All Natural Body Butter

This thick, nourishing body butter is great for dry chapped winter skin. Yes, I know the calendar says autumn has barely begun but we've had a cold snap already.  Between the heater and the dry colder weather my skin is really feeling it

I wanted a nice protective layer of moisture so I used lots of beeswax and I added cocoa butter not only for its shielding quality but for its vitamin e content – it’s a natural anti-oxidant. Coconut oil has so many wonderful qualities and olive oil has long been valued for skin and hair care.  The finished butter will have a faint smell of cocoa butter and beeswax which I like but you can scent it with essential oils.  I used about seven drops of lavender for just a hint of scent.  Lavender is known for being relaxing which is always a good thing for me. 

This would be such a great gift wrapped with a pretty ribbon.  I used two wide mouth short mason jars and two repurposed plastic jars that were washed and dried carefully.

The process is really easy. The only trick is pouring everything into your containers before it starts to harden which will happen rather quickly because of the quantity of the beeswax.

You can melt the wax and oils one of three ways.  You can use a microwave but I don’t own one any longer so I can’t give you the timing.  If you choose to use one use very short amounts of time and stir between reheating. You can use a double boiler over low heat if you have one or you can do what I did and use a very heavy bottomed pan over very low heat.

All Natural Body Butter

¼ pound all natural beeswax, chopped

½ cup coconut oil

1 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon cocoa butter

½ cup water

essential oil, optional

In a heavy bottomed pan over very low heat place the chopped beeswax, coconut oil and olive oil. Stir to combine until wax is just melted.  Remove from heat.  With an immersion blender (or spoon) mix the butter quickly while slowly drizzling in the water. If you don’t have an immersion blender I would recommend warming the water slightly so your mixture doesn’t clump.  If it does, just set it on the warm burner to soften a bit. Add essential oil now, if desired. The mixture will begin to thicken very quickly. 

Use a spatula to scrape down the mixture into your prepared jars and let cool completely before putting the lids on.

Enjoy!