Since African skin needs a lot of moisture, it becomes the quest of many parents to find a moisturizing product that will work for their child.
When we visited the African market looking for shea butter (story here), one of the African men who is a pharmacist recommended mixing the shea butter with some Aquaphor to give it more viscosity.
So, I came up with a recipe that seems to work for Benaiah. I added the lavender oil to make it smell a little nicer. Shea butter doesn't smell bad (or it shouldn't unless it is rancid!), but neither does it smell good. We butter up Benaiah before bed, so in theory, the lavender scent helps him to relax and get ready to go to sleep. (He does go to sleep well most nights!)
Benaiah Butter
I soften the shea butter in the KitchenAid mixer for a few minutes before I add in the Aquaphor. When they look integrated, I drop in the 30 drops of lavender oil.
Every night and after a bath, we butter Benaiah from head to toe. Yes, we butter his head! His scalp needs extra moisture, and his hair is very dry.
Each morning, he needs a little butter on his face because it gets very dry.
Mr. B is so soft and smooth! (He's not the only one using it!)
- 8 oz. 100% shea butter
- 4 oz. Aquaphor
- 30 drops lavender oil
I soften the shea butter in the KitchenAid mixer for a few minutes before I add in the Aquaphor. When they look integrated, I drop in the 30 drops of lavender oil.
Every night and after a bath, we butter Benaiah from head to toe. Yes, we butter his head! His scalp needs extra moisture, and his hair is very dry. Each morning, he needs a little butter on his face because it gets very dry.
Mr. B is so soft and smooth! (He's not the only one using it!)
6 comments:
Mr. B sure is CUTE!
It's so funny because Jonas doesn't seem to get as dry as I hear other mom's describe their kids' skin. We use straight Aquaphor and it works great for him but MOM has major dry skin so I may be trying B's Butter!
That is great. I make my own lotion ("butter") and we butter up all of our kids.
Benaiah looks great.
love, lenka
From your pharmacists friends, good job! The formula looks like a winner and I agree with your comment on the smell of the cream. Good thinking with the lavender. Hope all is well, we are counting the months down until we are back on the mainland.
I wonder what would happen if I added Cetaphil instead Aquaphor?
So can you buy the Shea Butter at a regular supermarket or do you have to go to a special store? I'm also curious about the Cetaphil Candy mentioned. Hmmm...
I have been using Benaiah Butter on my 2 year old son for 6 months. We switched pediatritians (sp?) and our new pediatritian said that lavender has estrogen and can spur breasts in boys. She has seen 4 cases of this in the last year. You may want to find a different essential oil :)
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070131/lavender-oil-may-spur-breasts-boys
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