz., and the jar is a 16 oz. jar. I had about 2-3 oz. leftover in addition to filling these two containers from this batch.