Magnesium Body Butter Recipe (A Natural Moisturizer & Home Remedy)

My homemade magnesium body butter recipe is perfect for those wanting to make more advanced beauty and skin care recipes at home. A more professional recipe for dabblers wanting to take that next step up or artisans looking for products to make and sell, this natural magnesium body butter recipe is a must for your to do list! Learn about the benefits of magnesium along with how magnesium body butter can offer relief from restless leg syndrome, nerve pain, sore muscles and more.

Now that spring is here I’ve been trying to get active again. While the fibromyalgia does present some challenge in the exercise arena, walking on our local greenway is an activity that’s easy for me tackle. I also find it rather enjoyable. Right now honeysuckle is in bloom. So much of my trip is quite fragrant. It’s also filled with lots of activity. From bees gathering pollen to families and children fishing, there’s so much to keep my mind occupied while I work on getting my body back in shape.

After those walks however, my leg muscles are incredibly tight. Because of the fibromyalgia, I feel that muscle tightness more so than someone without fibromyalgia.  So I use magnesium body butter as a natural way to relax those muscles and ease pain. It’s also great at relieving tightness and pain across my back from the tension that builds up from being at a desk all day. And it works wonders on my wrists when I’ve pushed myself too hard and done nothing but type for days on end.

The natural benefits of this body butter aside, I also love the way my homemade magnesium body butter recipe smells. I made it with roasted cocoa butter for a rich chocolate like fragrance and then added essential oils to compliment that scent. It’s always a plus when pain relief doesn’t smell medicinal! In addition, this product is naturally hydrating. So it’s perfect for dry skin or simply as an after sun moisturizer.

Why Do Our Bodies Need Magnesium?

According to Medical News Today, magnesium offers a number of health benefits to our bodies. As it plays a role in over 300 enzymatic reactions within the body, it’s a vital mineral that we can’t live without. One of seven natural macrominerals, magnesium is necessary for bone formation, calcium absorption, carbohydrate and glucose metabolism and heart health. Additionally, magnesium can help reduce the symptoms of PMS as well as relieve anxiety.

Not getting enough magnesium in your diet can have a variety of negative consequences on the human body. Side effects resulting from a magnesium deficiency include fatigue and weakness, nausea or vomiting and a loss of appetite. For more extreme cases, magnesium deficiency can lead to muscle cramps, numbness or tingling, seizures, personality changes and spasms or changes in heart rhythm.

Unfortunately, experts contend that many of do not get enough of this valuable mineral in our daily diet. Therefore magnesium supplements are recommended especially as we age. One easy way to increase your magnesium intake is to use a topical skin care product or bath soak that contains magnesium. Epsom salt baths as well as magnesium oil and magnesium body butter are several easy ways to topically increase magnesium intake without swallowing a pill.

(As magnesium can affect certain medications, always check with your doctor before taking any supplements.)

What is Magnesium Body Butter Used For?

Magnesium body butter offers a number of natural health benefits. Not only does this luxurious body butter moisturize skin, it also aids in relaxation and can promote a restful night’s sleep. Additionally, this mineral enhanced body butter also helps relieve muscle cramps, backaches, growing pains and restless leg syndrome. As someone living with fibromyalgia, I use magnesium body butter to naturally soothe nerve pain and to aid in relaxing muscles after a workout.

Formulating A Magnesium Body Butter

I’ve seen a lot of duplicate magnesium body butter recipes on the internet. This homemade magnesium body butter recipe, however, is different. It’s specifically formulated to be optimal for both massage and natural skin care. Not only does it easily glide onto skin, it’s also a safer option. Because magnesium body butters require water for magnesium flakes (or magnesium chloride) to dissolve, it needs a preservative to prevent creepy crawlies from growing in your body butter. While the magnesium oil you purchase – or even make yourself – doesn’t need a preservative, it does when incorporated into a body butter formulation.

Case in point is this recent article from Fast Company. It outlines a recall that was issued for Herbivore Botanicals recently at Sephora due to mold contamination. Herbivore Botanicals, who prides itself on not using chemicals or synthetic preservatives, unfortunately found out the hard way, that yes, you do need preservatives in skin care products containing water. So please, even if your product is for personal use, I recommend you play it safe. Even in the refrigerator mold and bacteria can grow in your homemade products. While the temperature of a refrigerator slows this growth, it doesn’t prevent it.

If you aren’t sure what products need preservatives and which ones don’t, there are several reputable websites that can help you make sense of them. Brambleberry has an informational article about preservatives here as well as a preservatives quick guide. While Wholesale Supplies Plus also offers an informative guide to choosing a preservative. I recommend using Germall Plus for my magnesium body butter recipe. However, there are other alternatives you could try as well.

The preservative, of course, is just a small part of my magnesium body butter recipe. In place of the water to dissolve the magnesium flakes, I actually used rosewater. (I did try just dissolving the magnesium flakes in oil first. Unfortunately, that does NOT work.) I also included several moisturizing body butters, a blend of essential oils, two waxes and arnica herbal oil.

Arnica oil specifically, has traditionally been used topically to relieve muscular aches, joint pain and arthritis. While the addition of ginger essential oil warms skin to naturally relax muscles. Finally I used a combination of two waxes, each serving a unique purpose. I added an emulsifying wax to bind the oils, butters and water together. While cera bellina wax gives the final formulation additional slip for massage purposes.

If you’d like to craft a natural magnesium body butter recipe but aren’t comfortable with using preservatives, there is an alternate option. My arnica & magnesium body butter recipe, which can be found here, is made with magnesium hydroxide rather than magnesium flakes. As the magnesium hydroxide powder does not need water to dissolve, this recipe does not need a preservative. Scented with a delightful lavender and orange fragrance, derived from natural essential oils, this magnesium body butter recipe is also great for everyday aches, pains and bruises. You can find this alternate recipe here.

Magnesium Body Butter Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

Ingredients:

2 oz. cupuacu butter
1 oz. refined (high melt point) shea butter
1 oz. roasted cocoa butter
1.5 oz. babassu oil
.5 oz. emulsifying wax
.5 oz. arnica herbal oil
.2 oz. cera bellina wax
1 oz. magnesium flakes
.5 oz. rosewater or rose hydrosol
5-10 drops vitamin E oil
30 drops ginger essential oil
40 drops blood orange essential oil
6 drops amyris essential oil (Learn more.)
broad spectrum preservative, of choice

Instructions:

You will need a digital scale to weigh out the ingredients for my magnesium body butter recipe along with an immersion blender. A thermometer is also highly recommended.

Begin by weighing out the butters, babassu oil and waxes. Combine in a heat safe container and gently melt using the double boiler method. Once melted, remove from heat.

Weigh out the arnica herbal oil and stir into the magnesium body butter mixture. Then add the vitamin E oil and essential oils. Mix well to combine.

In a separate heat safe container, weigh out the rosewater and magnesium flakes. Gently heat the mixture until the magnesium flakes have completely dissolved. Remove from heat once the temperature of the rose water is the same as that of the melted butters, oils and waxes.

Now combine the magnesium oil you just made with the melted butter, oil and wax mixture. Mix using an immersion blender for about two minutes. Then add a preservative of your choice according to manufacturer guidelines. (Typically this is both a percentage of your total recipe in addition to a set temperature. Most preservatives must be added below a certain temperature to maintain effectiveness.)

Mix the preservative into the magnesium body butter using the immersion blender for another minute.

Now pour your body butter into a container (or containers) of your choice. (I used an 8 oz. thick walled PET amber jar.) Allow the magnesium body butter to cool completely, then screw on the lid and label as desired for personal use or gifting.

Alternately, if you plan to sell the body butter you produce from my magnesium body butter recipe, 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. I’d also encourage you to check out her other book, Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters.

More Home Remedies for Pain Relief

If you’re looking for more natural skin care recipes that are suitable for massage, then be sure to check out my post for quick and easy massage melts. There are two scent options – one with essential oils and one with fragrance oils – as well as 11 natural pain relief recipes for homemade salves, sprays and body butters. You can find them all here. Or learn how to make a natural CBD oil salve recipe here.

Love my homemade magnesium body butter recipe? Then don’t forget to pin it for later! You can repin it here.

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