Care · Autumn and winter
Shea and Tallow Body Butter
Shea, tallow, and olive oil, whipped, with frankincense and lavender stirred in after it cools. An adult body jar.
This is how our household cooks, washes, and thinks. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for a midwife or a doctor.
25 minutes · About 1 ¼ cups
“Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.”
Ingredients
- ½ cup shea butter
- ½ cup rendered beef tallow
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 drops frankincense essential oil
- 8 drops lavender essential oil
Method
- 1
Melt the shea and the tallow with the olive oil over the lowest heat, just until they are liquid. Do not fry them.
- 2
Pour the fat into a bowl and cool it until it is opaque and thick, like soft icing. Whip until pale. If it slumps, chill the bowl for ten minutes and whip again.
- 3
Stir in the frankincense and the lavender after the whip, when the butter is cool. Heat drives the scent off and makes the oil harsher on skin. Do not add more drops.
- 4
Jar it and label it for adults. The plain whipped tallow, with no essential oil, is the family jar.
From the kitchen
- For adult body skin. Not the face, not around the eyes, not for children, and not in pregnancy.
- If a rash shows up, stop. A pleasant smell is not worth irritated skin.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
Alongside this
Care
Plain Tallow
Rendered beef tallow, whipped and nothing else. This is the fat for faces and for children. No scent.
20 minutes, plus rendering if the tallow is not already clean
Care
Whipped Tallow Butter
The softer body butter. Tallow loosened with olive oil, still unscented, for arms, legs, and winter shins.
20 minutes
Care
Lavender Tallow Butter
The same whipped tallow and olive oil, with a small amount of lavender essential oil. An adult jar. Not the family one.
20 minutes