Ever since I joined the Mountain Rose Herbs team, I’ve been dabbling in making my own body care products (and loving it!). DIY goodies are easier to make than you might think, and they’re completely customizable to your unique needs and aroma preferences. With the abundance of beautiful and healthful botanicals available in my workplace, it didn’t take long for little jars of homemade body butter to start appearing on my desk, office shelves, and nearby countertops. I find body butter to be a wonderful everyday moisturizer for my (often dry) Mediterranean skin.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a coffee-loving friend of mine. I had wanted to create a delicious, coffee-flavored lip balm, but I didn’t want to add any artificial extracts or flavors. Many of us here at Mountain Rose Herbs are familiar with infusing botanicals into oil (often for traditional herbal preparations), and I thought this method might also satiate my need for an authentic, nutty, coffee-rich aroma. It worked! By infusing the carrier oil with coffee beans over a little bit of heat, I was able to create a richly fragrant ingredient that I could incorporate into not just DIY lip balm, but also homemade body butter. If you’ve never made or used body butter before, there are a few tips you should know before getting started.

When and how to use body butter

A great time to use body butter is after getting out of the shower or whenever your skin is feeling dry. A change in climate or temperature can affect the skin more than you might think, so having some body butter in close reach can be surprisingly helpful!

body butter and the face

Wondering about using body butter on your face? You can, but it’s generally not recommended. I prefer not to use body butter on my face, as it would layer more oil on top of the oil-based cleanser that I already use. However, everyone’s skin is different, so body butters may work great for some people. 

When and how long to whip body butter

Whip the ingredients for the full time required by the recipe. If you’re impatient, you may end up with more of a balm than a nice whipped butter. Whip the body butter only after the mixed ingredients have cooled: the mixture should look cloudy and should harden along the edges of the bowl. 

Whipped Mocha Body Butter Recipe

Makes about 2 quarts.

Ingredients

• 20 whole coffee beans
• 1 cup organic refined coconut oil
• 1 cup organic refined shea butter
• 1 cup organic roasted cocoa butter (or wafers)
• 1 cup organic sunflower oil

Directions

1. Pour whole coffee beans into coconut oil.
2. Heat on stovetop over low heat for 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Once the oil has developed the desired fragrance, remove from heat and strain through a metal strainer.
4. Melt coffee-infused coconut oil with remaining ingredients in a double boiler.
5. Allow to cool slightly before pouring mixture into a large bowl.
6. Put bowl in fridge until mixture begins to harden around the edges (about 45 minutes). The mixture should look cloudy.
7. Whip with a hand mixer on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes until thick and fluffy.
8. Put bowl back in fridge for another 5 to 10 minutes to set, then transfer into pantry jars.
9. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.

Pro tips:

• Strain coffee beans right away for a subtle scent. For a more potent fragrance, allow beans to sit in coconut oil at room temperature in a cool, dark place for a few days before straining.
• Another way to create a more potent fragrance is to crack or grind the coffee beans before heating, but before you do this, make sure you’ve got a good strainer that will keep rough coffee grounds out of your finished product.
• You can store your body butter in the fridge, but it may be less easy to scoop out when you want to use it.
• If you’re not crazy about coffee but want to try infusing other aromatic botanicals in oil, check out the vanilla-infused oil used to make this delicious vanilla cardamom lip balm.
  
  

Looking for more moisturizing DIY body care recipes?

Try This Refreshing Peppermint Cloud Body Butter

You may also be interest in:

•  5 Simple Skin Care Recipes
• DIY Moisturizing Skin Serum Recipe
• How To Make Naturally Tinted Lip Balm