Uplifting DIY Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter

Spring is here, and Easter is just around the corner!
Whether you celebrate it or not, you would probably (automatically) form those mental images of Easter eggs and those super cute Easter bunnies.
And people in some parts of this world would associate the day with LOTS of oranges, borderline-excessive chocolate eating and, of course, the legendary chocolate oranges!
Kids might still have that special “privilege” of eating loads of chocolate products (including the sweetest ones) without having to worry about the consequences.
But what about us adults?
Still “stealing” some, but not too much, right?
Why not try something new?
For you, my fellow adults, I’ve prepared this fun DIY Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter recipe to try this spring.
Smell it, nourish your skin with it, but hold yourself together – whatever happens, don’t eat it!

Before getting into the recipe, though, let’s get to know with our lovely ingredients!

Ingredients

1. Cocoa butter

INCI: Theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter.

Here I’m using the same cocoa butter as the one that I used to create these beautiful and fragrant Rose Mocaccino Melting Chocolate Massage Bars not long ago. Locally sourced in a village in Bali, Indonesia, the cocoa butter is raw, unrefined and has earned its organic status. Its aroma is pleasantly sweet and unapologetically chocolaty. Just perfect to use in the formulation of this chocolate-themed body butter. What’s more is that the supplier prides themselves in their sustainable farming practices.

The pale-yellow colored cocoa butter is a hard butter, which we could easily see from its hard texture. This means that we need to gently melt it first before we could incorporate it with other ingredients. It melts at temperatures around 36 degrees Celsius, which means it would readily melt upon contact with our skin.

A study conducted by Scapagnini and colleagues confirmed that cocoa phytocompounds possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Both of which also offer good skin protection against UV damages, hence cocoa butter’s anti-aging effects.

2. Mango butter

INCI: Mangifera indica (mango) seed butter.

Off white in color, the melting temperature of this soft butter ranges from 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. Less sticky compared to shea butter, the lighter skin feel of mango butter would suit our skin and its needs better in the springtime. With almost neutral aroma, its off-white color and relatively long shelf life, mango butter is one of those versatile ingredients in the world of natural and organic skincare formulations.

In additional to its neutral physical properties, mango butter contains a significant amount of tocopherol, phytosterols and triterpenes. These are all important sources of skin active ingredients, as confirmed by Bhattacharya and Shukla in their paper. These green compounds contribute to mango butter’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, ability to reduce wrinkles appearance and skin roughness, as well as to protect our skin against UV damages. No wonder mango butter has been an ingredient of choice when it comes to anti-aging skincare products.

What I’ve got in hands here is unrefined mango butter that comes from a plantation in India. What I love about the supplier is the fact that they provide the CoA and GC/MS analysis documentation just like that – no need to ask for the papers at all! And also importantly, they claim that they’ve adopted the sustainability practice, including that “harvest and plant 10 times more” principle. They also educate the farmers on how to maintain the soil’s health and biodiversity in the process.

3. Jojoba oil

INCI: Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil.

Jojoba oil is one of the most versatile ingredients in the world of natural and organic skincare formulation. From its very subtle sweet and nutty aroma to its long shelf life, there are so many reasons to put this incredible ingredient on that “formulators’ best friends” list.

In the eyes of millions of skincare products users, there even are many more reasons to fall in love with jojoba oil. Its sebum-like structure helps retain skin moisture while controlling the production of our skin’s natural sebum. This would, in turn, benefit both aging and acneic-oily skin by keeping the skin balance. Even more, you might have guessed this one: due to its high skin compatibility, jojoba oil is considered hypoallergenic. This means that it would be suitable for the application on irritable, sensitive skin like mine – and maybe yours, too! You’ll discover many more skin benefits of jojoba oil – and beyond! – here.

As for the one I’ve got in hands here, it’s organic and non-GMO jojoba oil.

Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter

4. Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E)

INCI: Tocopherol.

In the world of natural and organic skincare formulation, vitamin E is very often used as an antioxidant. The use of antioxidant(s) is compulsory whenever there is an oil phase in the formulation. This antioxidant system is used to prevent any unwanted oxidative process and thus prolong the shelf life of these oil ingredients. This will in turn increase the stability of the ingredients and hence stable final product. This all translates to a safe skincare product with acceptable shelf life.

As this body butter we’re about to make is oil-based, the addition of vitamin E is a must.

For this, I managed to purchase sunflower-based vitamin E rich in d-alpha-tocopherol. In this Cocoa Rose Massage Bars blog post I talked so much about vitamin E, you would know that this type of vitamin E is my first personal choice. It’s natural, sunflower-based (hence more likely to be a non-GMO product), and it’s rich in d-alpha-tocopherol. If you want to further inform yourself about vitamin E, I would recommend you reading this super insightful article.

Back to the vitamin E oil I’ve got here, it originates from India, and I purchased it from the mango butter supplier I talked about earlier. Since they provide the ingredient’s CoA, I can share the vitamin E oil’s composition with you here. This will hopefully give you deeper insights into this particular type of vitamin E:

Total tocopherol: ~1000 IU/g.
Alpha-Tocopherol: 79.10%.
D-beta-Tocopherol & D-gamma-Tocopherol: 10.05%.
D-delta-Tocopherol: 10.41%.

5. Vanilla absolute

INCI: Vanilla planifolia (vanilla) fruit oil.

If you’re looking for a scent that could not go wrong, this is it. Imagine that characteristic aroma of vanilla dessert, and top that with warm, spicy and fruity notes. The vanilla absolute I’ve got here has been claimed to be originated from a sustainable plantation in Kerala, South India, India. Yes, it’s the same supplier from whom I purchased the mango butter and vitamin E oil.

Solvent-extracted from vanilla beans, this brown and viscous vanilla absolute is often used as a fixative in perfumery. It holds all aromas in the formulation together, refine the “edges” and make the final aroma “whole”. And as a base note, the aroma of this vanilla absolute will still linger on your skin long after the other (more volatile) aromas have gone.

The sweet aroma of this vanilla absolute is the perfect complement to other aromas in this Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter formulation.

6. Sweet orange essential oil

INCI: Citrus sinensis (sweet orange) fruit peel oil.

Expressed sweet orange essential oil is one of the only few citrus oils that are not phototoxic. Gentle enough for various skin types, this oil has been known to be highly beneficial for acneic skin. In their study, Sun and colleagues demonstrated that sweet orange essential oil improves acne lesions via alleviating inflammatory response and suppressing P. acnes. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of this oil would help improve those signs of aging we often try to run away from.

Harvested in the mountainous region of Brazil, the sweet oranges have been claimed to yield one of the best sweet orange essential oils on the planet. Cold-pressed from the orange’s fruit peel, the resulting oil possesses a warm, sweet and citrusy aroma. Refreshing and uplifting, this aroma would bring a smile even to the most sour, troubled face out there!

7. Cocoa CO₂ extract

INCI: Theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter extract.

Unlike essential oils, CO₂ extracts were obtained by involving CO₂, which acts as the solvent in the extraction process. And since steam distillation is not required during CO₂ extraction, the plant matters are not subjected to high temperatures. All this yields botanical compounds that are unharmed by high temperatures, hence the very concentrated and potent plant CO₂ extracts.

I managed to purchase the high quality, locally sourced Indonesian cocoa CO₂ extract. All certificates and documents that came along with the extract say it all. The extract came from a non-GMO source, it’s vegan, halal, cruelty-free, allergens/sensitizers-free, chemical solvent-free, and so on.

The pale yellow cocoa CO₂ extract is solid at room temperatures. Consequently, we need to very gently melt it in a hot water bath before combining it with other ingredients. The cocoa CO₂ extract possesses a very sweet, milky, chocolaty aroma, which is very similar to that of milk chocolate bar instead of dark chocolate bar. The scent is also similar to that of cocoa butter I’m using here, but definitely smells more sweet and intense. We’re incorporating cocoa CO₂ extract into the Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter recipe to enhance the chocolaty aroma. But since CO₂ extracts are all highly potent, we’ll use only a small amount of it.

And… that’s all about our ingredients for now – let’s start creating!

Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter Recipe

Ingredients, in grams (for a 200 g batch):

148 g cocoa butter
36 g mango butter
10.4 g jojoba oil
1.6 g tocopherol (natural vitamin E)
0.8 g vanilla absolute
1.2 g sweet orange essential oil
2 g cocoa CO₂ extract

Now I’ll also share with you the recipe in terms of percentages. This way, you can decide for yourself the batch size that would suit your current need.

Ingredients, in percentages:

74% cocoa butter
18% mango butter
5.2% jojoba oil
0.8% tocopherol (natural vitamin E)
0.4% vanilla absolute
0.6% sweet orange essential oil
1% cocoa CO₂ extract

*This recipe contains 0.55% limonene, which occurs naturally in essential oils. In this case, specifically, the limonene content came from the sweet orange essential oil.

Please feel free to ask me any questions in the comment section below!

Directions:

Preparation

Weigh the cocoa butter in a heatproof bowl.
Chop the cocoa butter chunks into small pieces to help with the melting process later on.
Add the mango butter to the same bowl.
Weigh the jojoba oil in another beaker.
Weigh the tocopherol in another (smaller) beaker.
To the same beaker, add the vanilla absolute and sweet orange essential oil and then give them a good swirl.
In another beaker, weigh the cocoa CO₂ extract.

After-prep (you can have no break at all having passed this point)

Now with everything in place, we can start the melting process. Gently melt the butters in a bain-marie, while stirring the mixture continuously to avoid overheating and scorching the butters. *You wouldn’t want to overheat butters, as it will destabilize the final product, making it too easy to melt.
Once the butters have completely melted, immediately remove the bowl from the heat, while stirring continuously.
Add the jojoba oil to the melted butters and then stir thoroughly.
Once the temperature drops below 40^o Celsius, start to very gently melt the cocoa CO₂ extract by keep stirring it in a hot water bath. *Don’t forget about the butters-oil mixture, though. Don’t leave either one of them unstirred for too long. An extra pair of hands will definitely help here – although you can do this by yourself, too!
Add the completely melted cocoa CO₂ extract to the butters-oil mixture and then continue with the stirring.
Finally, add the pre-mixed tocopherol, vanilla absolute and sweet orange essential oil to the now butters-oil-CO₂ extract mixture.
Stir, stir and keep stirring. This will take a while – so just dance the minutes away! *The transparent mixture will turn translucent before finally turning opaque. After ~3 minutes, you can start speeding up the process by placing the bowl in an ice bath while stirring continuously and thoroughly.
Once the mixture turn opaque and start to solidify but still pourable, slowly pour the mixture into the mold(s).
Gently tap the mold, repeatedly, to evenly distribute the mixture inside the mold. *By doing this, you’d also get rid of any existing air bubble, which might be trapped inside the mixture.

Yayyy – a break, finally!

Let it sit overnight in a clean and safe space. *You can put it in a fridge for 1 to 2 hours instead of leaving it overnight at a room temperature. Just remember to put it inside a clean resealable bag beforehand.
Unmold carefully.

You made it! Congratulations!

No, I’m not leaving you yet. I made this video tutorial to make life a bit easier for you!

HOW TO USE + TIPS:

This super cute and fragrant Orange Chocolate Easter Bunny Body Butter will melt upon contact with your skin.
It would be a good idea to wrap each bunny and egg in a greaseproof paper before storing it in a jar or container.
Store in dry and cool place, away from heat source and direct sunlight.
If you know you’re allergic to one or more ingredients in this recipe, omit the use of it/them. You might be able to find the closest substitutes for those ingredients. Please feel free to post any questions in the comment section below!
In the video tutorial, you’d see the dent on the bunny’s back. The dent might come from when I accidentally move the mold when I tried to check on how far the bunny had solidified. Apparently, after ~4 hours it hadn’t solidified enough, hence the dent. This is why I almost always let the mixture sit in the fridge for much shorter amount of time instead of leaving it overnight. But make sure that you’ve got that safe place in your fridge, especially if you’ve got someone or people living with you.
In addition to the dent, you’ve probably seen those cracks on the egg. You might be able to see that the mixture looks perfectly pourable when I poured it into the bunny mold. As I got to the egg mold, though, the mixture had become more solidified. I could have “soften” the mixture in a warm bath for a little while, but I didn’t. Turns out, the mixture wasn’t liquid enough to fill the occurring gaps when I tapped the mold repeatedly.

And that’s it, people!

We’ve now got the most fragrant, super cute bunny and egg in the house!

Your bunny and egg might not look as perfect as you had imagined it to be. But if you’ve done everything you could to create them, there’s nothing to be disappointed on and sad about – at all!

Clearly, I wasn’t happy that I poured too much mixture into the bunny mold, making the bunny look “unnatural”. So you see, I took the risk of making everything worse when I decided to “sculpt” my bunny. Because I know that sculpting hasn’t been my forte ever since I can remember. But I did it anyway – and I appreciate myself more for making the decision despite the risk. And the bunny turned out to be super cute after all that makeover!

As for the cracks on the egg, my perfectionist self wasn’t too happy about it. But I kept my mind open and as I took multiple more looks at the egg, I began to look at the cracks as things that have made the egg look more unique, personalized and natural.