Lemon Cream Body Butter
It’s really nice to have something extra moisturizing, and this really fits the bill. Also, it smells so good that I want to eat it. This body butter is particularly good for softening dry or scaly skin and restoring it to softness again. I find that my hands, elbows, and feet need a little extra care throughout the seasons, and a regular lotion just isn’t enough. Enter body butter. Lately I’ve started using it as a cuticle cream as well, and it’s been working great.
I used lemon essential oil, but any citrus oil smells wonderful as does vanilla. I buy my cocoa butter at a local health food store, they are the most likely place to keep it in stock.
You want to melt the ingredients over low heat until just warm. If you get the ingredients too warm you can destroy some of their beneficial properties.
It is thick and creamy after it solidifies for a few hours. (I have very little patience, so I put mine in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, to hurry it up a bit.)
This body butter doesn’t have any beeswax in it, so it melts as it comes in contact with your skin. I find that it absorbs into my skin way better than the ones that I’ve tried made with beeswax.
Note: coconut oil melts at about 76 degrees Fahrenheit, so this body butter will become liquid if your room temperature is a little warmer.
Update: the temperature in our house has fluctuated a lot as the outside temperatures get warmer, and my body butter has melted a couple of times now. You can remix it with a fork to make it fluffy again or just use it a little firmer. Either way, it works the same. If you want it to remain stable, you can experiment with adding 2 Tablespoon of beeswax instead of the cacao butter. I like mine without wax because it absorbs better into my skin!
Prep time 10 mins
Serves: makes ⅔ cup
Items
- 6 Tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ cup cacao butter
- 1 Tablespoon vitamin E oil
- ¼ Teaspoon lemon essential oil
- Place the coconut oil and cacao butter in a saucepan. Over low heat, warm until just melted.
- Remove from the heat. Add the vitamin E oil and essential oil.
- Cool until the mixture solidifies, (a few hours at room temperature).
- Transfer to a clean container.
Notes
This is best used within a few months.