Clean Beauty Products Whip Up a Batch of Luscious Vanilla Bean Body Butter By Katherine Martinko Katherine Martinko Twitter Senior Editor University of Toronto Katherine Martinko is an expert in sustainable living. She holds a degree in English Literature and History from the University of Toronto. Learn about our editorial process Updated April 9, 2021 Share Twitter Pinterest Email sitriel / Getty Images Clean Beauty Products Tips & Techniques This fabulous moisturizer has only 4 ingredients and will make your skin soft, smooth, and supple. Body butter is exactly what it sounds like – a lusciously thick lotion that has the consistency of whipped butter. It is great for moisturizing the whole body and for softening rough patches of skin. Body butter is best applied at night after a shower, when your skin is warm and has time to absorb the oils. Body butters are widely available in stores, but most contain questionable ingredients. The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database scores The Body Shop’s body butters at 5 or 6, with 10 being a high hazard, because they contain parabens, fragrance, endocrine disruptors, and potentially carcinogenic ingredients, among other things. It’s a good idea to steer clear of those ingredients. Making your own body is extremely easy and much cheaper than forking out $20 for a small container. You’ll also know exactly what’s in it. I speak from experience when I say that the first batch of body butter is a revelation. You’ll wonder how on earth those greasy oils can transform into fluffiness. Then you’ll start kicking yourself for wasting money on store-bought body butter for all those years when the homemade product is so awesome. This recipe for Vanilla Bean Body Butter comes from Primally Inspired. I made a half-batch to start, but next time I’ll do the full recipe because it’s really great. The cocoa butter makes it smell like chocolate and the ground vanilla adds some exfoliating texture. Vanilla Bean Body Butter Pierre-Yves Babelon / Getty Images 1 cup raw cocoa butter1⁄2 cup sweet almond oil1⁄2 cup coconut oil1 vanilla bean 1. Melt the cocoa butter and coconut oil together. Leave it for 30 minutes. 2. Grind the vanilla bean in an electric coffee grinder or food processor until it’s in tiny pieces. 3. Add the vanilla bean and sweet almond oil to the cocoa butter-coconut mixture. Stir well. 4. Place in freezer for 15-20 minutes until oils start to solidify. 5. Whip with an electric beater or a stand mixer until it has a fluffy consistency. 6. Store in a glass jar. Keep it in the refrigerator if it’s warm, but I leave it out since room temperature is fairly cool in my house.