Sweet weekend - DIY whipped shea butter

Part 2 of my DIY skin care products is a lovely rich whipped shea butter.

If you're like me and you suffer from really dry skin you'll know how important it is to moisturise after your shower. We concentrate so much on cleansing, toning, exfoliating and moisturing our face, but much of the time we skip looking after the rest of our body.

My top tips for keeping your skin smooth and moisturised is to body brush on a regular basis (at least 3 times a week), drink plenty of water, and moisturise after every shower.
Especially in Winter.
During Winter we tend to drink less water and have hotter showers. Put simply, this dehydrates our skin.

When I use moisturiser on my body I usually go for a rich body butter as I find these really do the trick for me.


Here's what I put into my DIY body butter:


250 grams unrefined shea butter (more on shea soon...)
1 tsp jojoba oil
1 tsp vitamin e oil 
10 or so drops of essential oil (I used orange and lavender but anything goes really)


1/ Put shea butter in heat-proof bowl and, using a saucepan underneath, use a double boiler method to gently melt the shea butter over a low heat.
2/ Once butter is melted, remove from heat and cool slightly.
3/ Add oils and using a hand mixer, whip the mixture for around 5-10 minutes.
4/ To help speed the cooling process and help the butter whip better, place the bowl into the freezer for 5 mins or so.
5/ Repeat the whipping and freezing process until mixture gets light and fluffy like whipped cream. You will notice that the mixture gets harder to mix and it starts clinging to the mixer.
6/ Add essential oils and mix through gently.
7/ Spoon into container.

The mixture is best to use within a month as there are no preservatives added in there. Store it in a cool, dry place, like your bathroom cupboard.

So what was the result?

Well, let's just say the first lot I made, a couple of months ago now, was a bit of a flop.
I didn't heat the shea butter totally and so I ended up with a grainy consistency that took forever and a day to rub in.
The second lot was better. But I still found it didn't really whip to a fluffy consistency.
Last week I made another lot and it worked great! I think I didn't beat it for long enough the second time.
Making sure I melted the shea butter until it was totally liquefied was a key factor in getting rid of the grainy bits in the shea butter.

My skin is feeling really smooth and moisturised, and, although initially there is a slightly greasy feeling on the skin as soon as it's applied, after an hour or so it absorbs totally into the skin.
As the ingredients are all natural it is non-comedogenic, meaning no-blocked pores!

Overall, a really great result. It works out pretty cheap too, much cheaper than many other body butters out there. And best of all it's squeaky clean on the chemical front!