This simple DIY shea butter lotion recipe (made with just 3 ingredients) is the perfect moisturizer for the whole body, face included, and may be used for acne-prone and aging skin.
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I’ll guide you, step-by-step, through how to make shea butter lotion, using shea butter and no coconut oil (because coconut oil can and will clog pores). The final product is a non-greasy, 100% natural moisturizer, with a creamy consistency and skin-soothing properties.
This recipe is used just like store-bought body lotions: to moisturize the face, hands, feet, legs, arms. Technically, this is more of a homemade body butter recipe: a thick moisturizing cream versus a pumpable lotion. (Make pumpable lotion recipe here.)
But whatever you call it, it’s one thing: AMAZING!
What is Shea Butter?
Shea butter comes from the “nut” (or pit) of the fruit found on the Karite Tree. It is soft, compared to cocoa butter, and has a strong scent when it’s purchased in an unrefined state.
I use unrefined shea butter in body-care recipes, but if you don’t care for the (natural) fragrance, I recommend using refined shea butter. Shea butter softens and moisturizes the skin, making it perfect for homemade lotion, shaving cream, and lip balm.
Benefits of Shea Butter
Shea butter is the main ingredient used to make homemade body lotion and many other skin care products.
- It’s naturally rich in vitamins and fatty acids, like vitamin A and vitamin E.
- It contains anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidant properties. It’s ideal for sensitive skin and as an anti-aging product. There’s even evidence that shea butter could help with wrinkles.
- Shea butter helps to combat dry skin. It’s an emollient: traps moisture on the skin without clogging pores. There’s also some evidence to suggest that it may help to alleviate eczema symptoms and soften scar tissue. Source: Medical News Today
- Shea butter contains stearic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid, that allows the butter to spread smoothly on skin without tension. This makes it ideal for a body and face moisturizer since it will melt right into the skin!
I personally use shea butter moisturizer every night before bed. And I’ve seen the texture and softness of my skin improve.
Before You Get Started: Ingredients & Tools
The natural ingredients can be found at most health food stores or online via Amazon. Each ingredient is carefully chosen for its natural moisturizing properties.
Video Recipe Tutorial
How to Make Shea Butter Lotion: Step-By-Step Instructions
Here’s the best way to make shea butter lotion, step by step.
Step 1: Melt Shea Butter
Heat the shea butter to melt it, don’t burn it. To avoid burning the shea butter, create a DIY double boiler. This will allow you to melt the shea butter without it directly touching the heat.
Place a medium-size glass bowl over a sauce pan filled 1/4 the way full with water. The glass bowl should sit just on top of the saucepan, without touching the water in the pan.
Over medium heat, allow the water in the saucepan to simmer. Then add the shea butter and melt.
Once the shea butter has fully melted (about 2-3 minutes), turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the heat.
Step 2: Add Nourishing Carrier Oil
Stir 1 teaspoon of arrowroot starch into the liquid oil of choice (grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, OR jojoba oil) and whisk to combine. Pour the oil (and arrowroot starch whisked in, if using) into the shea butter.
You can skip the arrowroot starch and add the oil directly to the shea butter at this step. The arrowroot creates a non-greasy lotion.
How do you make non-greasy shea butter lotion? Adding arrowroot starch, which is similar to cornstarch, is the best option. You’ll find this ingredient in the baking section at most grocery stores or online. This ingredient may also be used in cooking: make almond flour cookies and waffles or thicken stir-fry sauce.
Step 3: Cool in the Fridge
At this point, the shea butter and oil mixture should be cooler (along with the bowl).
If not, allow it to rest for a few minutes. Then place the mixture in the fridge and allow it to solidify (about 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on location in the fridge and temperature).
Alternatively, speed up the process by placing the bowl in the freezer.
Step 4: Add Essential Oils
Once the mixture is opaque and firm (not solid as a rock), remove the bowl from the fridge.
Add the essential oil (or a combination of essential oils) of choice, if desired. Add up to 15 drops of skin-safe essential oils to this mixture. A few of my favorite essential oils to add are listed in the recipe below.
Step 5: Whip the Shea Butter
Use the whisk attachment and an electric mixer, hand mixer, or a fork to whisk the mixture until it appears “whipped.” This doesn’t take very long, just a few seconds using a mixer and a bit longer with a fork.
Step 6: Spoon Lotion into a Jar
Now you get to enjoy this amazing homemade lotion recipe and all its benefits (we’ll talk about the awesome benefits in a minute). Or, share the lotion as a gift.
Choose a beautiful glass jar and spoon your creation into the jar. Add a label, if desired. And store the lotion at room temperature in a cool place (like a bathroom cabinet) for up to 6 months.
How to Choose a Carrier Oil
You can use shea butter alone as a body and face moisturizer, or you can mix it with a carrier oil to make a whipped body butter recipe or lotion (like this recipe).
Here’s what I recommend for a nourishing carrier oil to mix with the shea butter. The options absorb easily in the skin, making them the best options for a non-greasy lotion.
Jojoba Oil: Jojoba oil is made from a shrub that grows in Northern Mexico and the Southeast US. Jojoba is an emollient: a natural moisturizer that softens and moisturizes skin. Jojoba is the closest to our skin’s natural oil, making it ideal for all skin types.
Grapeseed Oil: This oil comes from pressed grape seeds. It has high amounts of fatty acids, vitamin E, and antibacterial properties. Grapeseed oil may be a great option for aging skin and for those with acne-prone skin.
Sweet Almond Oil: Made from sweet almonds and rich in vitamin A & E, fatty acids, and proteins.
Virgin Coconut oil is also an option, but as I’ll share in a minute, I don’t care for using coconut oil on my face. If you’re just using this lotion on your body, coconut oil may be a good option.
How to Use
Scoop a small amount of shea butter lotion out of the jar using your finger, then rub between your hands. The heat from your hands will soften the shea butter. Massage into your skin: face, arms, legs, feet, dry patches, etc.
A little goes a long way.
For the face, apply this moisturizer after cleansing (my favorite natural face cleansers) and toning (a spritz of rose water is my favorite). If you use any serums, apply a facial serum before applying the lotion.
What’s the Shelf Life?
This natural lotion recipe doesn’t use any preservatives. Store-bought lotions add preservatives to formulas out of necessity. Without a preservative, mold and other bacteria will grow in a water-based lotion.
This recipe doesn’t need a preservative because it doesn’t use water in the formula. This means you can make a long lasting moisturizing lotion, without using any preservatives and don’t need to worry about mold growth. Woohoo!
Store the final product at room temperature, in a cool dry place, for up to 6 months. I recommend keeping homemade shea butter lotion away from heat, like a hot steamy shower, since it will melt slightly. This recipe is intended for home use; not to be sold commercially.
How to Add Essential Oils
If you want to scent your own lotion, essential oils are the best way to do this! Along with their scent, essential oils are easily absorbed by the skin for nourishment, and provide antibacterial and soothing properties.
Add one essential oil or a combination of essential oils, totally 15 drops, to this lotion recipe. The best essential oils for homemade lotion are…
- Roman Chamomile
- Frankincense
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Jasmine
- Carrot Seed
- Rose
- Lavender
- Tea tree
- Sandalwood
- Geranium
Essential Oils to Avoid: Avoid citrus essential oils (like lemon or orange essential oil) if you plan to wear this lotion during the day when exposed to the sun. Citrus essential oils are photosensitive and can cause your skin to develop a rash or sunburn.
Lotion Without Coconut Oil, Here’s Why
You’ll notice that this recipe doesn’t use any coconut oil. A lot of lotion and homemade whipped body butter recipes rely heavily on coconut oil.
Coconut oil is not the cure-all. Gasp, I know. That statement is practically heresy in the natural living community. Toothpaste? Coconut oil. Smoothies? Yep, coconut oil. A boo-boo? More coconut oil. We use it for everything! I’ve learned the magical oil isn’t always suitable for every need.
Many years ago, I decided it was time to ditch the toxins found in our bathroom. From lotions to body wash to makeup, the amounts of toxins I put on my body was astounding. With the urge for simplicity and natural living, I started developing my own replacements for things like foundation powder and lotion.
One of my very first DIYs was a simple homemade moisturizer using coconut oil. After a few weeks of using this moisturizer on my face, I experienced multiple break outs, daily peeling, and dry skin patches. Here’s why…
There’s nothing wrong with coconut oil, but from a skin care perspective, it’s not the best moisturizer option for the face. If you use it on your face, it’s likely to clog pores and cause breakouts due to its chemical composition.
Shea butter does not clog pores and is the best moisturizer option. So skip the coconut oil on your face and instead turn to shea butter and a non-clogging carrier oil!
FAQs
6 More Ways to Use Shea Butter
- Use shea butter to make homemade deodorant. You’ll also need arrowroot starch for homemade deodorant.
- Combine shea butter, coconut oil, and castile soap to make homemade moisturizing shaving cream.
- Combine butter, carrier oil, and beeswax to make Shea Butter Lip Balm or a custom DIY Lip Balm.
- Jojoba oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and soothing herbs come together to create DIY lotion bars.
- Shea butter, aloe vera, chamomile, and coconut oil make a fantastic homemade diaper rash cream.
- Use shea butter combined with mango butter and cocoa butter to make a customized body butter.
Homemade Moisturizing Shea Butter Lotion Recipe (Without Coconut Oil)
Equipment
- 1 electric mixer or fork
- 1 medium-size heat safe bowl
- 1 medium-size sauce pan
- 1 4-ounce glass storage jar (or larger)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup shea butter (4 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot flour starch (optional, to make a non-greasy lotion)
- 2 tablespoons nourishing carrier oil such as: jojoba, sweet almond oil, or grapeseed oil. This can even be coconut oil or olive oil (if not using on the face).
- 5 drops lavender essential oil optional*
- 5 drops rosemary essential oil optional*
- 3 drops carrot seed essential oil optional*
- 2 drops tea tree essential oil optional*
Instructions
Step 1: Melt Shea Butter
- To melt the shea butter, make a DIY double boiler. This will allow you to melt the shea butter without it directly touching the heat.
- Place a medium-size glass bowl over a sauce pan filled 1/4 the way full with water. The glass bowl should sit just on top of the saucepan, without touching the water in the pan.
- Over medium heat, allow the water in the saucepan to simmer. Then add the shea butter and melt.
- Once the shea butter has fully melted (about 2-3 minutes), turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the heat.
Step 2: Add Nourishing Carrier Oil
- Stir 1 teaspoon of arrowroot starch into the liquid oil of choice (grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, OR jojoba oil) and whisk to combine. Pour the oil (and arrowroot starch whisked in, if using) into the shea butter.
- NOTE: You can skip the arrowroot starch and add the oil directly to the shea butter at this step. The arrowroot creates a non-greasy lotion.
Step 3: Cool
- At this point, the shea butter and oil mixture should be cooler (along with the bowl). If not, allow it to rest for a few minutes.
- Place the mixture in the fridge and allow it to solidify (about 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on location in the fridge and temperature). Alternatively, speed up the process by placing the bowl in the freezer.
Step 4: Add Essential Oils
- Once the mixture is opaque and firm (not solid as a rock), remove the bowl from the fridge.
- Add the essential oil (or a combination of essential oils) of choice, if desired. Add up to 15 drops of skin-safe essential oils to this mixture. A few of my favorite essential oils to add are listed in the recipe above. You can add your favorite essential oil or oils, not the ones listed above (if desired).
Step 5: Whip
- Use the whisk attachment and an electric mixer, hand mixer, or a fork to whisk the mixture until it appears "whipped." This doesn't take very long, just a few seconds using a mixer and a bit longer with a fork.
Step 6: Store
- Choose a beautiful glass jar (4 ounces or larger) and spoon your creation into the jar. Add a label, if desired. And store the lotion at room temperature in a cool place (like a bathroom cabinet) for up to 6 months.
Video
Notes
- Roman Chamomile
- Frankincense
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Jasmine
- Carrot Seed
- Rose
- Lavender
- Tea tree
- Sandalwood
- Geranium
Natural Body-Care Simplified
Learn how to make your own body and beauty products with simple ingredients.
Hi Kristin, thanks for the recipe on this moisturizer. I’m very new at this, so quick question. I don’t have a mixer, so trying to see if I could whip it any other way. From the sound of it, it’ll be in solid state when whipping is needed. If I use a manual whisk to whip it, do you know how long it’ll take?
Hey bunfuns, I think you could definitely whip this recipe with a whisk. It will probably take a few minutes and some muscle power :).
Thanks. I guess I’ll see when I gather all the ingredients.
Hi Bunfuns,
I didn’t use a electric mixer and it worked just fine. 🙂
Sorry, but also one more question! How many jars does one batch of this lotion fill?
Haaris, This recipe will make one small jar (about 4 ounces).
Hello,
Definitely going to try making this! Just one question, where can I buy similar looking jars to the one you used? They look amazing!
Hey Haaris, This jar came from Target’s dollar section.
You should also never let your boyfriend open the jar of Kimchi for you, because he will open it quickly and make it explode everywhere. (Also, your dogs probably won’t even eat it for you in this situation, so you have to clean it up….) Thanks for sharing this lotion recipe! I’m totally going to try it.
Lol, exactly, April! Enjoy the lotion :).
Is there a way I can make this moisturiser less thick? Should I just add more oils or is there a seperate ingredient I need to add?
Hey Caitlin, You can try adding more nourishing oil. Another option is to add coconut oil (if your skin is okay with this addition).
Thank you! I did as you suggested. Completely different texture. I will have to either make a larger batch or just use the emulsifier next time. Thank you for the help!!
Awesome, Heidi! I’m so happy to hear that!
I made this lotion, but it’s too thick. I don’t know if my kitchen aid bowl/whisk is too large for the recipe or if I did something wrong in my measurements. I ran the kitchen aid on high trying to get the lotion to “fly” around so it could be whisked. Could I add more liquid oil (I used jojoba) or maybe use something smaller like my hand blender or emulsifier to fluff it up? This is my first homemade non food item so please excuse my ignorance. Thank you!
Hey Heidi, Hmmm…I’m not sure what may have happened. Usually the lotion only takes up about a quarter of my KitchenAid Bowl. In the end you should have a thick, but spreadable lotion.
You can try melting the lotion back to a liquid state (use a double-broiler so the oils don’t burn) and then try whipping it with an immersion (hand) blender. Let me know how it goes!
I’m happy to see a recipe without coconut oil, it’s pretty environmentally unfriendly. (I may be biased because I discovered I’m allergic after using it for a year.) But you know what absorbs into the skin really well and can be grown and processed locally? Lard! Just not the shelf stable stuff with the alphabet soup of preservatives. It’s really similar to the oil the skin naturally produces (pig skin’s close enough to ours that it can be used for transplants for burn victims). And it feels so much less greasy than you’d expect.
Hey Alia, You’re right–lard and tallow are pretty amazing for the skin. I don’t have a local (accommodating) source for lard (even though we purchase our beef and pork in bulk from a farmer), but if you have an excellent source and can render your own fat, using lard or tallow is excellent for the skin.
Hi,
Where did you have your website made?
Hey Cleopatra, My husband, Dustin, is our designer and website guru :).
So excited that I found your website! I recently discovered aveeno tests on animals (don’t know why it took me so long) and in my search to find a new moisturizer I found your website! I’d like to try this but am wondering would it be ok to substitute honey for the oil? My skin tends to get oily if I use to many oil products, and I’m thinking since I cleanse with coconut oil that would be a lot. Thanks!
Hey Addy, Honey may work. My only concern would be a sticky consistency added by the honey, but it may be worth experimenting with this addition. Let me know how it goes!
Does the addition of carrot oil make for a 30-40 spf moisturizer? I only use moisturizer with an spf and reading the question of adding zinc, I’m wondering if that’s necessary? Thanks, by the way, for the recipes!
Hey Kelsy, Some studies suggest that carrot seed oil aids in sun protection, so that’s why it’s added to this recipe. The zinc, in this recipe, contains the highest amount of sun protection so I believe it’s necessary.
Because I use this lotion on my face as well, I am thinking of adding zinc powder for sun protection. Do you think it will work?
Thank you.
Hey Cece, I think that’s a great idea! I would add non-nano zinc and use a method similar to this recipe: https://livesimply.me/2014/06/05/homemade-sunscreen-recipe/. Let me know how it goes!
I don’t have a mixer. Is there another way to mix this? Thank you.
Hey Stephanie, A hand-held mixer will also work. Or you can whip the ingredients vigorously with a wooden spoon.
I followed the recipe, using sunflower oil for the nourishing oil and whipped ingredients 1 to 2 minutes which was too long and it got hard. After reading more posts, I re-melted, re-cooled and re-whipped for just 30 seconds and it was still hard. Any suggestions? I hate wasting the oils! It is really too hard to use and doesn’t melt on the skin like coconut oil would. Any ideas before tossing this?
Hey Jennifer, My guess is that the oil you used didn’t take to being chilled and whipped? That’s all I can think of at the moment since I don’t have any experience with that particular oil in this recipe. I’m sorry to hear it’s still very hard and doesn’t melt or absorb into your skin :(. I’m not really sure what else you can do. I wonder if you could use it for a shaving cream since it doesn’t absorb into the skin?
Hi Kristin, thank you for the recipe. I don’t have any skin nourishing oils such as jojoba, sweet almond that you mention. Can I ommit it? And can I use only lemon oil instead of other EO for night cream for skin brightening? Thank you Kristin 🙂
Hey Muthia, Lemon oil will work if the lotion is applied at night. I wouldn’t use lemon oil for a daytime face lotion since citrus oils are sensitive to light. I’ve never tried making this lotion without the nourishing oil, so I’m not sure how the change will effect the recipe. Let me know if you try it!
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Any tips for how to wash my hand mixer and bowl after I make the lotion? The shea butter is really tough and too waxy to use a sponge with, eek! Thanks.
Hey Cassandra, I usually let the bowl and mixer attachment soak in really hot water for a couple of hours with a grease-fighting soap. After a couple of hours, the shea butter is easier to remove. Clean-up is definitely the hardest (dirtiest) part of this recipe.
Yay no coconut oil! I am allergic to treenuts and have a sensitivity to coconut. So it makes me a bit insane to see all the recipes say coconut oil then suggest almond if a commenter says they’re allergic.
Thanks much!
P.S. I’m still not sure how I am with Shea butter, but I plan to use mango for such things. Thanks again for sharing!
I’m so glad to help :). Enjoy!!
Hello Kristin,
I was very happy when I searched your blog but was very disappointed when I ordered them all from Amazon only to find out that they don’t ship all the items (raw shea butter and all essential oils) in my location/ country 🙁
Is there any option? I would really love to try this. BTW, my location is Bahrain
Hey Roxan, I don’t know enough about international shipping to really answer your question…I’m sorry :(. I wonder if the ingredients could be found at local shops/stores in your area?
Hi Kristin, I’m happy to find your recipe and want to try it soon as my first ever made moisturizer, I was just wondering whether argan oil would work instead of the jojoba etc. oils. And if so any difference in storing/preparation? I have dry, flaky skin and already use argan for hair .. Thanks
Hey Lucie, I love argan oil!! It will be the perfect moisturizing replacement for the jojoba oil. Good choice!
I have unrefined Shea Butter and partially refined sweet almond oil. Would I need to keep it in the fridge?
Hey Kelsey, Both are shelf-stable so no refrigeration is needed :).