The Challenges of Shipping Natural Body Butters

One of our biggest challenges in shipping out our natural skincare products (and something totally out of our control) is weather, particularly fluctuating temperature. Our goal has always been to formulate organic, wholesome wellness products and in doing so we opt not to use synthetic stabilizers or emulsifiers. This means our products such as body butters and lip balms are prone to melting in high temperatures and if left out in direct sunlight. Commerical products contain phthalates to thicken and stabilize, emulsifiers to prevent separation of water, oils, and butters, and even petroleum based oils and waxes to thicken and stabilize their products to prevent melting and maintain the same consistency throughout temperature changes.

As organic products, our products do not contain any of the above mentioned. They are formulated to be semi-soft with a high oil and plant butter content and to melt on contact with skin to provide maximum skin penetration, and thus nourshing benefits. Our products are thus sensitive to temperature changes. However melting does not affect the quality, integrity or effectiveness of our products. Our current solution is to refrigerate our body butters prior to shipping them out. This would mean they would lose their whipped nature, loose volume and become denser like a body balm upon arrival. This is however a better option that a melted pool of oil because you can simply scoop out the butter once hardened in the refrigerator and rewhip it using a handheld mixer. To be on the safe side we recommend placing your body butters in the refrigerator especially if left on a hot porch, prior to opening.

In the meantime we will be looking to source an organic emulsifier and natural preservative, which is much more difficult than it sounds. Questions? Leave them below.