I’m a sucker for skincare products. There’s just something luxurious about silky smooth skin. My preference for natural skin care products that don’t contain chemicals, colorings, or ingredients that I can’t pronounce is especially true during pregnancy, when I’m growing a sweet innocent baby inside.
I bought a few items last month and made my own pregnancy belly butter. It’s smooth and luscious, and smells like almonds. To be honest, I was hoping it would make my tummy smell like dark chocolate from the cocoa butter. Mine didn’t, but I’ll tell you how to make yours chocoriffic in a minute.
This pregnancy belly butter recipe makes a denser, creamy butter than many of the whipped body lotions I’m accustomed to. It melts on skin contact and smoothes on beautifully. If you or a friend are expecting soon, give this a try! It also works great for cracked hands and heels. It takes 5 minutes to stir together and just might keep those stretch marks away. Fingers crossed.
Pregnancy Belly Butter
3 T. coconut oil
3 T. cocoa butter
3 T. shea butter
3 T. almond oil *Use vitamin E oil or apricot kernel oil to keep butter smelling chocolatey.
2 t. beeswax, grated
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the cocoa butter and beeswax, stirring constantly. When they’ve melted, add the remaining ingredients until smooth. Immediately pour into a small container that holds approximately 1 cup of liquid. Cool before sealing with a lid. Gently smooth over swollen tummy 1-2 times per day, or as often as you like.
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oooooooo, I have been wanting to make something like this!! And where oh where did you find the ingredients? I have been hunting high and low for things like coconut oil and what not…help a sista out!!
I actually bought the cocoa butter, shea butter, and beeswax from Mountain Rose Herbs. They were surprisingly inexpensive. Almond oil came from my local pharmacy and the coconut oil is generally found in the natural foods section of a bigger supermarket or in a health food store or via Amazon.
Did Mountain Rose Herbs ship here to CR? And the coconut oil…like at AutoMercado or Walmart? I haven’t seen it yet…maybe I am not looking in the right place.
Hehe. Liz, I didn’t realize it was you. I bought from Mountain Rose and shipped to a US address and used a company to get it here. The coconut oil came from my mother-in-law’s last visit. She brought it from the US. I have bought coconut oil in small (1oz?) jars at a macrobiótica here in Moravia.
hhaha, no problem :) And yes, these macrobioticas…still haven’t figured them out completely, but need to!! There is a team coming down in June, maybe I can have them bring some of this…
Good plan. You can find tons of natural health potions and teas and the like in macrobióticas.
I bet this body (belly!) butter is wonderful. Please consider sharing your post with us at the Eco-Kids Tuesday Link-Up! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/02/garden-planning-at-eco-kids-tuesday.html
What a neat recipe! I’ve never been pregnant before, but I will definitely use something like this when I have children. Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by my blog :)
That looks yummy…all I need is the beeswax and I’m on it ;)
I love this – what a great gift idea for an expecting friend! I’d love it if you stopped by to link up at Thrifty to Nifty Thursdays at A Jennuine Life. http://www.ajennuinelife.com/2013/02/thrifty-to-nifty-thursdays-6.html
Thanks, Jenn. I know I’d have loved it if someone had made (or just bought) me some belly cream when I was pregnant the 1st time. Seems that sometimes we remember to buy for baby and forget all about mama.
This looks wonderful! I’m not pregnant but I have tons of prego friends that would love this as a gift! I would love if you would share this over at my blog hop http://www.ablossominglife.com/2013/02/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-10.html
That sounds divine!! I think I’m going to use it!! I’m not pregnant, my after a couple pregnancies belly would enjoy a treat!
Thanks for linking up at The DIY Dreamer… From Dream To Reality!
Great! It’d work incredibly well for dry skin of most types. In fact, I think it would be divine to use after a pedicure, to slather it on thick and put on some cotton socks for the night. Your feet would wind up baby soft in the morning. Thanks so much for visiting me, Christine. It’s always a pleasure when party hosts visit the participants!
Oh!!! I will try it on my feet!!! Thanks!!
Hi! I used a recipe very similar to yours, but ended up with little tiny chunks (almost like tiny little balls) mixed in the butter. I already tried beating it with a mixer, but that didn’t help. Any advice on how I can transform it into real silky whipped butter?
Also, I’m already on my 9th month, and ended up making way too much of this. Do you have any suggestions of what to do with the remaining after pregnancy?
Liane, body butter recipes like this one have too much wax and solid butters in them to work well as a whipped butter. Since making this recipe, I’ve also made a whipped body butter recipe (though haven’t posted yet) and would recommend that if you’d like yours light and airy, to melt everything back down and add 1/3 part liquid oil (jojoba/coconut/almond/vitaminE/olive) into the mixture. Allow it to cool to at least room temp (speed things up in the fridge) and whip it in the mixer. If you want to start from scratch, try a recipe that includes at least 50% liquid oils, or better yet 2/3 liquid and 1/3 solids. Here’s a recipe link to get you started.
As for what to do with the extra, I’d say just keep on using it as body lotion, being sure to cover your belly even up to a month after pregnancy. I was amazed to find that after giving birth I still had no stretch marks, and then 2 weeks post-partum 2 showed up out of the blue. You could always gift the leftovers or use it as hand/knee/elbow or foot cream too. Hope this helps!