Massage lovers everywhere: prepare to fall in love. This silky, glide-y Coconut Massage Butter gives you eons of working time on the skin for a luxurious, satiny massage. It isn’t oily or greasy, but you’ll find your hands gliding over skin with a wonderful, soft slip. When you’re done the massage, this butter settles down to a soft, velvety finish that’s light and luxurious—the sort of thing you’re happy to leave on your skin. Swoon.
This marvelous body butter is many things I thought it couldn’t be. It is rich in skin-loving shea butter, but not at all greasy. It smells deliciously of citrus, but isn’t photosensitizing. It is lightweight and whippy (and stays that way!), but you don’t have to do the freeze-whip-freeze-whip thing. You don’t even need any heat. Seriously.
Updated March 2023
One of the first recipes I ever shared on Humblebee & Me was for a “Super Nourishing Hair Balm“, all the way back in October of 2011. I’d actually made the balm months earlier, before I’d launched the blog, and had been testing it all summer and fall before I suddenly had a platform to share it on. Over the years many people have made it, and many more have asked about substitutions for items in the rather lengthy ingredient list. I thought it was high time I revisited this idea to improve on it—after all, I’ve learned a lot since 2011!
One of the first products I ever really wanted to dupe was a lavender scented hand lotion from L’Occitane. The scent was the first thing that drew me in—a soft, powdery lavender with hints of citrus and vanilla. It was also a wonderfully light lotion, but still hydrating. It’s hard to describe the type of lightness; the best descriptor I can think of is skim milk, oddly enough. It was light and perhaps a touch translucent, and managed to be fresh and hydrating all in a wonderful, skin-softening package. I created a version of this lotion back in 2014, but I recently dug up the original tube from L’Occitane while moving, and polished it off. That reminded me of how lovely it was, and I decided I ought to take another stab at it.
This lightweight, hydration-packed facial lotion is one of my formulas from my Formula Botanica coursework, and it also happens to be the first recipe I’m sharing using hyaluronic acid! I tested this lotion through some of Calgary’s driest winter months and found it to be a wonderfully hydrating, yet lightweight final step to my skin care routine. It smells divine, is full of good things, and is definitely a rather decadent DIY skin treat!
I seem to be on a bit of a “concentrated” kick, partially inspired by my recent trip to Australia. I brought shampoo bars with me (that also ended up doubling as body wash), and found that all the use (aka getting wet) and the lack of time to dry between moves meant they got pretty darn smashed up. I love shampoo bars at home, but it seems like if you are packing them up and moving them around frequently, and using them often enough that they never get a chance to fully dry, they’re not as travel friendly as they could be. So, I started thinking about ways to create sudsy things that didn’t need to dry, and that’s how we ended up with these Lemon Rose Facial Cleansing Drops.
Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care is now available at booksellers all over the world!