How to Make Calendula Infused Body Butter Sticks
DIY Body butter sticks are fabulous for applying concentrated, moisturizing homemade body butter in a non-messy way.
Maybe you’ve tried lotion bars before and thought, ‘gee, these are messy to use! They get a little melty in my hands!’
While a solid lotion bar is meant to melt in your hands (that’s how the nourishing butters and oils get to your skin), it’s not always what you want with a natural lotion product.
Cue body butter sticks.
These cute sticks of botanical butter, wax and nourishing oils are similar to solid lotion bars, but they’re in a deodorant-style container for easy application.
I especially love body butter sticks for dry areas like the heels of your feet or as a final step to a skin-softening foot soak (time to get those feet ready for sandal weather!).
Body Butter Sticks for Sensitive Skin
This recipe is perfect for sensitive skin or anyone who prefers to skip essential oils in their body butter. This calendula body butter stick is also an excellent choice for babies, as it’s easy to apply and generally mess-free.
It includes homemade calendula-infused almond oil, which gives this solid body butter skin soothing, healing, and rejuvenating properties.
It is fragrance-free, although the combination of unrefined shea butter and calendula oil gives off a mild earthy scent. I find it mostly smells of shea butter, and the calendula is very subtle. If you don’t love the smell of shea, opt for refined shea butter in this recipe.
Body Butter Stick vs. Solid Lotion Bar
You might be asking – what’s the difference between a body butter stick and a solid lotion bar?
These two products are very similar! The main difference is in how you apply the final product. A body butter stick is housed in a push-up, deodorant style tube, making for easy, mess-free application. A lotion bar is molded into a solid, almost soap-like bar. Lotion bars are applied with bare hands, and the homemade solid lotion melts on contact as you use it.
This body butter stick recipe is similar to my lotion bar recipe with a beeswax base and botanical butters, but it is slightly different. I use mango butter in this recipe, while my basic lotion bar has cocoa butter (and a slight cocoa scent, if using unrefined butter).
Mango butter is softer than cocoa butter and unscented, which gives these body butter sticks a slightly smoother texture than their lotion bar sisters.
Body Butter Stick Supplies
You’ll need six ingredients, a double boiler set-up, and plastic tubes for storing these body butter sticks. They are easy to make once you’ve gathered your supplies. Let’s take a look at what we’ll need.
Beeswax – this natural wax is a humectant and gives body butter sticks a slightly stiff texture.
Shea Butter – a rich, nourishing botanical butter that relieves dry skin. I prefer unrefined shea butter because it has undergone less processing and has a slightly earthy smell. Refined shea butter can be used instead if you prefer unscented.
Mango Butter is another rich, moisturizing butter from the mango seed. This has a similar texture to shea butter and is unscented. It does NOT smell of mango.
Calendula Infused Almond Oil – this is where the calendula comes into this recipe. I like to make my calendula oil, but you can purchase it already infused if you prefer. This is not the same as an essential oil; it is a carrier oil that has been infused with calendula.
Jojoba Oil – one of my favorite carrier oils for DIY moisturizers, jojoba oil is a liquid wax that is exceptionally close to our skin’s sebum. It is thick and rich – a little goes a long way!
Vitamin E – I add this to lots of my homemade products to boost extra skin nourishment. Vitamin E oil can also help preserve the shelf life of other natural oils, helping your homemade body butter sticks to last a bit longer.
Plastic Deodorant Tubes – I call these deodorant tubes since they’re most commonly used for, but they are perfect for this recipe. The tubes I like hold a generous 2 ounces.
Double-boiler – You’ll melt the beeswax, shea butter, and mango butter over low heat in a double boiler. You can make your double boiler with bowls and pans you already have or purchase an inexpensive stainless steel option with a pour spout like the one I use. If you plan to make recipes like this often, I highly recommend a double boiler!
Kitchen Scale – I recommend measuring this recipe by weight, not volume, because you will create a more consistent finished product. I use a basic kitchen scale for this.
Let’s get started on our body butter sticks!
How to Make Body Butter Sticks
1. Add beeswax, mango butter and shea butter to the double boiler and gently melt over medium/low heat. You don’t want to boil or overheat; only melt.
2. Once wax and butters are melted, remove from heat and add calendula oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E.
3. Stir until combined.
4. Pour into tubes and let sit to harden.
Your homemade body butter sticks will keep for six months or more. These are water-free, so they do not need a preservative. Store in a cool, dry place. They will soften in hot temperatures!
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