Natural Body Butter - 8 Versatile Ways To Use It
Creamy, delicious, and nutritious (for your skin!) body butter is a super versatile product to have in your beauty arsenal.
Natural body butter is derived from the extracts of seeds/kernels, beans, and nuts from natural plant sources.
Body butter doesn’t contain water, so it’s thicker than moisturizing creams and lotions. Without water, natural body butter doesn't require preservatives to prevent it from going bad. That’s great news if you're looking to minimize the number of synthetic preservatives in your skincare.
The fatty acid profile of body butter gives it a solid consistency at room temperature but it melts on contact with body heat, giving a wonderfully soft, smoothness to the skin.
Varieties of body butter
Different body butters will benefit different skin types but there’s body butter, or a combination of body butters, to suit most skin types and concerns.
Although the list below doesn’t apply to all varieties, these are the key skin-saving properties in most types of body butter -
Essential Fatty Acids
Vitamins
Proteins
Minerals
Antioxidants
Personally, I love shea body butter, but there are a few variations of body butter to choose from. Here are some of the most common.
Shea Body Butter
Thick in consistency, shea butter is probably the most well-known body butter and has been used for centuries in skincare. Shea butter has anti-inflammatory, healing and anti-ageing properties. I used this incredible ingredient, along with mango butter and a blend of nourishing oils in my Whipped Body Butter.
Coconut Body Butter
Coconut butter is excellent for extremely dry skin and has wonderful skin softening properties. Made from coconut flesh that’s been ground into butter it contains medium-chain fatty acids and antimicrobial properties.
Mango Body Butter
Full of antioxidants, mango butter may help to lighten scars and improve skin tone. Its long-lasting emollience nourishes skin-boosting elasticity and suppleness.
Cocoa Body Butter
Cocoa body butter is made from cocoa beans and is known for its delicious smell. Brimming with fatty acids, it's deeply hydrating and can improve skin elasticity.
Olive Body Butter
A rich emollient, olive body butter offers relief from skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Unlike olive oil, the consistency of olive butter doesn’t have a greasy feel.
8 tips for using body butter in your daily routine
One of my favorite things about body butter is its versatility! There are so many ways to use it in your beauty routine.
All over body moisturizer
Thanks to its creamy consistency, body butter does take a little longer to rub in than your usual moisturizer, but that extra effort really pays off! Apply immediately after getting out of the shower or bath while skin is still damp to maximize benefits.
To reduce the appearance of stretch marks
Rich in vitamin A which helps to increase skin elasticity, applying shea butter regularly may help reduce the chance of forming stretch marks.
To improve rough, cracked cuticles
Body butter is the savior of neglected, painful cuticles! Simply dab a little butter onto your cuticles and massage in a circular motion. It won’t be long before they’re restored to a healthy state.
An indulgent DIY foot treatment
It’s so easy to neglect our feet, isn’t it? Yet they work so hard for us!
Treat rough, itchy and cracked heels to the moisturizing indulgence of body butter. Before bed, massage body butter into your feet, focusing on the heel area then pop on some socks to lock in hydration for a deep conditioning treatment overnight.
Treatment for dry elbows and knees
The bendy parts of your body can contain a buildup of dry skin! Keep a jar of body butter handy to massage into elbows and knees regularly. Soon those tough spots will soon become soft and smooth skin.
Remove stubborn eye makeup
Pulling and stretching the skin to remove stubborn makeup can damage the delicate skin around the eye area. Instead, dab some body butter onto a cotton pad and swipe over your closed eye to loosen and remove makeup gently.
As a lip balm
Body butter doubles as an effective lip balm to moisturize, calm and soothe dry, cracked lips. Shea butter, in particular, is a popular option for lip balm.
Conditioning treatment for dry hair
Melt a little body butter in the palm of your hand and rub it through the ends of your hair to help reduce split ends and breakage. The fatty acids and vitamins can also help soothe a dry, itchy scalp when applied directly to your scalp. Let the butter sit for 10 minutes then rinse and style as usual.
Do you use body butter? I’d love to hear any tips you have - leave me a comment below!
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“Natural body butter doesn’t require preservatives to prevent it from going bad. That’s great news if you’re looking to minimize the number of synthetic preservatives in your skincare. ”
