Body Butter with Essential Oils

This time of year the cold, dry air always chaps my cuticles and dries my skin.  I find myself reaching for balms, salves and potions to combat the harshness of winter.  It's also true that this time of year, while I love to bundle up and enjoy the chill in the air, and look forward to the holidays with childish anticipation, I do often find myself feeling sluggish, even a little down. Does this happen to you?  To help with my winter malaise I do yoga, and binge listen to Serial and This American Life, and bake things with the kids to make the house smell like Christmas and this week I tried something new... mixing up a little concoction, a body butter infused with rosemary and lemon essentials oils, aromatherapy in a jar. Soft hands, happy heart.  I made a few more batches to give as gifts to Adam's office staff at school who could always use a little calm and tenderness in their day.  Here's the recipe... all ingredients are sourced from Whole Foods, the essential oils, which I found on sale, can be found with their home remedies and vitamins.

This is a semi-handmade recipe.  I used a coconut body butter as a base, and folded it with some whipped coconut oil.  To make 5- 4oz jars you will need:

8 oz coconut butter (you can find this at Trader Joes for $4.99)

14 oz  jar of coconut oil (refined)

Lemon and Rosemary essential oils

First, whip the coconut oil with a hand held or standing mixer on high for about 5 minutes until it forms light peaks.  Fold in the coconut butter, mix on low until combined.  For each 4oz portion you will need to add 5 drops of rosemary and 5 drops of lemon essential oil, or a total of 20 drops of each.  There is a governor on the top of the bottle to portion drops.  Fold these in and portion into the jars, tapping the base of the jar to allow the butter to settle, filling to the top of the jar, wiping clean before sealing the lid. 

I used a little hot glue to seal the jar lid to the rings, and tied a few sprigs of eucalyptus to the front the jar with twine to decorate. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  xo