Gritty body butter

[Christina]

I tried making my first body butter the other day. It works well, and firmed up (I was worried that it'd be really soft), it looks greasy to begin with after application but sinks in quite quickly and is nice. My problem is, it's not smooth. I didn't use any shae butter. And this isn't a recipe I made up.

The website that had the recipe didn't have instructions with it (and like I said, this is my first try). So, I melted the cocoa butter, then added the beeswax, then the rest of the stuff, let it stay hot for a while, made sure it looked nice and clear, then I let it cool down a bit and used my hand mixer (just cause I'm always hearing everyone doing that...I told you I'm new at this), and I did the whole, freeze, mix, freeze mix. It was looking nice and glossy and I put it in the conainter when it was fairly cold to the touch. After setting up, it was gritty! I don't understand. What would do this? Can I remelt? Should I be adding anything? Oh, and this isn't a whipped body butter, I prefer the thick, firmer types.

One more question, I am trying body butter recipes, but what I'm really looking for is a consistency of refrigerated soft butter that doesn't melt as fast when put on the skin. Should I be using a different recipe? I think I'll post a picture of the type I want later (when I figure out how), but I think the description should do for now. What recipe should I be using to get that texture?

Thanks for any help!

Christina

[mbrown]

Not sure what recipe you are using but there may be several reason as to why you butter is gritty and not as hard as you would like.

Without the recipe it is really hard to determine the exact reason but I would take a guess and say it could be the shea butter. Check out FNWL web site they have information on how to heat the shea to stop the gritty feeling. I don't use this method so i'm not sure if it works.

If you increase the beeswax your butter won't melt as fast when it is applied to the skin. Just make sure you don't use to much because then it will be to hard. Play with recipe with different amounts of beeswax until you get the consistency you are looking for.

Hope this helps

[Carrie]

She didn't use any shea butter.

Do the gritty things melt into your skin? Could it be the beeswax. You might want to remelt and do it again without using the freezer. I use a KA mixer and in my opinion, stopping the mixer and cooling could give things like the beeswax a chance to harden up and become grainy.

Not cooling the mixture definately make for longer mixing times but I don't get grainy textures when the KA never stops.

[mbrown]

Oh :embarasse :embarasse :embarasse

I must have skipped that part :embarasse :embarasse

[Christina]

Yes, they melt right in, it just feels/looks bad before it's all melted in. I guess I'll be remelting and not freezing it. I've only got a hand mixer....so I can imagine this will take a while. Does it HAVE to be whipped? Or is that just a personal preference? I'm not trying to get out of doing the work, I'm just wondering. Thanks for you help!

Christina

[Carrie]

I don't think they have to be whipped but you'll probably find that the same thing will happen if you don't.

I think that the more you mix it, the less chance the butters and waxes have of hardening up separately or re-combining.

[ah-soy]

Try this...works for me every time. I use shea and mango butter, but no cocoa in mine:

In a microwave safe measuring cup, add all the ingredients except the fragrance oil. Melt, in 1 minute intervals on high until all the ingredients have liquefied. Continue to heat on low for another 2-3 minutes (do not boil). The continued heating will help prevent the butters from becoming grainy once solid. Remove from microwave and stir. Let set to cool for a few hours and stir again. Before the mixture sets (overnight), add your fragrance oil and stir, even whip, to incorporate the scent. Spoon into jars or tins and label.