Homemade Mess-Free Body Butter

This past Christmas I had fun making lots of homemade gifts.  We were short on cash but I managed to make several neat gifts that I will continue making and using in our own family.  One of those gifts was hand salve.  I found this great recipe for hand salve at renegademothering.com.  

Here's what I love about this recipe:

• Once you buy the ingredients, they last a long time and you can just keep them on hand

• It's melt and pour!  So simple.  No emulsifying required.

• It literally took 20 minutes from start to finish and that was with stopping and starting for filming.  

• It's mess free.  You use the same container over and over with no washing required.

• One recipe makes 2 full 4 oz Jelly Jars.  Not too much but enough to have extra on hand. Or give away!

• It's very customize-able with endless possibilities to suit your needs and desires.

• No chemicals or unwanted toxins!

So I got the idea for body butter because I loved the hand salve so much.  My growing pregnant belly requires some extra attention right now so I needed to find a moisturizer to take care of my expanding skin.  This is baby number three so stretch marks have already happened.  And to be quite honest I'm mighty proud of my tiger stripes.  I have two beautiful boys to show for them.  But there's nothing wrong with treating my skin to some pampering.  

For the original hand salve recipe click HERE.  

This is the version that I used to make a creamy butter-like consistency for my belly.  You can use this for your whole body.  I like to slather up after a nice hot shower or bath.

Body Butter/Belly Butter

1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup almond oil
1/4 cup organic extra virgin coconut oil
2 tbsp bees wax pellets (When making a salve you'll want to add another tbsp)
1 tsp vitamin E oil
5 drops Eucalyptus Essential oil
30 drops Lavender Essential oil (known for scar healing properties)

In a mason jar, combine all ingredients except for the essential oil.  Place jar in a pot filled with an inch or so of boiling water.  Swirl the ingredients around a few times until melted together.  It took about 5 minutes.  Remove from water and add the essential oil.  Then pour the mixture into your containers.  That's it!

Here's a step by step video tutorial with some tips and tricks that I used.

Stay tuned for my lip balm tutorial later this week!