So back when I was pregnant with my 3rd baby, I wanted to find a good moisturizer for my belly.
Palmer's smells amazing, but I just wasn't keen on all the chemicals in their products.
The smell and benefits of cocoa butter was what I was looking for and thanks to Amazon and Whole Foods, it is is easily procured.
I did a little research on cocoa butter and found a recipe for homemade body butter.
It seemed relatively simple and I had most of the ingredients in my house already, so I figured I would try it.
To make body butter, you basically melt some raw butters (shea and cocoa) with oils (olive or coconut) and also some essential oils, chill and whip.
I can't find the photo of the final product from when I made it last year but, it looked exactly like this:
So light and fluffy! The cocoa butter smelled amazing! I can't quite remember what essential oils I used back then, but I just remember how impressed I was with the final product and how good it felt on my skin!
Anyways, when I recently read online that you can make stress-relieving magnesium body butter for post-workout muscle soreness, I just HAD to try it!!!
Magnesium is essential for life, but modern water filtration and agricultural practices have dramatically reduced our Mg2+ intake and therefore we all pretty need to be taking a supplement either orally or topically (read more about Magnesium here ).
I take magnesium daily and also apply it topically (as an oil) sometimes.
Lately, I've begun massaging it onto my sore muscles and it works great for that too!
The oil is a little messy to work with, so the prospect of making a body butter that also contained stress-relieving essential oils...well I was all over it!
So yesterday, amidst the messy kitchen (because nothing was going to stop me from making this stuff) I spent 10 minutes making the following recipe:
In a double boiler combine the following:
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup shea butter (raw/unrefined, organic)
1/4 cup cocoa butter
Heat until the oils and butters are mostly in liquid form.
Remove from heat and add:
1/4 cup magnesium oil
20 drops (give or take) of essential oils-I used a calm body concoction that contains lavender, vanilla, sandalwood, chamomile, marjoram, and Ylang Ylang (whatever that is?).
Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes (it will look NOTHING like the final product, don't panic).
Then whip either with egg beaters or a kitchen mixer until the butter is has peaks and is fluffy, basically it should look like the picture above.
Store it in a glass or plastic container with a lid in the fridge if you want it cold when you apply it to your muscles.
I've read that adding peppermint essential oil creates a menthol effect, so I'm trying that next!
Let me know if you try it and what you think!
Share photos on Instagram and tag @sarahsmithstrength
Happy butter making!
xoxo
Sarah