"Tried" my 1st body butter - why is it so hard/firm??

[7Angela7]

Somebody posted this recipe on here - I wanted to try to make one just to use on myself since I've been real dry, and it looked simple:

4 oz. cocoa butter

4 oz. mango butter

3 oz. fractionated coconut oil

I added about 1/2 tsp. cornstarch and a little FO.

The problem is, it's REALLY hard (firm)! My finger will only glide across the top. Also, it's extemely greasy - do I need to add more cornstarch?

Any ideas??

Thanks!!

[maryann]

Your butters (especially the cocoa butter) are on the hard side. You can add (whip) more oil into the mixture till you get the texture your looking for. If its a recipe you want to continue to use in the future make sure to keep track of how much more oil you add. You will also find that once it has sat around another week or 2 it will continue to get harder. I leave it covered for 2 weeks, test the texture, and add more oil to it if its too firm. I like it real fluffy (I use shea in mine minus the cocoa butter plus differ oils). HTH

[Spellkast]

Yeah, that's a small amount of oil for hard butters like that. I've found that with the harder butters, you need the same amount of oil as your butters (so 8 oz. butters, 8 oz. oils.) It also will be very greasy because it's butters and oils, but it should soak in fairly quickly since FCO is a lighter oil. If you want a less greasy body butter, you could try adding some water, a preservative and some e-wax...there's a GREAT recipe in the recipes section for bunny's bootilicious body butter (or something along those lines.) If you've got all the 60 ingredients it calls for then you could try making that. It's more like a really nice, non greasy cream. Also, the corn starch does help cut down on the greasy feeling a little bit, but adding too much will cause the recipe to be grainy feeling. And since body butter is for INTENSIVE moisturizing, yours is just fine! HTH!

[mystical_angel1219]

I would suggest you rewhip it with 1 oz of IPM and 2 oz of Sweet Almond oil or another light oil if you have it. Then let it sit for a day and check the texture. I would not add any more cornstarch to it. If the consistency is to your liking, its all good. If not, add a bit more oil and whip it again. Do not be afraid of overwhipping. The more you whip it, the nicer it will feel on the skin.

Butters can be tricky because everyone seems to have a different opinion on textures. You want it to be creamy and fluffy so it glides on your skin. It might take a bit of adjusting your recipe and then you will have the consistency that you like.

If you would like to try some Dry Flo to use instead of the cornstarch, PM me your addy and I will send u some.

[Trejen]

As they said the more oil you use the softer the texture. I always use FCO or meadowfoam or sao in my butters. You will get the hang of it soon. When I first started making butters they were also hard as a rock!

[7Angela7]

Thanks for the offer Terri. I went ahead and put through another order for SAO, Sunflower oil, Dry Flo & IPM. I'll try those out & re-whip it, hopefully that'll work. I only ordered the butters & FCO because that's all I thought I'd need.

Thanks for educating me guys! I had no idea about any of this stuff, but I'm learning a lot just from what you guys told me. I don't want to get into B&B quite yet, so I'm hoping I don't get addicted.