I am thrilled that you like my EO articles! As far as the 50:50 ratio, that is what has worked for me time and time again. I am in Arizona and although my coconut oil is not liquid, it is close to it. What happens (I believe) is whipping air into the body butter allows it to maintain its creamy consistency without becoming too soft. So far so good and it has been hot hot hot here (this is my first summer in AZ).

One thing you can do is leave out the EOs at first just to see if you like the consistency. If too loose, you can add a bit more Shea butter (melt it first) by whipping it into the mixture. That said, I believe the 50:50 ratio will be fine.

Have you tried essential oils at all? If not, I would start with Lavender which is about as mild as you can get. Whatever you use, given your skin sensitivity, I suggest starting with single oils and a very minimal dilution of 2%. The problem with a blend is that if you have a reaction, it will be difficult to identify the problematic oil.

Relating to psoriasis, Shelly was still getting flare-ups on his elbows and knees from time to time so we switched him from a salve (with beeswax) to this body butter (with Shea butter). He rarely if ever has a flare-up these days.

Given your background, have you ever studied the ramifications body PH and psoriasis flare-ups? I have been curious about that.

I have really bad skin allergies, so I can only use things like pure almond oil, olive oil, or coconut oil on my skin (or I break out in psoriasis); other so-called “hypoallergenic” lotions and such are a nightmare for me. I’ve even just used a scoop of coconut oil right out of the bucket and massaged it into my hair and scalp, wrapping my head in a towel for about 30 minutes before showering and washing it out. That made both my hair AND scalp feel so wonderful!

The only down side to using the coconut oil on my dry knees and elbows is that our dog likes to try to lick it off.

Thanks for a great, simple, natural recipe! Now I just need to expand into the world of essential oils a little bit and see how that goes.