Invasion of the lizard people

I don’t know about you, but winter means one thing to me (obviously it doesn’t, it means more than one thing. I mean this rhetorically): it means I turn into a lizard. Yes, come early October, there I am with my hideous lizard skin until March. Sometimes there is a bit of variety, which makes the suspense more exciting. What will it be this year? Will I have cracked hands and spend the winter months juggling plasters and neutrogena and swearing every time I have to go near an orange? (Seville oranges! Coming tomorrow with Dave the veg box man! For marmalade!). Will it be the flaky legs? Face like a 2000 year old mummy? No, this year it is dry and itchy ribs and general skin malaise. Fortunately, the worst part of my transformation into a lizard this year has coincided with my decluttering zeal, and I have rediscovered the Whipped Shea Butter I made last year which I got so bored of whipping I squirrelled away into a cupboard. I have un-squirrelled it, and I have been using it, and actually it is rather good, so I thought I would give you the recipe.

Whip that sucker! Whip it into a frenzy!

Now fasten your seatbelts for just a bit of my anti-corporate ramblings, I know this brings out the worst in some people (in fact, I may have to name and shame. Every time I write about the evils of Tesco, my Aunty Kath goes out and does a shop there. Yes she does!). Hmm hmm, clears throat. Home made whipped body butter doesn’t have the same texture as bought – it is oilier, and mine is heavier, because I’m not sure I’m very good at whipping it (but you might be better! Do let me know if you’re successful). Because my skin is so sore, though, I feel ok about putting it on because I know what is in it and none of the ingredients are harmful*, indeed some of the ingredients you can eat. Also, because it doesn’t contain water (which is why it is heavy), it lasts for ages with no need for preservatives. Out of interest, I looked up the ingredients of a commercial body butter which contains shea, like mine. This is what is in The Body Shop shea body butter:

Aqua (Water) (Solvent/Diluent), Butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter) (Emollient), Cyclomethicone (Emollient), Theobroma cacao (Cocoa Butter) (Emollient), Glycerin (Humectant), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), PEG-100 Stearate (Surfactant), Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), Cera Alba (Beeswax) (Emulsifier/Emollient), Orbignya oleifera (Babassu Oil) (Emollient), Lanolin Alcohol (Stabiliser/Emollient), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Parfum (Fragrance), Methylparaben (Preservative), Propylparaben (Preservative), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Benzyl Alcohol (Preservative), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Coumarin (Fragrance Ingredient), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Butylphenyl Methylpropional (Fragrance Ingredient), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Citral (Fragrance Ingredient), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Eugenol (Fragrance Ingredient), Caramel (Colour), CI 19140 (Colour).

And this is what the cosmetics database says about its toxicity. The other Body Shop body butters get higher toxicity scores (I’m not singling out The Body Shop here, I’m using it as an example because they had their ingredients online – I suspect the ones which don’t have their ingredients online are worse!). Now, I will be honest with you and say that I do not understand chemistry on any deep level, and I can’t pronounce convincingly on the cumulative effect of using parabens & things day after day. My rule in life, though, is the less commercial processing, the better, and anyway I think it’s nice to have an alternative so you don’t have to use commercial products all the time if you don’t want to. So here is my alternative body butter, and I hope it’s useful. The advantage of this is that if you make soap or lipbalm you are liable to have these ingredients hanging about, if not and you are in the UK I use The Soap Kitchen or Fresholi and they have both been very good. (I have also used Aromantic, they were good too).

* Unless you are allergic/ sensitive to any of them. I’ll trust you to know if you are!

Makes about 2 small pots (easily doubled/ halved/ trebled whatever).

100g Shea Butter
30 ml Jojoba Oil (you can buy this in health food shops. It is cheap)
50ml Olive Oil (I just use whatever’s in the house)
1/2 tsp Vitamin E (I add this for extra preserving power – you can leave it out if you want. You can buy it in health food shops too)
Essential oil, probably around 20 – 30 drops or whatever you think. (I tend to use a mix of lavender and patchouli. Also, if you’re pregnant, you need to check the essential oils you’re using are safe).

Melt the shea butter in a pyrex bowl in the microwave (keep an eye on it). When just melted, add the oils, and the vitamin E, and stir thoroughly. Then put in the fridge. When it is starting to cool and thicken up, take it out of the fridge, and whisk for a few minutes with an electric mixer. Whisk until it’s thickened a bit and isn’t thickening any more, then, put it back in the fridge to cool further. After 20 mins or so, get it out again, whisk again, then put it back in the fridge and wait a bit longer if necessary. What you are aiming at is a whipped cream texture – just try to get as much air as possible into it in the cooling process (if it never looks like whipped cream, it will still work fine, it will just be a bit heavy). When you have whisked it up to your satisfaction, or alternatively until you want to bang your head against the wall, add the essential oils, put in little pots or jars, and store in a coolish place.

Happy anti-corporate moisturising. What effect will this have on Aunty Kath? I hope it won’t be too inconvenient! ;-).