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Whipped Belly Butter Tutorial

Filed Under: Lotion

 

3 oz. Calendula-Infused Jojoba Oil
.3 oz. total, equal parts: German Chamomile, Carrot Seed, Frankincense (optional), Helischryum (optional), 
Get all of the ingredients you need in the click of a button!

Wondering why I chose all the ingredients I did? I wrote an explanation here. Curious about how to infuse oils? Tutorial here.

Directions

Weigh out all of your ingredients (volume doesn’t provide the same. This is a photo of the German Chamomile. It is a dark beautiful blue.

Warm your liquid oils in the microwave and put the cocoa butter in with them. Melt until the cocoa butter is melted in. You might need to stir it a bit to get the last of the cocoa butter melted in. Do not melt the shea butter. Add your warmed oils onto the shea butter.  Using a stick blender, ‘trap’ the shea butter chunks under your stick blender and blend them up until they incorporate into the mixture.

 

Turn on your stand mixer on low (it can splatter oils otherwise). Slowly start to increase the speed to medium and whip until all the butters are fully mixed in. The mixture looks lighter and fluffy, sort of like a warm frosting. Pour into containers.
Allow to harden before use. Balm melts almost instantly on contact with skin and is incredibly skin loving and nourishing. Amber in the office swears that is has cured her dry and cracking fingers (darn that cold spell we’re having) and my belly looks moisturized (albeit a bit larger than normal). No more itchy, peeling skin for me! Note: This is designed to be a more therapeutic recipe. It won’t smell delicious and fruity. If you’re going for sweet and fruity smells, stick with fragrance oils.
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95 Comments

  1. How long do you think this takes to whip up nicely? I’m making my first batch and am going on an hour of whipping and it still doesn’t look like frosting. I got it to look like pudding, but that’s it so far. I am using a hand mixer and I’m whipping it for about 10-15 minutes and then letting it sit for a few minutes and then trying again. I also subbed out the jojoba for avocado oil because I didn’t have any jojoba.

    • Good morning, Trisha!

      This should only take about 10-15 minutes to whip up nicely if you are using a stand mixer. With a hand mixer, it could take a little longer, perhaps about 15-20 minutes.

      Since you subbed out the Jojoba Oil for Olive Oil, the recipe is going to act a little different and probably stay more of a pudding-like consistency. If you wanted to thicken it up a bit, I’d suggest melting a bit more Cocoa Butter and adding it in.

      I hope this helps! 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Hi April! Due to FDA regulations, we cannot claim that this whipped belly butter will prevent stretch marks, but Anne-Marie found that it worked really well for hers and we’ve also had other customers know that it worked wonders on their stretch marks. I hope this helps. 🙂
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  3. Can’t wait to try this! How much does this recipe make?

    Which recipe should be used to make the infused oil? I have seen one on here that says 16 oz oil with 1/2 oz petals and steep for an hour. If this is the correct recipe, does it really take 16 oz of oil to make 2.5 oz of infused oil??

    Also, would not using the German Chamomile make a huge difference to save on cost? I would like to make this for quite a few people for gifts.

    I am trying to replicate the scent of the Aveeno stress relieving lotion which has Ylang Ylang, lavendar and chamomile. What would you suggest for total amount of the oils for scent purposes in this recipe? I will do my best to play with the individual amounts but would like a good total amount to build to.

    Thank you so much for your help!

    • You are going to adore this recipe, Kristy! This recipe will make 24.5 ounce, but it will be a bit more luminous once you whip it. The volume will increase by about 15% once whipped.

      And, you can use any recipe you would like to infuse the Calendula into the Jojoba Oil. The easiest way to infuse is to make sure you have enough oil to just cover your herb or botanical.

      German Chamomile does not have to be used in this recipe, but we found it to be a pregnancy-safe essential oil that really enhanced the recipe.

      When making any recipe, you can always use Bramble Berry’s Fragrance Calculator to get a safe usage rate of any of our essential or fragrance oils. For this particular recipe, you would only want to go up to about .5 ounces of any essential oil blend you are working with.

      Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx

      I hope this helps!
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  4. Thank you for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it. I’m currently 4 months pregnant with my 3rd and am just starting to get a belly. I have been looking for something to use and came across this recipe. I don’t have jojoba oil, but I do have some avocado oil I think I’ll try subbing. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

  5. Would it be beneficial to add Tapioca Powder for to this recipe to cut down on the grease, or is it not necessary here?

  7. Quick question– I’m still new to lotion making, looking up some natural recipes and I really like this one! Since this does not involve water, it never needs a preservative correct? I want to be able to sell something like this to my clients, but I don’t want to sell them something with a shelf life of only a month or two. Will this still be ok without the preservative for an extended period of time?

    • Sorry, just saw the comment above mine about the shelf life. No preservative necessary though, right? Also, I live in Arizona, and keep my house at about 80 degrees to avoid a ridiculous electric bill. How does this hold up to warmer temperatures? Thanks! 🙂

    • You are correct! Since there is no water in this recipe, you will not need a preservative. This recipe will have at least a one year shelf life, which is the shelf-life of the Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter.
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  8. Hello Anne-Marie!
    I’m your foreign fan 😉 So probably my english isn’t good.
    Your site is great! A lot of useful recipies and advices! Keep up the amazing work!
    I am interested in this question: what the shelf life for this cream? How long I could use it? And the others? What does it depend on?

    • Hi Sophia!

      The shelf life of this cream is probably going to be about a year. The unrefined hemp oil has the shortest shelf life out of the oils, so to be on the safe side, we suggest 9 months as a conservative estimate! =)
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  9. Hey Ladies, I am IN LOVE with your coffee butter… to that end, can you give me a suggestion on how to incorporate it in the above belly butter recipe (which I use for my mature VERY dry skin down here in (HOT ALREADY) inland So Cal?
    Kindest Regards and Happy Spring!

    • You could easily take out a few ounces of the Shea Butter and sub them for coffee butter with no issues around texture.

  10. Am excited to make this for a baby shower coming up. (I just got the friend who’s pregnant into soaping & hooked on Brambleberry, so I think she’ll like it!)

    I’m wondering if I can sub some coconut oil in there somewhere? Maybe for a bit of the shea? I decided to go without EOs because I don’t know what she’s discussed with her doctor, but I thought a bit of coconut oil might impart a nice scent (plus I love coconut oil’s qualities!) What are your thoughts?

    • That’s so nice of you to make this for your friend. It’s really the perfect gift for an expectant mother, and I know she’s going to totally love it. 🙂

      You can substitute in coconut oil for some of the shea butter, but keep in mind that will make the balm softer and slightly more oily. While the coconut oil won’t give your balm any natural coconut smell, if you leave it unscented you will get a lovely, soft chocolate fragrance from the cocoa butter. Super yummy!

      -Courtney with Bramble Berry

      • Thanks for the quick response! I’ll experiment a bit with the coconut oil and see what I think. I forgot how much oilier it is… I love that, but not everyone does… This will be a fun weekend project while I wait for my next soap supplies order to arrive 🙂

        • Came out beautifully by the way! I found a cute jar to package it in too. And I scented the leftover lavender-vanilla for me to use for dry skin 🙂

  11. Dear Anne Marie,
    This recipe looks wonderful. Especially for my very dry hands and feet.
    I understand that liquid oils can be substituted ofr other liquid oils if you don’t have hemp or jojoba. Which one would you choose as a substitute among olive oil, sw almaond oil and castor oil?

    And my next question is: Is it ok to use roman chamomile oil or (infused dry roman chamomile in oil) instead of german chamomile?

    Thanks,

    • Skip the castor oil. It acts very differently than Almond or Olive Oil. Either of those would be great.

      German Chamomile and Roman Chamomile also act extremely different. They are both lovely in skin care products but German Chamomile has slightly different properties (more anti irritant) than the Roman Chamomile. Infused Roman Chamomile would be a lovely product though … =)

      • I used calendula infused olive oil instead of jojoba and sweet almond oil instead of hemp. The body butter seems to quite nice, I like the smell (cocoa butter and the chamomile) too and has a mousse like nice texture.
        I have one question though: It feels a bit greasy at the initial contact with the skin. Is it because of the olive oil? Or would any oil-regardless of it being jojoba or olive or anything else- give the same feeling? I understand beeswax only helps to get it arder. Is there anything else I can use to reduce the greasy feeling but get the same benefits this recipe is designed for?
        Many thanks,
        Pelin

  15. Gave it a try! I discovered that 100F cocoa butter will not mix well with the shea. And putting the result in the freezer creates a lumpy mess. I tried to bring that to room temp and whip, but it was still pretty lumpy even after a few minutes on high. So into the microwave it went for 30 seconds, which turns it into a cream–still very thick, but soft and finally emulsified. That I whipped up, and tossed half in the freezer, half left out, to see if it makes a difference. As experiments go, it probably isn’t very useful (too many variables, because of changing tack mid production), but we’ll see. Thanks for the help! A variation on this was a very good seller this year, so I’d really like to get it down and not have to worry about granulation.

    • Oooooh, keep me posted! I am sooooo interested and curious! If you did the Cocoa Butter and mixed THAT with the liquid oils before trying to incorporate the Shea and made it much more liquid-y, I bet that might help to keep everything whipped.

      • Good news is that there is no granulation 14 days later. I think it would have started by now. The first batches I made were fine; the two that granulated may have just had the cocoa butter heated too hot or something. In any case, I’m going to do another batch, put a sample aside, and if all is well in a week or so, bring those out for sale. Thanks, Anne-Marie! The frigid Northeast needs all the moisture it can get!

  16. This is great–but I’m finding some batches get grainy, even though I’m not heating the shea. Should I let the cocoa butter and other oils cool more before combining?

    • To reply to myself, I’m thinking it might be the cocoa butter, not the shea, that’s crystalizing. Argh!

      • It could be the Cocoa Butter – try this: melt, combine and then IMMEDIATELY put the mixture into the freezer. Pull out after 15 minutes. Supposedly, this helps the crystal structure set up quickly so the structure does not have a chance to get grainy.

        Keep me posted =)

        • I’ll give it a try today. Reading on this is confusing: some say to slowly heat to 100 degrees F, then allow to cool slowly; others say heat and cool rapidly. I’ll do a small batch and see in a week.

          Thanks!

          • I’m a ‘slow heater’ gal for what it’s worth! =) But I have heard the freezer trick (from our importer of the product so they’re definitely the more expert of the two of us!)

  17. Hello Anne-Marie, I am going to make this body butter for a pregnant friend. I was comparing prices on EO’s verses time to ship, and such with another company (Camden-Grey) which happen to be local for me (wish you guys were). And I came across something worthy of checking out. On their site the Helischryum EO says not for use when pregnant…. So I am a little confused here. Too add or not to add is the question? Also I noticed the total EO amount should be .3oz. My scale isn’t that precise any idea as to how many drops that would be total? Thank you for your help. It was nice to follow your pregnancy and to see that sweet little boy grow up. 🙂

    • Hm, I hadn’t heard of that concern before with that oil so definitely check with your Doctor on using that oil. My Doc cleared me but every Doc is different =)

      .3 oz. is roughly 1 tsp of oil (it’s not perfect but it’s close) if your scale doesn’t go down that far. Always err on the side of caution when scenting for pregnant women. =)

  18. This butter is wonderful! I work for a shipping company and my hands end up really thrashed. I am also a swimmer and all that chlorine has done a number on my skin. I have used every lotion on the shelf and cant find any lotion that has worked quite as well as this one. It only took two days of wearing this stuff until my skin felt like new again. This butter worked best right after a bath or shower. Thanks for such a wonderful skin healer! I think I will be making this for Christmas gifts this year.

  19. I made this for myself and a friend recently. I left mine in the car yesterday and it completely melted and is still liquid (even though it’s cooled down significantly and at room temperature). How can I salvage this?

  20. Hola Anne Marie, me gusta mucho lo k haces y tu pagina, keria preguntarte si se puede sustituir el aceite de cañamo por aceite de almendras dulce, y la enfucion de calendula en aceite de jojoba por el de aceite de calendula, soy de mexico y aki no hay el aceite de cañamo, y si hacen envios a Mexico, saludos es la mejor pagina k he visto para hacer jabones

    • Yes, you can replace any of hemp and jojoba oil with any other liquid oil like sweet almond oil or avocado oil. Any liquid oil will work. Have fun and good luck with your recipe!

      Perdone mi español…
      Sí, puede sustituir a cualquiera de cáñamo y el aceite de jojoba con cualquier otro aceite líquido como aceite de almendras dulces o aceite de aguacate. Todo el aceite líquido de trabajo. Tener diversión y buena suerte con tu receta!

      Courtney from bramble Berry

  21. How much does this recipe make? How do you determine that in the future? Since you whip it, it would appear that you can fill up 24.5 oz…

    • You’re right, the recipe is 24.5 ounces. But it will be a little more voluminous than that once you whip it up. The volume will probably increase by 25%. It’s hard to guess how much it will whip up with a new recipe…so you’ll just have to experiment a little bit if you’re making up your own recipe.

      Courtney from Bramble Berry

  23. Love it, One question if I could?

    What is the max amount of FO that you would you use?
    If my math is right(it may not be) it is about an 1oz of EO. Can you clarify for me please….

    Thank you,
    Janine
    Ps. I would love to see a Mango or avocado Butter recipe!!!

    • It’s meant to be .3 ounces TOTAL. You’ll want to keep the usage rate to about 1-3% (MAX) for the fragrance or essential oil or else you have more of a strongly scented perfume rather than a subtle lotion.

  24. I totally agree; I hear so many different things and as a new mommy, of course, all I want to do is protect my baby (like, I’m working from home today because they’re spraying foam insulation in another part of the Bramble Berry offices but just in case ….) and I hear differing reports so much. But it’s the same with other things as well – take alcohol or coffee – lots of varying opinions, some varying studies and then different doctors saying different things. I’m just trying to be as healthy as I can (with the exception of some serious sugar binges in the last two weeks) and be as reasonable and responsible as I can during this pregnancy.

  25. I made soap I wouldn’t share with a pregnant friend…I read that lavender should be avoided during pregnancy. I wish “they” would get together and get on the same page with all the EO’s.

  26. That’s a great question; technically, any butter with no water in it doesn’t need preservatives since it’s water that allows mold and beasties to grow. That said, the shelf life question is always the shelf-life of your shortest-shelf-life oil in the recipe. In this case, it’s the Hemp Oil with the shortest shelf life so approximately 6 months to 9 months would be a safe bet. https://www.brambleberry.com/Gr… GSE is a good antioxidant to use at 1% to help extend the shelf life.

  28. Thanks Kenda. I had a customer concerned about me with Lavender and this pregnancy so I haven’t used any but maybe I should have been! =) I could really really use a calm little baby boy for our first. =)

  29. In response to the young lady who was concerned about your using german chamomile- I decided to use lavender because it was “baby” friendly, and something my child could associate with me and security. I know “crazy!” but any one who would see my children are so amazed at how calm my boys were as babies. Especially in association with their type A mother.

  30. It sounds amazing! So luscious … I just whipped up a new batch and I can’t
    wait to share the recipe and tutorial with everyone.

    I do the same thing and talk to our baby every morning. My husband
    alternately thinks I’m nuts and also ‘gets it’. =) I’ve started having him
    read aloud to the baby at night. Sometimes, Dr. Seuess, other times,
    whatever reading my husband is doing at the time, just so the baby hears his
    voice. =)

  31. I used a similar recipe when I was pregnant (even whipped up a batch for a friend who was preggos with me) I had olive oil in it instead of hemp and I used lavender for a very calming effect. Every morning I would massage my belly and talk to my baby. Glad to say after two healthy boys (who driver their mother nuts now) I have absolutely no stretch marks!

  32. You actually use it for coffee? Hilarious! I never ever considered that. If you’re going to switch the coffee and soap frothers, just for your sanity, I would invest in an extra frother unless you are uber confident in your cleaning abilities. =) After all, you have to drink the milk and coffee!

  33. I have one of those that is almost never in the drawer – use it constantly for frothing milk for coffee! Great advice – thank you, Anne-Marie!

  34. Sorry. Should have been more complete with my answer. I always forget I can’t edit when I’m on my iPhone (LOL). I will definitely double and triple check and appreciate your concern. I did check the combo out with my OB and they didn’t see any red flags but I’ll doubly check now. :))) Thank you for your sincere concern.

    Happy Soaping!

    Anne-Marie
    http://www.brambleberry.com
    Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com

  36. You are using german chamomile & you’re pregnant??? My daughter’s OBGYN told her that german & roman chamomiles are abortifacients! PLEASE don’t use it again until you check with your own OBGYN!

  41. Does the chocolate smell come through with the cocoa butter, or would you recommend using deodorized CB? Thanks.

  42. Cornstarch – I wouldn’t have considered that! Plenty of that on hand. 🙂 Would it blend in better if made into a slurry with the jojoba oil?

    Thank you!

  43. Hi Anne-Marie,

    I’m learning so much from you! Thank you!

    Quick question – do you think bentonite clay would have similar properties to Tapioca Powder? I know it increases slip, but I’m not sure how it would behave in a balm.

    Thanks again!

  44. This sounds perfect! Since I’m addicted to all things that smell good, if I wanted to make this with the same moisturizing properties and such but a really wonderful smell, could I just add some fragrance oil? Or would I have to use a certain kind, or substitute it for something else? Thanks in advance, you’re great!

  45. Thanks! Yes, you can easily sub liquid for liquid with most lotion recipes
    with very little (if any) repercussions. =)

  46. Great recipe Anne-Marie. Thanks! Made it for quick gifts. Substituted hemp for almond oil, I had on hand. Love it. Wish I had enough for myself.

  47. It does feel good. I just adore how the balm melts on contact with skin.
    That is my fave part.

  49. Congrats! That is fantastic! The ‘chubby’ phase will come soon enough. I’m right there and just like “Why can’t I wear a uniform that says ‘I’m pregnant!’ all day long!” =))) I hope you’re having an easy pregnancy without too much morning sickness.

  52. Tapioca Powder is the ticket to cutting down on the greasy. I’ll do another tutorial in the next few weeks (when I run out of my current stash) using Tapioca Powder. Tapioca Powder is modified tapioca powder that’s been sifted beyond all reason to make it free flowing and easy to work with.

    But yes, mine is oily. 🙂

    Happy Soaping!

    Anne-Marie
    http://www.brambleberry.com
    Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com

  53. Anne-Marie,

    Thanks, I knew there was something out there to cut down on the greasy feeling. I know some people don’t mind but I’m trying to find a perfect butter that uses no water, is moisturizing and light at the same time.

  55. This recipe looks divine. I made one similar a few weeks ago but with added kokum butter and a few different oils and soywax. Is this greasy feeling at all? Is there something I can add to cut down on the greasy feel? I’ve heard tapioca or cornstarch works although I haven’t tried it.

    I’ll have to whip up a batch in the next day or so. Thanks for sharing it with us.

  58. made a big batch of cocoa butter/shea butter belly balm when I was pregnant this last year.. still use the same formula for dry winter skin and for my 4 month old.. can’t beat it!

  60. I can’t wait to make this! I too am pregnant but it is still early, no belly yet! But it is never too early to look after your belly 🙂

  61. Yummy for the tummy!! Looks good enough to eat, but I would settle for slathering it onto my skin. Great recipe, thanks for posting. 🙂

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