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Homeade Cocoa Butter Body Butter is the THING to do, especially in the winter. And it’s easy!
If you didn’t already know, you should know that I don’t have a domestic bone in my body. And for the most part, I like to adhere to the Shakespearean saying: to thine own self be true. However, my skin these days has taken a turn for the worst. Dry doesn’t even begin to describe the ashiness my skin skin has succumbed to. Yeah, I said it, A-S-H-I-N-E-S-S. I’ll spare you the photos of the backs of my feet, but trust me on this. It wasn’t pretty. Feel free to judge me, I was judging myself until I decided to google recipes for cocoa butter.
Why, pray tell, did I opt to make my own versus buying, for instance, tried and “true” Palmer’s Cocoa Butter??
Well, if the big red X doesn’t tell you how I feel about this stuff. Let me be plain:
Palmer’s Cocoa Butter is made up a bunch crap other than cocoa butter, and it doesn’t last all day. My winter skin needs more.
So, in an effort to save money, and to be sure of the ingredients being applied to my skin I made my own cocoa butter formula! Here’s what I used:
- Raw Cocoa Butter purchased here: RAW Cocoa Butter 1 Lb
- Organic Coconut Oil purchased here: Nature’s Way Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 16 Ounce
- Raw unrefined Shea butter purchased here: 100% Pure Unrefined Organic Raw SHEA BUTTER – (1 Pound) from the nut of the African Ghana Shea Tree
The rest was pretty easy:
Melt about 2 cups of Raw cocoa butter on the stove. Bonus: Your whole place will smell like the yummiest of chocolates. Get ready.
Melt about 2-3 tablespoons of organic coconut oil (or really any oil you’d like) into the melted cocoa butter. Keep it on medium heat, you want to melt it. Not boil it.
Stir in a a heaping spoon of Shea butter, if you have it. Otherwise, skip this step.
Stir it all up, pour into whatever container you have handy. Then throw it into the freezer for about 20-30 minutes.
The first two pics are actually misleading as they are images of what you DO NOT want your butter to look like when it comes out of the freezer. I left mine in too long and it was actually forming too much into a solid. I had to throw it back into the pot, melt, and then cool again before being able to whip it into a nice consistency. You really want your butter to come out of the freezer as it’s just about to turn and not a moment after. Otherwise, you won’t be able to whip it into the final product using a handheld mixer as featured in the third photo.
In the end, your butter will look something like so. Not bad for my first try. I really wanted a more whipped texture, so next time, I will play around with the freezer time and whip it for more than 1 minute and see if the results are more to my liking.
Final Grade: B+
It actually goes on and feels a lot like Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, but I was going for a softer texture. A little goes along way, and it DEFINITELY lasts all day. It’s a little greasy going on, but your skin will thank you by reverting to a soft baby-like feel you’ll want to touch all day!
UPDATE: I added Beeswax to the mixture and it came out MUCH better the second time around. Beeswax is a natural emollient which helps to keep the product soft and easy to apply to the skin.
Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out.
xoxo,
Lisa
Hey, Boo! My name is Lisa and you’ve stumbled upon my own little corner of the world. I’m a 30 something-year-old writer/mother/wife who happens to love lipstick, high heels, blackness, and the truth. You’ll find a mix of everything on this site, so I won’t bore you by trying to define this space. I hope you stay awhile!
Lianne Arnsworth says
February 7, 2013 at 8:59 amHomemade products are great! Thanks so much for the recipe. I really love the look of your cocoa body butter.
–UncommonScents.com
DimePieceOnaDime says
February 9, 2013 at 2:38 pmThank you!! It’s doing a GREAT job on my skin! xoxo
GirlsAreDolls says
February 23, 2013 at 2:04 pmLove this 🙂
DimePieceOnaDime says
February 24, 2013 at 10:00 pmThanks!! If you make it, make sure you microwave it for like 30 seconds before each use…this stuff dries hard in the container!!
100% Chocolate says
May 29, 2013 at 12:49 amLOVE it! I need to get Raw Cocoa Butter tho, I used Palmer’s instead. Came out really good, but now my legs are starting to dry out half way through the day. Hmmm
DimePieceOnaDime says
May 29, 2013 at 1:59 pmso you melted palmers and added oil to it? With all the chemicals in the palmer’s no wonder your skin is dry!! Buy the real stuff on amazon, also, when you make it add beeswax to the mixture. Otherwise it will be too hard! Good luck!
Melanie says
April 23, 2015 at 12:57 pmHi! Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been looking for a homemade substitution to Palmers. Couple of questions:
How much beeswax did you use?
Did the “butter” come out to the consistency you wanted the second time?
How much product did you end up with in the end…Just the jar your holding in your picture?
Thanks again!
Melanie
Lisa says
April 24, 2015 at 8:49 amHi Melanie. I made this so long ago it’s hard to remember. I think I ended up with two jars, and yes, the consistency was much better the second time around. I used one “bar” of beeswax as it’s sold in bars on amazon. I hope this helps!!