Learn how to make a body highlighting bronzer for your summer beauty regimen with this homemade mineral bronzing body butter recipe. With as few as 4-ingredients you can add a sun kissed look to your summer skin. Experiment with mica pigment powders, coffee oil and bacuri butter for a beautiful summer beauty product that’s easy to customize. (I swear, you are going to LOVE this beauty DIY!)

Get That Sun Kissed Glow Without the Sun

I grew up in the 80’s. So during summers, from around age fourteen through much of high school, I tried hopelessly to tan. Whether I was drowning myself in Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil while laying out, or hitting the tanning bed, I did everything I could to try to achieve the perfect tan.

This was of course, in addition to a futile attempt to go blonde. I was all about using Sun In to try to get that bleached blonde look without actually having to buy hair color. (Being fourteen at the time, I obviously didn’t have money of my own.) Of course, the use of Sun In turned my hair orange, seeing as how I have red undertones from my mother’s side. Somehow that didn’t seem to stop me though.

Unfortunately, my mostly Irish and English ancestors ensured I never reached my tanning goals. So I piled chemical based sunless tanners on top of my often sunburned skin. This ultimately left my skin matching my hair. It gave my skin an unnatural orange tint that was common among my other pale skinned comrades trying to look like magazine cover models.

Since then I’ve learned to love my translucent see through pale skin. However, adding a touch of natural looking, non-permanent color is a easy way to give your skin a sun kissed look when the seasons change. It’s also great for covering up a farmer’s tan.

Greg, as he often works outside, never actually got rid of his farmer’s tan this winter. So I actually tested my mineral bronzing body butter recipe his skin in addition to my own. It worked like a charm at disguising the change in skin tone so his “guns” – which is wear he told me to put it (I swear.) – matched the color of the rest of his arms. He was EXTRA happy, however, that my bronzing body butter washed off, rather than fading into a blotchy mess like the sunless tanner I used on him last year.

About My Mineral Bronzing Body Butter

There a few things that I really love about my natural bronzing body butter recipe. The first is that it’s so easy to make. Therefore it won’t matter if you’re just a beginner dabbling in making your own homemade beauty products. This recipe would be really hard to mess up. (Just keep in mind that substitutions can impact the final outcome of this product, much like any other natural skin care recipe. For example using unrefined shea butter when the recipe calls for refined shea butter does matter as unrefined shea butter has a lower melting point than the refined version.)

Secondly, it blends well with all skin tones. It’s also easily customized by adding more (or less) mica or by mixing up the mica colors in the recipe. However, if you want a completely natural product (or zero shimmer) you don’t even have to use mica powder in my bronzing body butter recipe at all.

Third, as I used bacuri butter in my body highlighting bronzer for color in addition to the coffee oil, it’s easier to achieve a deeper color brown as the base. This also means it absorbs more quickly than many other body butter recipes. Additionally, there’s no greasy after feel and it’s suitable for all skin types – even if you’re prone to body acne.

Natural Bronzing Body Butter Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

Get that summer kissed look this spring with this homemade coffee bronzing body butter recipe.

Ingredients:

2 oz. unrefined bacuri butter
1 oz. coffee seed oil
.8 oz. polawax emulsifying wax
1/4 teaspoon copper sparkle mica
1 teaspoon (.05 oz.) copper lip safe mica

Bronzing Body Butter Recipe Notes:

In order to ensure you can exactly duplicate my mineral bronzing body butter recipe, I’ve linked the ingredient list to the very same products I used. Unfortunately the copper lip safe mica is no longer available. (Which I wasn’t aware of until I after I created my bronzing body butter recipe.) However you can substitute this mica was another regular copper mica of your choice. Alternately, using 1 1/2 teaspoons of copper sparkle  mica (and omitting the regular copper mica) will give this product extra highlighting power. Or experiment a bit of brown oxide pigment powder for a deeper matte color.

You may also note that I used a polawax emulsifying wax in place of where beeswax would typically be called for in a recipe. While my bronzing body butter recipe does not contain water, the emulsifying wax helps with absorption rates and keeps the final product from feeling heavy. Things you really don’t want when the summer heat is on. If you prefer, however, you can substitute this wax with a basic emulsifying wax. (This is the one I typically use.)

I recommend using the double boiler method for making my mineral highlighting bronzing body butter recipe. However, you can get away with using the microwave at 20% power. In addition, you’ll also need a digital scale to weigh out the ingredients.

This product has natural earthy coffee scent from a combination of the bacuri butter and coffee oil. If you find the fragrance of my bronzing body butter recipe is too earthy for your taste, you can add a bit of chocolate absolute to the recipe. I mean, who doesn’t love the scent of coffee and chocolate, right?

Instructions:

Begin by weighing out the bacuri butter, wax and coffee seed oil. Combine in a heat safe container and gently heat until all of the wax has melted. Remove from heat and stir to combine.

Next, weigh (and/or measure) out the mica powder called for in my bronzing body butter recipe. Set aside. Allow the body butter mixture to cool slightly.

When it just starts to cool and thicken, but is still fluid, mix in the mica powders. Mix thoroughly to combine, then pour into containers of your choice. I used two 1 oz. white polypropylene thick wall plastic jars.

Allow to cool completely. Once solidified, screw on the jar lids.To use your homemade bronzing body butter, simply massage onto skin as desired.

As this product may stain light colored clothing, allow your body butter to absorb completely before getting dressed. You can also lightly apply a setting powder over the application using a soft brush if desired.

This product is suitable for both your body and face. However, avoid applying your bronzing body butter to lips and/or eyes if not using a lip safe mica powder or pigment.

More Ways to Use Bacuri Butter for Skin Care

If you love my mineral highlighting bronzing body butter recipe as much as I do, then I encourage you to also try my other bacuri butter recipes. This natural Brazilian beauty butter is a delightful treat for skin and possesses both anti-acne and anti-aging properties when used in skin care applications. A rich moisturizer with a deep earthy scent, bacuri butter is one of my favorite body butters, right up there with shea and cocoa butter.

• DIY Chocolate Cleansing Balm with Bacuri Butter
• Amazon Black Salve Recipe with Bacuri Butter
• Bacuri Butter Solid Lotion Bar Recipe
• Brazilian Triple Butter Soap Recipe
• Exotic Natural Bacuri Butter & Murumuru Soap Recipe
• Natural 3-Ingredient Bacuri Body Butter Recipe
• Bacuri Butter Body Balm Recipe

Don’t forget to pin this mineral highlighter bronzing body butter recipe to your Pinterest boards to save for later. (You can also discover my favorite bath & beauty finds on Pinterest here.)

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