Luxurious Homemade Calendula-Infused Body Butter

I’ve been experimenting with different recipes for homemade natural body products, and I’ve concocted a body butter recipe that I’m especially proud of.  I gave away jars of it to friends and family, and within weeks, they were returning the jars and asking for more!  It smells wonderful, has a lovely whipped texture similar to whipped butter, and it works especially well on very dry or irritated skin.  Perfect for this time of year!

There are only five ingredients in this butter, all of them healing and known to be highly beneficial to the skin.  I’ve spent a lot of money buying a lot of products over the years, and I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite body lotions ever…and it contains nothing harmful or synthetic.

I made my most recent batch with my finally-ready calendula oils and I’m loving it even more!  (Read about the benefits of calendula here.)  My boyfriend also loves this stuff.  He’s been using this on his dry skin patches and has noticed some improvement to his problem areas…he’s also noticed that it brings out the colors in his tattoos!  

Calendula-Infused Body Butter Recipe

1 cup unrefined organic shea butter

1/2 cup calendula-infused organic extra-virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup calendula-infused organic sweet almond oil

1/4 cup organic jojoba oil

1 Tbs vitamin E oil

Optional – 20-30 drops of preferred essential oils (I use rosemary and lavender)

Melt shea butter in a double boiler over low heat.  When melted, add the other oils, except essential oils.  When coconut oil has melted and consistency is smooth, remove from heat.  Cool to room temperature and add essential oils.  Place in fridge until mixture begins to harden but is still soft, about 45 minutes.  Remove from fridge and using an electric whisk or hand mixer, whip concoction for several minutes until it becomes white and fluffy.  Allow to set in fridge for 15 minutes before transferring to glass jar (or jars!). 

If you don’t get a whipped, fluffy consistency, it’s probably not cold enough.  You can put it back in the fridge for a bit and then try re-whipping it.  It’s a pretty forgiving recipe.

It’s best to keep this in a cool area, as temps above 76 degrees will cause the butter to lose it’s fluffiness.  Don’t worry, it doesn’t change the properties of the lotion.  (In the summer, I kept most of it in the fridge and scooped out 2 oz jars at a time).

Please be aware that this is a butter, and it will melt at body temperature.  It will seem oily at first, but it absorbs quickly and leaves no greasy residue.  Unless you use too much…but I’m sure you’ll figure that out!

Enjoy!