Since the beginning, I wanted Dear Guts to be strictly a food blog. It wasn’t to be a place to post pictures of furniture I’ve built, travel pictures, household DIYs or even gardening tips without the focus being on a recipe. First and foremost, it’s always been about food. I wanted, I guess, to fit into a neat and compact little category, a food blog, while the rest of this extension of myself in website form is weird, or inconsistent, I wanted at least to be readily understandable in that regard. But for a while now I’ve been mystified about why I have this perfect space to share my voice, knowledge and life, yet I limit its reach. I’ve been making homemade toothpaste, lotion and hair conditioner for years, and now that my biggest passion is producing as little garbage as possible, I feel like it’s finally time to stop limiting myself and just talk about whatever the hell I wanna talk about. Today it happens to be coconut mango body butter.

This is a really good starter recipe for someone starting out with making their own skincare products because it doesn’t need a preservative and it isn’t pH dependent (unlike pretty much every other skincare product I make). The end result is a luxuriously thick body butter that leaves your skin insanely nourished. Mango oil, which is expelled from mango seeds, has more fatty acids than other commonly used butters/oils, making it incredibly moisturizing. Another big reason it’s my favorite is it helps protect your skin from UV rays. Licorice extract is a great anti-inflammatory and excels at reducing redness and irritation. Coconut oil is moisturizing and antibacterial, but it’s moderately comedogenic so I never use it on my face.  (Note: I added aloe to mine so it will need to be used within a week. If you follow the recipe below, using just oils and licorice extract,  it’ll stay good for 2 years. Anytime you add water (like in the aloe I added) bacteria can grow and you’ll therefore need to add a preservative or use it quickly).

While this as waste free as I’d like it since the mango butter packaging isn’t recyclable, it’s still world’s better than purchasing 5 big plastic tubs of lotion (which is the equivalent amount you can make from the bag of mango butter), not to mention that it’s also significantly cheaper than a similarly high-quality store bought lotion. When I’m out of the licorice extract I’m going to make my own and use the bottle indefinitely.

Coconut Mango Body Butter

makes one cup

ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup mango butter

1/4 tsp licorice extract (optional)

1/4 tsp vitamin e oil (optional, both oils are high in vitamin e as is)

aloe gel harvested from one leaf (optional, if used see note above re: preservatives)

In a medium pot, bring a few inches of water to a simmer. In a slightly smaller pot, add all ingredients. Place the smaller pot inside the larger pot, making a makeshift double boiler which will ensure your ingredients won’t burn. Once completely melted, pour into a large bowl and place in the fridge for 15 minutes. Once cooled, use a mixer on high to whip into body butter consistency.