This glassy green vegan hemp butter sinks into the skin quickly, leaving it soft and slightly patchouli scented. Thickened using bayberry and candelilla wax, this simple and versatile body butter is 100% vegan and 100% easy to make.
The inspiration for this butter was a store bought one, which is made by hydrogenating hemp seed oil (USA / Canada). I thought that was sort of sad, given how amazing hemp seed oil (USA / Canada) is, and how hard hydrogenation is on an oil.
Hemp oil, as you may have guessed, is pressed from hemp seeds. In its unrefined state it’s dark green and smells quite grassy. It has a far more famous relative, but no, you won’t fail a drug test from using hemp seed oil (USA / Canada) (or any other hemp products). Hemp oil is high in omega 3’s and omega 6’s, and it’s a popular anti-eczema oil.
Because of its relatively low smoke point you’ll always want to have hemp seed oil (USA / Canada) in a double boiler when melting it with other things. I’ve tried skipping the double boiler and ended up having to toss the burnt-tasting remnants of my project, so take my word on this one 😉
The final product is a great all-purpose way to incorporate hemp seed oil (USA / Canada) into your day-to-day life. I find it to be a bit too light for use on my lips, but it’s great for small rough patches on the skin. You can also rub small amounts of it into the ends of your hair for a dose of moisture. Give it a try—you’ll love it’s smooth texture and beautiful green hue.
Vegan Hemp Butter
50g | 1.76oz hemp seed oil (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz bayberry wax
6g | 0.21oz candelilla wax2 drops dark patchouli essential oil (optional)
2 drops lavender essential oil (optional)Weight out the hemp seed oil (USA / Canada) and waxes into a double boiler, and melt together.
Remove from the heat and stir in the essential oils, if using.
Decant into a 60mL/2 oz tin and let set up for at least 3 days before using (the candelilla wax takes three days to come to its full hardness).
Hmmm…these more exotic ingredients again…I’ve never tried hemp – yet – but I would like to. By the way, I have a problem, could you tell what went wrong? I tried to make MSM sulfur cream (there is commercial version available), but fats and liquids keep separating and cream won’t come any thicker. Amounts of everything should be okey.
Hmm… I’ve afraid I can’t be of much help without any details. I’d guess you either didn’t use enough emulsifier, your pH was so extreme that it broke the emulsion, or (if you were doing a fussier emulsion) your temperatures were off or you didn’t blend the parts thoroughly enough. Could any of those be it?
I was just looking at unrefined hemp oil as an alternative for my body butters and possibly soaps! I’m so excited you posted this! It gives me a great start for exploring all kinds of possibilities. Thank you so much!
Awesome! I’m really enjoying figuring out different ways to use it. Lip balm is on the list for sure 🙂
I have no problem with the hemp oil (love it in my soap), but what is bayberry wax and what benefits does it bring? I suppose I could sub extra wax if I can’t find it, but I’d it’s worth seeking out, maybe I’ll make the effort!
Hi Elizabeth! Bayberry wax is a softer vegan wax—closer in texture to beeswax than candelilla or carnauba wax, which are both super hard and glossy. Bayberry also smells wonderfully of a forest, which I love. If you don’t want to invest in any you can use beeswax instead, though you’ll need to experiment with the amount as they’re not quite the same as with beeswax.
How cool, Marie!! I’d never heard about Bayberry being a vegan alternative to beeswax before.
Would you say that I could substitute Bayberry wax for ANY recipe that calls for beeswax, and the resulting product would turn out virtually the same (minus the smell, of course)?
Please let me know. Very exciting if so! 🙂
Beeswax is a bit harder than bayberry, so it’s not quite a direct swap. I haven’t done the experiments for the precise ratio differences yet, but they’re on the list 🙂
Hi Marie, Just got a kindle book by Miriam Kinai “Making Natural Body butter” She has a nice section on theraputic body butters e.g arthritis butter using hemp seed oil as an ingredient. I have ordered some hemp seed oil and Shea butter etc. The hemp seed oil seems to be a wee bit expensive or maybe I can add another oil with the hemp seed oil. Any ideas. I am also going to make some of your face mask for the kids. The more I research hemp seed oil the better I like it.
Hi George! If you want to cut your hemp oil to save it, I’d look at making up the difference with some choice herb-infused olive oil 🙂 Look at what the purpose of your balm/butter is, and choose an herb that will complement that goal. I love calendula and plantain infused olive oil in balms of all kinds!
Hi Marie!
Quick question: if you allowed the balm to set up on the counter instead of the fridge (like i do because I’m impatient ;p ) do the bayberry and candellia waxes harden as a top layer on the product sort of like a waxy layer for the hemp oil?
Also I want to create a eo blend that smells like grass to match the look of this balm, do you have any suggestions? Thanks!!
Hi Kristen! I believe I let this set up in the fridge initially, so I don’t know from experience what would happen if you leave it at room temperature. I find the surface of most waxy concoctions is usually harder than the bulk of the product, but I certainly have had the wax nearly separate out completely as well. I’d just pop it in the fridge to start with 😛
If you want a grassy scent the best thing you could do would be to let the hemp oil shine through with its natural scent—I don’t have any EOs that smell of grass (other than lemongrass, I suppose, but that smells like one particular kind of grass haha), so I can’t really recommend any.
I know this is old but was wondering how you would extend the shelf life of this product? Hemp seed oil goes rancid pretty quickly. I imagine vitamin E and essential oils might help but probs not enough. Keen to hear your thoughts!
Including 0.5% vitamin E will help, as will keeping it cool and out of direct sunlight. Using fresh hemp oil will also help. It’s still going to oxidize faster than something made with a more stable oil, though—that’s just hemp seed oil for you.
I’m actually making this right now, and the ingredients alone smell absolutely amazing!!!! God I love bayberry wax!!
OOooh bayberry wax is SO under-rated! I can’t believe it’s not more prevalent in beard things given how amazing it smells 😀