Homemade All-Natural Belly Butter for Stretch Marks {Recipe}

I remember being pregnant. And I remember being worried about stretch marks. Let’s be honest, every pregnant woman worries about stretch marks and secretly wishes for good luck and perfect belly skin. My mom got a lot of stretch marks while pregnant with my brother and I. I was worried. They say stretch marks are hereditary. I searched high and low for the best prevention cream.

You will learn [hide]

Issues with Commerical Cocoa Butter

Have you seen the ingredient list for Palmer’s Cocoa Butter?

Here is a small example:

Metylparaben, propylbaraben: Hormone disruptors. They accumulate in breast cancer tissue. Damages to the reproductive and hormone systems.

PEG-100: Concern: Increased risk for cancer (breast, uterine, brain, leukemia). Often contaminated with 1, 4-dioxane, lead and arsenic. PEG open the pores on the skin enabling toxins to easily enter the body.

Propylene Glycol: Found in anti-freeze. Enough said.

Want me to keep going? Didn’t think so. I don’t know you but when I found out the truth about the cosmetics industry I was PO’d. Heck, I’m PO’d right now just thinking that I used to put this crap on my sensitive belly!

The truth is even if told that nothing but healthy weight gain will prevent stretch marks, women will still look for that one lotion, just in case.

One thing is for sure, there is nothing wrong with nourishing the skin during pregnancy. All that stretching going on can cause redness, dryness, and itchiness. And one way to nourish the skin is with with good quality natural ingredients.

I made this belly butter for a dear friend of mine expecting her second child, and she has told me how much she is loving it!

Why All-Natural Belly Butter?

So many creams and lotions promising perfect skin, so many opinions from other moms as to which one works best. I settled on good ‘ol Palmer’s. It’s the one trusted by so many moms, their website is full of “it works, I’m the proof!” testimonials.

It has to work.

And then I came to find out that there is no scientific proof that oils, creams, and lotions, do anything to prevent stretchmarks. According to the Mayo Clinic the best way to reduce the likelihood of getting stretch marks is to maintain a healthy weight. Guess what? I gained 28 lbs with my son, guess how many my mom gained with me? 60. You guessed it, I didn’t get any stretch marks.

Then why am I posting a belly butter recipe, for pete’s sake!? I’ll tell you why.

I wish I had discovered the danger of conventional personal care products while pregnant. As you may know it wasn’t until my son was born that my radar went off.

Homemade All Natural Belly Butter Recipe

Ingredients:

3 Tbs Shae butter (Get at Amazon.com)
3 Tbs cocoa butter (Get at Amazon.com)
1 Tsp of vitamin E
35 drops pure tangerine essential oil (Get at Amazon.com)

Method:

Using a double boiler, or a stainless steel bowl over simmering water, add all ingredients and let them melt.
Using a mixing rod, stir the melted ingredients to allow the essential oil to blend well.
Using caution transfer liquid ingredient to desired container and let it cool off and set.

Notes:

Shell life is 6 month or less (due to EO decrease potency). You can use any container of your choice, but my favorite for small amounts like these are these 2 oz tin containers.

If you are not pregnant, this would make a perfect baby shower gift. Just think how many presents for mom–to-be do you see at a baby shower? Exactly.