Summer is here and I don’t know about you but I’m in need of some serious moisture!  Winter has left my skin ashy and dull so after finding out mango butter and sesame oil are fast absorbing, it made me think about how great it would be to make an effective body moisturizer that would actually soak in rather then setting on top of the skin. This recipe for a fast absorbing body butter w/ hibiscus has done just that!

I decided to make a body butter rather then a body cream in order to make the most effective product.  Since creams contain about 80% water, a body butter being 100% nourishing oils, is the way to go.  Plus, a body butter is easier to make!  Message me if you’re wanting more cream recipes though.  I do love to make them!

Ingredients:

Hibiscus oil is very beneficial for the skin.  Hibiscus Oil improves the level of skin moisture, decreases visibility of fine lines by improving elasticity and helps skin to regenerate skin cells.  It is rich in vitamin E and very high in essential fatty acids making it a great anti-aging oil.  Hibiscus oil is hard to find but it must be 100% pure and cold pressed.  I am not using the hibiscus essential oil in this post because I couldn’t find the quality I am adamant on.

I used Mountain Rose Herb’s shea butter and mango butter.  I’ve really come to love mango butter.  It is soft like shea but soaks in so much more quickly.  Mango Butter is extremely moisturizing and is known for it’s smoothing abilities on the skin.  Shea Butter has been known to regenerate collagen and is highly nourishing for the skin.  It also has an SPF of 6!  Both butters are high in essential fatty acids.

I discovered sesame seed oil from THIS post.  It is high in vitamin E, D and B which can be helped reduce the appearance of scars and even rashes.  It is also high in antioxidants!  It is anti fungal, antibacterial and has anti inflammatory properties.

I love geranium essential oil for so many reasons.  Read all about it HERE.  It’s a great skin balancer and also helps to reduce the appearance of skin damage like sun spots and scarring!

I wanted to make a pink body butter.  Naturally, I thought of hibiscus powder but unfortunately it does not dissolve in oil.  Only in water and not completely in water.  So, since hibiscus does have benefits for the skin, I decided to refer back to THIS post and color witch hazel with hibiscus using an empty tea bag.  Turns out that was a dumb idea because I had to add so much colored witch hazel to get barely a color.  Plus, adding any water based products to a body butter will just reduce the shelf life.  The solution?  I found a hibiscus oil and let go of the idea of baby pink body butter.  FYI-after adding so much witch hazel, I only got what you see in the pictures for this post.  I didn’t re-shoot the non-pink version.

Fast Absorbing Body Butter w/ Hibiscus

• 1/4 cup shea butter (find it HERE)
• 1/4 cup sesame seed oil (find it HERE)
• 1/2 cup mango seed butter (find it HERE)
• 2 TBSP. Hibiscus Oil (find it HERE)
• 5 drops geranium essential oil (find it HERE)
• 10 drops lavender essential oil (find it HERE) *optional*

Directions:

1. Fill a medium sized pot 1/2 way full with water and place on medium heat.
2. Using a glass pyrex measuring cup, add both butters and oil and allow to melt.
3. Once thoroughly melted, place the cup in the fridge and allow to cool.  This should take 3-4 hours.
4. Using a hand mixer, whip your ingredients until light and fluffy.
5. Transfer body butter to a glass jar.

**The key to a light and fluffy body butter is making sure your bowl and ingredients are well mixed (by heating them together) and cold.  Everything must be cold.  If you’d like to skip the whipping and make a balm, you could experiment on how solid your ingredients are as is.  If too soft, add about a tables spoon of beeswax pastilles while you are heating your ingredients.**

Honestly, if you want a light pink body butter, use a non-synthetics natural red dye.  It’s not the most natural but it won’t mess with your body butter and create mold and bacteria.

This label turned out so cute. You can save this image and have Sticker You make waterproof/restickable labels or just print yourself by using THESE labels and uploading the picture to the Avery website!  Learn more about Sticker You plus get loads more of my label designs HERE.

This DIY is for very dry skin.  It’s perfect for getting your skin summer ready!  I personally like to use it after my shower and massage it in to increase blood circulation.  You could add a few drops of carrot seed essential oil to add extra SPF and use it by the pool.  Also, keep in mind that since it has no water-it is very oily.  Even though I have chosen oils and butters known to penetrate the skin quickly, you still only need a very small amount for this product to do it’s job.  And if you want it to be a baby pink, 1 drop of red food coloring won’t kill you!

I have linked the highest quality ingredients I can find.  Most everything I link comes from Mountain Rose Herbs.  I trust their quality.

xx, Jenni

P.S.  I found my hibiscus oil at Shea Terra Organics.  I had to hunt for it.  But while hunting I also found a 30% off coupon making this hibiscus oil very affordable!  Find Shea Terra’s hibiscus oil HERE and use coupon code GET30 at check out!

PIN IT!!!