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Lemon Body Butter (6 Recipes for Glowing Skin)

Learn how to make lemon body butter for glowing skin! Aside from plain lemon body cream, this easy tutorial also includes 5 DIY body butter recipes that smell like lemon desserts, including lemon sugar cookie, lemon meringue, and lemon pound cake.

Lemon body butter.

I love bath and body products that smell like dessert, but I don’t love the synthetic fragrances often used to create them.

Luckily, switching to a more non-toxic lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to go without your favourite scents. With the right essential oils, you can recreate the delicious aromas of popular dessert-scented body products.

With their fluffy, whipped textures and decadent natural fragrances, these lemon body butter recipes are indulgent treats for your skin.

But instead of fragrance oils, they’re naturally fragranced with dessert-themed lemon essential oil blends that smell good enough to eat: lemon vanilla, lemon cream, lemon meringue, lemon sugar cookie, and lemon pound cake.

For more dessert body butter recipes:

Naturally scented lemon dessert body butter

If you’re looking for a body butter that makes you smell like dessert (naturally), these fluffy, whipped body butter recipes are for you.

There are 5 lemon dessert scents to choose from, some using specialty essential oils. But if you’re not interested in dessert scents, I’ve also included a simple lemon body butter recipe for glowing skin.

Lemon pound cake body butter.
  • Lemon Vanilla: This simple blend of vanilla oleoresin and lemon oil creates a delicately scented lemon vanilla body butter.
  • Lemon Cream: Real butter essential oil adds a sumptuous, buttery aroma that makes this body butter smell just like lemon cream or lemon cream pie.
  • Lemon Meringue: Lemon meringue pie lovers will enjoy this sweet and creamy naturally fragranced body butter with tonka bean absolute.
  • Lemon Sugar Cookie: With sugary bitter almond oil, this luscious body butter smells like a cross between a lemon sugar cookie and a butter cookie. It’s based off our original sugar cookie body butter, but with a citrus twist.
  • Lemon Pound Cake: The ultimate dessert scented treat, this decadent lemon body cream smells like lemon pound cake or lemon cupcakes.

Lemon body butter benefits

Besides adding a zesty and refreshing citrus aroma, lemon essential oil has a multitude of skincare benefits that go far beyond smelling good.

Benefits of using a lemon body butter include:

  • Glowing skin. The idea of using lemon body butter for glowing skin wasn’t just invented by essential oil enthusiasts. Lemon essential oil is rich in antioxidants that can help revive and rejuvenate tired, dull skin1.
  • Helps with acne. Those with oily skin or skin prone to blemishes can also benefit from using a lemon body butter. Lemon essential oil is astringent, so it helps reduce oil production. It also has antiseptic and detoxifying properties that can help prevent body acne1.
  • Reducing cellulite. Using a body butter with lemon oil may help temporarily reduce cellulite’s appearance. As an astringent, lemon essential oil promotes tissue tightening, and its diuretic properties also help flush excess water from cells2. For best results, pair your lemon body butter with a lymph-stimulating DIY cellulite scrub.

All this being said, essential oils are not miracle cures. Lemon essential oil may be a good adjunct to your natural body care routine, but it does not replace a healthy lifestyle, where glowing skin truly begins.

Ingredients for DIY lemon body butter

To make this DIY body cream for glowing skin, you will need a handful of natural ingredients:

  • Shea butter
  • Deodorized cocoa butter
  • Fractionated coconut oil or MCT oil
  • Turmeric for lemon yellow color
  • Vitamin E oil as antioxidant
  • Lemon essential oil blend
  • Optional clay for non-greasy texture
Lemon body butter ingredients for glowing skin.
Lemon body butter ingredients: cocoa butter, shea butter, turmeric-infused oil, essential oils, butter CO2 extract, and vitamin E.

Body butter base

This fluffy whipped body butter recipe is made with a skin-softening base of shea butter, deodorized cocoa butter, and fractionated coconut oil (or MCT oil).

We chose these 3 ingredients specifically for their long shelf lives, as they are very low in unstable PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids).

On the contrary, homemade body butters made with PUFA-rich oils (like sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil) tend to have shorter shelf lives, as these oils oxidize quickly.

There’s also growing evidence that excess PUFAs are not good for your skin. So this is another reason why we prefer low-PUFA skincare made with saturated fats instead.

But aside from their stability, we also love the luxurious texture these ingredients impart to body butters. The trio creates silky, whipped peaks of fluffy body butter goodness, like lemon mousse.

Fluffy whipped body butter texture.

Plus, unlike regular coconut oil, both MCT oil and fractionated coconut oil are well tolerated by many skin types. This is partly because they lack the lauric acid found in solid coconut oil, which can be pore-clogging and comedogenic for some people.

So if regular coconut oil makes you break out, you may find you tolerate a DIY body butter with fractionated coconut oil or MCT oil.

Natural body butter colorant

There are several ways to color your lemon body butter, if desired: turmeric-infused oil, yellow clay, or natural food coloring powder.

For a cheery lemon yellow, you can infuse your MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil with turmeric. Aside from its beautiful natural color, turmeric also comes with its own antioxidants and skin-brightening benefits.

However, turmeric is also notorious for staining. So you’ll want to avoid wearing light coloured clothing after applying a turmeric-infused body butter.

If you don’t want to use turmeric, yellow clay is another option. It adds a softer, yellow-beige tone like lemon cream that is less prone to staining clothing. Clay also has the added benefit of absorbing oil, so you can add a spoonful or two to help create a non-greasy lemon body butter.

Lemon cream body butter for glowing skin.

Vitamin E oil

As the body’s most potent and plentiful lipid-soluble antioxidant, vitamin E deeply nourishes your skin while also helping to prevent oxidative damage.

It helps stabilize fatty acids, both on your skin and in homemade skincare. So, a small amount of natural vitamin E oil adds several benefits to this lemon body butter recipe, including a longer shelf life.

Vitamin E also helps preserve delicate essential oils such as lemon oil, which has a short shelf life. The same goes for bitter almond oil, which is key for the lemon sugar cookie body butter.

Essential oils for lemon body butter

Finally, now that we’ve covered the body butter base, it’s time to move onto the essential oil blends.

To make a simple lemon body butter, you’ll need only lemon essential oil. But you’ll need a specialty perfumery oil or two if you’d like make a body butter that smells like lemon dessert.

The best part is that there’s no need to worry about any of the potentially toxic, synthetic ingredients found in fragrance oils. You’ll also receive the benefits of aromatherapy, which is more than what can be said for a synthetic lemon cookie fragrance oil!

Lemon cookie body butter with essential oils

Vanilla oleoresin

You’d be hard pressed to recreate the aroma of any dessert without vanilla!

However, a global shortage has left vanilla essential oil hard to come by for the last couple years. So you can also use a vanilla substitute to emulate its sweet aroma.

I use Vanilla Woods, which is an inexpensive bottled blend of vanilla, Peru balsam and benzoin.

Peru balsam’s sweet and slightly smoky undertones emulate the aromas of caramelized sugar. So Vanilla Woods is perfect for using in dessert scents, like the lemon meringue essential oil blend.

Speaking of caramelized sugar, Peru balsam is also key for making caramel scented essential oil.

Bitter almond essential oil

With its sweet, sugary aroma, bitter almond oil is the furthest thing from bitter. It’s the secret ingredient of the lemon sugar cookie essential oil blend.

Not to be confused with sweet almond carrier oil, bitter almond oil is distilled from fragrant bitter almonds. It smells incredibly sweet, with notes of marzipan, sugared cherries, and almond cookies.

Please look for bitter almond oil labelled specifically for cosmetic use. It should also be “rectified” or “FFPA” (free from prussic acid).

Alternatively, you can also use purified cosmetic benzaldehyde – this is the natural aroma compound that creates bitter almond’s sweet, marzipan-like aroma.

For more information on bitter almond oil, see our sugar cookie essential oil recipe and our other cookie scented body products: body butter, melt and pour soap, and body scrub.

Lemon sugar cookie body butter.

Butter CO2 extract

Also called butter essential oil, butter CO2 extract is commonly used in perfumery and food flavoring to impart a buttery aroma and taste.

It adds a rich, creamy, fatty quality that smells incredibly realistic, like real butter. (Which makes perfect sense, considering it’s derived from real butter!)

Butter CO2 is especially important for the lemon pound cake essential oil blend. For the lemon cookie blend, it helps add that buttery aroma that smells like shortbread or butter cookies.

Lemon body butter with butter co2 extract.
Adding butter essential oil to lemon body butter.

Compared to other specialty oils, butter CO2 is relatively inexpensive. You can find it on Etsy, but you’ll get the best deal through perfumery suppliers, so you may want to locate one in your country.

One more benefit: butter oil is also good for your skin, because it contains the skin-softening, nourishing fatty acids of real butter, such as palmitic acid and oleic acid.

Dessert body butter – lemon pound cake fragrance.

Tonka bean absolute

Tonka bean absolute’s sweet, unique aroma does things vanilla just can’t.

Where vanilla adds sweetness, tonka bean adds depth and decadence. It imparts notes of caramelized sugar and baked goods, so it makes for ultra realistic dessert essential oil blends.

I love it in cookie scents, like the lemon cookie essential oil blend.

Because this lemon body cream recipe is oil-based, you’ll also need an oil-based tonka bean absolute.

Some options include Plant Therapy’s tonka bean blend, Eden Botanicals’ tonka bean diluted in fractionated coconut oil, or a solid tonka bean perfumery absolute if you can justify the price.

Fluffy whipped body butter recipe with lemon

Lemon Body Butter Recipes for Glowing Skin

Lemon Body Butter

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
40 drops lemon essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Lemon Vanilla Body Butter

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
55 drops vanilla oleoresin or Vanilla Woods
25 drops lemon essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Lemon Cream Body Butter

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
3.8g butter co2 extract
55 drops vanilla essential oil or Vanilla Woods
25 drops lemon essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Lemon Meringue Body Butter

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
3.8g butter essential oil
30 drops vanilla oleoresin or Vanilla Woods
25 drops tonka bean essential oil
25 drops lemon essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
3.8g butter co2 extract
20 drops vanilla oleoresin or Vanilla Woods
20 drops bitter almond oil
25 drops lemon essential oil
15 drops tonka bean essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Lemon Pound Cake Body Butter

33g shea butter
20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
2g vitamin E oil
3.8g butter co2 extract
20 drops vanilla oleoresin or Vanilla Woods
20 drops tonka bean absolute
25 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops bitter almond essential oil
1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Equipment

Kitchen scale
Double boiler or shallow pan
Heat-safe glass measuring cup
Cheesecloth to strain turmeric
Airtight body butter jar

How to make lemon body butter

If you’d like to color your homemade body butter yellow, first you’ll need to make turmeric infused oil. Weigh your MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil into a heat-safe container and stir in 1 tsp turmeric.

Cover the turmeric oil and leave overnight to infuse. Alternatively, you can heat it gently using the double boiler method, or microwave for 30 seconds to quickly infuse the oil with a yellow color. To avoid grains in your body butter, strain out the turmeric before you proceed.

Tip: You can also add more turmeric until you achieve your desired color. Also, allowing the turmeric to settle to the bottom of your container makes it easier to strain.

Begin by melting the shea butter and cocoa butter in a heat-safe bowl. You have 2 choices: you can microwave the butters in 30 second increments, stopping to stir in between. Or, you can melt them over medium heat using the double boiler method.

If you don’t have a double boiler, you can create one by placing a heat-safe container over a water bath. Stir gently to ensure even melting.

Once the butters melt, add the turmeric-infused liquid coconut oil or MCT oil. This will cool down the mixture once again, so continue to heat gently until fully liquified.

Remove the lemon body butter base from heat and leave it to cool off for a few minutes before placing it into the refrigerator. (It’s never a good idea to place something too hot into the fridge.) Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for an hour or more until completely firm.

This is important, as shea butter is incredibly temperamental and has a tendency to turn grainy if not cooled quickly and thoroughly. So, to avoid grainy body butter, a good rule of thumb is to never allow it to cool at room temperature.

Hardened lemon body butter in mixing bowl.

Once the lemon body butter mixture is cool and firm, whip it using a hand mixer. It will be hard at first, but it will soften as you whip. Continue whipping until light and fluffy, or until you achieve your desired body butter texture. This may take anywhere between 10-40 minutes, and multiple trips to the fridge.

Tip: Whipping introduces heat, so you can opt to place the body butter back into the fridge between whipping sessions. The firmer and colder your body butter, the easier it will be to trap air bubbles inside. This is the key to achieving those fluffy, whipped peaks, like silky lemon body mousse.

Whipping DIY lemon body butter.

Once your body butter is whipped to your liking, it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients. Weigh in vitamin E oil, lemon essential oil (or dessert essential oil blend), and butter co2 extract. If using an alternate body butter colorant such as yellow clay or natural food coloring, add that during this step as well.

Whip the mixture briefly once again, but only enough to ensure everything is thoroughly incorporated. You want to avoid disturbing the delicate essential oil blend any more than is necessary.

Fluffy whipped lemon body butter recipe.

Once fluffy and evenly mixed, your homemade lemon body butter is finished. Transfer to a glass container with an airtight lid and enjoy.

Lemon body butter in jar.

Tips for making lemon body cream

  • Before using or making this DIY lemon body butter, please see the section on lemon essential oil skincare safety.
  • This fluffy whipped body butter recipe weighs 100g, excluding the lemon essential oil blend.
  • I chose not to include the EO blend in the total weight. This makes it easier for those who don’t have precise cosmetic scales. It also ensures the essential oils are used well below the safe usage rate.
  • Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Lemon essential oil and bitter almond oil have short shelf lives, so please use your lemon body cream promptly within 6 months.
  • If you want to save yourself an extra step, this turmeric-based natural yellow food coloring powder is another easy way to color homemade body butter.
  • If you don’t want to use turmeric, you can also use 1 tbsp yellow clay for a lighter, beige-toned yellow. Using clay also helps create a less greasy body butter texture.
Lemon body cream with lemon essential oil.

How to use lemon essential oil for skincare

Before making this lemon body butter or using lemon oil for skincare, it’s important to know how to use it safely:

  • Do not exceed the recommended usage rate. In Essential Oil Safety, Tisserand and Young recommend a maximum dermal usage rate of 2% for cold-pressed lemon essential oil3. To be safe, each lemon body cream recipe contains no more than 2% lemon essential oil.
  • Avoid expired lemon essential oil. Lemon essential oil has a short shelf life and should be kept refrigerated when not in use. Using oxidized or expired essential oils can cause skin irritation, burns, and other unpleasant effects4. So, please use only fresh lemon oil for your lemon body butter.
  • Avoid sun exposure after use. Cold-pressed lemon oil has phototoxic properties, which means it sensitizes your skin to the sun. To avoid injury, you should avoid exposing your skin to sunlight for at least 24 hours after using a body butter with lemon oil.
  • Ideally, choose steam-distilled lemon oil. You can also opt to use steam-distilled lemon essential oil in your homemade lemon body butter, which does not possess the same photosensitizing properties.
  • Watch for skin irritation. Essential oils can irritate sensitive skin, so please patch test before use. Do not use your homemade body butter if any irritation occurs.
Lemon pound cake body butter.
Yield: 100g

Lemon Whipped Body Butter Recipe

Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours

Learn how to make lemon body butter for glowing skin! Aside from plain lemon body cream, this easy tutorial also includes 5 DIY body butter recipes that smell like lemon desserts: lemon sugar cookie, lemon meringue, lemon cream, lemon vanilla, and lemon pound cake.

Ingredients

Lemon Body Butter

Lemon Vanilla Body Butter

  • 33g shea butter
  • 20g deodorized cocoa butter wafers
  • 45g MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil
  • 2g vitamin E oil
  • 55 drops vanilla oleoresin or Vanilla Woods
  • 25 drops lemon essential oil
  • 1 tsp turmeric for infused oil (optional)

Lemon Cream Body Butter

Lemon Meringue Body Butter

Lemon Sugar Cookie Body Butter

Lemon Pound Cake Body Butter

Equipment

Instructions

    1. If you'd like to color your homemade body butter yellow, first you'll need to make turmeric infused oil. Weigh your MCT oil or fractionated coconut oil into a heat-safe container and stir in 1 tsp turmeric.
    2. Cover the turmeric oil and leave overnight to infuse. Alternatively, you can heat it gently using the double boiler method, or microwave for 30 seconds to quickly infuse the oil with a yellow color. To avoid grains in your body butter, strain out the turmeric before you proceed.

      Tip: You can also add more turmeric until you achieve your desired color. Also, allowing the turmeric to settle to the bottom of your container makes it easier to strain.
    3. Begin by melting the shea butter and cocoa butter in a heat-safe bowl. You have 2 choices: you can microwave the butters in 30 second increments, stopping to stir in between. Or, you can melt them over medium heat using the double boiler method. If you don't have a double boiler, you can create one by placing a heat-safe container over a water bath. Stir gently to ensure even melting.
    4. Once the butters melt, add the turmeric-infused liquid coconut oil or MCT oil. This will cool down the mixture once again, so continue to heat gently until fully liquified.
    5. Remove the lemon body butter base from heat and leave it to cool off for a few minutes before placing it into the refrigerator. (It's never a good idea to place something too hot into the fridge.) Allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator for an hour or more until completely firm.

      This is important, as shea butter is incredibly temperamental and has a tendency to turn grainy if not cooled quickly and thoroughly. So, to avoid grainy body butter, a good rule of thumb is to never allow it to cool at room temperature.
    6. Once the lemon body butter mixture is cool and firm, whip it using a hand mixer. It will be hard at first, but it will soften as you whip. Continue whipping until light and fluffy, or until you achieve your desired body butter texture. This may take anywhere between 10-40 minutes, and multiple trips to the fridge.

      Tip: Whipping introduces heat, so you can opt to place the body butter back into the fridge between whipping sessions. The firmer and colder your body butter, the easier it will be to trap air bubbles inside. This is the key to achieving those fluffy, whipped peaks, like silky lemon body mousse.
    7. Once your body butter is whipped to your liking, it's time to add the rest of the ingredients. Weigh in vitamin E oil, lemon essential oil (or dessert essential oil blend), and butter co2 extract. If using an alternate body butter colorant such as yellow clay or natural food coloring, add that during this step as well.
    8. Whip the mixture briefly once again, but only enough to ensure everything is thoroughly incorporated. You want to avoid disturbing the delicate essential oil blend any more than is necessary.
    9. Once fluffy and evenly mixed, your homemade lemon body butter is finished. Transfer to a glass container with an airtight lid and enjoy.

Notes

  • Before using or making this DIY lemon body cream, please see the section on lemon essential oil skincare safety.
  • This fluffy whipped body butter recipe weighs 100g, excluding the lemon essential oil blend.
  • I chose not to include the EO blend in the total weight. This makes it easier for those who don't have precise cosmetic scales. It also ensures the essential oils are used well below the safe usage rate.
  • Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Lemon essential oil and bitter almond oil have short shelf lives, so please use your lemon body cream promptly within 6 months.
  • If you want to save yourself an extra step, this turmeric-based natural yellow food coloring powder is another easy way to color homemade body butter.
  • If you don't want to use turmeric, you can also use 1 tbsp yellow clay for a lighter, beige-toned yellow. Using clay also helps create a less greasy body butter texture.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

More dessert scented body products

For more dessert scented body care recipes for glowing skin, check out:

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  1. Ali, Babar, et al. “Essential Oils Used in Aromatherapy: A Systemic Review.” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, No Longer Published by Elsevier, 10 July 2015, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115001033.
  2. Dosoky, Noura S, and William N Setzer. “Biological Activities and Safety of Citrus spp. Essential Oils.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 19,7 1966. 5 Jul. 2018, doi:10.3390/ijms19071966
  3. Tisserand, Robert, and Rodney Young. “Essential Oil Profiles.” Essential Oil Safety, Elsevier, 2014, pp. 187–482. Crossref, doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-06241-4.00013-8.
  4. “How to Avoid the Dangers of Expired Oils – American College of Healthcare Sciences.” American College of Healthcare Sciences – Empowering Change with Accredited Online Holistic Health Education, 6 Apr. 2021, https://achs.edu/blog/2018/03/20/do-essential-oils-have-a-shelf-life/. 

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