Whip That Butter For A Lovely Moisturizer

Editor’s note: Due to supply challenges, our Baobab Butter is being discontinued. Good substitutions would be Turmeric Butter or Hemp Butter.

Winter skin feels so uncomfortable! Fortunately, a thoughtfully crafted lotion can help.

Organic Baobab Butter stars in this whipped emulsified body butter.

Two forces are at work to make skin feel super dry in winter: trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and loss of the skin’s ability to hold in moisture. We’ll focus on ingredients that can help with these issues.

CHOOSING INGREDIENTS

I am aiming for an emulsified body butter that is not excessively greasy, that absorbs fairly quickly, and does not take forever to rub in. This means choosing the right oils, butters, and additives. I also plan to whip the finished product to give it a fluffy, airy texture that seems less heavy.

Dimethicone is a skin protectant, and it helps the lotion avoid the soaping effect (when lotion stays white on the skin and seems to take forever to rub in). I like adding it to any lotion targeting dry skin.

Baobab Butter is a blend of shea butter, palm butter, jojoba oil, and baobab extract. It feels dreamy all by itself. I love the combination of the butters with jojoba oil. Our catalog has this to say:

“When directly applied to the skin, the Baobab Butter has a silky feeling that quickly absorbs into the skin and leaves the skin feeling soft without a greasy after feeling. Enjoy all of the benefits of Baobab fruit like naturally occurring humectant and moisturization properties, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphates, and vitamins C, B1, and B2.”

High Melt Point Shea Butter has a higher stearine content to keep the mixture thick and will allow more flexibility when whipped. Oat Oil is of great benefit to dry skin, and it only takes a small amount.

I’ll also use Allantoin and Aloe Extract for an extra boost. Extracts are a great way to increase the efficacy and label appeal of skincare products, and we have so many great ones. Have a look here.

I chose Honey Almond Fragrance Oil for this creation. I love how it smells – warm, comforting, and delicious. It can be pretty strong, though, so keep your usage rate low.

Come join me in the blog kitchen as we whip up this fantastic body butter! Here are the supplies and equipment you’ll need.

RECIPE

Are you ready? Here’s the recipe to make a 16-ounce batch and in percentages so you can scale to your preferred batch size.

INSTRUCTIONS

Weigh the water, then use a Transfer Pipette to remove about 2 ounces into a small container. (This will be used to disperse the Allantoin.)

To the water, add Emulsifying Wax, Stearic Acid, High Melt Point Shea Butter, Hydrovance, Baobab Butter, and Oat Oil.

Heat in 30-second increments in the microwave, stirring after each heating, until everything has melted. (You could also use a double boiler to heat the ingredients to melting.) Stick blend until emulsified. You may find that there are still unmelted granules of Stearic Acid. Keep warming the mixture and stick blending to get them all melted and mixed thoroughly. I have found it takes reheating the mixture to about 160-170 degrees F several times before the Stearic Acid melts fully. Its melt point is around 156 degrees F.

Now allow the mixture to cool below 120 degrees. You can help this process by hand stirring occasionally. If you’re in a hurry, put the bowl into a cool water bath and stir often.

Water and the ingredients to be heated are all weighed and ready to go. Allantoin is dispersed in a small amount of the distilled water.

After heating, the mixture is stirred and then stick blended to create the emulsion. After the mixture cools below 120 degrees, the heat-sensitive ingredients are added.

For the Allantoin, slightly warm the reserved water to about 100 degrees. Place the warmed water in its container on your scale, then zero it. Weigh the Allantoin into the water, and use a mini whisk or mini stick blender to disperse the powder. Pour this directly into the cooled lotion, then add the Liquid Germall Plus, Fragrance Oil, Aloe Extract, and Dimethicone. Use a stick blender to mix thoroughly, scraping the sides of the bowl several times to be sure all the additives and preservative are fully blended in.

Place the mixture in the refrigerator for an hour or two (depending on your batch size). You want the blend fully chilled and thickened.

WHIP IT

Now use a mixer with a whisk attachment to whip the body butter into a fluffy concoction. I used a hand mixer for my small test batch. If I’d made a large batch, I would have hauled out the stand mixer.

Turning the mixer on high speed, I whipped for several minutes until it seemed the mixture was no longer gaining volume. At that point, I scooped the whipped body butter into a piping bag that I’d set inside a tall soap bucket to hold it up. I cut the tip off the piping bag and piped the fluffy butter into jars.

Beginning to whip the chilled mixture.

After whipping, it looks fluffy and creamy!

Tip of the day: Place the piping bag in a tall container before filling.

Gently pipe the whipped body butter into jars.

NOTES

I’m in love with the feel of this whipped body butter, and it is so wonderful on my super dry hands. Thanks to the whipping, it’s very easy to scoop out of the jar, and it rubs in quickly, leaving behind a soft yet powdery feeling.

The mixture deflated some, which was a bit disappointing. However, that is to be expected in an emulsion versus an anhydrous mixture. I’m thinking about taking a jar of Baobab Butter and whipping it just by itself – it’s that wonderful!

Have you tried our Baobab Butter yet? If so, tell us what you’re making with it. If not, I encourage you to add a jar to your next order. I promise you will not be disappointed!