How to Make Your Own Lavender Infused Body Butter
There is something wonderfully indulgent about homemade body butter.
It's rich, creamy, moisturizing, and feels like a little bit of spa day tucked inside a jar. Add lavender-infused oil to the mix and you get a simple homemade body care product with a soft herbal scent and a lovely connection to the garden.
The best part? You don't need a cabinet full of complicated ingredients.
This lavender body butter is made with nourishing plant oils and butters, plus oil infused with dried lavender. It makes a beautiful everyday moisturizer for dry hands, elbows, knees, feet, and anywhere else that could use a little extra love.
And yes, it smells absolutely dreamy.
What Is Lavender Infused Body Butter?
Lavender-infused body butter is a rich, oil-based moisturizer made by combining plant butters, nourishing oils, and lavender-infused oil.
The lavender itself is infused into a carrier oil rather than adding fresh lavender directly to the finished butter.
This is important because fresh herbs contain water, and water can introduce microbial growth into homemade body products.
For this recipe, we'll use completely dried lavender.
The result is a luxurious body butter with a naturally gentle lavender aroma.
What You'll Need
For the Lavender-Infused Oil
- 1/4 cup dried culinary or cosmetic-grade lavender buds
- 1/2 cup carrier oil such as sweet almond, sunflower, jojoba, or olive oil
For the Body Butter
- 1/2 cup shea butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup lavender-infused oil
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil, optional
- Appx 5 to 6 drops lavender essential oil or more according to manufacturer's instructions, optional
This makes approximately 1 cup of body butter, depending on how much air is incorporated during whipping.
Choosing Your Ingredients
Shea Butter
Shea butter gives homemade body butter its rich, creamy texture.
It is especially lovely for areas that tend to become dry, including hands, elbows, knees, and feet.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil helps create a smooth body butter and becomes softer as it warms against the skin.
If you live somewhere very warm, you may want to reduce the coconut oil slightly or store the finished butter somewhere cool because coconut oil can become quite soft in hot temperatures.
Lavender Infused Oil
This is where the garden magic comes in.
You can infuse dried lavender into a carrier oil such as:
- Sunflower oil
- Sweet almond oil
- Olive oil
- Jojoba oil
Sunflower and sweet almond oils create a lighter-feeling body butter, while olive oil produces a richer formula.
Jojoba is technically a liquid wax rather than a traditional vegetable oil, and it is wonderfully stable for homemade body care.
Vitamin E Oil
Vitamin E can be added as an antioxidant to help slow oxidation of the oils.
It is not a preservative.
Because this recipe contains no intentional water, it does not require a traditional broad-spectrum cosmetic preservative. However, keeping water and wet fingers out of the finished product is still important.
Lavender Essential Oil
The infused oil provides the lavender component, but you can add a small amount of lavender essential oil if you want a stronger fragrance.
This is completely optional.
If you have sensitive skin, leaving the essential oil out is a perfectly good option.
How to Make Lavender Infused Oil
Before making the body butter, you'll need to prepare your lavender oil.
Method 1: Slow Infusion
Use this method when you have time.
- Place the dried lavender buds in a clean, completely dry glass jar.
- Pour the carrier oil over the lavender.
- Make sure all of the lavender is covered by oil.
- Seal the jar.
- Place it somewhere warm and out of direct sunlight.
- Let the lavender infuse for approximately 2-4 weeks.
- Gently shake the jar every day or two.
- Strain the oil through a fine mesh strainer or clean cheesecloth.
- Pour the finished infused oil into a clean, dry container.
The longer infusion gives the oil more time to pick up the aromatic compounds from the lavender.
Faster Warm Infusion
Need your lavender butter sooner?
You can use gentle heat.
Place the lavender and oil in a heat-safe container over a double boiler or in another controlled low-heat setup.
Warm gently for approximately 1-2 hours.
The oil should be warm, not frying-hot.
Do not cook or scorch the lavender.
Allow the oil to cool before straining.
Or you can skip this and use Lavender Essential Oil according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Important: Make sure the lavender is thoroughly dry before infusing it. Fresh lavender can introduce moisture into the oil and shorten its storage life.
How to Make Lavender Body Butter
Once your lavender-infused oil is ready, it's time for the fun part.
Step 1: Melt the Butters
Place the shea butter and coconut oil into a heat-safe bowl or double boiler.
Gently heat until completely melted.
Avoid high heat.
Once everything has melted, remove the mixture from the heat.
Step 2: Add the Lavender Oil
Stir in the 1/4 cup lavender-infused oil.
Mix thoroughly.
If you're using vitamin E oil, add it now as well.
Step 3: Cool the Mixture
Let the mixture cool until it begins to become cloudy and slightly thicker.
You can place it in the refrigerator for a short period to speed this process along.
Don't let it become completely solid.
You want a soft, semi-solid texture that can still be whipped.
Step 4: Add Essential Oil
If you're using lavender essential oil, add drops once the mixture has cooled somewhat. ( Follow manufacturer's instructions!
Stir thoroughly.
Adding essential oils after the mixture has cooled helps avoid unnecessarily exposing the volatile oils to high heat.
Step 5: Whip It
Using a hand mixer, stand mixer, or electric whisk, whip the mixture until it becomes light and fluffy.
This can take several minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
The finished mixture should look creamy and airy, almost like frosting.
And yes, you will be tempted to eat it.
Please don't. It may look like frosting, but this one belongs on your elbows. 😂
Step 6: Transfer to a Jar
Spoon the finished body butter into a clean, completely dry glass or cosmetic container.
A wide-mouth jar makes it easy to scoop out small amounts.
Label the jar with the ingredients and the date you made it.
How to Use Lavender Body Butter
A little goes a long way.
Scoop out a small amount and massage it between your fingertips.
The warmth of your hands will soften the butter almost immediately.
Massage it into:
- Dry hands
- Elbows
- Knees
- Heels and feet
- Cuticles
- Dry patches
- Legs
- Arms
- Other areas that need extra moisture
For the best results, apply it after bathing while your skin is still slightly damp.
The body butter helps soften the skin and reduce moisture loss.
How to Store Homemade Body Butter
Because this recipe is oil-based and contains no water, it has a much simpler preservation situation than a homemade lotion containing water.
Still, homemade body products should be treated with care.
Keep the container:
- Tightly closed
- Cool
- Dry
- Away from direct sunlight
- Away from heat and humidity
Avoid introducing water into the jar.
Instead of using wet fingers, scoop out the body butter with clean, dry hands or use a small cosmetic spatula.
Always check the product before using it.
If the smell, appearance, or texture changes noticeably, discard it.
How Long Does It Last?
The practical shelf life depends heavily on the freshness and stability of the oils you use, how well the product is protected from heat and moisture, and how it is handled.
For homemade body butter, making smaller batches is often better than making a giant jar that sits around for months.
If you're experimenting with homemade body care for the first time, make a small batch and see how it performs in your home.
Lavender Body Butter Variations
Once you've made the basic recipe, you can have some fun with it.
Lavender & Vanilla
Add a skin-safe vanilla fragrance designed for cosmetic use along with the lavender.
This creates a warm, sweet herbal scent.
Lavender & Chamomile
Infuse the carrier oil with dried lavender and chamomile.
Both create a beautiful herbal pairing for a relaxing evening body butter.
Lavender & Calendula
Calendula-infused oil can be used in place of part or all of the lavender-infused oil.
This gives you another lovely herbal option for a garden-inspired body butter.
Extra Rich Foot Butter
Replace some of the coconut oil with a richer butter such as cocoa butter.
This creates a firmer, heavier formula that works beautifully as an overnight foot butter.
Put some on your feet before bed and slip on a pair of clean cotton socks.
Tiny home spa moment achieved.
Troubleshooting Your Body Butter
My Body Butter Is Too Hard
If the finished butter is too firm, gently remelt it and add a small amount of additional liquid oil.
Start with 1 teaspoon at a time.
Mix, cool, and test the texture again.
My Body Butter Is Too Soft
If your body butter is too soft, melt it gently and add a little more shea butter.
Allow it to cool and whip again.
Keep in mind that room temperature makes a huge difference.
A formula that is perfect in a cool bedroom may turn into a very soft cream in a hot summer bathroom.
My Body Butter Isn't Fluffy
The mixture may have been too warm when you tried to whip it.
Allow it to cool until it becomes thick and opaque but still soft enough to whip.
Then try again.
My Body Butter Feels Greasy
Body butter is naturally richer than lotion.
If you prefer a lighter feel, try replacing some of the coconut oil with a lighter carrier oil such as sunflower or sweet almond oil.
You can also simply use less product.
With body butter, more isn't necessarily better.
Make It Part of Your Garden-to-Home Routine
If you grow lavender, this is a particularly satisfying project.
You can harvest the flowers, dry them, infuse them into oil, and eventually turn that infused oil into something you can use in your everyday self-care routine.
That is one of the things I love about making simple herbal products at home.
The garden doesn't have to stop at the kitchen door.
Lavender can become tea, sachets, infused oils, bath products, decorations, gifts, and little jars of homemade goodness.
Your garden can feed you.
It can scent your home.
And sometimes, it can even become part of your self-care ritual.
A Few Important Safety Notes
Always use completely dried lavender for oil infusion.
Before applying a new homemade body product over a large area, perform a small patch test and discontinue use if irritation occurs.
If using lavender essential oil, use a skin-safe dilution and follow the supplier's safety recommendations. Essential oils are highly concentrated and should not be applied undiluted to the skin.
Keep homemade body products out of the reach of children and pets.
Also remember that homemade body butter is a moisturizer, not a treatment for a medical skin condition.
Making your own lavender-infused body butter is one of those wonderfully simple projects that feels much more luxurious than the ingredient list would suggest.
A little shea butter.
Some nourishing oil.
Dried lavender.
A few minutes with a mixer.
That's it.
You end up with a soft, creamy body butter that smells like a summer herb garden and makes an ordinary evening feel just a little more special.
So gather your lavender, warm up the kettle, put on some music, and make yourself a little jar of garden-inspired goodness.
Because homemade doesn't have to mean complicated. Sometimes simple is where the magic is. 💜🌿
Technical Note
Body butter texture can change significantly with room temperature. If your finished butter is too firm, add a small amount of liquid carrier oil. If it is too soft, increase the shea butter slightly. For warm climates, a firmer formula may be more practical, while cooler rooms may require a softer formula. Follow manufacturer's instructions for essential oil amounts.
