Whipped shea butter takes four ingredients, a whisk and a few hours in the fridge. This recipe makes a light, scented body butter, and explains how much fragrance oil to add and how to make shea butter smell the way you want.
Why shea butter?
Shea butter is a rich, solid fat from the nut of the shea tree. It is full of fatty acids that soften and moisturise dry skin, which is why it is used in so many body butters and balms. On its own it is dense and waxy. Whipping it with a little liquid oil turns it into a light, fluffy cream that spreads easily.
Ingredients
This makes about 70 g, enough for a small jar.
- Refined shea butter: 50 g
- Refined coconut oil: 10 g
- Sweet almond oil: 10 g
- A perfume oil: 0.7 g to 2 g, depending on the oil (see below)
How much fragrance oil to add
For a 70 g batch, 0.7 g of fragrance oil is 1% and 2 g is about 3%. How much you can use depends on the oil. Each of our perfume oils lists a maximum level for creams in its usage table, and the limits vary a lot. Vanilla can be used at over 10% in a cream, so 2 g is well within its limit. Rose is limited to 0.61%, so in a 70 g batch you should use no more than about 0.4 g. Check the limit for the oil you choose, and weigh the fragrance on a small digital scale rather than counting drops.
Method
- Melt the shea butter, coconut oil and almond oil together in a double boiler: a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, so the ingredients warm without direct heat.
- Once everything has melted, take the bowl off the heat. Chill it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, or in the freezer for about an hour, until it is firm but not rock hard.
- Whip it with a hand mixer or a whisk for a few minutes, until it turns pale, fluffy and roughly doubles in volume.
- Add the fragrance oil and whip for another minute to mix it in. Adding it at the end, when the butter is cool, keeps more of the scent than stirring it into hot oil.
- Spoon it into a clean, dry jar with a lid, and label it with the date and the fragrance you used.
Work with clean tools and clean hands, and keep water out of the jar.
How to make shea butter smell better
Unrefined shea butter has a strong nutty, smoky smell that some people don't like, and it can clash with a fragrance. Refined shea butter has been filtered to remove most of that smell, so it is the better base for a scented body butter. Warm, sweet scents such as vanilla, amber and coconut sit naturally with shea's own soft smell, while fresh citrus and florals come across best at the upper end of their limit.
How to use it
Apply it after a shower or bath, onto skin that is still slightly damp, and massage it in. Coconut oil can soften it in the heat, so keep the jar out of the sun in summer.
Can I add colour?
Yes, but only oil-soluble colours or cosmetic pigments. Add them at the whipping stage, a very small amount at a time.
How long does it keep?
Stored in a clean, closed jar in a cool, dry place, whipped shea butter keeps for up to three months. Throw it away if the smell changes or you see any spots of mould, which usually means water got into the jar.
Looking for another recipe? Try our whipped shea butter, sugar and coffee scrub.