Nourishing Body Balm

This is my go-to body balm — rich, protective and endlessly useful for dry patches, elbows, shins, cuticles and hard-working hands. It's an anhydrous (water-free) recipe, which means no preservative needed and a lovely long shelf life. Makes roughly 100g.

What you'll need

• 40g Shea Butter (40%)
• 15g Cocoa Butter (15%)
• 30g Sweet Almond Oil (30%)
• 14g White Beeswax Pellets (14%)
• 1g Vitamin E (1%)
• Optional: up to 1% essential oil for scent

Make it a kit: everything above, minus your jar and a bit of essential oil, is a ready-made body balm kit — all the ingredients on this list are on my shelves.

Method

1. Weigh the shea, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil and beeswax into a heatproof bowl.
2. Melt gently over a pan of simmering water (a bain-marie), stirring now and then, until just clear. Don't rush it or overheat.
3. Take it off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
4. Stir in the vitamin E and, if using, your essential oil.
5. Pour into a clean jar or tin and leave to set at room temperature. Don't move it while it sets or you may get a bumpy top.

Tips

Want it firmer? Add a little more beeswax. Softer and more scoopable? Ease the beeswax back and add a touch more oil. Do the spoon test — a dab on a cold spoon sets in a minute and tells you the texture before you pour the whole batch.

Steph x

Shop the ingredients

Prefer to buy just what this recipe needs, rather than a full kit? Add everything to your basket in one click — or pick just what you still need from the list below. Each one is the smallest size, and even these make several batches, so one order will keep you making this again and again.

Add all ingredients to basket

• Shea Butter — 250g, €7.38
• Cocoa Butter — 250g, €11.00
• Sweet Almond Oil — 100ml, €3.30
• White Beeswax Pellets — 250g, €8.61
• Vitamin E — 50ml, €15.38

The button adds one of each smallest size — just adjust the quantities in your basket if you'd like more.