Whipped Body Butter

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Inside: This homemade whipped body butter recipe is a great way to nourish dry winter skin with all-natural ingredients.

This do-it-yourself whipped body butter recipe will leave your dry skin feeling soft and moisturized and makes a great gift. I use shea butter as the base in my homemade body butter recipe because it is very moisturizing, but you can use cocoa butter if you choose.

You can find many of my other DIY body care recipes right here. Many of those make excellent Christmas gifts, hostess gifts, or teacher gifts.

Today, I am sharing my whipped body butter recipe. But I do want to warn you: This recipe does require a little more work than some of the other DIY gifts on my blog.

It’s not hard, but occasionally you may have to whip the butter a couple times to get it to the right consistency. However, I think the results are worth it. Several years ago, I actually sold a few of my beauty products and this was my most requested item!

a jar of homemade body butter surrounded by rosemary and asters
This easy lavender body butter makes great gifts for family and friends.

Affiliate Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you purchase something through a link. It will not change your cost. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see my disclosures page.)

Basically, to make whipped body butter, you melt all the ingredients together. Then you add some arrowroot powder which gives the body butter a silky feel and helps it to not feel as greasy as other body butters.

Next, you let it firm up some in the refrigerator. Finally, you whip it to a soft, fluffy consistency.

Like most of my other DIY body products, this can be scented with whatever essential oils you prefer. (I have given a list of some of my favorites below or you can grab my printable of over 30 essential oil blends below.)

free essential oil blend box to get the list free

Ingredients To Make Whipped Body Butter:

All ingredients can be purchased on Amazon, but feel free to shop around for the best price. 

Tools Needed:

  • mixing bowl – I like a glass bowl or a stainless steel bowl so it doesn’t hold odors from the essential oils.
  • saucepan
  • spatula
  • mixer – Either a hand mixer or a stand mixer will work.
  • containers to store finished body butter – A plastic or glass jar works great.

How To Make Whipped Body Butter:

  • 1/2 cup shea butter
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder
  • essential oils, optional

You will need to use a double boiler to melt the ingredients together. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can create a makeshift one with a saucepan and a bowl. Be sure the bowl will sit in the saucepan but that it doesn’t touch the bottom.

Add about 2″ water to a saucepan. Heat the water over medium heat. Add the shea butter, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil to the mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl for this.) and place the mixing bowl over the saucepan of water. Be sure that the water can’t splash into the bowl.

As the mixture melts, stir occasionally.  As soon as everything is melted, remove it from the heat.

Stir in the arrowroot powder. You may have to use a spatula to press the arrowroot powder against the side of the bowl to help disperse it. Don’t worry if you don’t get it totally mixed in. When you whip it with the mixer it will incorporate all of it.

Labeled whipped body butter and two open containers of whipped body butter
Small Mason jars work great to store whipped body butter.

Add your desired combination of essential oils (see below) and stir to mix. Place the mixing bowl full of oils in the refrigerator and allow to cool for at least 1 hour, but not more than 2 hours or it will become too hard. Remove the mixing bowl from the refrigerator and whip the mixture using a mixer.

If the mixture looks too soft, return it to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. If the mixture is too hard to whip, allow it to soften on the counter for 15 minutes or so until soft enough to whip.

Gently spoon the whipped body butter into containers. I love to use mason jars because they can be washed and reused later but these plastic containers or other glass jars would work as well.

Don’t press too hard when putting it into the jars. You don’t want to press out all the air you whipped into it. This mixture will fill three 4 oz. jars completely with some left over for yourself!

This body butter has a shelf life of approximately 6 months. Store in a cool place away from direct sunlight. If the body butter gets too warm, it may melt and not feel “whipped.”

You can get a printable copy of this recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Can I Make Substitutions?

If you want to make this body butter your own, you can make some substitutions. Please note that I haven’t tested all of these combinations. That would take me a really long time.

However, usually for something simple like this recipe, even if it doesn’t turn out quite like you want, your body butter will still be useable.

For the shea butter, feel free to substitute another hard butter like cocoa butter or mango butter. There are also a few more butters that would probably work like avocado butter, cupuacu butter, or murumuru butter but these are more difficult to locate.

For the coconut oil, you could substitute another liquid oil like olive oil or more grapeseed oil. Just be aware that the formulation might be a bit looser.

For the grapeseed oil, feel free to substitute jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, or any other liquid oil.

Finally, for the arrowroot powder you can also use cornstarch. I bet tapioca starch would also work. I just prefer the arrowroot powder as I feel it gives the finished product a silkier feel.

Homemade whipped body butter
This homemade whipped body butter is a fun DIY project and makes a great gift.

Essential Oil Combinations To Scent Your Whipped Body Butter

Here are some essential oil scent combinations you might like to use for different scents in your homemade body butter.

  • Chocolate Peppermint – Use cocoa butter instead of shea butter and use 20 drops of peppermint essential oil.
  • Coconut Lime – Use unrefined coconut oil (It will smell like coconuts.) instead of refined coconut oil and use 20 drops of lime essential oil.
  • Lavender – Use 30 drops of lavender essential oil.
  • Orange Spice – Use 20 drops of orange essential oil, 8 drops of cinnamon leaf essential oil, and 6 drops of clove essential oil.
  • Vanilla – Use 20 drops of vanilla essential oil.

Of course, feel free to use other combinations of your choosing. You can get my printable with over 30 essential oil blends by signing up below. For more information on using and diluting essential oils, check out AromaWeb.

free essential oil blend box to get the list free

How To Label Your Homemade Whipped Body Butter

To make the labels, I used the Avery software and purchased Avery labels #22817. I love the Avery software because they have templates for almost all of their labels.

The software is totally free to use and they have lots of graphics and fonts to choose from, including the cute little dandelion you see on the label in the picture above.

Body Butter Recipe

Whipped Body Butter

This homemade whipped body butter is a luxurious treat for dry skin.

Course: DIY
Cuisine: DIY
Keyword: body butter
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup shea butter
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
  • 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder
  • essential oils, optional
Instructions
  1. You need a double-boiler to melt the ingredients together. If you don't have a double-boiler, you can create a makeshift one with a saucepan and a bowl. Be sure the bowl will sit in the saucepan but doesn't touch the bottom.

  2. Add about 2″ water to a saucepan. Heat the water over medium heat. Add the shea butter, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil to the mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl for this.) and place the mixing bowl over the saucepan of water. Be sure that the water can't splash into the bowl.

  3. As the mixture melts, stir occasionally.  As soon as everything is melted, remove it from the heat.

  4. Stir in the arrowroot powder. You may have to use a spatula to press the arrowroot powder against the side of the bowl to help disperse it. Don't worry if you don't get it totally mixed in. When you whip it with the mixer it will incorporate all of it.

  5. Add your desired combination of essential oils (see below) and stir to mix. Place the mixing bowl full of oils in the refrigerator and allow to cool at least 1 hour, but not more than 2 hours or it will become too hard. Remove the mixing bowl from the refrigerator and whip the mixture using a mixer.

  6. If the mixture looks too soft, return it to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. If the mixture is too hard to whip, allow it to soften on the counter for 15 minutes or so until soft enough to whip.

  7. Gently spoon whipped body butter into containers. I love to use mason jars because they can be washed and reused later but these plastic containers would also work well.

  8. Don't press too hard when putting it into the jars. You don't want to press out all the air you whipped into it. This mixture will fill three 4 oz. jars completely with some leftover for yourself!

Recipe Notes

Here are some essential oil scent combinations you might like to use in your homemade body butter.

  • Chocolate Peppermint-use cocoa butter instead of shea butter and use 20 drops peppermint essential oil
  • Coconut Lime-use unrefined coconut oil (will smell like coconuts) instead of refined coconut oil and use 20 drops lime essential oil
  • Lavender-use 30 drops lavender essential oil
  • Orange spice-use 20 drops orange essential oil, 8 drops cinnamon leaf essential oil, and 6 drops clove essential oil
  • Vanilla-use 20 drops vanilla essential oil

This diy body butter recipe uses clean ingredients to make a luxurious body lotion. I hope you enjoy it

Have you ever made your own skin care products? Check out the recipes below for other natural products you can make at home. They all make great homemade gifts!

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Meet Julie

I’m a farm girl born and bred in North Carolina. I’ve been growing a vegetable garden for over 20 years (and helping my Mom grow hers even longer). I’ve been raising chickens in my bathtub and backyard for 12+ years. I believe that homegrown food can be made simple. Let’s get started.

a jar of homemade body butter surrounded by rosemary and asters
This homemade body butter is easy to mix up and feels so good on your skin.

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