Eucalyptus Mint Whipped Body Butter: Homemade Gift Ideas

How to make homemade whipped body butter cream with coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, and eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils. Great for personalized Christmas and holiday gifts or to pamper yourself during the winter season.


“Teeth, hair, lunch box, backpack, coat, shoes, snow pants, boots, hat, mittens,” the morning chant escapes my lips.

“I don’t know where my gloves are,” pipes my five-year-old, his hair standing on end after a rough night of falling out of bed no less than three times. His backpack lies on the floor next to him, folder askew out the top, lunch box nowhere to be found.

“Okay, let’s start with your shoes and coat, first,” I say kneeling in front of him, and then a bit louder towards the belly of the house, “Can one of you bring me a brush?”

I carefully untie his double-knotted black laces, picking apart the individual strings until they’re free and then handing him the first blue sneaker as my daughter appears with the hairbrush. As she reaches to hand it over I grab both the brush and her arm.

“Not so fast.” I reach up and untangle the back of her sandy blonde hair which is desperately in need of a trim, the ends falling halfway down her back in a haphazard fashion far from her small arm’s reach. Quickly I braid the front, trying to make her appear as though I spent more than 30 seconds on the task, and then turn back to the second blue sneaker and its knots.

I can hear the sounds of explosions coming from somewhere in the house, explosions made by small lips pressed together and vibrating as air is pushed through.

“Stop playing and get out the door!” There is a groan and the clinking of LEGO in response as my 9-year-old emerges from his bedroom, hair flopping in his eyes, backpack slung over his shoulder, coat dragging behind him. “The coat is for wearing on your body.” I meet his glare as he raises his thick black lashes up towards mine. “Zipped.”

“MOM,” he protests. My eyebrows raise, a challenge.

Blue sneakers on the feet, I help arms get tucked into coat sleeves. Hastily I grab for the lunch boxes, handing two over and tucking the third into its home. I stare at the mess of bags and boots and shoes that are scattered through the living room and entry, trying to locate a pair of blue and orange mittens amidst the black.

“Has anyone seen Magnus’ mittens?” desperation reaches my lips. I start mentally cataloging alternative options I could send him out the door with. There’s a pair of black gloves – no, he lost one last week. Lene has an extra purple pair somewhere. I turn in her direction, her name at my teeth, my lips parted, when I see her face.

The morning sun has risen, illuminating the room rightly for the first time since we woke. The first bits of grey daylight are making their way through the glass and giving the room a cooling sensation as it glances across each surface. All but my daughter’s cheeks.

Cracked and irritated, the winter wind shows in the space on either side of her small pink mouth. Beneath each crack is red, irritation pushing towards the surface. I had missed it last night, sending her to bed in our lamp-lit living room, kissing her forehead, and unaware that the days of below-zero temps had taken their toll.

“The jar for your face, Lene.” She spins and heads down the hallway, ever a willing participant.

We live where it is cold, continuously battling the frigid air outside and the dry, heat-infused air inside. When I was younger I suffered from chronic dry knuckles. They would crack and bleed on demand each winter, and no amount of store-bought cream rubbed in and sealed with gloves seemed to lessen the issue. My brother’s hands are the same way.

My daughter’s sensitivities land on her face, sensitive to both sun and winter wind, she seems to constantly be battling against nature. Perhaps it’s just her instance to spend so much time immersed in it, soaking up everything she can taste and touch and feel.

Long ago I learned that over-the-counter creams were nearly worse than using nothing at all, often the “extra” ingredients causing painful reactions or serving to dry out or create dependence on the product, doing more damage than good. The alternative, as with most things, is to simply create your own, holding the keys to the cocktail of ingredients necessary to heal.

In addition to personal uses, these little jars make wonderful gifts, too. I know what my baby brother is getting for Christmas. No dry elbows? Try this homemade rosemary mint shaving cream, a ginger coconut oil body scrub, or lip balm and gloss.
Notes:

• A little goes a long way. This is a thick, rich cream, and you only need a small amount for high moisturizing effect and seal. Because there are oils in this, they will melt slightly as they are applied to skin to help them rub in easier, but the cream is stable at a wide range of room temperatures.
• Eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils are used for soothing and refreshing qualities, as well as respiratory clearing qualities in the eucalyptus.
• Cocoa butter or cacao butter is also called theobroma oil and comes from the cacao bean. It smells a bit like chocolate, and it helps give this cream a thick consistency. This oil is used to increase skin elasticity and reduce dryness.
• Shea butter comes from the shea tree. It helps seal moisture in, protecting skin from winter conditions. It can be found in health and beauty stores, on Amazon, in Whole Foods, online.
• Both refined and unrefined coconut oil can be used. I personally choose an unrefined, cold-pressed coconut oil. Be sure not to choose a fractionated coconut oil, which comes as a liquid. Coconut oil should be a solid at temperatures below 74º F.
• The jars pictured are from Weck Canning.

Puritan’s Pride sent me a few products to test out and give away. They have a great online store full of healthy lifestyle products at reasonable prices. For the body butter I used their Aromappeal Eucalyptus Essential Oil, their Peppermint Essential Oil, and their Wonder Oil as the carrier oil in the recipe. The Wonder Oil is a great mix of carrier oils, including olive, sunflower seed, wheat germ, sweet almond, sesame, and jojoba oils with some citrus essential oils making it a great all-purpose oil for skin and hair. The set also includes Aromappeal Lavender Essential Oil and an Aromatherapy Plug-in Diffuser, which turns essential oils into instant aromatherapy for your house.