DIY Green Tea Body Butter

After about 3 tries, my body butter is finally gift-able. I think it looks so cute in this little tub. In this post, I'll share with you the recipe I used to make this blend and some of the issues I encountered along the way.

I used 8 ingredients altogether but only 3 of them are absolutely compulsory - the butter, a carrier oil, and green tea powder/ matcha.

One of these non-compulsory but highly recommended ingredients is beeswax. The first three tries I omitted the beeswax because most recipes I found online didn't include it. I decided to add it in this final batch because I read that it keeps the butter from melting easily. Most online recipes are made for people living in coldish climates I think. When I followed their recipes exactly I ended up with a pot of oil. This recipe with the beeswax in it helped a lot but I still have to be careful where I keep it. 

You can choose either Shea or Cocoa Butter but I did a mixture of both. The Cocoa butter which I've found is much much cheaper than Shea so I do this mainly to save money. I like how the Shea butter feels a lot more than the Cocoa.

You'll also need a carrier oil. I chose coconut oil and avocado oil but you can use grapeseed, almond or even olive oil. I don't think they make much of a difference to the end result except that some oils have strongers scents or colour than others.

That tiny bottle next to the avocado oil is the green tea powder. I've mixed them all in the measuring cup on the right.

Right, so let's start:

1. Plop all the butters and the beeswax into a heat safe bowl. Place this bowl over a pot of simmering water (or a bain marie if you parle Francais ) and slowly melt the butters until they are just a puddle of oil.

2. Take off the heat and add the oils and green tea powder. At this point you can also add any essential oils you want. I added Rosemary and Vitamin E which will help extend the shelf life of the butters too!

3. If you live in a coldish place then your butters might be ready to whip at room temperature but for KL, you'll probably need to chuck it in the freezer for a couple minutes. I put it in for about 20 mins or until the butter began to firm up especially on the sides but not so much that it was stiff or hard.

 4. Whisk it until it goes from oil to soft peaks.

My first attempt, I had to keep putting it back into the freezer for 15 minute intervals. In the photo above, I had whipped it for about 10 minutes but it would not get any more airy than this. If your butter is still runny like this then its not ready yet so put it back in the freezer for a few more minutes. Then, whisk it again until it forms soft peaks like in the photo below.

It's ready!!

4. Store your homemade body butter in jars. I chose these plastic jars because they're just the right size and come with a handy inner cap to seal in the moisture and keep the air out.

5. Embellish! I used twine and cut out a tag to give it a rustic look. Then I got lazy and used some washi tape to make a pretend safety seal. Not bad la...

Tadaa! I love this body butter because it goes on really smoothly (slightly greasy though) but it melts into the skin really quickly too so there isn't that sticky feeling. It's also all natural so I dont need to worry about chemical and reactions with my super sensitive skin. I also love love green tea and I use it on everything including styes. The anti-oxidants in the stuff are like a miracle drug (I'll post about this another time). I'm no science person so I don't know how this is actually affecting my skin but whatever it is I'm betting its good. There's not much of a scent but if you want something stronger, just add a stronger essential oil like Lavender.

 If you want to try this DIY and want to know where to get all these ingredients in KL/Selangor, read this.

_________________________________________________________________

GREEN TEA BODY BUTTER Recipe

Makes: about four 100ml tubs

Ingredients:

220g Cocoa Butter/ Shea Butter/ a combination of both

150ml Coconut Oil/Avocado Oil/ a combination of both

2 tsp Green tea powder

Optional:

1 tsp beeswax

1/2 tsp Vitamin E oil

10 drops of Rosemary essential oil

Instructions:

1. Add butters in a bowl and gently melt over a pot of simmering water or in a double boiler. DO NOT LET BOIL.
2. When all the butters have melted, take the bowl off the heat and add in the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine
3. Put the bowl in the freezer for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken. Do not wait until completely stiff or solid.
4. Whip until it forms soft peaks.
5. Store in a dry, preferably air tight container.

_________________________________________________________________