Lavender and Shea Butter Body Butter

Lavender shea butter is a body butter made by melting shea butter with coconut oil and stirring in lavender essential oil. Baraka's shea butter is unrefined and made by hand by the women of the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana.

Lavender shea butter: what it is and what goes in it

It is a simple three-ingredient body butter: shea butter, coconut oil and lavender essential oil. The shea butter is the base, the coconut oil makes it softer to scoop and spread, and the lavender adds a soft floral scent. Nothing else goes in.

This recipe was originally published in 30 Shea Butter DIY Recipes.

Shea butter

Baraka's shea butter is unrefined. It is strained and filtered only, with no refining, bleaching or deodorising. Women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana make it by hand. Wayne Dunn has worked directly with the Centre for over 15 years.

Shea butter is traditionally used on dry skin, lips, hands, feet and hair. It is solid at room temperature and melts on contact with skin, which is why it works well as the base of a body butter. Shea is the seed of a fruit.

Its natural colour runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow and varies between batches. A mild nutty smell is normal and is not a fault. Your finished body butter will carry that colour, and the lavender will sit over the nutty smell.

Coconut oil

Virgin coconut oil is solid below about 75°F (24°C) and clear liquid above it. It moves between the two readily, and this does not affect quality. Expect your body butter to firm up and soften with the temperature of the room in the same way. Virgin coconut oil absorbs quickly rather than sitting on the skin, and it keeps the fresh coconut aroma that refined coconut oil loses.

Lavender essential oil

Lavender is here for its scent. Essential oils are strong, so measure by the drop. For a body product, keep essential oil to 2% of the total weight or less. The 10 drops in this recipe (about 0.5 g) sit comfortably inside that limit. Because it contains essential oil, do not use this body butter on babies or young children.

How to make lavender and shea butter body butter: step by step

Melt the shea butter and coconut oil together in a double boiler, take the pan off the heat, stir in the lavender essential oil, then pour into a clean jar and let it cool completely. The whole job takes one pan and one jar.

Before you start, wash and dry your jar and utensils so nothing waters down or contaminates the butter. Measure everything first, because the lavender goes in as soon as the pan comes off the heat.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) shea butter
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) virgin coconut oil
• 10 drops (about 0.5 g) lavender essential oil

You will also need a double boiler and a clean jar with a lid.

If you need shea butter for this recipe, Baraka's unrefined shea butter is the one made by hand at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre.

Directions

1. Melt the shea butter and coconut oil together in a double boiler.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the lavender essential oil.
3. Pour the mixture into a clean jar and let it cool completely before putting the lid on.

Let the butter set undisturbed. It will turn from a clear golden liquid to a soft, opaque butter as it cools. If your kitchen is warm, it may stay softer than you expect, because coconut oil melts at a low temperature.

Storage

Keep the jar closed, away from heat and direct sun. Shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, and virgin coconut oil is highly saturated, so it keeps far longer than most oils and needs no added antioxidant. Use clean, dry hands or a clean spoon when you scoop, so water and dirt stay out of the jar.

The butter may soften in a warm room and firm up again in a cool one. That is normal. If you want it firmer in summer, keep the jar somewhere cooler.

Making it your own

The recipe is deliberately short, so the ingredients you choose matter. Unrefined shea butter keeps its natural colour and mild nutty smell, which is part of what you are making. If you want a lighter scent, use fewer drops of lavender, and if you want none, leave the essential oil out. The butter still works as a plain shea and coconut body butter.

Do not swap in other essential oils without checking the limits above, and keep scented butters away from babies and young children.

Quick answers

Lavender shea butter

Lavender shea butter is a body butter made by melting shea butter with coconut oil and stirring in lavender essential oil. This recipe uses 1/2 cup (120 ml) shea butter, 1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut oil and 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Baraka's unrefined shea butter, strained and filtered only and made by hand by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, suits it well.

How to make lavender and shea butter body butter?

Melt 1/2 cup (120 ml) shea butter and 1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut oil together in a double boiler. Take it off the heat and stir in 10 drops of lavender essential oil. Pour it into a clean jar and let it cool completely before you use it. More in Instructions: