DIY Whipped Body Butter for Mother’s Day

Two ingredients, super easy to make and delicious to use. Whip up some body butter for mum this weekend!

Coconut oil (pictured on the left above) is antibacterial, antifungal, anti-itch, healing and moisturising. Shea butter (pictured on the right) is also antibacterial and moisturising. Both these oils have some sun protective properties, making them great for everyday use. Whipping them makes them fluffy and glossy, like a mousse for your skin.

Coconut oil is solid when cool. You can heat it up gently by sitting it in warm water, placing it on the hot air vent on your stove, or leaving it in a warm place for a while. Make sure you don’t overheat the jar.

My first attempt at whipped body butter using only coconut oil failed. It just set solid, without whipping. It was also difficult to make this recipe with a small amount of oil, because it just spun up the sides of the bowl. So I tried again, with a bigger batch and using some shea butter to help keep it semi-solid. I used about two thirds coconut oil and one third shea butter, but the ratio is pretty fluid!

I tipped the cold shea butter into the warmed coconut oil, and this cooled it down enough to start solidifying. You want to whip it quickly at this stage, to capture air in it before it sets hard.

After about five minutes of whipping with the beaters, the mixture is thick and glossy. It looks delicious! (Shea butter is only edible in its pure yellow unrefined state; while I used organic shea butter and am happy to use it on my body, I haven’t actually tried eating it!)

Spoon into some little jars. Reuse some old ones, hunt at the op shop, use an old spice jar, or find small jars at your local packaging store. Pretty up the jar with a nice label, or tie fabric over the lid. Make sure it’s labelled so you know what it is. 🙂

Variations: you can use 12 drops of essential oil in a 60ml jar. Today we used palmarosa, a beautiful rosey essential oil that is derived from a plant related to lemongrass. It’s super good for the skin, having antibacterial, antiwrinkle and soothing properties.