I know I have too many body type ingredients. Too many oils, butters, essential oils, powders, clays, and everything else. Oh well. I’m ok with it. And lucky for you, since I have too much, I can tell you what’s worth buying and spare you the same fate. These are my favourite butters:
Cupuacu ButterThis butter was a total revelation for me. Most butters are really quite greasy. There’s a wide range of greasiness, but you usually end up being pretty slippery/sticky for a while regardless of how sparingly you apply it. But not cupuacu butter (USA / Canada). No. It’s amazing. It smells like a combination of cocoa butter (USA / Canada) with a hint of sour milk in the container, but once it’s on your skin all you’ll notice is the cocoa-y scent. And it sinks in beautifully. Your skin is silky soft and smooth in no time at all, without any greasiness. I always carry a little 1oz tin of cupuacu butter (USA / Canada) in my purse. I love it for my hands, my cuticles, and anything that’s feeling a bit scratchy. It’s easily my absolute favourite butter.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter smells amazing. It’s all beautiful, chocolately wonder. It’s very brittle (just like a chocolate bar), so you’ll need to mix it with other things or be very, very patient as you wait for it to melt on your skin. I absolutely love it for massage bars and lip balm.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is the butter that started it all for me. It’s a really beautiful butter; thick, earthy smelling, and pretty darn greasy when applied straight. It’s good for whipped body butters and thicker lotions, but my favourite use for unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) is in soaps. It tries to function as the “hard” oil, but it’s not very hard, so it’ll need a lot of aging time (at least a year, I’d say). But once it’s aged, its brilliant. So, so moisturizing and wonderful all around.
Haven’t heard of Capuacu Butter. Sounds great. I am going to have to hunt the internet for it. Any particular places you purchase your butters, oils, and essential oils?
I get pretty much everything from New Directions Aromatics (http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca). They’ve got locations all over the world, so there’s a very good chance you won’t have to deal with order across borders or duty fees, and their prices are amazing!
Do New Directions Aromatics ship to Asia? Do you have any sites that we can visit to get these products because the shipping fees usually boast a larger price than the products themselves.
I’m afraid I have no idea—you would have to get in touch with them and ask. Their Australian shop would probably be your best bet.
Love this post
Thanks! What’s your favourite butter?
Hello I love your blog and look forward to see your new creations. I purchased cupcacu butter and I love it but would like to blend it with something to make it easier to apply. Could you give me an idea.
Thanks so much for your help.
Cyndi Herzing
Hi Cynthia! Thanks for reading 🙂 If you’re finding the capuacu butter too hard to easily apply, I’d recommend melting it together with a bit of fast-absorbing carrier oil. Rosehip or Camellia seed will both work very nicely, but if you’re looking for something cheaper, grapeseed is a great choice. I’d start with a 1:10 ratio (1 part oil to 10 parts capuacu butter) and work your way up. Just melt them together over low heat, let set, and see what you think. Have fun!
Thanks so much this made it much easier and my cuticles love it. I made it like a bar and my dry legs love it also! Thanks for the suggestion.
Fantastic! I’m glad to hear it 🙂
Hi Marie,
Would you please explain the difference between yellow shea and ivory shea butters? Besides the obvious difference in color….
Thank you so much!
Madelyn
Hi Madelyn! Generally, white/ivory has been refined (generally bleached and deodorized, but check with your supplier), and yellow has not. That’s not really the be-all and end-all, though—none of my suppliers use those as classifiers for their shea butters. They sell them by country of origin, and then whether or not they’ve been refined. In my experience, shea butters from different countries vary, even within the unrefined category, and I’ve never actually tried refined shea butter. Hope that helps!
Have you tried Illipe or Murumuru butters?
I haven’t tried either, surprisingly enough!
Can you use something else instead of beeswax? Allergy to bees.
There’s no good direct substitutes, but you can read through the different experiments I’ve done with different waxes to learn how to make some swaps 🙂
I absolutely adore Mango butter – it’s basically Shea butters faster absorbing, less greasy, smoother textured cousin.
It sinks into the skins surface quickly without leaving an oily sheen, and is just beautiful in balms cause it doesn’t feel grainy or gritty.
As a person who suffers from dry skin but despises thick, slow to absorb butters, mango butter hits the jackpot!
Me too! It has definitely taken up the mantle as a top two or three butter in my world 😀
What butter would you recommend when making a simple face cream? I have seen that mango and shea can irritate and clog acne prone skin due to its high oleic acid content. Thank you!
I generally tend not to use butters in face creams, but when I do, it’s usually at such low usage rates that I’m not concerned about pore clogging 🙂 Perhaps check out a selection of face cream formulations I’ve shared to get a general idea? Happy making!