I like to give my skin a little extra TLC in the wintertime to combat the drying effects of heating the house. And lately I have fallen in love with this DIY Mango Body Butter that I have been making, so I wanted to share it with you. Massaging this into my skin after I've taken a shower and before I sit down with my seasonal JMB Living Journal has become a favorite part of my morning routine.

It’s super easy to make and my skin feels soft for hours after using it. I also love that it absorbs quickly so that you don’t end up feeling greasy like often is the case with some DIY lotions and body creams.

It is also nice to know that what I am massaging into my skin is actually good for it, as there are so many beauty care products loaded with toxic chemicals. Honestly, I think it is somewhat easier to make this than to attempt to research and identify what is good and bad on the labels of much of what is commercially available. My brain simply goes a little blank when I look at the complex names of the ingredients and I have a hard time committing to memory a list of the “bad guys”.

Like I said, this is super simple to make. It will probably take you longer to compile the ingredients than it will to actually whip this up so let’s get started.

Take a look at what’s in it: 

Here is what you’ll need to make it:

• 1/4 cup Mango Butter

• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Sweet Almond Oil

• 1 teaspoon Vitamin E Oil

• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Arrowroot Powder

• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Aloe Vera Gel

• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (optional)

• 1/2 teaspoon Coconut Extract (optional)

• Essential Oils (can be substituted for the Vanilla & Coconut Extracts)

And here’s how to whip it up:

You’ll want your mango butter to be room temperature or a little warmer when you begin. This sounds a little funny, but full disclosure here, I simply set the bag on the heat register for a little while and turned it a couple of times. This is probably not the smartest idea, but it worked just fine. You could also turn your oven on to its lowest setting to achieve the same result or perhaps pop it in the microwave. You don’t want to melt it, but rather you just want to soften it up a little bit to make it easier to whip with a hand mixer.

Hint: Keep reading for how to combine the ingredients and don’t be tempted to just throw all of these into a bowl and whip them together as I did the first time. The result was okay, but it was a bit lumpy and not the smooth creamy texture you’ll get if you take the extra steps needed to whip up one ingredient at a time.

Using your mixer, whip the mango butter until it has a nice soft consistency that somewhat resembles whipped butter. Then add your sweet almond oil and vitamin E oil and whip it a little longer until these are well combined. With the mixer at its lowest speed, slowly add your arrowroot powder until it is completely absorbed and then whip well at a higher speed so that it dissolves completely into the butter mixture. You may want to test it on your skin at this point, as I’ve found that if not fully incorporated it can have a bit of a grainy feeling for a moment or two when you put it one. It does dissolve quickly, but it’s nice if you can eliminate the graininess up front.

Now add in your aloe vera gel, vanilla extract, coconut extract and any essential oils you may wish to add. I added about 10 drops of Sandlewood and the resulting smell reminds me of a luxurious tropical lotion.

I don’t think vanilla and coconut extracts are typically added to lotions or body butters, but I couldn’t find any research that advised against it and I figured if it was okay to consume orally, it should be fine to use externally. Not to mention, I really love the smell of vanilla but the price of a quality vanilla essential oil is exorbitantly expensive.

I’ll share one of my little quirks with you here. I love butter. Not margarine - I can’t stand it, but I love butter. So much so that I could (and from time to time do) nibble a bit of it straight. So buttercream frosting is another thing I truly enjoy sampling. So what does this have to do with Mango Body Butter you may be thinking. Well, after you get it all whipped up, that is kind of what this looks and smells like; a creamy vanilla buttercream frosting. And each time I use it, I think about this and smile.

Your last step is to simply place it in a pretty container to store it and of course, don’t wait to try it out and begin using it! And if you do, be sure to let me know what you think.