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Belly Butter

This lovely belly butter got me through two pregnancies with no stretch marks!  It is packed with Vitamin E and other antioxidants that are nourishing and regenerative to the skin.  This butter can be applied daily to support the skin around the belly, breasts, butt and thighs as they change shape to accommodate for your growing baby. It is designed to help with the prevention of stretch marks and minimize the visibility of stretch marks already present on the skin.  It is also lovely to use daily as an all over body moisturizer and is gentle enough for kiddos.

Don’t have time to make your own? Check out Mama’s Belly Butter, available now in The Little Herbal Apothecary

Tools Needed:

Kitchen scale, Hand blender, Mixing bowl, Heat-safe glass measuring cup, Small saucepan, Containers

Ingredients:

6 oz net wt Shea Butter
2.5 oz net wt Cocoa Butter
2 fl. oz Rosehip Seed Oil
3 fl. oz Calendula Infused Olive Oil
20 drops Frankincense Essential Oil
15 drops Lavender Essential Oil
10 drops German (Blue) Chamomile Essential Oil

Shea butter is  is naturally high in antioxidant vitamins A and E. It is very moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, soothing, regenerative for the skin and increases circulation.

Cocoa butter, also naturally high in Vitamin E, is the number one remedy for the prevention and treatment of stretch marks.  It moisturizes, protects, conditions and restores the skin’s elasticity.

Rosehip Seed Oil is super high in Vitamin C and Essential Fatty Acids.  It is commonly used for the prevention and treatment of scars as it helps to maintain the skin’s elasticity and reduces the visibility of lines.

The essential oil blend is soothing, anti-inflammatory, and repairs the skin.

Blending Instructions:

Weigh out the cocoa butter and place in a double boiler on low heat to melt.

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Weigh out the shea butter and place in a large mixing bowl.  Chop it up as much as you can with a knife.  Shea butter does not like to be heated, that is why you have to incorporate it into the other oils with a blender.  If you do heat shea, once it hardens, it will have a slightly gritty consistency.  It does not make the butter bad it just won’t feel as nice as a smooth, creamy butter will.  Trust me it is worth the extra effort.

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Measure the Rosehip Seed Oil & Calendula Infused Olive Oil and pour them into the bowl with the shea butter.  Once the cocoa butter is completely melted, pour it into the mixing bowl with the shea & oils.

Blend with the hand mixer until the oils are completely incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Add the essential oils at this point if desired.

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Continue to blend with the hand mixer until the butter becomes fluffy (it will start to peak like egg whites).

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Spoon the butter into clean, dry containers.  Label and date.  The shelf life of this product is about 1 year.  It is super stable and could even go longer than that as long as it is stored away from light and heat and no water is introduced into the container.

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11 Comments

  • Reply
    Homemade Belly Butter Recipe | Herbs and Oils Hub
    September 24, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    […] Homemade Belly Butter Recipe […]

  • Reply
    Amanda
    December 21, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    I’m having a bit of a problem. I don’t have a kitchen scale. How do i figure out the measurements

    • Reply
      the little herbal
      December 22, 2013 at 11:46 pm

      Hi Amanda,

      Here is a basic recipe for body butter using volume measurements instead:
      2 parts Shea Butter
      1 part Cocoa Butter
      1 part Liquid Oils

      So, if you apply that to this recipe, it would be:
      8 fluid ounces of Shea butter
      4 fluid ounces of Cocoa butter
      4 fluid ounces of Liquid Oils (jojoba & rosehip)

      The cocoa butter is pretty hard and so it is difficult to measure by volume. I usually melt it down in a heat safe measuring cup. That way, once it is all melted, you can determine how much volume you have. If you need to add more at that point to get to 4 ounces you can.

      I hope this is helpful. Thanks for reading and have fun making belly butter!
      Faith

  • Reply
    Mary Handy
    February 14, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    I made it. Perfect texture. I switched out the oils to fit my needs, but I love, love the texture this recipe provides!! Just like whipping cream.

    • Reply
      the little herbal
      February 15, 2014 at 2:54 am

      Thanks Mary! So glad you are loving the butter, switching the oils and making it your own!

  • Reply
    angela
    May 18, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    would now solutions coco butter with jojoba oil work instead of separately buying both ingredients?

    Thanks!
    Angela

    • Reply
      the little herbal
      May 18, 2015 at 7:55 pm

      Hi Angela,

      I haven’t used that product. As long as it is just those two ingredients, it should work!

  • Reply
    LORI
    August 14, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    when adding the heated cocoa butter and following the recipe I couldn’t get the peaks to form. Should I have waited a little for the cocoa butter to cool? I also used naturally refined shea butter and wonder if I should have used unrefined shea. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks! 🙂

    • Reply
      the little herbal
      August 17, 2015 at 1:57 pm

      Hi Lori,

      Yes, you do have to continue mixing past the point where the whole mixture begins to cool and harden. Then you will see the peaks. You can always stick it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to speed the cooling process and then mix again once removed.

      Using naturally refined shea butter is just fine! They are usually just removing the color and scent, but it still has the moisturizing properties.

      Have fun!

  • Reply
    Alyssa Bailey
    September 29, 2016 at 11:11 am

    My butter turned out bright yellow (I think from the rosehip I used?) and a bit more dense. Definitely not the whipped cream texture everyone is describing. It is slightly gritty, but I was thinking that maybe I just need to let the cocoa butter cool a little before mixing everything together??

    • Reply
      the little herbal
      September 29, 2016 at 8:20 pm

      Yes! The yellow color is from the rosehip seed oil. It varies a lot from batch to batch. The ones I have been getting lately are very red which makes the butter golden yellow 🙂 It’s just lovely. The gritty texture could be a few things. Was the shea butter that you used gritty to begin with? Often times if the shea has been previously heated it will start out gritty which means your butter will also be gritty. It’s not bad, just takes a bit more work to rub in. Or, it could be in the mixing process. You want to mix and mix until all the chunks are completely gone. You have to swirl it around or even feel it to make sure there are no more chunks. Then as it is cooling, continue to mix until it starts to fluff up a bit, like egg whites. If you still find the consistency too dense, you can use more oil next time and less cocoa butter. You could try 2 pt shea, 2 pt liquid oils, 1 pt cocoa butter. That will make it lighter. Have fun!

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