Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter DIY Recipe

Homemade Lavender and Cedarwood Body Butter in an 8 oz jar on a linen shelf with folded towels.

Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter DIY Recipe

Some coastal scents feel clean, calm, and softly grounded.

Lavender + Cedarwood is fresh, herbal, woody, and smooth. Lavender gives soft clean calm. Cedarwood adds warmth, dry wood, and a polished skin-scent finish.

That is the mood behind Lavender + Cedarwood.

This DIY body butter recipe is for anyone who loves clean herbal body-care scents with a soft woody finish. It is made for dry areas, after-shower routines, and skin-softening days when you want something calm, smooth, and comforting.

What You’re Making

You are making Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter, a whipped body butter inspired by soft lavender, smooth cedarwood, warm skin, and clean after-shower body care.

This formula makes about one 8 oz jar by volume after whipping.

Details

  • Prep time: 20 to 30 minutes

  • Chill time: 20 to 30 minutes

  • Makes: About one 8 oz jar by volume

  • Skill level: Beginner to intermediate

  • Method: Whipped anhydrous body butter

  • Scent style: Clean, herbal, woody, soft, calming

  • Best for: Dry skin, after-shower body care, body butter, and soft scent layering

What You’ll Need

  • Digital scale

  • Heat-safe bowl

  • Small saucepan for a double boiler

  • Mixing bowl

  • Spoon or spatula

  • Hand mixer or stand mixer

  • 8 oz jar with lid

  • Label or marker

  • Clean towel

Ingredients

For one 8 oz jar by volume, use:

  • 2 oz shea butter

  • 1.5 oz mango butter

  • 0.75 oz solid coconut oil

  • 1 oz fractionated coconut oil

  • 0.60 oz jojoba oil, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, or grapeseed oil

  • 0.20 oz arrowroot powder or tapioca starch

  • 0.05 oz vitamin E oil

  • 0.04 oz lavender essential oil

  • 0.02 oz cedarwood essential oil

Make Sure

  • Use only cosmetic-grade essential oils approved for skin use.

  • Do not use candle fragrance oil.

  • Do not use diffuser oil.

  • Do not use lavender water, lavender hydrosol, or floral water.

  • Do not use cedar chips, cedar shavings, wood powder, or furniture cedar oil.

  • Lavender essential oil should be fresh, properly stored, and safe for topical use.

  • Cedarwood essential oil should be fresh, properly stored, and safe for topical use.

  • Do not use old or oxidized essential oils on the skin.

  • This is a leave-on product, so the scent materials must be safe for leave-on body care.

  • This recipe uses a soft scent amount for body butter.

  • Do not increase the essential oils unless your supplier’s leave-on usage guidance allows it.

  • This recipe is an anhydrous body butter, meaning it does not contain water.

  • Do not add water, aloe vera, hydrosols, tea, milk, honey, glycerin, or water-based ingredients.

  • Because this formula contains no water, it does not need a preservative when made and stored correctly.

  • Keep water out of the jar during use.

  • Use clean, dry hands or a clean spoon when scooping.

  • Do not use on your face, intimate areas, broken skin, irritated skin, sunburned skin, or freshly shaved skin.

Instructions

  1. Start with a clean, dry workspace and clean tools.

  2. Make sure your jar is clean and completely dry.

  3. Add the shea butter, mango butter, and solid coconut oil to a heat-safe bowl.

  4. Place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water to create a double boiler.

  5. Melt gently until the butters and coconut oil are fully melted.

  6. Remove the bowl from heat.

  7. Add the fractionated coconut oil.

  8. Add the jojoba oil, sunflower oil, sweet almond oil, or grapeseed oil.

  9. Add the vitamin E oil.

  10. Stir until everything is fully blended.

  11. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.

  12. Chill until the mixture looks thick, cloudy, and partly firm around the edges, but not rock hard.

  13. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator.

  14. Whip with a hand mixer until the mixture becomes creamy, lighter, and fluffy.

  15. Add the lavender essential oil.

  16. Add the cedarwood essential oil.

  17. Add the arrowroot powder or tapioca starch.

  18. Whip again until the body butter looks smooth and fully blended.

  19. If the body butter feels too soft, chill it for 5 to 10 more minutes and whip again.

  20. If the body butter feels too firm, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes and whip again.

  21. Spoon the whipped body butter into your clean, dry jar.

  22. Tap the jar gently to settle the butter, but do not pack it down too tightly.

  23. Wipe the rim clean.

  24. Add the lid.

  25. Label it Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter and add the date you made it.

How to Use It

  • Use Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter on clean, dry skin.

  • Apply a small amount to arms, legs, elbows, knees, feet, and dry areas.

  • Use after a shower when skin is dry but still slightly warm.

  • Massage gently until the butter melts into the skin.

  • Start with a small scoop because this is a rich body butter.

  • Reapply only if your skin tolerates it well.

  • Avoid using right before putting on delicate clothing because oils can transfer.

  • Do not use on irritated skin.

  • Do not use right after shaving if your skin is sensitive.

Parlor Scent Lab Notes

  • Lavender + Cedarwood should smell clean, soft, herbal, woody, and smooth.

  • The lavender gives the body butter a fresh, calming floral-herbal note.

  • The cedarwood adds soft wood, warmth, and a grounded finish.

  • Together, they should smell like clean skin, fresh air, soft lavender, and smooth coastal wood.

  • This scent should not smell sharp.

  • It should not smell medicinal.

  • It should not smell smoky or heavy.

  • It should feel calm, clean, smooth, and close to the skin.

  • Shea butter gives the body butter richness.

  • Mango butter keeps the texture creamy and smooth.

  • Solid coconut oil adds a creamy body-care feel.

  • Fractionated coconut oil helps the butter glide onto the skin.

  • Jojoba, sunflower, sweet almond, or grapeseed oil helps soften the skin feel.

  • Arrowroot powder or tapioca starch helps reduce the greasy feel.

  • Vitamin E helps slow oil oxidation but is not a preservative.

  • Keep the finished butter white, cream, pale lavender, or very soft ivory for the clean coastal look.

  • Do not add dried lavender buds, cedar chips, botanicals, sugar, food extracts, milk, honey, or kitchen ingredients.

  • If your body butter smells strange, changes texture, develops spots, becomes watery, or looks contaminated, throw it away and make a fresh batch.

Storage and Safety

  • Store your body butter in a cool, dry place.

  • Keep the jar tightly closed between uses.

  • Keep water out of the jar.

  • Do not store it in the shower.

  • Do not leave it in a hot car, sunny window, or warm bathroom.

  • Body butter can melt in heat.

  • If it melts and firms back up, the texture may become flatter or grainy.

  • Use clean, dry hands or a clean spoon to scoop the body butter.

  • Use within 3 to 6 months for the freshest scent and best texture.

  • Always patch test before using a new scented body butter all over.

  • Avoid using on broken skin, irritated skin, sunburned skin, freshly shaved skin, or intimate areas.

  • Keep away from eyes and mouth.

  • If irritation, itching, redness, burning, headache, or discomfort happens, stop using it.

  • Keep out of reach of children and pets.

  • If you are pregnant, have sensitive skin, or are making this for someone with health concerns, check whether lavender and cedarwood are appropriate before use.

  • If you are selling this body butter, your formula should be properly tested, labeled, and checked for cosmetic compliance in your area.

Scent Strength

This recipe uses a soft leave-on scent amount:

  • 0.04 oz lavender essential oil

  • 0.02 oz cedarwood essential oil

Do not increase the essential oils unless your supplier’s leave-on usage guidance allows it.

Lavender + Cedarwood should stay clean, calm, woody, smooth, and close to the skin.

One Last Soft Scoop

Lavender + Cedarwood Body Butter is clean, calm, and softly grounded.

It is smooth skin after a shower, soft lavender in the air, warm cedarwood on the vanity, and that rich body-butter feeling that makes dry skin feel cared for.

A small scoop, a soft massage, and there she is.


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