This decadent Rich Shealoe Butter Cream is the first project I’m tackling in my Bee Better series; it’s an update of the Homemade Shealoe Butter Cream I shared back in February 2014. The idea was to create my own shealoe butter type product, inspired by the plethora of shea/aloe butters for sale from DIY suppliers. I’d like to thank Rhonda for inspiring me to update this project—she shared some of the changes she’s made to it over the years in the comments section on the 2014 version and they sounded divine! I’ve adopted a couple of her improvements and added a few of mine as well.
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First things first; percentage-izing the formulation. The 2014 version was roughly percetange-d in that if you add up the ingredients they total 100g (3.5oz), so 1g = 1%, but the preservative was left out, and also left up to the reader. Reading through the comments and my replies you can really see how far I’ve come in terms of preservative use!
With the formula fully percetange-d, it’s time for some upgrades! With lots of soothing aloe vera and rich shea in the butter cream, it seemed very sensible to really embrace the soothing/heavy-duty moisturizing angle. Panthenol (vitamin B5) was a no-brainer, as it’s both moisturizing and soothing! Colloidal oatmeal is also wonderful at soothing and moisturizing the skin; I love it in my Pemberley Hand Cream as well.
The oil phase features two new ingredients compared to the older version; dimethicone 350 and cetearyl alcohol. Dimethicone is one of those ingredients I definitely wouldn’t have used back in 2014, but I’ve since changed my mind about it. It’s a safe skin protectant and emollient, and it improves slip in almost magical ways. I made a version of this Rich Shealoe Butter Cream without the dimethicone and found the slip to be lacking, which isn’t surprising given the skin feel of shea butter and the high usage of it. Some cetearyl alcohol further helps improve the slip while lending its fluffy thickening goodness to the end product.
In the cool-down phase, I’ve incorporated some lavender essential oil and calendula botanical extract, which further amps up the soothing factor of this formulation while also adding a touch of lovely scent. I find the colloidal oatmeal lends a touch of an oat-y base note to the smell of this butter cream and the lavender compliments that really nicely. I chose refined shea butter to let the lavender and oat smells shine (they’re pretty subtle), but you could use unrefined shea butter if that’s what you’ve got and you don’t mind the smell of it.
You’ll find the instructions are also a whole lot better for this one—not only in terms of clarity but in terms of procedure.
The finished Rich Shealoe Butter Cream lives up to its name—it’s very rich, and it’s like a hybrid between a butter and a cream. It’s lighter than a butter, but heavier than most lotions or creams. It is intensely moisturizing, with plenty of soothing goodies to help dry skin recover. I hope you’ve enjoyed this first Bee Better project, and be sure to stay tuned for more!
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Rich Shealoe Butter Cream
Heated water phase
12g | 12% distilled water
5g | 5% vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
30g | 30% aloe vera juice
2g | 2% panthenol powder (vitamin B5) (USA / Canada)
2g | 2% colloidal oatmeal (USA / Canada)Heated oil phase
12g | 12% Polawax (USA / Canada)
27g | 27% refined shea butter (USA / Canada)
3g | 3% dimethicone 350 (USA / Canada)
5g | 5% cetearyl alcohol (USA / Canada)Cool down phase
0.5g | 0.5% lavender essential oil
1g | 1% calendula extract
0.5g | 0.5% Liquid Germall Plus™ (USA / Canada)Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a wide, flat-bottomed sauté pan.
Weigh the heated water phase into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Weigh the entire lot (measuring cup + ingredients) and note that weight for use later. Weigh the heated oil phase into a second heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place both measuring cups in your prepared water bath to melt everything through.
After about 20–30 minutes the oil part should be completely melted and the water part should be thoroughly dissolved. Remove the water bath from the heat and weigh it. Add enough hot distilled water to bring the weight back up to what it was before heating, and then pour the water part into the oil part. Stir with a flexible silicone spatula to incorporate.
Grab your immersion blender and begin blending the lotion, starting with short bursts so the still-very-liquid lotion doesn’t whirl up and spray everywhere. Blend for about a minute, leave to cool for ten, blend for another minute or two, and repeat this blend-cool-blend cycle until the outside of the glass measuring cup is barely warm to the touch and the lotion is thick and creamy.
When the lotion is cool it’s time to incorporate our cool down ingredients. Because cool down ingredients are typically present at very low amounts you’ll need to use an accurate scale—preferably one accurate to 0.01g. As these more accurate scales tend to have fairly low (100–200g) maximum weights you won’t be able to put the entire batch of lotion on that scale without blowing it out. So—grab a smaller dish. Add a scoop or two of lotion, and then weigh the cool down ingredients into that, using the more accurate scale. Stir to thoroughly incorporate (this is really important, especially with a cream this thick—make sure the stuff in the dish is super smooth before adding it back to the parent batch!), and then stir all of that back into the master batch of lotion. Doing it this way minimizes the amount of cool down ingredients lost to the secondary container.
Once the cool-down phase has been incorporated, it’s time to package it up! You’ll want a wide-mouthed jar for this one; it’s much too thick for a pump-top bottle. It might work in a squeeze tube, but you’d have to get it in the tube first, and it’s so thick I think that would be very challenging given the narrow opening most of them have.
Shelf Life & Storage
Because this cream contains water, you must include a broad-spectrum preservative to ward off microbial growth. This is non-optional. Even with a preservative this project may eventually spoil as our kitchens are not sterile laboratories, so in the event you notice any change in colour, scent, or texture, chuck it out and make a fresh batch.
Substitutions
As always, be aware that making substitutions will change the final product. While these swaps won’t break the recipe, you will get a different final product than I did.
- As I’ve provided this recipe in percentages as well as grams you can easily calculate it to any size using a simple spreadsheet as I’ve explained in this post. As written in grams this recipe will make 100g.
- To learn more about the ingredients used in this recipe, including why they’re included and what you can substitute them with, please visit the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia. It doesn’t have everything in it yet, but there’s lots of good information there! If I have not given a specific substitution suggestion in this list please look up the ingredient in the encyclopedia before asking.
- You could use propanediol instead of vegetable glycerin.
- I don’t recommend swapping out the aloe vera juice; it’s an integral part of this formula. You can make your own using a concentrated powder.
- If you don’t have colloidal oatmeal you could use more water, or consider incorporating another ingredient with soothing/moisturizing properties. You could consider using more panthenol. Urea would also work well (Rhonda put urea in hers and loves it!).
- Emulsifying Wax NF will work instead of Polawax.
- You can use unrefined shea butter, but it will impact the scent of the end product.
- You can replace the dimethicone 350 with more shea butter, a natural silicone replacement, or a slippy liquid oil. Be aware that removing/replacing it will make this butter cream more skiddy on the skin.
- You can use cetyl alcohol instead of cetearyl alcohol.
- A different calming/soothing essential oil will work instead of lavender; chamomile would be a good choice.
- You can swap the calendula botanical extract for a different botanical extract with soothing/moisturizing properties. Chamomile and helichrysum come to mind as good options!
- If you’re like to use a different preservative, please review this page.
Lovely! Is this cream greasy at all? If so , can I add some tapioca/corn starch to it to bring down the greasiness? I love that your re-visiting your old recipes based on your “new” knowledge.
It’s definitely not a lightweight, fast-absorbing thing. I’d try it as written before adding starch, though 🙂 Happy making!
Has anyone tried making this with Nilotica Shea? It has a creamier texture. I don’t have cetearyl alcohol so I’ll be using cetyl alcohol and am thinking that maybe I should add a little stearic acid to stiffen the formula a bit if I use nilotica shea… Any ideas are most welcome!
Given the formula’s only been out for about 12 hours you’ll likely have to wait a wee while to hear from anyone else who has made it, but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work 🙂
Hi Marie! I love the idea of this cream so I made it as published. How does it apply for you? I find that it doesn’t spread but bunches on me … any idea why?
Otherwise I really like that bee better series idea! Thanks for sharing all your knowledge 🙂
It’s very thick and rich, and a lot like applying straight shea butter, really. I haven’t experienced bunching up, though, but that could be from subtle differences in our skin or perhaps ambient humidity? Just a hypothesis. Perhaps try applying it directly out of the shower? Another reader reported that worked well to improve slip! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Really looking forward to making this for family in dry alberta ! I am on a ‘conditioning kick’ right now so wondering about using BTMS25 or 50 as the emulsifier instead?
Thanks for great recipe!
Woohoo! I’d probably go with the 50—it’s more conditioning + I find 25 makes for thicker end products, and we don’t need this to be any thicker!
Ok thanks, well I cheaper out a bit and went with the BTMS25 before I saw your response . It is indeed super thick but has a nice silky and powdery feel to it. Not at all greasy. Bringing it to family in Calgary this October ! Thanks
I’m glad to hear it turned out beautifully! Enjoy Calgary in October and a happy early Thanksgiving!
Oh Marie, thank you SO SO MUCH for this better bee series. I have all the old recipes and cant wait to see what you do with them. I make the oat milk dream cream with changes and preservatives on a regular basis and it’s one of my favorites. Cant wait to make the new shealoe cream!!! And excited for the rest of the series. Thanks again for doing this
I’m so stoked you’re so excited, Lin! I’ve been having a lot of fun looking at older projects and thinking about all the fun things I can do with them 🙂 The popular ones are always fun to think about re-visiting, but there are also lots of “lost” posts that will definitely be good learning experiences! Stay tuned, I’m having so much fun 😀
Agreed! I love updating some of these great old recipes to a better recipe. This is a great idea.
😀 I’m so excited about some of the other ones I’m working on, too!
Hi Marie:
This couldn’t have come at a better time…I was just looking for a body butter cream to make!
I have emulsifying wax, but it doesn’t include the NF and I can’t figure out what that is. (My package does not have the INCI name on it.
I also have Cera Bellina wax, and BTMS-50 & BTMS-25.
What would be the closest to replace the Polawax? (I understand that is a brand name of E-wax…)
Thank you for your help.
Sly
I’d probably go with the BTMS-50 out of those options, though I’d also recommend getting an INCI for that ewax from your supplier so you can use it confidently 🙂 Happy making!
Hi Marie. I’m going to try making this with EcoSil from Formulators sample shop. They say the sensory property is like dimethicone. Hopefully it will turn out like yours.
I look forward to hearing how it turns out! I love that we are getting more fun options like that 😀 Happy making!
Thank you Marie! This cream is so great for my dry face. Did not have dimethicone so i increased the shea. A tiny bit goes a long way. Spritzing face first before applying feels so delicious. Next day my pores were not plugged , so yay! Could i increase the water and decrease the shea for less thickness?
OOoh, stunning! And yes, you can tweak the phase sizes—I’ve got a bit of a guide on that in this post 🙂
Marie, I have just discovered the wonders of dimethicone also. In a quest to seal my rosehip seed oil and some other goody that works too alleviate my facial eczema, I found a balm by CeraVe packaged in a 2 oz deodorant-like container. The only ingredient listed is dimethicone. Awesome results! So much better than beeswax and it doesn’t melt when I’m working out or on the beach in salty breezes.
Your recipe looks luxurious. It will be my first attempt at an emulsified product. Thank you so much for all your hard work in sharing beautiful recipes!
Oooh, very cool! I’ll have to keep an eye out for that product, it sounds really neat 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Excited to try this recipe! Could I use ground oatmeal instead of colloidal oatmeal?
If you do that you’ll need to strain out the solids before proceeding 🙂
This is indeed like butter! This is perfect on my “covered by jeans winter legs” that are now exposed to the light. Thick and moisturising and a little goes a long way. Very excited about this new series. I love comparing the two recipes. Thanks Marie yet again!
I’m so thrilled you’re loving it! Enjoy that impending summer weather—we’ve already got snow here 🙁
Hi! What do you define as “slippery” liquid oils? Like what are a few that you would describe as that? I thought grapeseed oil would be one but judging how the formulation worked out, I don’t think it’s slippery anymore LOL
I’d call grapeseed fairly slippery, while castor oil is more sticky. Nothing is going to be as slippery as the dimethicone I used, though, hence the note in the substitutions list 🙂
Hi Marie. I loooove your site and recipes. I am a newby making my own concoctions as of yet. But have noticed a large amount of polawax in this recipe. Usually it’s less then 10% I really want to make this one but wondering if I use less so it’s rather creamier and glidy then on the stiffer side. Just wondering what does higher amount of polawax do in this recipe.
Emulsifying wax is calculated as a % of the oil phase and this formulation has a large oil phase, so it requires more polawax 🙂
Have you made the water amount and the oils amount almost same in this recipe to make the end product really thick and rich? Can I still use this recipe and fork it to do a lotion with 70% water?
Hello Dharini,
What do you mean, “fork it”?
Beleive me when I say that this is a REALLY thick and rich emulsified body butter! It may not appear that thick right away, but it usually takes an emulsified product 12-24 hours before it reaches its final consistency.
Happy making!
Barb
I agree with the poster above about subbing a slippy oil for the dimethicone… it is still VERY draggy. I subbed rice bran oil for the dimethicone, and did half mango/half shea butter (I hate the greasiness of shea a lot), and once it sinks in, it has a super lovely soft skin feel, but the application is a bit of an investment, lol. I used an EO blend of palo santo (44%), peru balsm (24%), cardamom (12%), vetiver (8%), nutmeg (6%), and pink pepper (6%) and let me tell you the scent is all kinds of soothing, grounding, eyes-fly-open-in-surprise-and-delight, AND long lasting amazingness. I used unrefined shea because I thought the nutty smell would complement the EO blend and I was not wrong at all. I have dimethicone on order and I’m psyched to remake this amazing formula (mostly, I’m sticking with the unrefined shea, mango butter, and EO blend!). Thanks so much for these lovely recipes!
Thanks for sharing, Mandie! I am actually working on another Bee-Betterification of this formulation right now, and I gotta say… it “bee” waaaay better 🙂 Stay tuned!
Ooooh! That’s exciting, I can’t wait!
Hello!
I absolutely love your recipes and all the great the info you provide.
Can you please tell a vegan alternative to “panthenol”?
Thank you.
Just purchase vegan panthenol; I have yet to find non-vegan panthenol for sale.
Hi Marie,
I was wondering if you could help me. I’ve been doing this using 57.1% water phase and 41.9 oil phase (including 5% vegetal and raw mango butter in lieu of shea) but it always comes out with little lumps and not a smooth. What am I doing wrong? Could it be I’m cooling it down wrong?