Lavender Body Butter

This super-easy-to-make homemade lotion is gluten-free and soy-free and provides a cheaper alternative to store-bought body care products. 

Do you dream about going to the spa? I do. I dream about going to a spa in the mountains or near a body of water that is bigger than the puddle of water sitting in my backyard. For now, however, those dreams must remain dreams.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy spa treatments at home. Or maybe settle for feeling like we are getting spa treatments at home.

Because this body butter is all things indulgent. I mean, it’s just “good-bye world, hello guilty-pleasure movies on Netflix.” And it’s gluten-free and dairy-free. So winning in the at-home spa department.

As far as allergies go, soy is the absolute worst. Okay, maybe not the worst. Allergies in general are pretty bad. But in our family, soy was the hardest to figure out because it is in EVERYTHING. And it’s marketed as being super healthy. And maybe it is. Unless, of course, you are allergic to it like Toodle is. 

It’s a tricky little numskull, hiding about under different names. Added in place of gluten and wheat (so precious when you also have a wheat allergy and gluten intolerance). I nearly lost my mind reading up on life with a soy allergy.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. I’m going to end up on an episode of Cops one day for throat punching soy outside a health foods store. I. Cannot. Even.

A few searches around the internet showed that it is possible to make one’s own lotion, and without the use of a homemade ice cream machine. Don’t ask me why, but I always assumed that to make one’s own lotion the use of a cheese cloth and an ice cream maker would be necessary. I was convinced that’s how Laura Ingalls Wilder would do it. Cheese cloth and a hand-crank ice cream maker. 

For real.

You don’t need those things. And what would be much to Mom’s delight, you also don’t need a double broiler. While I was in high school, The Gram got it in her head that the reason Mom hadn’t remarried was because she didn’t own a double broiler. The Gram chided Mom for the oversight, and Mom pushed right back. She didn’t need a man or a double broiler, she said. The Gram disagreed. Mom, she thought, needed both.

When The Gram asked me to weigh in as the tie-break, I took the opportunity to excuse myself to do homework I didn’t actually have. 

Bottom line? You don’t need anything fancy. Also, never be the tie-break in a battle between The Gram and Mom. Go do you homework, even if you don’t have any.

For this recipe, all you need is a saucepan and a lidded glass jar that can withstand high heat. Voila! You have the right utensils.

There is one point I MUST stress to you. This stuff is Ah-mazing. And as such, a VERY LITTLE GOES A VERY LONG WAY. This isn’t a dip-your-whole-hand-in-the-body-butter-jar kind of thing. Nope. Huh uh. No way. It’s a delicate dip of the tip of one finger. If you make the mistake of the former, like I did, you will become a greaseball. If you do the latter, you will have wonderful body butter to last an entire season. 

The combinations of ingredients gives this body butter a wonderful scent on its own. However, if you would like to add other scents to it, a few of my favorite choices and combinations are:

• Lavender
• Lemongrass
• A combo of the first two
• Orange & Texas Cedarwood
• Coconut & lime
• Vanilla
• Peppermint

I am not an essential oils expert by any stretch of the imagination, using them only for making things smell nice. But I have read that citrus scents can cause photosensitive reactions in the sun. As always, you can talk with your healthcare provider about how that could affect you. What I typically do is use lavender during the day and my citrus faves at night or on areas of the body that aren’t exposed to the sun. 

Another point, for those with dry skin, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE using lavender sugar scrub in the bath, shower, or during hand washing PRIOR to using this. Midwest winters get the better of my hands, and when I finally succumbed to the one-two punch of sugar scrub first and body butter second, my hands were instantly like new. I’m telling you, get your hands on these recipes, pun absolutely intended! 

Lavender Body Butter

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup coconut oil (The more coconut oil you use, the more it will be a solid, almost bar-like, consistency. Make a few batches to see which you prefer.)
• 1/4 cup beeswax chunks or pellets
• 1 tsp glycerine
• Essential oils or extracts of choice, optional (Courtesy of the beeswax, this body butter has a delightful scent on its own)

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients in a glass jar that can withstand heat.
2. Fill a saucepan with water. Depending on the size of the jar in relation to the saucepan, I will fill it 1/4 to 1/3 of the way full. I don’t want the water to overtake the jar, but I also don’t want to wait 24 hours for everything to melt! 🙂
3. Put a lid on the jar. Keep this loose enough that some steam can escape but not so loose that the ingredients don’t melt.
4. Bring water to a boil, periodically removing the lid to stir the ingredients (I like to use a butter knife for this).
5. Add more water, if necessary.
6. Once all ingredients are melted (the beeswax takes the longest to melt), pour mixture into glad jars and, once cooled, use as you would any other lotion (noting that a little goes a very long way!).

Notes

The mixture will be smooth, firm surface at first. You can either swipe the surface with your finger whenever you want a little lotion, or, once it has cooled, you can stir the with a spoon so that it resembles more of a butter or lotion. I have included pictures of bot in this post so you can see the difference.