How to - 2 Ingredient Body Butter with Wax and Oil


This fail-safe body butter can be done in a flash and needs only 2 ingredients. It's perfect for beginners and won't even think of breaking your budget.

But don't be fooled.

Just because it's inexpensive and a snap to make, don't think this body butter won't be the most fabulous skin-loving balm for hands, cuticles, feet, dry patches, elbows, or lips that you've ever tried.

Prepare to get hooked on your own body butter!

This basic formula works beautifully as is, but can also be 'fancied up' to your hearts content.

Are you ready ?

Let's get started!



Texture Perfection

To get the consistency 'just so' with a 2-ingredient body butter, the main challenge is achieve enough body to stay solid without being too stiff to get out of the container, yet soft enough to easily scoop out and smooth on to skin.


And these proportions will provide you with just that:
20% beeswax
80% oil


Oils

You can use any carrier/vegetable oil you like. For this batch, I wanted a neutral oil so the honey-rich scent of beeswax could shine through.

I chose jojoba for the job.


Jojoba? 'Oil'? Excuse me?

OK, if you want to get technical, jojoba is not really an oil. Its chemical composition places it in the wax category, so if you choose jojoba to make this body butter, you are technically making an all wax body butter.


 Other Neutral-smelling Oils

  • sweet almond
  • apricot kernel
  • fractionated coconut oil
  • rice bran


Equipment List

  • Container for your body butter
  • Heatproof container
  • Accurate scale
  • stirrer

Ingredients

For this batch (a modest 55 ml), I used:
  • 10 grams beeswax
  • 40 grams jojoba
  • 3 drops e-vitamin



Method

  1. Weigh out your ingredients
  2. Add to heatproof container
  3. Place container on LOW heat and stir until melted
  4. remove from heat
  5. If using essential oils, add them now
  6. Stir
  7. Pour into container
  8. Let set (room temperature is fine, but you can pop it in the fridge if you like)
  9. Enjoy


Tip: Always weigh your ingredients!  Oil is lighter than water and doesn't 'translate' from ml to grams the way water does. To weigh oil, place a container on the scale, set the scale to 0, then add oil until the desired weight is reached.



Here is the mixture right after I poured it. I decided to try it out as a lip balm as well and filled a container. It set quite quickly as you can see here.

Tip: Wipe excess product from your heatproof container with paper towel while it is still warm. This will easily remove product that will otherwise do its darndest to clog up your pipes and cost you thousands in plumbing repairs. You're welcome.

The Yummy Texture

Here's a peek at this butter after a period of use. At room temperature, it remains soft, spreadable and that honey-rich scent keeps me coming back for more.

It's a hit!





PS: When I write room temperature, I am referring to 19°-22° C / 66° - 71° F.


Getting Fancy

Any of the following elements can be incorporated to tailor this formula to your needs. Remember to subtract from the oil when you add anything. For example, if you add 5 grams of herb-infused oil, use 5 grams less of the other oil you are using.

  • essential oils of choice (max 20 drops pr. 100 ml of product). Depending on the oil, 20-27 drops of essential oil equals 1 gram
  • Herb-infused oils (replace all or part of the oil)
  • Spice-infused oils (replace all or part of the oil)
  • Oil-based Herbal extracts (for example: carrot, calendula, arnica)


More About Body Butters on this Blog

The Basics of Body Butter
Plant Butters - Hardness and Melting Points
10 Uses for Body Butter
2- ingredient body butter using butter and oil
How to make a super soft Body Butter

Comments

Signe said…
I use and make lots of this kind of salves, usually with some herb-infused oil. My mother loves them, and so do I. ;)
Anonymous said…
This is a lovely recipe! Could I use another wax such as olive or soy to achieve the same result?

Thank you,

Ayanda
LisaLise said…
Hej Signe - Ooh I would love to hear more about your salves and how you make and use them.
LisaLise said…
Hi Ayanda - I'm not sure how other waxes will work, but if you want to try, start with a small portion and see how it behaves. I use an olive wax as an emulsifier, and have as yet to work with soy wax, so I'm afraid I cannot share any experiences in this particular use of these waxes.

Please drop a comment and let me know how it works for you if you give it a try!
Signe said…
Hej, Lise - if you find word "salvat" from my blog's right side, you can read about salves I've made. I think I haven't wrote about them all, but some at least...
LisaLise said…
Hi Signe - I've just had a look - oh that tar salve looks interesting!! Thanks for sharing this!
Unknown said…
Hi! Love your blog, between you and Marie at Humblebee&me, you guys have all the answers! I was wondering about this recipe, it sounds awesome, I can't wait to try it! Wondered if I try chilling it a little while then whipping it, how it would turn out? Some people like the "balmy" type butters, others like them whipped and my people love both! I'd love to make this for my daughter, using oils infused with lavender, chamomile, calendula & rose petals for her eczema. But she likes it whipped so what do you think? Also, how will this work in lip balm tubes? Or is it better in tins? Thanks so much for all of the things you share!
LisaLise said…
Hi Crystal - First - thank you kindly for your lovely compliment about my blog. I know Marie at Humblebee and me would be equally flattered to hear such praise! You ask a very interesting question as to whipping this mixture. I've never tried to whip just oil and wax and am now curious to see if it can even be done. If you decide to give it a go, I'd love to hear your feedback! If you make this as is described, it works perfectly in both lip balm tubes as well as tins. Best of luck with it!
Unknown said…
Ha ha now that I know it's not been tried I HAVE to try it! I will post back in a few days and let you know ow the results! Thanks again!
LisaLise said…
Hi Crystal -- wonderful! Let the experimenting begin! I have to try this now too -- we can compare notes 😊
Unknown said…
OK so I really tried, lol. I used your percentages for a total of 4 Oz. When it really didn't do much I added another .25 Oz of melted beeswax. It got creamy but not fluffy. I ended up adding .50 Oz of mango butter and still no fluff. Lol. But it did end up more like a lotion than a body butter. I added 1/2 tsp corn starch to cut down on the greasiness but it is now loose enough to be pumped! Lol. Well it was worth a try, I was told that I was fighting chemistry by trying it and that I needed to use butters instead of wax. I shall continue with a few Lil adjustmentso and will let ya know what I get then. Thanks! It's been fun!
LisaLise said…
Hi Crystal - thanks so much for your feedback! I know it is fighting chemistry to try and create a whipped product with oil and wax, but this is the part that makes me want to explore it. So, you have now created a lovely lotion for yourself with very few ingredients instead. I'd say that was not a complete loss. Thanks again for diving into this and sharing your experience!
Sandra said…
Hi there,
you mention Aloe as a possible substitute.
Would Aloe GEL work as well? That's what i can get where I live
I'm a new bee with this, so no idea yet of the actual differences in the product. In fact, haven't even seen/held them.

Thx
LisaLise said…
HI Sandra - Sorry but I can't seem to find where I mention aloe as a substitute-- this is an anhydrous (water free) product..