Body butter or lotion? Why drier skin does better without the water

Pick up almost any bottle of body lotion and read the first ingredient. It will be water, usually listed as "aqua". In a typical lotion, water makes up somewhere between 70 and 90 per cent of what's in the bottle. That's worth knowing if you're deep into a Victorian winter, putting the stuff on twice a day, and your skin still feels tight by mid-afternoon.

There's nothing wrong with lotion. But if your skin is drier than it used to be, and for most of us past fifty it is, the way a moisturiser is built matters more than the brand on the label.

What's really in a bottle of lotion

A lotion is an emulsion: mostly water, a smaller amount of oil, and an emulsifier holding the two together. Because water and bacteria get along famously, it also needs a preservative system. When you smooth it on, the water portion evaporates within minutes. What stays behind is the small oily fraction, which is doing most of the real work.

That's why lotion feels lovely going on — cool, light, instantly refreshing — and why the effect can be short-lived on very dry skin. You've paid for a bottle that is mostly water, and the water has left.

What a body butter does differently

A body butter is made without water at all. Ours is whipped from grass-fed tallow and coconut oil, so every gram in the jar is fat that stays put on your skin, softening rough patches and slowing the escape of the moisture you already have.

That last bit is the point. Skin doesn't only need moisture added; it needs moisture kept. As we get older, skin produces less of its own oil, so water leaves it faster. A layer of stable natural fats acts like a lid on the pot. Tallow suits this job because its fatty acid profile sits close to the oils our skin makes itself, which is why it sinks in rather than sitting on the surface like a grease film.

And because there's no water, there's no need for emulsifiers or preservatives either. The ingredients list stays short, which matters once your skin has become fussy about fragrances and additives.

How to use it without feeling greasy

The habit to break is quantity. Body butter is concentrated, so a smear the size of a pea does a whole forearm. Warm it between your fingers first and it melts to a silky oil.

The best time to apply it is straight after your shower, while skin is still damp. You're trapping that surface water under the fat layer: added moisture and a lid, in one go. Elbows, shins, heels and hands get the most benefit, since they have the fewest oil glands of anywhere on the body. For cracked heels or gardening hands, a thicker layer under socks or cotton gloves overnight is an old trick that still works.

It also pairs well with how you wash. A harsh cleanser will undo a good moisturiser, so if you haven't already, consider a gentle superfatted bar like our Gentle Soothing Soap or the original Just Tallow Soap, both made for skin that doesn't want to be stripped in the first place.

Made in small batches on the farm

We whip our Tallow Coconut Body Butter here at Fulham Homestead using tallow rendered from grass-fed beef. It comes in Roman Chamomile, the gentlest of the lot and our best seller, Australian Sandalwood for something warm and woody, and Unscented if you'd rather skip fragrance altogether. A 90-gram jar sounds small until you see how little you use; one jar usually sees a customer through the season.

If your lotion has been promising a lot and delivering little this winter, give a body butter a fortnight and see how your skin feels first thing in the morning. Your heels will thank you before your hands do.