DIY Lavender Body Butter with Neem Oil (Made without Beeswax)

This calming lavender body butter recipe hydrates, moisturize and protects skin. It can also help to soothe pain caused by sunburns and shingles due to the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of neem oil and lavender essential oil. Keep reading to learn the benefits of lavender body butter, discover more information on the ingredients to make this homemade body moisturizer, and to learn how to make my DIY lavender body butter.

Homemade Lavender Body Butter with Neem Oil

This DIY lavender body butter with neem oil not only offers amazing skin protection and moisture, but it also helps to soothe  pain. And not just sunburn pain. It also helped with my shingles pain, phantom or otherwise. How do I know this? Because last Christmas I ended up with shingles. And I’m not elderly or immunocompromised. What I did have though, was a heck of a lot of stress.

I honestly had considering writing a blog post about how not to get shingles over the holidays. Sort, of a soapmaker’s guide with quips and puns that relate back to our quirky habits. Some of which could lead to an unfortunate virus uprising.

Through various soapmaking groups I’ve learned that quite a few of us do our shopping for ingredients and supplies while intoxicated on a wee bit of wine. This inevitably means we spend more. And anyone who drinks alcohol semi-regularly can become B6 deficient. I know that a B6 deficiency is one of the underlying causes of a shingles outbreak. Because after a visit to the doctor they recommended I take 50mg of vitamin B6 twice a day for two months.

I also know that overspending can cause us stress. I mean, if it didn’t, there wouldn’t be all of those memes with the UPS guy and that note requesting he hold your packages until later should your husband happen to be home. Sure overspending or lack of money can be stressful. But a husband who is disappointed in you – that can be worse. And everyone knows one of the leading causes of breakups and divorce are money problems. And fights or break ups, well they’re going to be stressful too.

So my best advice for you right now is to – well, obviously don’t stop drinking wine. Then we’d go batty for sure. But do be sure to keep your levels of B6 up during the entire holiday season. High amounts of B6 is found in foods like red meat and cashews. But supplements also do the trick.

In addition, I also highly recommend having your soap making supplies sent to a friend or neighbor’s house – even your place of employment if you don’t work from home. I mean it’s not really even a deception. You’re simply having those much needed supplies delivered elsewhere for safety reasons. A lot of packages do go missing this time of year. That he happened to miss seeing the orders coming or being unpacked, well, he probably just wasn’t paying attention. I mean there are plenty of other things men fail to notice on a daily basis when it comes to women. Or they simply forget. Or weren’t really listening to begin with.

But I digress. I first made a version of my DIY lavender body butter without beeswax for my grandmother three years ago. Her all time favorite scent is lavender. And seeing as how it’s common for most of us to suffer from dry skin this time of year I thought a body butter was in order.

What Is Lavender Body Butter Good For?

Homemade lavender body butter is good for all kinds of skin conditions. It can help to soothe sunburn pain, offer temporary pain relief from shingles, hydrate and moisturize skin and even soothe and protect skin depending on the ingredients used to formulate the recipe.

At the time I made my lavender body butter recipe, I had just started experimenting a lot with neem oil. Long used in both Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, neem oil has been shown to have natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain killing) properties. It’s often used topically to ease the symptoms of rheumatism, eczema, ringworm, athlete’s foot, cold sores, psoriasis, warts, chronic syphilitic sores, infected burn wounds, and slow-healing skin ulcers. Additionally it has also been shown to help control various skin infections including scabies and candida.

On the other hand, studies have also demonstrated that lavender essential oil also possesses anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. When used in skin care applications, lavender can help to ease pain, promote the healing of cuts and burns as well as promote the reduction swelling and redness. When properly diluted, lavender essential oil can soothe everything from sore muscles, joint pain and rheumatism to sprains and backaches.

Little did I know that the combination of neem oil and lavender essential oil in my DIY lavender body butter without beeswax would help to reduce my grandmother’s recurring phantom pain from shingles in addition to soothing and moisturizing dry, itchy skin. But that it did. So when I developed shingles the day after Christmas last year, I whipped up a batch for myself. During the onset of my shingles it certainly didn’t take the pain away completely. But it really helped to ease the pain so it was more bearable. (Learn more about the benefits and uses of neem oil for skin and hair here.)

I also found that applying heat went a long way towards helping ease the pain from shingles as well. So I used a heating pad during the actual breakout in addition to an ungodly amount of ibuprofen. Then, once there was no longer a mess of oozing gross blisters (for those of you who can remember having chicken pox – I was four and at best I remember one colloidal oatmeal bath and being told not to scratch) I used a combination of equal parts lavender, ginger and chili seed essential oils to warm my skin, increase circulation, ease pain and reduce inflammation. It also offered a lot of relief with the recurring phantom pain I experienced for about six months after the shingles had cleared up.

Lavender Body Butter Benefits

Lavender body butter has a number of benefits for natural skin care. In addition to helping relieve pain, as mentioned previously, the benefits of lavender body butter also include the following:

• Lavender essential oil is a natural antifungal agent. In a study, lavender was used successfully on several strains of fungus that can cause skin diseases. It’s thought that lavender attacks the membrane of the cell to destroy fungus.
• Lavender essential oil can also promote healing. One study compared the effects of lavender oil and other agents for wound healing in lab rats. The wounds healed quicker in the lavender group than in the control group.
• Lavender essential oil reduced anxiety in a study on patients receiving dental care. The group that was exposed to lavender in aromatherapy reported lower levels of anxiety than the control groups.
• Using lavender in aromatherapy may help relieve PMS symptoms for women. In a study, women who used lavender in aromatherapy experienced fewer PMS symptoms.
• Lavender essential oil could reduce insomnia and depression. The study showed positive results, but more research is needed.
• The lavender essential oil in this lavender body butter may improve eczema and other skin conditions. Results were promising in one study, but more studies are needed.
• Lavender is high in antioxidants. Antioxidants can prevent the signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles, but lavender itself isn’t directly linked to anti-aging properties.
• Lavender essential oil is anti-inflammatory, so it can help reduce the symptoms of some skin conditions like eczema and dry skin.
• Lanolin helps prevent transdermal water loss. This keeps moisture in your skin and prevents dry skin.
• Baobab oil is a great moisturizer and helps prevent dry skin.

Following is the recipe for my DIY lavender body butter of awesome. Not only does it offer some amazing skin care benefits, but it’s also non-greasy. I hope you like this calming skin care recipe. But what I really really hope, is that you never get shingles.

(One of my best friends and a recent breast cancer survivor just got shingles in her EAR! Yes. Her ear. It was not awesome and harder to treat. She also couldn’t hear out of that ear for about a week. While not a soapmaker, she is a jewelry artist and fellow wine drinker. She’s also going through a divorce so there’s no husband to worry her. However the advice on the B6 still stands.)

DIY Lavender Body Butter with Neem Oil

© Rebecca Dawn Dillon

Learn how to make homemade lavender body butter with neem oil with this easy skin care recipe. This body moisturizer is made with natural ingredients that moisturize, hydrate and soothe skin. The addition of neem oil and lavender essential oil both help with pain relief from minor burns and other ailments. 

Lavender Body Butter Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients to make this calming lavender body butter recipe with lavender essential oil:

• Refined shea butter: You can use either refined or refined high melt point shea butter for this recipe. As refined shea butter has no fragrance, the scent of the lavender essential oil isn’t muddled with the natural fragrance of the other ingredients. In addition, refined shea butter tends to have a higher melting point than unrefined shea butter. Therefore, if you choose to use unrefined shea butter, you may need to make a slight adjustment to this recipe.
• Refined/deodorized cocoa butter: I recommend using refined cocoa butter for the same reason I used refined shea butter for this homemade body butter recipe. It will allow the natural fragrance of the lavender essential oil to shine through. However, you may also use raw cocoa butter. Alternately, roasted cocoa butter is another wonderful choice. It has a natural chocolate fragrance that blends well with lavender and can also be used to make my chocolate body butter recipe.
• Baobab oil: Baobab oil quickly absorbs into your skin and won’t leave your skin feeling oily.  It helps moisturize your skin and soften your skin.  It’s naturally anti-inflammatory and can promote healing for your skin.
• Lanolin: Lanolin is a natural emollient and occlusive skin care ingredient. This means that it can slow the rate at which water evaporates from the skin.
• Arrowroot powder: Arrowroot powder absorbs excess oil so this lavender body butter goes on smooth and prevents it from feeling greasy. 
• Lavender essential oil:  As mentioned above, lavender essential oil is naturally anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and can promote healing.
• Pure 100% neem oil: Neem oil is used to promote wound healing, reduce scars and boost collagen production.  It’s an excellent oil for dry skin.
• Vitamin E oil: Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant.  Antioxidants reduce free radicals that can cause signs of aging.

Optional Ingredients

These are optional ingredients you can use to make this DIY lavender body butter recipe:

• Cyclomethicone: You can omit this ingredient, however it does help to ensure the final consistency of the body butter doesn’t feel greasy on skin, similarly to the arrowroot powder. If you prefer a natural alternative, you can also use camellia seed oil or  fractionated coconut oil in place of the cyclomethicone.
• Mica powder: If desired you can add a small amount of mica powder in your color of choice to tint your body butter. I recommend following manufacturer guidelines for the skin safe mica you choose. You want to take care not to use too much colorant or it could stain skin.

How to Make Lavender Body Butter without Beeswax

This homemade lavender body butter recipe without beeswax yields one 4 oz. container by volume. You can easily double the recipe for this DIY lavender body butter as needed to make extras for gifting.

Here is how to make homemade lavender body butter without beeswax:

1. Begin by using a reliable digital scale to weigh out the shea and cocoa butters. Combine in a large glass Pyrex measuring cup and heat at 30% power until fully melted. (Alternately, you may also use a double boiler.)
2. Then weigh out the arrowroot powder and stir into the melted butters until the arrowroot powder has dissolved.
3. Next, weigh out the lanolin. Then stir into the liquified butters until melted.
4. Now weigh out and stir in the baobab oil, lavender essential oil and Cyclomethicone. Follow with the vitamin E and neem oils, using a fresh graduated plastic pipette for each to measure out and add these ingredients. Add a pinch or two of mica powder in your color of choice if desired, then mix well.

How to Package Lavender Body Butter

Pour your DIY lavender body butter into a 4 oz. container of your choice or into two 2 oz. glass jars. (Pictured is a 2.3 oz. clear glass thick wall cosmetic jar from SKS Bottle & Packaging.) Then allow to solidify.

You can place your lavender body butter in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process. (When it’s warm out it tends to take a lot longer for this body butter to solidify if left on a kitchen countertop.)

How to Use Lavender Body Butter

To use this DIY lavender body butter, simply apply a small amount to skin as desired and massage in.

How to Make Whipped Lavender Body Butter:

If you love whipped body butters, you can whip my DIY lavender body butter to make it fluffy. Here is how to turn this calming lavender body butter recipe into a whipped body butter:

1. To make whipped lavender body butter, create the recipe as indicated above. However, don’t pour the body butter into the container. Instead leave the liquid body butter mixture for your DIY body butter in the container used for mixing in the additional ingredients.
2. Now place the lavender body butter in your refrigerator to cool. Once the mixture starts to look opaque, remove it from the refrigerator.
3. After you’ve taken the body butter out of the refrigerator, use the whisk attachment on an immersion blender or a hand mixer to whip the lavender body butter for a more dense whipped body butter.
4. Whip the body butter to your desired fluffiness. However, be sure not to over whip your whipped body butter as the heat from mixing can cause it to deflate.
5. Once whipped, spoon the whipped body butter into containers.

Tip: If your body butter doesn’t seem to be whipping, it could be that the mixture is still too warm. In this case, allow the body butter to cool for an additional amount of time. Then try again. For faster cooling times, you can also place the emulsified body butter mixture into the freezer for 5-10 minutes, as needed.

Tip: As whipping this body butter adds air to the product, this DIY lavender body butter will take up more volume than when it isn’t whipped. Therefore, if you make a whipped lavender body butter, I recommend sizing up your container for final storage.

How Do You Make Purple Body Butter?

Since this lavender body butter recipe has oil based ingredients, you can not use a water based colorant. Food coloring and soap colorant will not work, unfortunately.

However, you can use mica to color your body butter purple. Mica is a natural colorant, but make sure that you use only skin safe mica. Mica makes a wonderful purple hue in this lavender body butter, but avoid adding too much. It can stain your skin if you use too much.

I recommend adding ⅛ teaspoon of purple mica to your body butter and mixing well. Then add more as needed.

Yield: 2-2 oz. jars.

Lavender Body Butter Recipe with Neem Oil

Print

This calming lavender body butter recipe helps to soothe, protect and moisturize skin. Formulated with both neem oil and lavender essential oil for their analgesic properties, this DIY body butter without beeswax also helps with natural pain relief.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

• 3 oz. refined shea butter
• .25 oz. refined/deodorized cocoa butter
• .2 oz. baobab oil
• .1 oz. lanolin
• .1 oz. Cyclomethicone
• .05 oz. arrowroot powder
• .1 oz. lavender essential oil
• 1 ml pure 100% neem oil
• 1ml vitamin E oil
• mica powder, to suit (for color if desired)

Tools

• digital scale
• glass Pyrex measuring cups or glass bowls
• utensils for stirring
• microwave or double boiler
• graduate plastic transfer pipettes
• 1-4 oz. glass jar or 2-2 oz. glass jars

Instructions

1. Weigh out the shea and cocoa butters using a digital scale. Combine in a large glass Pyrex measuring cup and heat at 30% power in a microwave until fully melted. (You can also use a double boiler.)
2. Weigh out the arrowroot powder and stir into the melted butters. Mix until the arrowroot powder has dissolved.
3. Next, weigh out the lanolin. Then stir into the liquified butters until melted.
4. Now weigh out and stir in the baobab oil, lavender essential oil and Cyclomethicone.
5. Add the vitamin E and neem oil using a fresh graduated plastic pipette for each.
6. If desired, add a pinch or two of mica powder in your color of choice if desired, then mix well.
7. Pour the lavender body butter into a 4 oz. container of your choice or into two 2 oz. glass jars.
8. Allow to solidify. Then screw the caps onto your container(s.)

Notes

To use simply apply a small amount of the lavender body butter to skin and massage into skin.

If you like my calming lavender body butter recipe, then you may also like my recipe for making an arnica pain relief salve. This natural remedy for muscle pain and inflammation offers relief from occasional pain due to bumps, bruises and sore muscles or as a result of chronic conditions such as arthritis or carpal tunnel. Learn more about arnica as well as how to make this amazing salve here.

For more great bath, body and skin care recipes be sure to check out my boards on Pinterest. You can also follow me via all of your favorite social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or subscribe to Soap Deli News via email for future updates, DIY projects and recipes.

This article is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice and is provided for informational purposes only. Information on products mentioned are based on my own personal experience and have not been evaluated by the FDA. Please consult a physician prior to making any changes that may impact your health.