Whipped body butter is like body butter, but far more decadent. The luxury factor is totally worth the bit of added effort—you feel like you’re frosting yourself, but it a totally non-cannibalistic way.
Whipped body butter makes great gifts that never fail to impress aunts, mothers, and grandmas everywhere. Because of it’s softer, airy consistency, it is easier to over-apply, so I tend to use whipped body butter before going to bed, or before putting on a big ‘ol pair of socks for a few hours. I’m always rewarded with soft feet and silky smooth skin.
This coco-cocoa whipped body butter is incredibly simple and easy—two ingredients, with optional third and fourth ingredients if you’re feeling fancy. I’ve based this whipped body butter around two of my favourite oils; cocoa butter (USA / Canada) and virgin coconut oil. When you get the unrefined versions, both retain the incredible scents of chocolate and coconut, respectively. Yum. So, no added fragrance needed!
I added a small drizzle of Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) for the added skin bonus, and you could add fragrance if you wanted to—vanilla, or one of the spicier oils like cinnamon or clove, would be really nice.
Coco-Cocoa Whipped Body Butter
50g | 1.76oz raw cocoa butter (USA / Canada), finely chopped
50g | 1.76oz virgin coconut oil
1g | 0.03oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
5 drops essential oil, optional (I’d suggest benzoin, cocoa absolute, or coffee)Melt the cocoa butter (USA / Canada), virgin coconut oil, and Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) together (I did this in a microwave safe mixing bowl). Let cool most of the way (use the fridge or an ice bath to speed it up), and whip with electric beaters. Chill a bit longer, and whip again (you may need to leave it at room temperature for a few minutes before beating if you forget about it for a few hours like I did).
Decant into a 250mL (8oz) jar (I used a 125mL jar and it was too small, causing the butter to condense and lose some its fluffiness).
TIP: If you live somewhere quite cold, you may want to add a tablespoon of a liquid oil (I like jojoba) to your body butter, or you may find it too hard to easily use after a few days. You won’t need to do this in the summer, though!
Hi Marie, great basic recipe! I have some cocoa butter that is almost at its expiry so I think I better whip some of this up! My question is, is this greasy? Or does it pretty much absorb into the skin without leaving greasy prints! Keep up the great work!
I find that as long as you don’t overdo it with the application, this body butter absorbs very nicely. It liquefies rather than softens as it hits the skin, so it’s easy to glide a thin layer onto your skin and massage it in. I find a quarter teaspoon or so is all I need for my hands.
It worked now – thank you!
Woohoo!
Can’t wait to try this Marie! I absolutely love your DIY projects. I’m a “lazy-beauty” girl and with summer weather sticking around longer (I live in Louisiana, US) I DO NOT want to be spending hours on a beauty routine. I have a few quick questions regarding some of the ingredients and container-(1) Is it ok to use food grade ingredients in the recepies? Which leads me to question (2) I cook with coconut oil and use it as a facial moisturizer but find it dries my body out, especially my legs and arms. How does adding the cocoa butter affect the absorbency/texture of the coconut oil? Last and final question (3) Would you recommend the pumping method or the potted “scooping” method as far as dispening the product goes? I’m all for recycling containers so I have many of both types laying around.
Thank you for all your help! Your articles make me feel like I can actually complete a DIY project AND have a successful creation (successful being the key word).
-Heather C.
Heather—I’m so glad to hear you’re loving what I’m posting 🙂 Shucks 😛 I’m definitely with you on lazy/easy beauty routines—I’ve got no time to cover my face in make-up and curl my hair when the sun is shining outdoors!
You can definitely use food grade ingredients here—food grade is higher than cosmetic grade, so it might be more expensive, but if it’s what you’ve got on hand, go for it! Just be sure to use the naturally scented versions if you can—those delicious fragrances are part of what make the final product so lovely 🙂
I’ve never found coconut oil to be particularly drying, though I do not generally use it straight (have you tried argan oil for your face? It’s what I use and I LOVE it!). The cocoa butter thickens/hardens the mixture up so it’s not so quick to liquefy. I find the final product absorbs beautifully and quite quickly, so long as you don’t over-do it. Unlike body butter based around shea butter, which is much thicker and stickier, this one does melt on contact with the skin, so it’s hard to over-apply it without leaving your skin dripping 😛
I’d definitely recommend the scooping pot method, but that’s from my experience up here in relatively chilly Canada. You might want to start there, but if you find your warm weather keeps the body butter on the softer side, a squeeze bottle might work really well.
Thanks for visiting & let me know how this works for you!
I’ve seen a couple recipes for whipped body butters, I’ll have to try one some time, they look good!
I confess that I almost licked my screen! I’ve only ever made whipped body butter with just coconut oil and EO, and while it still looked/smelled delicious, this looks as rich as actual frosting. I think vanilla EO would make it even more frosting-like, and would at least deter me from eating it 🙂 Or would it?
I doubt the vanilla would deter you from eating it, lol. Actually, if you made this with all food-grade ingredients, you could eat it (nice for some sensual massage 😉 ), but you’d probably want to add some sweetener or you’d be pretty disappointed with the taste lol. Something else you’ll want to keep in mind is that vanilla EO is actually water soluble, not oil soluble, so it won’t blend into this body butter—you’ll have to use a vanilla fragrance oil instead. Darn, eh?
Well I had no idea vanilla EO was water soluble. Seems counter-intuitive… though it does explain why my lotion bars I made at Christmas had little brown oil-floaties in them. I thought I just added the oil too late once I poured the lotion. I do have vanilla fragrance, so next time I’ll do that.
Yup! That oil vs. water soluble stuff can be a bitch 😛 I definitely did the same thing with vegetable glycerin in my early DIY days and wondered why my body butters had funny little grains in them…
I know this topic & chat are old, but I had no idea as well that Vanilla EO was water soluble!! Darn. AS i was reading your recipe, i immediately thought about using it. I wonder if Vanilla EO is already in a carrier oil when i buy it, if it will absorb better?? hmm. This is why it pays for us to also read the comments 🙂 Thx
At least benzoin EO is a great oil-soluble alternative 🙂
I actually called Aura Cacia and they said their Precious essential oils (Vanilla with Johoba) should blend just fine. Yumm. i can’t wait to try this recipe. It will be a nice gift. Thx
Phew! Glad you have an alternative 🙂
I just started following you after pinning a recipe on Pinterest. I so love all of the wonderful recipes on your blog it is just such an amazing place!
Becky
Thanks for stopping by, Becky! Enjoy & be sure to let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Ahh whipped body butter heaven! ~Lilia
It is wonderful, isn’t it? What’s your favourite recipe?
My whipped body butter recipe: shea, cococut and cocoa with a beautiful infusion of lavender essential oil.
Mmm! I’ve made a similar whipped body butter before, just without coconut oil. It’s my extra heavy duty body butter, for slathering on feet before putting on thick socks. It is really quite greasy, but wonderful for dry feet!
An excellent gift I received this Christmas was a wide assortment of skin care products from Bath and Bodyworks. As I’ve gotten older, I guess my skin just isn’t as good at taking care of itself anymore.
I’ve definitely heard this from several of the older women in my life, and I’m even starting to notice it myself. Things just don’t heal as quickly anymore, unfortunately, and flus & colds hit much harder. I know my mother sure loves the Argan oil I give her for her face—she won’t be without it and neither will I!
The texture is really inviting. I’m pretty sure on the scent too.
Hey thanks for the awesome post. You’ve inspired me to try making my own. Just spent way too much money on NDA. Haha.
I was wondering if you temper your butters before making these? Some sites say you should but I’m having trouble finding out how or if it’s truly necessary.
Thanks!
Sahar—I have never tempered my butters, and I’ve never had a grainy body butter or lip balm because of it. I just heat things just enough to melt them together, and let them cool at room temperature, and I’ve never had a problem! I always use raw ingredients, and the only time I’ve encountered grainy shea butter was with some refined, melted stuff I bought several years ago, so perhaps the raw-ness has something to do with it? Anyhow, I’d start without tempering things and see how it goes! Just start small, and if you find things are going grainy on you, try tempering.
Thanks for the response! Actually I made my first batch today. I made this recipe plus another with shea butter and almond oil. Both turned out beautifully and my friends couldn’t get enough. Yay!
Awesome! Glad to hear everything went well 🙂 If you haven’t tried making your own lotion yet, I highly recommend it! It’s super addicting and is a nice alternative to body butter, which can be a bit too oily/greasy to use on your hands when you’re out and doing/touching things 😛
Hey you! I’d love to do that. Did you have any good recipes you always use? My only concern with making lotion is how long it would last/issue of moulding. How do you deal with it?
P.S. I just bought some lavendar essential oil. How many drops would you recommend to put in the body butter recipe you have above? 🙂 I’m thinking of adding it to my shea version since people sometimes find the smell of shea funky.
I’ve got a few favourite lotion recipes, but right now I’m in love with my Healing Winter Lotion and my Manly Lotion. You do have to worry about mould, so my suggestion is to treat it like food. Make only 200–300mL of lotion at a time, and decant it into a series of ~60mL bottles. Keep them all in the fridge except for the one you are using, and use that one relatively quickly. Of course, spoilage time is going to be heavily dependant on the environment you’re keeping the lotion in—you will probably find that it spoils faster in the summer, for instance. Whatever you can do to keep it cool will help, so I wouldn’t recommend leaving it in your car in direct sunlight, or other similar situations. Other than that, the vitamin E does act as a bit of a preservative as it is a strong antioxidant. You can also look into a natural antibacterial/preservative like grapefruit seed extract.
Raw shea definitely does have a bit of a funky/smokey/oily smell to it. I’ve tried adding lavender essential oil to body butters containing shea butter, and pretty much no matter how much EO you add, you end up with slightly lavender scented shea butter. It won’t cover up the scent and it doesn’t really compliment/elevate the scent either, sadly. I’d recommend something like cardamom EO and a drop or two of grapefruit EO (though be careful with this, as adding citrus EOs to body products will make your skin extra sensitive to the sunlight & burn easily, even in very small amounts!). I find the spiciness of the cardamom works well with the smokey scent of the shea butter, and the brightness of the cardamom and grapefruit helps really perk up the overall scent.
Hi Marie! I’ve recently started following your blog and have pinned several body care recipes I’m super excited to try. I’m just starting to dabble with making my own lotions, and I’m questioning the overall difference between shea and cocoa butter. I’ve been told cocoa clogs pores easier, and as I have sensitive skin, I’ve veered toward using shea over cocoa. Could it be substituted for the cocoa butter in this recipe? Or do you have any additional thoughts about the properties of these two butters in comparison with each other? Thanks!
Hi Sarah—thanks for reading! For me, the main differences between shea butter and cocoa butter are their textures and their scents. Shea butter is sticky and soft at room temperature, and has a smokey/greasy sort of scent to it. Cocoa butter is brittle and smooth at room temperature, and smells wonderfully of chocolate. These key differences mean I choose to use each for different reasons.
I have never had any problems with either clogging my pores, but I also don’t use either on my face—I only put argan oil on my face. I chose cocoa butter for this recipe both for its scent and its texture. The cocoa scent combines brilliantly with the coconutty scent of the coconut oil, whereas shea butter… would not. At all. And, it’s brittle texture means it does a great job of thickening up the coconut oil, which has a very low melting point and is very soft. If you used shea butter instead, you would have a very soft body butter that probably wouldn’t hold a whip, depending on how warm your area is.
So, long story short: yes, you could use shea butter instead of cocoa butter, but you will end up with a very different end product that won’t have the awesome scent or texture of this butter. But, I don’t think you should have to, as whipped body butter isn’t really something one puts on their face, and I’ve never had any issues with cocoa butter on my body 🙂
Hope that helps!
I love the simplicity of this recipe! Can’t wait to try it out. But what is the difference between shea and cocoa butter? I’ve seen similar recipes using either ingredient. I know they have slightly different scents, but is one more or less greasy than the other?
Thanks! 🙂
The two big differences are:
It’s the hardness difference that is the big one, and I would NEVER swap one for the other because of it. Your product will either be too hard or too soft, depending on which one the recipe was developed with and how much of the ingredient is in the recipe. If you used shea butter instead of cocoa butter the resulting butter would be much to soft to hold a whip in temperatures much above 10°C, and it wouldn’t smell very nice.
Hi Marie 🙂 Greetings from Saskatchewan! I’m definitely going to try this body butter…it sounds awesome!
I was wondering if I could use vitamin E capsules?, and if so how many would I use in this recipe?
Hello, fellow prairie dweller! I would think one vitamin E capsule would be more than enough for this recipe 🙂 Have fun with it and let me know how it goes!
Hello ..
Love your basic recipe for the cocoa body butter, but could you please convert your measurments to ounces and tell me how much product your recipe makes?
Thank you kindly and, please keep up the great work!
Hi Dee—Thanks for reading! Since I’m Canadian I love my metric measurements 🙂 They’re really awesome—I’d really recommend giving them a try 😛 If you don’t want to, online converters are easy to find (my favourite one is just this one). As a basic rule of thumb, 1oz= ~28g (I usually round up to 30g). This recipe fills a 125mL mason jar and then some—it makes about 100mL (3.3 fl. oz.), but then it whips up to more than that. Have fun!
Took me a while to find just what I was looking for. Body butter. And this one is whipped to boot! Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes and a GREAT blog. I’ve never spent so much time on one site let alone add comments. I’ve found my heaven online.
Yay, thanks Mickey! I feel so flattered 🙂 I look forward to reading your comments in the future—please get in touch with any questions, suggestions, or requests, I love to help!
I have the cocoa butter one and I love the smell, so yummy! I think they’re really good for the price.
Cocoa butter is totally addictive in the scent department, eh? 🙂
Hi Marie, love your website. How long this body butter keep in room temp ( I live in tropical country) and in the fridge? Thanks =)
Since this body butter is made entirely from oils (no added water) it will keep approximately as long as any oil in your environment keeps. So, if the olive oil on your counter spoils in a year, if you store this in similar conditions, you’ll probably have about a year. Concoctions that are made entirely from oils generally have quite long shelf lives, which is nice. You aren’t watching for mold, just rancidity (yucky smell, basically). And a big thanks for reading 😀
I made this last week, and it is HEAVENLY!!! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!
Fantastic! Thanks for DIYing with me, Natasha 😀
Well, I just made this and your lip balm recipe. They were my first DIY projects ever, and I must say, they came out pretty awesome! I have lots of Christmas presents to give now. 🙂 I will say, however, that these products make a whole new kind of mess. I mean, I thought cooking was messy – but this oil is something completely new. I see why you have dedicated DIY items for just these purposes.
Anyway, thank you so much for such an awesome blog. I was using my lip balm yesterday at this hot spring retreat and a girl asked me if I made them. I said yes, and gave her your info. She said she’s wanted to try to make her own stuff for a long time and was excited to check out your website. So, I’m passing on the awesomeness!! Thanks so much for taking your time to teach others in between your graphic design jobs (I’m a graphic designer, myself). Happy Holidays!
Tiffany
Fantastic! I’m so thrilled to hear everything went well—you’ll be a DIY whiz/addict in no time 😉 And yeah… the mess. HA. I find the scale definitely helps with this since it eliminates most measuring cups and spoons, but you’ll still have a dirty pot to work with. I find using a good silicone spatula to scrape as much of the melted mixture as possible into your containers helps minimize mess from leftovers. After that, hot water is your friend. I’ve got a great cleaning powder I make that is basically ground soap, washing soda, and borax that works wonders as well. And after all that… it sure is nice to have DIY versions of some things 🙂
Thanks so much for reading, DIYing, and spreading the word 😀 I appreciate it so much! Happy Holidays & happy kerning 😉
I love your soap and body butter recipes! I have tried a couple very basic variations before I found your website and when I read this recipe used this to create my own version with vanilla extract and Peppermint EO. It came out wonderfully!
I gave my friend 4oz to try it out and kept 8oz for myself. I went to visit her a week later and her body butter smelled like candy while mine was at home smelling like a peppermint patty.
Is there a reason for the different scents over time even when both came from the same batch? Please help as I would like to have some consistency and know what to expect from my experiments in the future.
Hmmm… can you tell me more about how the two parts of the body butter were partitioned off, and how each half was stored? I think it probably has something to do with the differing volatility levels of the scents. Vanilla extract is alcohol based, and peppermint EO isn’t. Hmmm.
I added the extract and EO in the cooling phase and mixed everything together and simply poured the mix into the separate containers and both of the containers were purchased from the same manufacturer and are of the same materials.
Could it have anything to do with where the butter was stored?
Hmm. Well, given that you made everything at the same time, and it sounds like everything was thoroughly mixed, the only thing that’s left is storage. My guess is that the vanilla extract dissipated faster in one than in the other, potentially due to heat or air exposure. In the future benzoin essential oil is a good, natural, oil-based vanilla-ish essential oil you can use, and in my experience the scent sticks around, even in soaps 🙂
I want to thank you for posting this easy recipe. I ordered some whipped shea butter from someone and it wasn’t what I expected. The fragrance added was overpowered by the fragrance of the shea butter. I cannot wait to try this recipe. Can you provide a list of the brand name products you’ve been using? I’m on Amazon and the description of the cocoa butter is the following:
Raw Cocoa Butter – Organic, Pure, & Natural – Unrefined & Non-Deodorized – Simply The Best ~ Now You Can Buy This Fantastic Premium Quality & Scented Cocoa Butter!
Will this be sufficient?
Also, what other oils aside Jojoba do you recommend that won’t take away from the chocolate smell? What oils could be added to compliment the smell to make it smell like maybe chocolate covered cherries or strawberries, mint chocolate, or chocolate chip cookie dough?
Hi Andria! I link to my suppliers in the big box above the comments. For this recipe everything came from New Directions Aromatics. The product description you shared sounds like it would be what you’re looking for, but I bet it is significantly more expensive than it would be from NDA (as consumer-facing versions of identical ingredients tend to be).
Any low scent, relatively fast absorbing carrier oil will work instead of jojoba—sweet almond, apricot kernel, grapeseed, and safflower come to mind.
You can add peppermint EO to get a chocolate/coconut/peppermint smell, but all the other scents you listed will require artificial fragrance oils as fruits don’t yield EOs (sadly), and chocolate chip cookies definitely don’t, lol. I would really recommend that you try the body butter straight up as the natural blend of the cocoa and coconut scents is really just divine. I tend to avoid artificial scents wherever I can as they are very, very strong and linger for ages. People who are scent-sensitive can also find them to be very irritating.
Thanks for reading and have fun with your body butter!
Hi Marie,
Wonderful blog! I have never used make-up – it’s quite a battle for me to keep my skin clear as it is but I feel I could try some of your recipes and not fear for my skin 🙂
Anyway, regarding the body butter – did you just whisk it by hand (it appears so from your photos) or do you have an electric whisk? I want very much to make whipped body butters and seemingly all recipes call for a stick blender or electric hand mixer but I’m not sure I want to get one of those just yet.
Hi Rin! I’m so glad you found my wee corner of the internet 🙂 This particular body butter was whipped using an electric beater I got at Value Village for about $5. If you are very strong you might be able to get away without one, though 🙂
So I tried this yesterday, and I’m a little embarrassed to say…it didn’t work for me. I was surprised because I’ve followed other recipes of yours, and they’ve all been great successes. I’ve been excited to try this for months, and it looks so easy! But my product looks more like cow’s butter after I’ve beat it with an electric hand mixer than the whipped goodness in your photos. The butter seems to just get stuck in the hand mixer’s beaters and doesn’t actually get whipped. Do you have any suggestions? Ways to salvage this batch, or should I just start over? It’s currently sitting in my fridge, and I suppose I can just melt it back into a salve… It already feels great on the skin, but I’d love to get the whipped texture. Thanks!
Hi Emily! Hmm… it sounds like the butter may be too cold as you’re trying to whip it. Have you tried letting it come to room temperature before whipping it up?
I just made this but i added 2tbs of aloe vera gel (fruit of the earth) and 1/2tsp vanilla bean fragrance oil to make it into a Natural Hair Styling Creme. I tried other recipes i’ve seen and they do not compare. 🙂 THANK YOU
The key in this recipe is the coconut oil because it blends with the cocoa butter to prevent it from becoming gritty/grainy when whipped and cooled.
Hmm, interesting—how did the aloe gel emulsify? Anyhow, glad you’re enjoying it 🙂
It was a perfect combination
🙂
Hello Marie,
I am planning to make this recipe to gift my Mom’s client this Diwali. 🙂 . Can I replace coconut oil with some more light oil like Almond oil or can I mix coconut oil and almond oil to make this body butter?
Hi Tejashri! As a general rule of thumb, if a recipe only has one or two main ingredients, you shouldn’t change any of them (especially if I make a really big deal about them being awesome and integral to the recipe in the article). Also, here’s an entire article carrier oil substitutions 🙂
Because coconut oil has such a low melting point, adding a liquid oil to it tends to just make everything liquid, so that’s not a good way to start a body butter 😛
Hi Marie~ I’ve never used a body butter before, but winter is coming, and winter skin is already here. This is a miracle cure. I added a little clove bud and sweet orange EOs, and my puppies keep licking my socks! Soft feet and happy puppies…life is good thanks to humblebee&me!
I’m so glad you’re loving this, Susan 🙂 Thanks so much for DIYing with me!
Thank you for the recipe! I thought I should write to share my experience!
Your tip about adding 1 tbsp oil per recipe for a cooler climate worked beautifully for me! I live in Norrland, Sweden and it’s 18-20degC indoors at my living quarters in Winter.
Made a large batch (16x recipe). It was 800g of each cocoa butter and coconut oil, 210ml safflower oil, 16 grams vitamin E, vanilla caviar from 4 beans (each bean is about 4g by weight) and 16 drops sweet orange essential oil. It was between 0 and -4 degC out and I left it out on the balcony in a metal bowl (uncovered) for nearly an hour. It was semi-liquid under a thin solidified surface and whipped up very well.
Filled 11 250ml-jars. Smelled like chocolate and oranges in my kitchen last night, really lovely!
This blend stayed pretty firm at 18degC indoors, and I imagine would be perfect even at 20-22degC. Or I could consider add a little more liquid oil the next time!
Thank you again!
Brilliant! I’m so thrilled everything worked out and you’re loving it 🙂 It sounds like your house is even cooler than mine—brr! Mine is generally around 21°C, and 15°C overnight. I miss summer already, haha!
Hello,
in regards to this recipe could you just heat these ingrediants up and pour into a jar?
I am trying to duplicate a similar texture from a company called Earth Tu face. I do not think that this is whipped. Do you have any suggestions? I do not have any Sunflower wax.
http://oneluckyduck.com/collections/glow/products/coconut-cardamom-body-butter
Thanks!
Hi Jody! You can definitely just pour this body butter in a bar without whipping. I think you will find that it is quite a bit thinner than the body butter you mentioned, though—thinner in that when it touches the skin, it basically just liquifies. You may want to consider tweaking the recipe to be mostly coconut oil, and then some beeswax, with cocoa butter as the third ingredient. I have a blog with tips on creating your own recipes that you may find helpful 🙂
Hi! I’ve recently stumbled upon your blog and I’m hooked with all the diy receipes you’ve created!! I’m really eager to start diying myself but would like to get some basic tools before starting. I just wonder if I can use my electric mixer to make these diy skincare products that was meant for food? As I’m inclined not to buy something I already have but then I’m a bit worried about my safety…! Thanks!!
Hi Janet! I often use kitchen-y stuff for both cooking and DIYs. As long as you clean them well, there’s really no worries. Be especially careful when working with poisonous essential oils (like tea tree) and raw soap 🙂
Thanks for your reply!
That’s just great! Definitely saves some money 😛
If you don’t mind, I just have a few more questions (they just pop out sorry :P)… I can see that some of your body butter recipes require whipping but some don’t, is it necessary to whip any body butter then? Also, how do you clean the containers and the lid (e.g. glass bottles or jars, the rubber pipette and aluminum lid)? Do you sterilize them after scrubbing them with detergent? If so, how do you do that?
Hi Janet—whipping is never a requirement, it’s just a texture thing 🙂 As for sterilization, I generally don’t bother as I don’t sell, but if needed I use high proof isopropyl alcohol.
I see! Thanks very much!!
🙂
I’d love to try this. I have some cocoa butter in my cupboard that expired. I planned on baking with it but forgot about it after I moved. Can I use expired cocoa butter for my skin or is it considered rancid at this point? Expired several months ago.
Thx!
Hi Jeanette! Does the cocoa butter smell bad? That’s the only way to know if it’s gone rancid. The date on the box is just a bit of bum-covering from the manufacturer, haha. If it smells fine and is quite smooth (with no added ingredients, it must be pure cocoa butter) you should be able to use it here 🙂 You could also still cook with it if it still smells and tastes fine.
Thanks for your quick reply! It still smells ok and is pure cocoa butter so I will try and use it. Yay!
Thx 🙂
Woo! Have fun 🙂
Marie, what a lovely blog! I’ve had great success with both your lipbalm and deodorant receipes, and profitted much from your insightful explanations on solubility, substitutions and whatnot. But of course I’m only now taking the time to comment when something goes wrong! ;p
I totally failed at whipping this up. Either it was still to liquid and I could whip it all I wanted without it retaining any air, or it was so solid all it would do was get stuck in the whisks.
I thought bulk would help making it more whisk-able (much like when making your own nut butters etc. and larger amounts safe you from having to scrape down in the food processor all the time), but so far no luck. Now melting it down again in the hope of finding a sweet spot temperature-wise… (and if all else fails, I guess I’ll have to add a splash of liquid oil, maybe?)
The second time around, it worked like a charm and I managed to just about triple the mix in volume. The magic moment is when the colour changes from the buttery yellow of the molten oils to a whiter creamy colour — and it will whip really just like cream!
I added just a few drops of vanillin oil (although I’m not sure I didn’t lose much of the scent when I re-warmed the mixture) and made a double batch and ended up with just a little too much whip to comfortably fit in 550ml worth of containers. (Which means I’ll have to use it on myself. Like, asap. Yum! :D)
Wonderful! I’m so glad it whipped up for you in the end, it sounds like it turned out beautifully 🙂
Hi Basandere! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me. A big part of the success in whipping up body butter is catching it at the right point in it’s re-solidfying process. Letting it set up at room temperature instead of putting it in the fridge can help ensure it doesn’t get too hard to whip 🙂
Now I finally realise what this smells like! Bounty chocolate bars!!!
Oooh, yum! I think I’ll have to find myself a Bounty bar to confirm… for science 😉
I really enjoyed reading your blog posts! I have a question: how long will your whipped body butter stay ‘whipped’ for?
I tried making my own body butter (using 1/4 cup cocoa butter, 1/8 cup coconut oil, 1/8 cup almond oil) – it whipped up beautifully and looked just like whipped cream. But a few hours later (in a jar, in the fridge), the body butter turned into little hard clumps (like crumbled up feta cheese!!) Is that normal?
Hi SK! The whippy-ness shelf life of a body butter is hugely dependent on the ambient temperature it’s stored in. Mine does really well in my house, but it’s hard to say for yours. You can always add in more liquid oil if it’s getting too hard. Also, I wouldn’t recommend setting up your body butter in the fridge—that’s sort of like putting your lemonade in the freezer and then being sad when it freezes 😉 Let it set up at the temperature you plan on storing and using it at.
Hello Marie! You and your blog are AMAZING! I’ve learned so much from your recipes and your replies to the comments! You are magical!!!! Here is my current challenge – I’ve made your recipe above as well as a number of other whipped butters but they all end up runny! I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I understand from reading the comments that there is a “magic moment” where the batter goes from yellow to white and that has not happened. Trying to pinpoint the problem is driving me nuts. Here’s a bit about my process — I only use cacao butter as the solid oil and for the liquid oils, I use either EVOO or coconut oil, with a 1:1 ration of solid to liquid oils. After melting the cacao butter, I let it cool at room temperature for 10 mins or so and then add the liquid oil (that I’ve already added arrrowroot powder and some EOs to). I then place in the freezer for 30-40 mins. I have a cheap electric hand mixer that I use but like I said even after whipping, the mixture stays yellow. It does whip up a bit after not much time but then gets runny immediately. Any ideas on where I’m going wrong? It’s very warm where I live (Atlanta GA) and I’m not terribly patient so I set up in the freezer. Should I try the fridge? I know you mentioned doing so at room temp but not sure this would work during the summer in Atlanta. I’m desperate for some answers.
Hey Jean! Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words 🙂 Using that much cocoa butter will be problematic for creating a really marshmallowy butter—give this new recipe a read to see what I do now to get really fluffy products 🙂 Happy whipping!
Hi ! I love your recipes and I once tried these kind of recipe, but my country is right at the equator, means tropical weather! Whipping is not a problem, beautifully whipped, but it melts right after minutes in room temperature. Our weather can be around 86-89*F. so do you have any tips to make it more solid but not hard? Tried the beeswax pastilles but wont work, it kinda separated after cooling. SHould I try again with organic beeswax?
Hi Diah! Lucky you, living somewhere so beautifully warm 🙂 With the melting point of this around 30°C, I’m afraid you’ll likely have to add beeswax to it to help it set up. I can’t offer much advice on quantities as I’ve never done experimenting in such beautifully warm temperatures, but you should be able to keep it from separating by stirring the mixture as it cools before whipping it. Good luck!
Glad I read this comment before commenting. It’s currently 28°C here and coconut oil is always liquid. I know that shea butter can be used in place of it(based on your awesome guide), but I do want to use coconut oil. I’m thinking of adding beeswax to make it more solid. Will this concoction still whip beautifully? I haven’t tried whipping with beeswax.
It’s currently -19°C here 🙁 I am so envious of your weather! I have not tried this body butter with beeswax, and especially not in 28°C weather, so it’s really hard for me to say if that’ll work or not. I feel like it should… but that is really pure hypothesis at this point. Let me know if you try it!
Hey Jasmine! Have you tried adding the beeswax? Did it work? I am having the same issue here.
please let me know
Hi, I just started to read your blog. Of all the diy blogs I’ve read this one is by far the best.
I’ve dabbled with a few receipies but I found that not all EOs go very well with cocoa butter. I guess chocolate doesn’t go with everything. My question is, which EOs have you found pair well with cocoa butter?
Thanks
Nessa
Hey Nessa! I’ve found thinking about food very useful here. Things that taste nice with chocolate usually smell good with cocoa butter; vanilla, citrus, mint, etc 🙂
Hi there
I just found your blog as I’ve been searching for recipes to duplicate a homeade cream I purchased as a tattoo aftercare,but stared using as face cream as well. It included coconut oil cocoa butter vitamin e olive oil and aloe butter.
I’ve not been able to find aloe butter though. . Have you ever heard of aloe butter or is it maybe something else that’s homemade?
I just made your recipe and included a tablespoon of aloe gel it seems to have worked out ok.
Thanks for sharing
Hey Jessica! Aloe butter is pretty readily available online, it’s usually hydrogenated soybean oil with added aloe like this.
Remember that when you are adding water based ingredients to otherwise oil based concoctions you will need both an emulsifier to keep everything uniformly blended and a preservative to prevent your concoction from turning into a mould party 🙂
This sounds delicious. I will have to try and make this hopefully for xmas presents. How many days,weeks,months would this be good for? Melissa 🙂
Check out this FAQ for more info 🙂 Happy making!
Hi Marie, your recipes have helped guide me tremendously starting up. 🙂 I’m looking to start whipped body butters – however I’m in a tropical climate and have heard people mention that they’ve given up as it never stays quite the consistency they want. I’m thinking of the 1:4 ratio I’ve read – might you have any suggestions on how I can keep it from getting too liquidy (?!) 🙂
For a properly marshmallowy body butter you’ll want to use mostly soft butters, like shea or mango—check out this post for a better recipe 🙂
OMG, just made this a few hours ago, and it’s amazing. I admit, I got just a teensy bit frustrated, because this is my first time working with cocoa butter (I know right? Now, I’m a cocoa butter convert! :), and the brittle texture was a little unexpected, although of course everyone said that it was brittle! Suffice it to say, the little bits of cocoa butter got EVERYWHERE, and I had to vacuum, but everything worked out fine. In the end. Before I had to vacuum.
The only other con was that it actually smelled more like the coconut oil than the cocoa butter, which was a little disappointing, because the raw cocoa butter smelled exactly like hot cocoa, and I’m not the biggest fan of coconut oil. (Bad experiences with it melting into a big gloppy mess and its smell overpowering everything)
But, anyway- easiest recipe EVER. Luuurved it. Lovely consistency! (It was like marshmallow fluff! And it actually HELD its marshmallow fluffiness, which is not common for the body butters I’ve made in the past.) Make it, LOVE it, and give a big shout out to how amazing Marie is, y’all!
Woo! I’m so thrilled 😀 If you really want the cocoa butter to shine through try deodorized coconut oil or babassu oil in the future. Yum!
Greetings from Australia
I made my very own whipped body butter based on your Cocoa-coco recipe, only I replaced the coconut oil with macadamia oil.
The results were a phenomenal and silky luxurious body butter that melts & disappears on skin contact without leaving a greasy layer.
Its moisturizing properties are even better than any fancy name brand butters and lotions I’ve ever owned.
Thank you so much for inspiring me.
OOooh, how stunning! Thank you so much for sharing, I can only imagine how wonderful that must smell, too—swoon! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Hello!!I have just tried the recipe but the concoction came to more of a ‘body lotioney consistency’ which i do not mind but it’s slightly oiler than yours. I live in a tropical country maybe that’s why? Could you suggest something to add that will dry out the mixture perhaps?
Sending you much love from Mauritius 🙂
Yup, I’m betting it is the heat—cocoa butter transforms to a thin oil above about 34°C. You could try incorporating some stearic acid 🙂
Hi Marie, I am wondering if stearic acid or cetyl alcohol could help to preserve the whipped texture of these butters at high tmperatures. Thank you so much
Yes, but please read this to understand how else that will impact the product 🙂
Hello! I was just cleaning out my kitchen and found a bag of cocoa butter, and I decided that I wanted to make some body butter. I am new to these types of recipes, so I searched the internet and found this recipe and a recipe similar to this one but with a ratio of 3 parts cocoa butter to 1 part coconut oil. Will that ratio mess up the finishing product, or does it really not matter? I love your recipes, thank you!
It definitely matters, but honestly, the best way for you to understand how/why is to just DO IT 🙂 Make 2 small batches—20g or so. See what happens!