Word around the family is that I used to make lotions and potions. True. I dug out my old herbal books and did some research for a homemade beeswax body butter. I even had some coconut oil and beeswax in my stash of goods. Guess what? Beeswax has an incredibly long shelf life (25 years.) So here is one of my first tries in this decade and it was so easy and so delectable. Can I say that about something you don’t eat? This is a thick body butter that feels oily (buttery) when you first put it on your skin, but it quickly smooths into a nice fragrant softness.

All the ingredients are natural, no mineral oil — no emulsifying wax.  I have already made a second batch with my daughter-in-law. One of the best things about this recipe is you make it right in the jar — no mess. And it is quick.

I used the light olive oil; it has a lighter smell and color than extra virgin olive oil. But of course, you can use whatever olive oil you like. I have also made it with a high grade Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  If you love the smell of beeswax (which I do), don’t add essential oils for scent. I have made several batches — some scented some not. But I love them all. Here is one of the recipes. I’ve concocted quite a few now.

By the way, some coconut oils are stronger in coconut scent — so if you don’t like the coconut smell, choose one that is filtered (no coconut smell) or go with my other recipe that does not have coconut oil in it.

If you want one with shea,  I recommend my beeswax body butter with shea butter. It’s one of my favorites. Shea butter has many different smells too — the ultra filtered ones have less smokey shea smell.

You can also use any kind of oil if you don’t like olive oil, try sunflower oil or sweet almond oil. Both are good for your skin.

 

Homemade Beeswax Body Butter Ingredients 

1 cup extra light olive oil or extra virgin olive oil (extra virgin olive oil has a stronger olive smell — You can use almond oil instead or sunflower oil works well too.

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup  beeswax pastilles or cut up pieces from a block of beeswax
20 drops of your favorite essential oil —   lavendar,   lemon, whatever you like or want to try. Or you can leave it unscented — which is nice too. Rose essential oil has become very expensive these days! I can’t afford it anymore. Lavendar is still within my price range.

 

Things you need:

1 pint glass mason canning jar
Spoon or fork
Saucepan

beeswax body butter

Directions for homemade beeswax body butter in a jar

1.  Put all three ingredients in the glass mason jar (Amazon link) the olive oil, coconut oil (pack it in a measuring cup or heat it over the stove or place the jar in some warm water until the coconut oil becomes liquid, or microwave it for about 30 sec. if it is in a glass container) and beeswax.

 

 All ingredients in the mason jar and placed in a pan of water over the stove:
2.  Place the jar in a pan of water with the water level at about 3/4 of the jar.
  1. Turn the stove on low/medium, stir occasionally, until the beeswax is melted.

 

  1. Remove from heat and let it cool. Add the rose essential oil. You can put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process, but if you forget it, you will have to re-melt it. I find that I can leave it on the counter. Stir every 15 minutes with a fork. It begins to solidify as it cools. You can also put the lid on it after it has cooled a bit and then shake it instead of stirring (although this gets a layer of cream on the lid — but sometimes I find this easier than the fork method.) I have also just let it cool without stirring and that works.

 

  1. That’s it! You have a beeswax body butter or beeswax hand cream, whatever you want to call it.