Teach Soap

So I made my first ever batch of whipped shea body butter. I used Anne-Marie's popular blog recipe and cut it in half. I used 7oz shea butter and 2.5oz coconut oil. When I put in the coconut oil, I got a little nervous because it seemed like A LOT of oil. It whipped up nicely, the consistency is beautiful. However, taking a small dollop and rubbing it into the skin results in an oily mess! Did I put too much oil in? Did I measure it wrong? I bought the microwave safe bag from brambleberry. I melted it and then measured out the oil. Should I have weighed it as a solid as I did the shea butter?

I might attempt another small batch, and lessen the amount of oil I put in. I have seen people adding arrowroot powder or tapioca powder to cut the greasiness. How about cornstarch? Will that work as well? How much can I add to a small batch like the one I made.

Any input is greatly appreciated. I have attached a picture of the finished product. I am so disappointed in how oily it turned out Is there any salvaging it? I'd hate for all of it to go to waste.

All this is is oil, one in solid form, one you made a liquid form, but none-the-less still 100% oil. Body butter and solid lotion made from 100% oil always, in my opinion, leave an oily residue on the skin. I personally don't use either because I really dislike the oily layer they leave. I understand that the layer is precisely why folks use them though, extra good at keeping the moisture in your skin.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Shea butter is very greasy, so even if you lessen the coconut oil, it's still going to be greasy because of the shea butter.

To make it less greasy, I'd drop the shea butter a bit, add a bit of mango. Mango's a more dry feeling butter. Also, using a dry or light oil will help make your body butter feel less greasy, like fractionated coconut oil, apricot kernel, jojoba, macadamia nut, or maybe sweet almond oil.

Adding a powder like cornstarch or arrowroot will help lessen the greasy feeling a bit, but like Hestey said, butter/oil only formulations are going to be greasy feeling.

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Genny

I may have to invest in some more butters and oils.

If I went ahead and added some cornstarch to the same recipe (with the oil lessened a bit) how much cornstarch could I add? A tablespoon? I'm probably going to try 7 oz of shea and 1.5oz of coconut oil for the next batch.

I'm also wondering if I can spoon out what I put into the jar back into my mixing bowl, add the cornstarch and re-whip? Would that even work?

Yes, you can scoop it out and add cornstarch. I would go with a Tablespoon. I use avocado butter and meadowfoam oil for my body butters. I also add tapiocha starch. It is greasy because it is all oil but not as much as shea butter. Meadowfoam is great because it is a drier oil than coconut. I have some mango butter but haven't tried whipping it yet. I may give that a go and see how it works. Of course that is after I get this house unpacked and we get through all the bs that we have dealt with the last few days...... Oh, the frustrations of buying a new house.

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Haven

Mango butter is one of my favorites! I like to use it in soap, lotion, balms (lips/cuticles/cracked skin), etc etc Great stuff!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I use it in some soaps, so I have some shea free soaps for folks who are allergic to shea! Right Irena?

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

Hi everyone, I'm new but since I've recently been dabbling in body butters I'd thought I'd add my experience.

I have used kokum, mango, shea, and coconut butter. In order to get an idea of how they each work and feel, I started by making very simple whipped butter. The two greasiest butters I've made are shea (4oz shea, 1 oz almond oil) and Coconut (100% coconut butter, didn't like it) The shea did wonders for my dry skin, lastest the longest, but went on quite oily at first and did leave my skin somewhat shiny even after an hour. It lasted after two handwashings before needing to reapply. Because of how dry my skin is, I was happy to put up with the oiliness because the shea helped so much!

(But please know that I live in s. California where it's very low humidity and until I started experimenting with body butters, NOTHING gave me any relief from itchy, flaky skin. I never had dry skin in my life, until moving here!

A body butter I made with 4 oz by weight mango, 2 liquid oz almond oil, 1 tablespoon vitamin E oil, had a thick and creamy texture that was not very oily when applied....I was happy with it. But I needed to reapply soon after. I believe I would have been very happy with this - if I still lived in Maryland. I've read from another source that mango butter has an astringent quality, and can make your skin feel tight. I don't know if I agree with that or not yet.

I just don't like coconut oil on my skin as I think it dries it out more. Very strange since so many people absolutely love it.

The kokum/coconut butter I made was 2oz of each, with no added oils. Greasy. Got quite hard after 2 days.
As an experiment I used plain kokum butter on my very dry hands, and liked it as it was not nearly as greasy as plain coconut oil. I plan on experimenting with kokum and shea next. Kokum is very hard, the shea I have is shea nicolita and is naturally soft like frosting. I think those two, with a couple ounces of cranberry or pomegranate oil will be my next experiment. (I'm trying to make a butter that stays creamy even after it thickens. Most of mine get a little brittle after a few days, which isn't really a problem except it just takes a few more seconds to scoop it out.

Long post, but maybe there's something helpful for you in there.