DIY: Better than Lingerie body butter

Let me tell you the happiest part about this butter. When you feel yourself up after putting it on? All I can say is, you’re welcome! Your skin will feel just… I don’t even know if there is an adjective adequately describe how this feels on my skin . And yup. I am so going to try to make this butter better in future attempts!

‘Tis that time of year where all this dry weather, heating systems are causing your skin to look like a pair of gross, old, worn out yoga pants. Oh yes. I so went there. Where regular body butter is still awesome and works wonders, but you’re a DIY junkie and can’t use the same body product for more than a few days in a row because you’re itching to make something new. And try out all those new ingredients! So you use crazy dry weather as an excuse to yourself to create something new.

And trying out new ingredients I did! Silk Amino Acids! Hydrolized wheat protein! A new panthenol that is more like an actual liquid not a clear sticky sticky mess that brings to mind molasses in January on crack! And, I had to try Olivem 1000 in a body butter with cetyl alcohol as it’s back up singer (for additional stability). Everyone talks about how awesome it is, I needed to try it out. I mean for a while there I was dead set against it because of the cost factor.

Cards down? More testing is needed. This is my third recipe in making a body butter with Olivem 1000 (needed to get that consistency just right! Thick, but not too thick. Thin, but not too thin. Scoopable, but not pourable. Then had to play with some oils and and and… I think I got it. Of course I will play with more it and properly compare Olivem 1000 to my emulsifier stash I’ve got going on.

Cause a girl can never have too many emulsifiers. Am I right? And they are all in competition.

Let’s talk a little about Olivem 1000. It is a fantastic product for a wide range of skin needs. Used in anti-aging products, great for oily skin, sensitive skin, normal or combination skin. It’s perfect in an eye cream, and great for cosmetic products that have a low to medium low oil phase. Want to know something neat about Olivem 1000? It kind of has a skin-like fatty acid so it can help to strengthen the lipid barrier of the skin and provide oodles of moisturization! It’s pretty dang cool in my books and I’m quickly finding it does live up to the hype!

What I find really neat about Olivem 1000, is that once you mix your liquid phase and oil phase together, you can whisk it together and you get a thinner consistency. But mix it with an immersion blender? and you get a much thicker consistency! But, the one issue I’ve discovered with the whisking, you do need to make sure you add in an ingredient like a cetyl alcohol or xanthan gum to aid in stability, or else you run the risk of losing your emulsion (this is kind of where I find Olivem 1000 fails me). And, if you blend with a whisk or something other than an immersion blender, your lotion/butter will take a good 24 hours to get to its full viscosity. I personally prefer the immersion blender. 

I really wanted to use liquid oils and to use oils that I know my skin likes. So that had me dusting off my last bottle of avocado oil I’ll ever buy in China and checking to make sure that it was still good to use! And one of my favourite oils, wheat germ oil. Wheat germ oil is an awesome oil for dry winter skin as it is naturally packed full of Vitamin E, which is one of the biggest reasons why you don’t see me add in extra Vitamin E when I make stuff with wheat germ oil for me. It’s said that wheat germ oil can help repair damaged skin, give you a boost of collagen, helps with blood circulations and replaces the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, wheat germ oil has received a negative reputation as being a pore clogger (Comedogenic rating of 5 which means you are guaranteed to break out).

Yeah. That comedogenic rating belongs with the dinosaurs. Extinct. I really like to thumb my nose at the rating system and live on the wild side by using ingredients like cocoa butter and wheat germ oil with amazing results. Don’t take one rating system that has been debunked often as your bible! Try out some fun oils!

Avocado oil is a fantastic oil and much loved for its spreadability and its ability to penetrate deep into skin. Perfect for giving dull winter skin a boost! I used refined avocado oil in my recipe, but unrefined would work well too!

My additives I went a little crazy. I know. My hydrolized wheat protein I think is  an awesome new ingredient to play with. Yup. This stuff is mainly for hair, I wanted to check out how it works on the skin, and I have to admit, I like the results. I used it in a hair brightening mask and I noticed the results immediately after washing it out. So far I’m liking it quite a bit!

The silk I used in this recipe is silk amino acids from The Soap Kitchen. I am really loving not tasting the silk peptides every time I open the bag!

So, this Body Butter leaves your skin feeling amazing. I’ve brought two different tubs of it to work, and both tubs grew some legs and walked out of my classroom.

I scented this with Garden Path from Gracefruit, which imparted a very light and delicate fresh scent of Springtime outdoors. I think next time I will be using some sort of grapefruit or citrus scent or even possibly something a wee bit sultry to match that amazing silky feeling left on the skin. I also added in some white mica (1/2tsp) and some pastel blue (a drop) to give this some shimmer. Let me tell you. You might think you need more shimmer, but PLEASE don’t. Even with these small amount there is more than enough shimmer going on here!

I decided to try the new preservatives I bought while in Ireland. Gracefruit POG  preservative (Phenoxyethanol and Ethylhexylglycerin) and give it a test. If you do not have the same preservative, feel free to use your usual preservative system.

Did you make it? What did you think?

Prepare your work space by wiping everything down with a 10% Bleach solution. Wipe all your equipment, tools, beakers down with isopropyl alcohol. Don’t forget your immersion blender, countertop AND your scales! I like to use beakers when I make stuff, makes me feel all sciency! If you don’t have beakers, use some Pyrex or heat resistant glass cups. Wide mouth Mason jars will work too!

1. Into Beaker A, weigh out all your liquid phase; water, aloe and glycerin. Place into your double boiler on a barely there simmer.
2. Into Beaker B, weigh out all your oil phase; Olivem 1000, wheat germ oil. avocado oil and cetyl alcohol. Place into your double boiler on a barely there simmer.
3. Into Beaker C, weight out your additives; panthenol, liquid wheat, liquid silk, preservative and fragrance oil and set aside.
4. Let Beaker A and Beaker B sit in the double boiler for about 20 to 30 minutes. Once everything is melted, remover Beaker A (liquids), wipe off the outside, and gently pour the contents in Beaker B. Stir gently with your spatula for a moment before removing Beaker B from the double boiler.
5. Using your immersion blender, blend the contents in short bursts until you see things thicken up a wee bit. Continue the short bursts, whilst using your spatula to scrape down the splatter.
6. Once the Body Butter has cooled to below 40C, add the contents of Beaker C and stir.
7. Decant your butter into three 100g pots, or a 250g (you’ll have a wee little bit left over though for immediate use!), leave the cap off while they fully cool down.
8. Label your pots with the date, and enjoy!

 

My 250g pot of Butter grew legs and found a new home.

 

The other pot that grew legs and the new owner has demanded a face lotion that would make her face feel the same. Challenge accepted!

It’s a shame all the sounds I made while trying this lotion for the first time didn’t come through. There were plenty of ooohs and ahhs and holy coffee pots!

 

For some reason, this post was originally posted without pictures. Hopefully, the situation is sorted and all is well! One day soon, this blog will be in a country that will never need to use a VPN!