When you first dive into buying ingredients for this hobby, mango butter (USA / Canada) isn’t usually on the starter DIY shortlist, but I would like to make a case for adding it. Most people purchase unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) first, and the two are somewhat similar. They’re both soft, creamy butters with similar melting points (~37°C/99°F), and out of the two shea is much more common, and typically cheaper ($9/kg for shea vs. $20/kg for mango). While shea butter is amazing for many things (soap and eczema pop to mind immediately), it has a couple characteristics that people aren’t always crazy about. The first is the smell, which can easily be solved by purchasing the refined version. The second is the absorption speed. It is sloooooow. Shea is quite heavy and even a wee bit tacky, and while those certainly aren’t bad qualities, they aren’t always desirable. That’s where mango butter comes in.
Mango butter absorbs into the skin shockingly fast. Like, “is this really a solid butter?” sort of fast. If you aren’t a fan of leaving greasy fingerprints everywhere after using a body butter or balm, mango butter is where it’s at. It absorbs so quickly that it’ll lighten up anything you use it in. If you’re used to slow-to-absorb balms and body butters (and perhaps avoid them for exactly that reason), mango butter is going to be a revelation for you. The only thing that may disappoint you about mango butter is that it does not smell like mangoes. It doesn’t smell like anything, really, which is sort of a bummer, but it does make mango butter very easy to work with, and I can’t complain about that.
Beyond the speedy, fast-absorbing goodness of mango butter, it’s also rich in vitamins A and C. It’s mostly made up of oleic acid (the fatty acid that makes up most of olive oil) and stearic acid (a solid fatty acid that’s also found in cocoa butter and palm oil). It’s got antioxidants to help combat free radicals, and can helps soothe, protect, and moisturize your skin. All in all, it’s a fantastic ingredient to have in your skin care cupboard—let’s dive into some recipes!
Whipped Pumpkin Spice Body Butter
I’m not sure how many people have fallen in love with mango butter thanks to this recipe, but I’ve heard from quite a few of them. Vanessa commented “I loooooooved this butter. OMG it is amazing. I loved how ‘dry’ and satiny it felt.” If your previous experiences with whipped body butters have been heavy and greasy, you have to make this stuff. It smells like pie, sinks into your skin in a flash, and is flat out divine. Seriously.
Coco Mango Body Balm
Everybody who tries this balm raves about how amazing it smells and how quickly it sinks into the skin. Thanks to mango butter’s super speedy absorption speed and orange wax’s water-like consistency, this balm absorbs into the skin crazy fast with a beautiful dry finish. I carry this balm around in my overnight bag, where I use it on my hands and lips, and even on my face if it turns out I forgot to pack my face cream. It smells like a creamsicle, applies like a dream, and is pretty darn addictive. Highly recommended.
Herb Infused Belly Bar
‘Tis the season for baby announcements (or so it seems in my life, at least), making this simple herb infused bar a brilliant thing to add to your DIY to-do list. Thanks to the mango butter it isn’t heavy or greasy, it just leaves skin soft and supple. It’s sure to be a hit with your mom-to-be friends (or just anybody with dry, irritated skin—this bar is really just a body butter bar, you definitely don’t need to be pregnant to enjoy it!).
Winter Solstice Face Cream
My Winter Solstice Face Cream is my first foray into the world of facial lotions, and swoon. My skin loves it, and so do my readers! Penny commented “All I can say is wow wee! My skin has been lovely lately with this new serum I concocted last month, but I’ve never before felt it so plump. I think this recipe is a keeper!”, and Judy says “Made this cream today. I didn’t use any Essential Oils and added just a tad bit of IPM. I have not used squalane before. What have I been missing? This recipe is what I have been looking for! Just awesome! Thanks for your wonderful creations.” If you’re thinking about making some modifications, be sure to check out the comments section—it seems to take to swaps and mods very well, and several readers have been kind enough to share their creations!
Fir, Cypress, and Silk Body Lotion
This beautiful, lightweight lotion is a winter hit with my skin. I love the lightly spicy scent blend, the light touch of the lotion, and the silky smooth skin it leaves behind. Highly recommended.
Sea Buckthorn Mattifying Moisturizer
This recipe was a definite hit when I published it last year. Pam says “I made this today and only have one thing to say…..woo-hoo! Finally a diy moisturizer that doesn’t feel so greasy. I love this stuff!”. Penny says “This was one of the things I made last week and I loved everything I made, but I think my face is happiest with this one.”, and Cristie chimed in with “I’ve put an APB out for my pores. For the last three days, I’ve been using this moisturizer on my face. Coincidentally, I seemed to have lost my pores. I’m especially searching..in vain sadly..for my largest, most beautiful pores. If found, you can just keep ’em. My compliments.” This super neat, crazy easy to make moisturizer quickly dries to a light, powdery touch that leaves skin looking stunning. I think you’ll love it.
Sunshine Vegan Deodorant
Battle pit stink with this vegan deodorant that is thickened with a blend of cocoa butter and mango butter so no wax is required. A touch of neem oil helps boost the anti-microbial properties of this sunny, baking soda powered pit paste.
Orange Abyssinian Overnight Balm
A few lightweight ingredients come together to create this silky smooth balm. Both orange wax and mango butter sink into the skin crazy fast, so if you’re a fan of solid facial moisturizers but aren’t crazy about longer absorption times, this is definitely the balm for you. It also smells utterly amazeballs. Juicy, orangey goodness for the win!
Meadowfoam Mango Creamy Facial Cleanser
This was one of my first forays into a surfactant-powered cleanser that included water, and I love it. It’s rich and creamy to the touch, but once you start handling it you’ll love how light and smooth it is.
Vegan Citrus Lip Butter
This beautiful, citrussy lip butter is fantastic for sticky lip balm lovers and owners of ultra-dry lips. The tacky texture locks in moisture like you wouldn’t believe, and I love that I can have a citrus lip butter without worrying about inflicting some pretty serious burns on myself.
I’ve always had this range of butters at hand not really knowing much about thier properties or purpose! I’m glad to have had found this in my e-mail! Thanks so much.
No worries! Happy making 🙂
Hi, Marie: I’ve read that raw shea butter contains the healing properties that the refined process removes. I’ve also read in other websites that the raw form contains impurities that can affect the finished product. I’ve included a website http://www.sheabutterguide.com/shea-butter. I make creams using raw shea butter for family who suffer from psoriasis. So far, no spoilage. What do you think about the raw versus the refined? (Sounds rather racy, doesn’t it?)
Hello Collee,
If you don’t mind my input. I totally understand where you’re coming from. When I was a kid some 15 or more years ago, shea butter was only made by Africans for Africans at home and abroad. So, quality was never an issue because it was only made in it’s raw form and well filtered. My mom could buy 6-8 oz of shea butter for as low as 3 dollars from an African store or church.
I don’t think refined Shea butter or unfiltered shea butter was even a thing until big companies started using it in their products. I think this change is what made it possible to sell low quality raw shea butter with impurities like rock, glass, and other things that might be dangerous to consumers (i.e. some Amazon sellers) although I’ve never experienced this myself.
But I digress, that isn’t what you asked. I’d say that if you are using the shea butter for a skin condition or medicinal balm, definitely use the raw version. My mom and now myself used to shea butter with a little palm kernel oil (the black, unrefined seed oil) for spread-ability whenever we hurt ourselves or just pulled a muscle. But if you’re just using it for cosmetics, then go with the refined version – it might be cheaper depending on the seller.
I prefer raw either way though, but childhood memories probably make me biased. Also, only buy from an African store, health food store, or reputable wholesaler to avoid low quality raw or refined shea butter. Good luck, don’t mind my long response 🙂
Hey Collee! I will almost always use the unrefined stuff, only choosing refined when the scent of unrefined shea is undesirable (and will be noticeable) in the final product. It seems like a given that refining removes more than just the scent of the butter, so I prefer to use raw-er ingredients wherever I can 🙂 Just make sure you’re purchasing all your ingredients from a reputable supplier and raw vs. not should not impact the shelf life 🙂
Hello, Nedum and Marie: excuse my bad manners for not thanking you for your answers. My family are also swimmers, and the chlorine makes a mess on their eczema. They swear by the raw butter that controls the itch. I add coffee and vanilla fragrant oils making the results good enough to eat! Much appreciated for your answers.
I am trying to find alternatives to coconut oil — it’s too greasy for me. Mango butter is better, but still too oily. I’ve become the mad woman in the kitchen muttering over the cauldron as I try various recipes. McBeth, anyone?
Have you tried babassu? It’s very close in terms of consistency and melting point, which is really unique! If you have tried mango butter and thought that was too oily, though, babassu likely won’t make you happy. Perhaps try including some isopropyl myristate for a drier touch?
Mango butter! It’s one of my favourites! I add a few grams to almost every lotion I make and have replaced shea almost completely with mango butter. I love the way it sinks quickly into my skin and leaves a “dry” finish.
I’ve made 9 of these recipes!
Ha! Of course you have 😛 Perhaps you should just treat my recipe index like a giant to-do list ;P
Hey! I forgot that you created that! I’ll take a gander tomorrow and begin to tick off things!
Ha! So many recipes, so many ingredients, so little time 😛
Hello!
I just discovered you on youtube so I thought I’d check out your site. I love it! So detailed and packed with tons of information. I had a question about mango butter, then saw you have an encyclopedia and pretty much found my answer, but I do have one more question. I always see refined mango butter, but I like to get unrefined if possible. I see you said that you have only been able to find refined. Do they even make unrefined mango butter?
Welcome to the blog! It’s always so funny to me when people find me on YouTube first; I’ve been blogging for so much longer that it just seems obvious to me that people would find the blog first, but that’s obviously a bit of a silly thing to think haha. I’m afraid I have never, ever seen unrefined mango butter and I have no idea if it is produced—I mean, it must be produced somehow, but that may be in ridiculously small batches somewhere in the rain forest for all I know. I found this forum thread and it’s super interesting! And does help shed some more light on it; it sounds like refining may be part of the industrial production process out of necessity.
i looked on amazon (USA version) and they have some unrefined, and organic, mango butters. 🙂
marie, i have a mango butter question. i make a very simple coconut oil lip balm (1 t. coconut oil, 1 t. almond or jojoba oil & 1/2 t. beeswax) and would love to use a butter in it but still retain the incredibly lovely scent from the coconut oil. if i use mango butter in this do you know if it would still have that fantastic coconut oil scent? i’ve been wanting to replace shea butter with mango butter in some of my unscented recipes that contain coconut oil but wasn’t sure if the coconut oil scent will still come through. while shea butter is fantastic for my skin i can’t get enough of that coconut oil smell. thanks!
Hey Linda! There really is no way for me to answer this question as different coconut oils vary so much in scent strength. I find the coconut smell isn’t very strong in this, and that’s 50% coconut. You will just have to experiment yourself!
Thanks Marie. I went ahead and made the coconut oil & mango butter balm and the scent did come through okay (I use Nutiva coconut oil which has a strong coconut smell.) It seems to depend on the amount of the mango butter I use as the mango butter does have a slight scent. I feel like i smell like a cake when I wear it, lol.
I’ve just started watching your YouTube videos and think you made lotion making look so easy I’m going to try one sometime. And, congrats on the book!
Smelling like cake is always a good thing in my books! And I’m so glad my videos have helped lure you into lotion making… you’ll be addicted in no time! Muahahahahahahahah
Marie, I need help. I just received my first Mango Butter from ND. Was shocked when I opened it up to find it grainy. Not smooth and creamy like you describe in your encyclopedia, or in the New Direction reviews. I called customer service because I assumed there was a problem with it, but was told that’s the way it’s supposed to be. It reminds me of tapioca pudding, but hard. It freaks me out a bit, and is not at all inviting to use. I tried melting it, then letting it set again which made it much better. Closer to creamy, but still not smooth. I’m not sure how best to use it now. However. I do love how quickly it absorbs, and the matte finish it leaves, so I hope I’ll still be able to find a way to fall in love with it. Any direction you can give would be much appreciated.
Hmm; in warmer weather butters can melt in transit and arrive grainy—is that what the consistency is like? What degree of not smooth is it? Sort of like wheat flour? Or..? I suspect you won’t notice the consistency when it’s used in other things
Imagine uncooked quinoa. That size of grains, floating in not quite set pudding. When I try to rub a dollop into my hands, the weird oily part absorbs quickly, then I’m left with these weird beads that have to melt first before absorbing. After a melt and set, it was of one consistency, but still kind of mealy. Not very romantic. However, I did use it last week to make one of your lotions, and it turned out great, so there’s potential.
That is so darn weird; it actually sounds like cupuacu butter. You mango butter doesn’t smell a bit like sour milk, does it? Have you tried melting it and then setting it in the fridge? At least the lotion turned out well!
What are receipies for above body butters as winter is coming and my skin is getting very very dry
They are all linked, click them 🙂
Hola Marie, do you have a recipe on how to make mango butter? I am from Perú and here is really hard to find it…I’ve been looking everywhere and still not find it.
I always see your YouTube channel and and your blog and I love it!
I’m afraid not! I just use the ingredients, I don’t make them 🙂 Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me!
Is there any replacement ingredient for mango butter? If so, I’d love to know which one is it. Thanks again!
Please review this article that is all about substituting carrier oils 🙂
I have been making creams for over 10 years.
I think it is very nice what you do here. But I believe your recipes are unnecessarily complicated and filled with things that do not help the skin.
For example folded orange has no therapeutic value you might as well use fragrant oil’s instead.
Silk powder is nice texture but does not help the skin.
Lotions just go bad very quickly. You can make the same recipe with no water and have the same result.
However I admire you tenacity. Keep going.
Hey Jane! Thanks for your comment. I beg to differ, though.
I only use 5-fold orange EO in soap, where saponification assaults EOs to a degree where including therapeutic grade EOs is a waste—there is so much heat and such a high pH during saponification that the EOs are fundamentally changed. I do not ever expect therapeutic effects from an EO that has gone through saponification.
Hydrolyzed proteins have been found to be very beneficial to the skin. You can visit LotionCrafter’s website and read up on different ones; many have their own unique benefits.
While including water does necessitate the inclusion of an emulsifier and a preservative, a properly made and preserved lotion should last long enough that the oils in it will oxidize before the lotion spoils. It is also rather absurd to say that a recipe made without water will have the same result as one made with. Oil and water are fundamentally different, and are no more interchangeable in skin care than they are in baking. The epidermis is not vascularized, and as such, our bodies do not (cannot!) deliver water to the epidermis. The vascular system stops at the dermis. If you are chronically dehydrated that will certainly impact the structure and appearance of the dermis, but if you wish to hydrate the stratum corneum (therefore keeping it healthy and maintaining our moisture barrier), the topical application of water is necessary, especially if you live somewhere dry (as I do). Dehydrated skin can be helped/avoided in many ways, but oils cannot fix dehydration as dehydration is defined as a lack of water. You can read more about that here.
Happy making!