
Rose Body Butter Recipe without Beeswax: A Vegan Friendly Moisturizer
Looking for a vegan friendly moisturizer DIY? This rose body butter recipe without beeswax fits the bill! Made with only natural ingredients, this rose body butter nourishes skin without leaving it feeling greasy.
How to Make Rose Body Butter without Beeswax
Inspired by Nourish Organic’s Rejuvenating Rose Butter, my rose body butter recipe without beeswax contains refined shea butter and coconut oil, rosehip seed and sunflower oil, and natural rose kaolin clay. I also added a touch of frankincense essential oil for a light scent and for frankincense’s valuable astringent properties when used in skin care applications.
Because frankincense can help to protect skin cells, it’s useful in preventing acne blemishes, the appearance of large pores, and wrinkles. It’s also believed to help lift and tighten skin which can deter the signs of aging.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, my rose body butter recipe also absorbs quickly so you can get on with your day without leaving oily marks everywhere you go!
Which frankincense essential oil should I use?
There are four main types of frankincense. They are Boswellia Serrata, Boswellia Frereana, Boswellia Carteri and Boswellia Papyrifera. For this application, I’ll be discussing the differences between Boswellia Serrata, Boswellia Frereana, and Boswellia Carteri essential oils.
Frankincense (Boswellia Serrata) essential oil is the oldest documented Frankincense and is believed to have been used in both Ayurvedic medicine and as the frankincense mentioned in the Bible. It contains high amounts of alpha thujene, alpha pinene, and limonene which give it strong antiseptic, decongestant, and anti-inflammatory properties. It has a sweeter and more delicate fragrance than the other frankincense varieties with top terpenic-pine notes and costs less as it yields a higher amount of essential oil.
Frankincense (Boswellia Frereana) essential oil, which is grown at a higher altitude, contains high amounts pinene, thujene, and cymene. These natural constituents yield strong anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antispasmodic, and analgesic (pain relieving) properties making it especially suitable for inflammation caused by arthritis, swelling, and allergies. This type of frankincense has strong citrus-lemon top notes with an earthy, resinous heart.
And finally, Frankincense (Boswellia Carteri) essential oil is the most well known of all the frankincense varieties. It has the smooth, richa aroma that people are most familiar with when they think of frankincense. Frankincense (Boswellia Carteri) essential oil contains high concentrations of alpha pinene, and other monoterpenes making it useful both in skin care and aromatherapy applications. When used in skin care applications it can help to diminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and scars. When inhaled it is particularly beneficial at fighting the effects from acute colds and asthma.
I used Frankincense (Boswellia Carteri) essential oil for my rose body butter recipe without beeswax. However, you can use whichever frankincense essential oil you prefer for this application.
Natural Rose Body Butter Recipe without Beeswax
Ingredients:
3 oz. refined shea butter
.5 oz. refined coconut oil
.25 oz. rosehip seed oil
.25 oz. sunflower or sweet almond oil
.1 oz. arrowroot powder
.05 oz. rose kaolin clay
2 mL frankincense essential oil
3-5 drops vitamin E oil
Instructions on How to Make Rose Body Butter without Beeswax:
You will need a digital scale to weigh out the all of the ingredients for my rose body butter recipe without beeswax, except for the frankincense essential oil and the vitamin E oil. For the frankincense essential oil you’ll need to measure out the amount called for in the recipe with a graduated plastic transfer pipette.
Begin by weighing out the shea butter and coconut oil. Combine in a glass Pyrex measuring cup or similar and heat in the microwave at 50% power until melted. Alternately, you can also use a double boiler.
Now weigh out the arrowroot powder and whisk into the melted shea butter and coconut oil.
Next, weigh the rosehip seed and sunflower oils and stir into the body butter mixture.
Add a few drops of Vitamin E followed by the frankincense essential oil.
Finally, weigh out and add the rose kaolin clay.
Mix well, then set the body butter in the refrigerator briefly. As the clay will want to sink to the bottom, you’ll need to cool the body butter down in order to evenly distribute the clay.
Once the body butter starts to thicken, remove it from the refrigerator and remix until the clay stays evenly distributed throughout the body butter and no longer sinks to the bottom.
Pour the body butter evenly into two 2 oz. straight sided amber glass jars with black phenolic lined caps. (I got mine from SKS Bottle & Packaging here.)
Once your natural rose body butter without beeswax has completely solidified, screw on the caps and label as desired for personal use or gifting. You can find free printable labels for my natural rose body butter recipe here. Simply print the PDF onto a full size sticker or label sheet and cut out the labels.
To use, simply massage a small amount of the body butter onto your skin as desired and wait for it to absorb completely. I personally love this on my hands!
Can I Make Substitutions for Coconut Oil in This Rose Body Butter Recipe?
If you are allergic to coconut oil then you may substitute the coconut oil with babassu oil. Babassu oil is very similar to coconut oil with just a slightly higher melting point. (Learn more about babassu oil here.)
It is also important to note that my rose body butter recipe without beeswax yields a very soft body butter. If you live in a particularly warm climate in which coconut oil will not stay solidified for you, then I suggest adding a small amount of emulsifying wax to this recipe. I’d start with around .25 oz.
If you actually want your rose body butter to smell like roses, substitute the frankincense essential oil with 1 mL of rose absolute.
What Do I Need to Know to Sell Body Butters?
If you plan to sell your rose body butters, you’ll need to follow FDA guidelines for labeling your product. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling cosmetics, I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale.
To discover more of my homemade bath and body recipes, be sure to follow my DIY Bath and Body board on Pinterest here. You can also find and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.
Also, don’t forget. If you make homemade soaps or bath & body products, I’d love to see what you’re making! Simply add the hashtag #soapdelishowoff to your instagram posts!
19 Comments
Kavitha
June 16, 2017 at 11:57 pm
Hi…Can I use unrefined butters?
Rebecca D. Dillon
June 17, 2017 at 10:10 am
Yes, you can. I tend to use refined because they don’t have a strong scent that doesn’t always mix well with a scented product.
Kavitha
June 17, 2017 at 11:57 pm
Thank you Rebecca! Love all your recipes.
Rebecca D. Dillon
June 18, 2017 at 10:17 am
Thank you! <3
lisa
August 19, 2017 at 10:48 am
I can hardly wait to try this recipe out,! after looking over several hundred I finally came up with a formula that is different almost every time I make it just depending on what I have in the cupboard. I love all the different nourishing oils and butters. the feedback that I get from friends (the one’s who actually use what I make) lets me know that I’m doing something fantastic.
thank you for what you do.
Rebecca D. Dillon
August 19, 2017 at 11:55 am
You’re so welcome! Isn’t making stuff so much fun?
yolie
October 31, 2017 at 11:25 am
This looks like a beautiful recipe. Just one question. What purpose does the arrowroot serve? Thanks so much!
Rebecca D. Dillon
October 31, 2017 at 1:23 pm
The arrowroot both thickens the product and keeps it from feeling greasy.
yolie
November 1, 2017 at 11:30 am
Thank you! Can’t wait to give it a try.
Sharon
November 11, 2017 at 7:16 am
Hi love this recipe can I ask what the shelf life would be thank you
Rebecca D. Dillon
November 11, 2017 at 11:07 am
So glad you like it. The shelf life will always be the same as the ingredient with the shortest shelf life. This can vary based on when and where your purchased your ingredients. However, as this contains rosehip seed oil I’d say the shelf life is about 6 months for this particular product.
Sharon
January 24, 2018 at 8:59 am
Would white kaolin clay produce the same results and benefits as the rose kaolin clay? Thank you, I am anxious to try this recipe.
Rebecca D. Dillon
January 24, 2018 at 11:15 am
Yes, you can use regular white kaolin clay! I hope you like it!
Julie
March 10, 2018 at 8:48 am
Looking forward to trying this. Curious, do you have an online source that you prefer to purchase your ingredients? I’m looking at a couple different ones but its tough to find (one store) that sells everything i need. Thank you!
Rebecca D. Dillon
March 10, 2018 at 9:59 am
I shop with multiple soap suppliers online based on my needs. I typically shop with Wholesale Supplies Plus, New Directions Aromatics, Nature’s Garden Candles, Brambleberry, Mountain Rose Herbs and Amazon. All of the ingredients for this project are available from Mountain Rose Herbs except the rose clay. However white kaolin cosmetic clay can be substituted if color is not a concern.
Katja
April 1, 2018 at 12:59 pm
This looks gorgeous! I definitely want to make it as soon as I’m done with my current body butter. Just one question; could I substitute the arrowroot for tapioca flour?
Rebecca D. Dillon
April 1, 2018 at 2:59 pm
Yes, you could!
Brandy
May 4, 2018 at 7:18 pm
Can I use bentonite clay?
Rebecca D. Dillon
May 6, 2018 at 11:46 am
Yes, you could. However note that it will change the color of the body butter to the same color as the bentonite clay.
Comments are closed.