SmoothKitty Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Hi everyone...I was gettin' busy on here about 2 years ago and had loads of fun trying body butter recipes. Then I got started on a remodeling of my kitchen and bathroom. Every problem imaginable and setbacks galore! I won't bore you with the gory details.I finally have my kitchen back in working order and I immediately dug out my big Rubbermaid tub of supplies, recipes and notes. I should have started at the beginning again, but I found the last page of notes I had and a new recipe I was going to try. I started there.As usual, the body butter looked great and smelled even better! But this morning when I opened one of my jars, the butter had become extremely hard. I pushed my finger down into it and finally a chunk broke loose and hit the floor.I'm hoping someone can tell me what I did wrong and if it's possible to re-melt and make it right. Here's my recipe:5 oz. unrefined shea butter1 oz. cocoa butter2 oz apricot kernel oil1 ts. Nutrisorb1 oz. Ewax1 oz. cetyl alcohol2 capsules vitamin E.2 oz. FOI wasn't making this for anyone but me, so it's not a big loss. But I hate to waste ingredients. I'll be grateful for any help or advice...or just pity...that anyone would like to share!Bless you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGirl Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Please describe the process you went through to make this body butter...stick blender, hand mixer, KitchenAid, used your fridge to cool down, did it all room temp, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothKitty Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Sure!I melted the butters and oil, added the rest of the ingredients. Whipped it up with my hand mixer while it sat in a big bowl of ice water. Spooned it into the jars. Same method I always use. I wondering if I melted it all down again and added...hmmm...a little more oil? More shea butter?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothKitty Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Well, last night I melted the whole batch back down to a liquid. Then I added an ounce of sweet almond oil and whipped it up again. This morning it was definitely softer, but still a crumbly mess. I guess I'll just toss it out and try a new batch.Back to the drawing board! Lesson learned from failure...which means it wasn't a TOTAL failure. :embarasse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 you cannot make a determination on anything containing cocoa butter for at least 48 hours - it's slow to reach its final hardness.If it stiffens up on you again try swapping most of it out for some mango butter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Cetyl Alcohol is listed as an emulsifier and thickener so sounds like you're doubling up your thickeners by using both ewax and CA. You could up your soft oils, cuz they are only roughly 18%. I use about 25% soft oils. I don't use any additional hardeners, just the butters. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ah-soy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 You say you hadn't used your supplies in two years? Or, did you use fresh butters, oils etc?...from reading your post, if your 'supplies' were two years plus old that may be the problem...just thinking out loud, but many things could have morphed in that amount of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNSandSCENTS Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm still a rookie too but can someone explain the reason to use emulsifiers in what appears to be a whipped shea butter? There is no water here and the fact that cocoa butter is being used (hard) and shea would hardened the product to begin with. Doesn't this recipe need water? I've never seen a body butter recipe that did not call for water a the major % of the recipe.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothKitty Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 CareBear: It's been over a week now and if anything it's harder than ever. I'll see about getting some mango butter.Jeana: I don't know what my rationale was for using both the ewax and the cetyl. This was the last written recipe I was about to try before packing it all up before remodeling. I should have started again at square one with a basic body butter.Ah-soy: That sounds like a logical assumption, that my supplies were old. I guess I should order some fresh stuff!RNSandScents: Again, I don't remember where I was when I shut down long ago, but the recipe I wrote down before I quit called for it and I don't know why. Probably something from the old message board and I haven't been able to find whatever it was. I do know that all the recipes I used for body butter before I packed up did not call for any water...the reason being that it was not necessary and if water was used I'd need to add some kind of preservative so it wouldn't grow bacteria.Thanks to all of you for the advice. I'm going to order new ingredients and start again with a basic recipe and TOSS OUT that obviously bad one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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