Looking for an easy way to boost your magnesium intake while nourishing and hydrating your skin? This magnesium body butter is thick, creamy, and calming thanks to lavender. It’s perfect for a bedtime massage so it can absorb overnight.
I’ve been making homemade lotions for years—from gentle baby lotion to a heavy-duty lotion that helped when my skin became very dry after moving to Texas. This magnesium body butter started from a different need: I wanted the benefits of magnesium for muscle recovery but didn’t have time for regular Epsom salt baths.
Runners often use hot Epsom salt baths to relieve tired, heavy legs. Baths provide benefits beyond magnesium: water pressure helps move fluid and metabolic byproducts out of the legs, aiding recovery. But if you’re busy—homeschooling, managing a household and farm chores—soaking in a tub can be a rare luxury.
Topical magnesium offers a convenient alternative. This body butter uses magnesium flakes, which are magnesium chloride. Magnesium flakes dissolve easily for lotion-making and are considered more readily absorbed through the skin than magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt).
Magnesium chloride flakes tend to be more bioavailable, making them a practical choice if you want transdermal magnesium without the time a bath requires. The added coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax create a moisturizing base that locks in hydration while delivering magnesium to sore muscles and dry skin.
Magnesium Body Butter Recipe
Ingredients:
- ½ cup magnesium flakes (magnesium chloride)
- 3 Tbsp boiling water
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1/8 cup beeswax pellets
- 3 Tbsp shea butter
- Immersion blender (or regular blender)
Instructions:
- Place the magnesium flakes in a half‑pint jar or small heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Stir for a minute and set aside to fully dissolve. If needed, reheat briefly to help dissolve stubborn flakes.
- In a double boiler, combine the coconut oil, beeswax pellets, and shea butter. Heat gently until everything is fully melted.
- Remove the melted oils from heat and let them cool for about 5 minutes so they are warm but not steaming; this prevents overheating when you add the magnesium mixture.
- Stir the dissolved magnesium into the warmed oils, then add 6–8 drops of lavender essential oil for a calming scent.
- Blend the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth and opaque. This usually takes only a short time.
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, pour the melted oils into a regular blender, add the magnesium mixture and lavender on top, cover, and pulse until combined.
- Quickly scrape the body butter into a clean jar before it firms up. Cover and allow it to cool completely.
- Use this magnesium body butter as you would any rich moisturizer. It works especially well as a night cream: apply before bed to let the magnesium and nourishing oils absorb overnight, leaving skin soft by morning.
- Enjoy the soothing, hydrating benefits and the convenience of topical magnesium without a long soak in the tub.