I am so thrilled with this new invention of mine. It’s unbelievably light and fluffy, with a decadent texture that will make your friends gasp in awe when they feel how light and soft it is. I call it body meringue because of its texture and how it forms wonderful soft, glossy peaks, just like a meringue does.
The basic idea for this lotion was a way to use unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) in the summer—something light and fluffy, and not as heavy as an entirely oil-based concoction I’d use in the winter. I also wanted to try whipping a lotion after playing with candelilla wax and realizing its wonderful potential for thickening in relatively small amounts.
I whipped this up (literally) during a bigger DIY day, taking it out of the fridge in between projects to whip it up a bit more as the day progressed. It doubled in size as the chilling stabilized it enough to support itself, giving me an amazing airy, lightweight lotion.
If the glossy soft peaks and decadent texture don’t tempt you, then perhaps the healing benefits of this lotion will. The water is infused with calendula, a fantastic healing herb. I’ve also added silk and allantoin (USA / Canada) to boost moisture management whilst soothing and healing any irritated skin. Shea butter is a long time favourite of mine for eczema and frustrated skin, and this lotion delivers it without the greasy side-effects of straight-up shea application.
And, to seal the deal, I’ve loving the scent blend. A familiar top note of lavender is brightened with an intriguingly bright and dry petitgrain, and grounded with a hint of anise-tinged basil. It’s bright and dry, but not too sweet. Everyone who’s taken a whiff has commented on how lovely the scent is, and I think you’ll like it too.
Whipped Shea Butter Body Meringue
7g | 0.25oz emulsimulse/ritamulse (or other complete emulsifying wax)
3g | 0.1oz candelilla wax
15g | 0.52oz unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)1 tbsp calendula petals
100ml | 3.38 fl oz just-boiled distilled water3g | 0.1oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
1/2 tsp silk peptides
1/4 tsp allantoin (USA / Canada)7 drops lavender essential oil
4 drops petitgrain essential oil
2 drops basil essential oilBroad spectrum preservative of choice (why?)
Place the calendula leaves in a tea strainer. Steep in 100mL of just boiled water for 10 minutes. Remove the leaves and discard, reserving the water.
Weigh the emulsimulse, candelilla wax, and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) into a mixing bowl. Place that mixing bowl over a double boiler and melt the emulsimulse, candelilla wax, and unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) together.
I do really recommend using emulsimulse/ritamulse here over other e-waxes as Emulsimulse/Ritamulse thickens up immediately, where other e-waxes require a few days to stop being watery. If you don’t have another e-wax you’ll need to wait three or four days for the e-wax to thicken up before you can whip the lotion.
While the oils melt, combine 72mL/2.43 fl oz of the calendula water with the vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada), silk peptides, and allantoin (USA / Canada) in a small glass measuring cup. Heat through and whisk to combine.
Once the oils have melted, add the water mixture and heat everything through before removing the mixture from the heat.
Whisk to combine as the mixture cools. Once it’s at room temperature, place the bowl in the fridge.
Whip the chilling lotion with electric beaters every hour or so, placing it back in the fridge between whippings (wow, this sounds violent…). Once you’ve got a thick, glossy lotion that forms soft peaks when daubed with the back of a spoon, whip in your essential oils and preservative, and lightly spoon the mixture into a 250mL/8oz wide-mouthed jar.
This jar & lid are from Saffire Blue.
Don’t have the oils called for in the recipe? Check this out.
I just discovered your website and loooooooove your pictures, you are so inspiring. This meringue looks so delicious that I would like to bathe in it, thanks for sharing your recipes so detailed. Cant wait to reproduce – but the first project off your page will be the chilli-tigerbalm. Btw, thanks to you I am learning a whole lot about some essential oils I never took into account before. How interesting! thanks for that as well.
Take care, Vanessa
Hi Vanessa! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 😀
Hi! I love your recipes and have tried several with great results. Thank you for sharing!
What ingredients could I use to substitute candelilla wax and silk peptides?
I would assume beeswax can be substituted for candelilla wax (not 1:1, though you could probably figure out the proper ratio using Marie’s blog alone) and leave out silk all together.
That being said, I think this is the recipe to push me over the edge and convince me to order silk peptides finally! It sounds and looks fabulous.
🙂
Do it! Get some silk 🙂 It seems a bit pricey at first, but I have barely made a dent in mine over 2 years, and I use it quite a lot.
First I want to tell you how much I appreciate your recipes as well as your videos. I have learned so much!
Regarding silk, I want to point out that silk is made from particular moth caterpillars by placing them in either boiling water or steaming them while they are alive, and then taking the thread the caterpillar was using for spinning its cocoon. There is much cruelty going on in the world, and while some may think that beings such as caterpillars do not feel anything, I would argue that we do not know that as a fact. Also, silk is not a necessity for survival. To wear it or add it to lotions and such is an unnecessary luxury and perhaps one we should rethink. Just some food for thought.
Thank you again for the time you put in to the site and sharing your knowledge!
Thanks, Maryann 🙂 The beauty of making your own products it that you are free to use whatever ingredients you want! Feel free to leave silk out of any recipe, in most cases it just makes the final product better, but is not a deal breaker.
Hi Irene! Carnauba wax would be a good direct substitute for candelilla wax, or you could use 4g of beeswax and 14g of shea butter. There is no good substitute for silk, though, it’s a very unique ingredient, so if you don’t have it just leave it out.
Thank you very much, I’ll give it a try and will put the silk in my wish list!!
It’s totally worth it—it’s super light, so even just 50g is a lot of silk powder and will last you a very long time 🙂
That looks divine!!! I can’t wait to try making it but I wonder where do you get your ingredients? Most if it I found on Amazon but couldn’t find silk peptides or allantoin… And actually I’m
Always on the lookout for the best products so I’d love to know where you shop. Thanks 🙂
Hi Stephanie! Scroll up to the big box above the comments section, I link to my top suppliers there 🙂
I think you would have to ensure you had the jar labelled as it looks so much like meringue that I could see someone taking a huge mouthful of it! It looks good enough to eat!
No kidding! My friends and house guests are now well trained to confirm something is food before eating it 😉
Hi. I’ve been trying to make whipped body butters for a while now. They’re beautiful when I get done whipping them up but then after they’ve been put in jars they get kinda hard and don’t look pretty anymore. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
Hi Doris! This is a pretty common problem with whipped body butters in my experience. In fact, I’ve taken to developing my whipped body butter recipes by leaving the bowl out on the counter for a couple days and coming back to it every 4–6 hours to re-whip it and see how it’s doing (and tweak as needed). Some butters take a couple days to return to their full hardness after being melted, which seems to be the culprit of “it was nice and whippy but now it isn’t”.
This looks so beautifully whipped and light! I want to eat it so badly 🙂 Anyhow, i just have a quick question and future post request. Could you post a guide on how to incorporate fruit/botanical extracts into face creams, lotions, etc? Also, can you use more than one extract in a cream/lotion?
I’ll add it to my list, but no promises 🙂 And yes, you can use as many as you want, but eventually you’ll get to the point where you’ll either have so little of each that they aren’t that effective, or you have so much of them that they take over the recipe 😛
I made a tea of my camu camu fruit powder as well as incorporating some into the vegetable glycerin for this recipe. I also replaced the wax with 3 grams of my silky serum which was a flop because I added powders to it that didn’t fully melt so I had graininess. In this it worked beautifully. I got a silky concoction that I can use for face or body. So in love with this hobby.
I’m so thrilled it worked! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
As far as preservatives go,
1: Is rosemary oil not powerful enough?
2: Have you tried rice bran oil?
Hi Katie—neither rosemary oil or rice bran oil are preservatives. Rosemary seed extract is an an antioxidant, and rice bran oil contains a lot of antioxidants. Antioxidants help slow the oxidization of oils, and can be used to prolong the shelf life of things that are 100% oil based (like lip balm), but will do nothing for anything that contains water (like this recipe). You can read more about preservatives in my FAQ 🙂 Thanks for reading!
This looks wonderful! The only thing left out is, everything used to make this (pans, bowls, utensils) should be sprayed with 91% alcohol or nasties will be growing before you’re finished making it. The water should be purified or distilled as well. I cannot wait to try it out!
Thanks so much!
I forgot to add, because of the great skin-loving additives, a preservative should be used. A good broad spectrum preservative (paraben free) is Lquid Germall Plus.
I do mention this at the bottom of the recipe instructions 🙂
Disinfecting definitely can’t hurt, but I must admit I generally can’t be fussed with it and haven’t noticed any adverse effects 🙂
Fabulous! Does the ‘light and fluffy’ constitution hold after days/weeks? Thank you again for sharing your amazing recipes!
Hi René! I found the light and whipped consistency lasted for about 4-6 weeks, depending on how the jar was handled 🙂
Thank you so much for all the information you so generously shared on this website. This is now my go to bible for any DIY projects, and it is how I unwind my week generally. 🙂
Question for you on whipping and whisking the lotion to the right level? Is it ok if I use a hand held mixer to whisk the lotion up, and how do you know when it is ready?
Hey Flora! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 You likely can whip it by hand, but you will get a serious work out (if you’re talking about using a whisk, that is)! I used an electric hand held mixer. You’ll know it’s done when it forms soft peaks when daubed with the back of a spoon, like whipping cream.
Hello,
It looks so nice!!! I will definitely try this recipe, just have one questions: can I use grape seed extract as a broad- spectrum preservative? Thank you 🙂
Hi JJ—grapefruit seed extract is not a preservative, it’s an antioxidant. Antioxidants help slow the oxidization of oils, and can be used to prolong the shelf life of things that are 100% oil based (like lip balm), but will do nothing for anything that contains water (like this recipe). You can read more about preservatives in my FAQ 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Hi dear Marie! very nice recipe (as always)..and i want to ask you something! i want to ask you if we can replace the water, (you know i prefer to use something else and not water in my cosmetic recipes), as i don’t know…i don’ t realy like it…and water than you know makes germs and bacteria that are not the best!…anyway one of the best recipes I could tell!. Greetings, Athanasia.
Hi Athanasia—This recipe is 75% water, so no, you cannot replace it with anything else that is not mostly water (like tea). It would completely ruin the recipe. Sorry!
Considering saponins are considered emulsifiers, could an herb rich in saponins like yucca root powder or soap nut be able to replace the emulsifying wax? Just curious.
You might be able to make something like that work, but you would have to completely re-formulate the recipe. In my experience there are no easy, direct, natural replacements for emulsifying wax, though I’m always trying 🙂
Hi there! I a newcomer to your blog + just wanted to say I love your content! I’m big into simple living, green living, and homesteading, so all of these recipes + advice are awesome. I’m excited to see more posts from you + I hope you have a lovely weekend 🙂
Thanks so much, Caitlin! 😀
I believe comfrey root contains allantoin, so would it work as a substitute?
You are correct, though I can’t really say how much you’d need 🙂 I’d steep the herb in the water and strain it out, and then use the herb water instead of plain water. You’ll definitely needs a preservative, though—I find infused waters cause lotions to spoil much faster than usual.
Could you please tell me where you get the brown paper for your labels. Thank you.
Amazon!
Marie,
can you tell us of some of the problems that you ran into while creating this recipe? Did you accidentally add more or less of an ingredient(s)? Did the mix fail to rise?
I followed the guidelines as closely as possible…except i added about 1 gram extra to each ingredient except the water…I over measured the shea butter and decided to add the extra gram as recompense. Now I think that may have been a mistake [especially since the water portion remained the same] 0_o And as a result my whipped shea butter did not rise and it felt too sticky on my skin, so I just tossed the entire batch :/
Hmm. How long did you whip it for? I really did whip, chill, and whip mine over the course of an entire day, probably at least 8 hours. It did take a few hours before the whipping started to hold as well.
I have noticed that mine can feel a touch tacky, but that goes away really quickly and it shouldn’t be sticky. Hmm. What kind of shea butter are you using?
HI Marie – me too this was my first disaster 🙁 It did not rise, it was sticky and full of white bits, in determination I did use it but it just sat on my skin and made me laugh. I might try again another time, on to something else 🙂
Oh no 🙁 Did you change anything? Perhaps the emulsifying wax? I could see that being the culprit as far as the rising goes :/
No worries – I will try again 🙂
Good luck! 🙂
Can you use silk amino acids or hydrolized silk powder?
Yup!
Can I sub cupuacu butter or any soft butter for shea butter or is shea butter necessary to create the peaks? I’m thinking this would be great as a shaving cream with a few “tweaks” here and there.
You should be able to, though I haven’t tried it 🙂
Marie I love your website! I tried the shealoe butter & it was awesome! I switched the grams to table & teaspoons ( this was before I purchased my scale) . it still turned out great! I made it before Christmas and its still holding up! A couple of questions #1 with the recipe above can I use something other than a wax to get the same consistency? #2 this may sound silly but if I’m doubling a recipe would 38 grams of shea butter doubled equal 76 grams? Thanks bunches, munches & sugar cookie crunches!
Hi Jan! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 🙂 I haven’t tried body meringues with anything other than wax at this point—stearic acid might work. And yes, 38×2=76 🙂
My 7 year old daughter has been watching me make your soaps and she’s been asking to join in on the fun. This was the perfect recipe to start her on. I’m currently whipping and stirring the last few hours while she sleeps and will surprise her with her own healthy jar of lotion tomorrow. Thank you again!
Wonderful! I love hearing about family DIYing 🙂
Hi there,
Is there anything I can substitute for allantoin? Could I just leave it out? Thanks!!
You can just leave it out 🙂
I love your website! I’m a DIY dabbler, but the more I see what you’re up to, the closer I get to actually taking the plunge and getting elbow deep in it!
I wonder if you could use raw honey as a preservative? And it has the added benefits of being an anti-bacterial.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Talya! Take the plunge 🙂 You’ll love it 😉
And no, you absolutely cannot use raw honey as a preservative. As a component ingredient it has no preservative powers. The reason honey doesn’t spoil on its own is because its a strong humectant and basically sucks bacteria dry, but it can’t do that as a small component of a larger formula. As a general rule, nothing that is simply antibacterial is a preservative—only broad spectrum preservatives are preservatives 🙂
Hi Marie!
What can I use to replace silk peptides? I’m not a vegan or nature freak or anything.. just whatever is the best swap for it to get the end product to be the same result?
Here’s where I buy all my ingredients in NZ if you have time to see what we have that might work?
http://www.purenature.co.nz
Thanks so much, wish i could share all your replicated creations with you! your recipes have been fail proof for me so far.
Much love
Victoria
New Zealand
Hi Victoria! Silk is a very unique protein, so there really is no alternative. That said, you can leave them out without effecting the recipe too much 🙂
Hi Marie,
I don’t like your blog, I love it!! <3 and that's why I subscribed to it 🙂
And now I love you, too!!!
I may be old(er) but I'm pretty young when it comes to this diy beauty stuff. I'm just 2 months old in this world of cosmetics making, and as Louis Armstrong said (sang)…what a wonderful world this is! Anyways, the emulsifying wax I got worked magic on my first two lotions but after that they all came out foamy. For the past week I've been trying everyday to change that because I just can't wait till the new ewax I ordered arrives (I'm hooked on it). I have tried to change the ewax to oil ratio, the oil to water ratio, add arrowroot powder, corn starch, add beeswax to ewax, searched online for hours to find a solution, name it and I tried it. Nothing worked :(!
And today, while trying to find an answer on your goldmine blog, I came across this recipe and I decided to give it a try. And finally I've got an answer to my "life problem"! I wish I could post a picture of my fluffy, creamy, dreamy lotion. I couldn't stop to one and I made 2 more…all three came out heavenly, I'm pretty sure that's how a cloud would look on the diy cosmetics sky 🙂
I can't thank you enough for ending my long week of experiments!
And you better be thrilled about everything you do, make and write, not just about this invention 🙂
Oh, I had to skip the silk peptides and allantoin (they are in transit, haha), I used mango butter, rose hip, and argan oils instead of Shea butter (on the first lotion) and it still came out great). Again, thank you so much, not just for this recipe that saved me a lot of work, but for everything you do and share.
Your meringue sounds beautifully luxurious 🙂
Hi Carmen! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 😀 Your support means the world, and your super sweet comment has put a big smile on my face 🙂 I’m so glad you’re enjoying this decadent lotion.
How long does this stay fluffy and keeps the peaks? How can one extend how long the whipped meringue has peaks?
I’m afraid I haven’t done extensive experiments in this area, but I would welcome you to do your own and share your results 🙂
This might be a silly question…I have hydrolyzed silk and silk amino acid, are they used as silk peptides? Used in the same ratio?
P.S. LOVE YOUR SITE!!!!
I wrote an FAQ on this 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I tried this recipe multiple times. First times, I thought the texture once applied on the skin was a little weird, like it didn’t glide at all. I finallly obtained a texture that I love by substituting emulsimulse for Olivem 1000, and adding a little jojoba oil. Much better !
But I still have another problem : once it has settled for a couple of days, it becomes gritty, a little like a mousse, it doesn’t habe those lovely peaks we get when we make it, and it deflates a little each time we take some… Any idea how I could solve this ?
I love your blog ! 🙂
The links here might help with the grittyness, but I’m not sure why it’s deflating so quickly; I’d guess it’s because you changed the recipe :/ I’m sure you can appreciate it’s hard for me to offer support when the original recipe I developed and tested has been changed.
I understand completely, but I had changed the recipe because I was trying to solve those problems. I still have them even when I follow the original recipe 🙁
Hmm. Have you tried this recipe?
Not yet ! I will try it ! 🙂
An I use soya lecithin instead of allantoin?
I’m confused—these two things are really different, like using chocolate instead of flour in a cake recipe. Soy lecithin is a thick, viscous liquid (or granules that need to be dissolved in oil—the liquid stuff is easier to work with) that acts as a humectant and emulsifier. Allantoin is a fine, water soluble white powder that’s added for soothing and healing benefits. What’s your thought process here?
Just my two cents: made it. I love how this cream crackles as I scoop it out, and the air bubbles break 🙂 awesome fragrance too, a bit in a direction of cucumber…unexpected and lovely! Thank you Marie!
Yay! I’m so glad 😀 You are reminding me that I should try this scent blend elsewhere…
I definitely try this
Happy making!
Hi Marie. I absolutely love your recipes. What preservative can I use in this recipe? And how much of it?
I’ve got an entire FAQ on this 🙂
Hi Marie! What brand of container is that jar you used in the pic? Looks so cute!
It says in the recipe, though I really would not recommend shopping from that supplier anymore; they have been extremely unreliable for the last few years.
This may sound really dumb. This sounds so amazing! My whole family is battling horribly dry skin right now. This recipe won’t be enough for all 8 of us. If I wanted to make, lets say, 5 times the amount, can I just take each ingredient and multiply it by 5? Does it work that way when it comes to things like this?
Hey Kris! I have full instructions on scaling up recipes here 🙂 That said, PLEASE make it once in a smaller batch before scaling it up to ensure you like it. It would be so sad to make 8 people’s worth and then discover only 4 of you like it 🙂 Happy making!
Good idea! I always give some stuff to my neighbors and mom. Your stuff has never failed me. I just made some of your foam shaving cream because my legs hate every cream out there and IT IS WONDERFUL! I finally didn’t itch like a dog with fleas after shaving! I just saw you have a patreon too! Definitely going to become a supporter. Love you and your videos.
Hooray, I am so thrilled to hear it! I love that shaving cream, too—which reminds me that I should really make more! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Marie, I want to learn this art properly but like you, am not interested in selling or starting my own brand. Can you recommend some resources? A lot of the courses out there have a large part of their focus on the business of it and that’s not what i’m interested in so i don’t want to spend the money on that part if I don’t have to. Just want a good solid course on learning a bit of the science of how these raw materials work, percentages and the math involved, ratios and process. What do you think would be a good place to go for a solid course on just these things? There are so many out there and I don’t want to waste my money.. How about books? Can you lead me in any directions? Thanks much.
D
I’d still recommend Formula Botanica 🙂 If I recall correctly only the last module is business-specific. Regulations are discussed throughout, but I’d say those are more safety-related than selling related! Knowing some of the selling considerations will also help you identify safe handmade cosmetics if you choose to purchase them 🙂 I also have this FAQ, and recommend this post from Lise. Happy making!
I made this using mango butter , beeswax, and Olivem 1000 instead of candelilla wax per the comments and scented it with a blend of Essential Wholesale natural mango fragrance oil, grapefruit EO, and peppermint EO. It smells similar to a fizzy sherbet (a drop or two of benzoin or other vanilla-like EO would make it better).
I was wondering if I could substitute beeswax/candelilla was for stearic acid and still have the same light, whippy texture.
Hi there! I was wondering if calendula extract would work rather than calendula water. I found some here and was curious: https://www.brambleberry.com/search?q=calendula&lang=default
Yes! That is what I’d do if I were making this again today 🙂 Use distilled water instead of the infusion, and then include 5% (roughly 5g for this formulation) with the essential oils. You’ll want to reduce the distilled water by the same amount, so 5%/~5g. Happy making!