Body Butter 101: Can You Put Body Butter on Your Face?
Keeping your skin well hydrated is important if you want soft, smooth, and youthful-looking skin. Body butter provides excellent moisturizing properties, and they will leave you smelling great too.
That said, we can say that they can be considered as an all-in-one moisturizing product, but can you put body butter on your face?
In this article, we look at what body butter actually does for your skin against other types of moisturizers as well as address the question of where and how you should apply them.
Types of Moisturizers
As a general rule of thumb, body butter works better on dry skin while lotions are better for oily skin. Let’s look at the main differences between butters, creams, and lotions to help you better understand their role in making your skin look flawless.

Body Butter
Body butter is an intensive moisturizer that helps to keep your skin hydrated, which results in healthier and younger looking skin. Body butter is the thickest out of all the moisturizers on the market. It is named after it’s thick consistency, reminiscent of the consistency of butter.
Typically, body butters will not contain any water. They will be made up of carrier oils and essential butters. Together, they make up a product that is extremely effective at relieving dry skin. This is why many people use them on their elbows and knees, while others apply all over their body.
The carrier oils help to lock the moisture into your skin and prevent any further dehydration through transdermal water loss (evaporation of your skin’s moisture into the air). Essential butters (whether that be cocoa, shea, jojoba oil, mango, or the likes) contain moisturizing properties that help replenish lost moisture.
Due to its thick consistency, body butters are quite difficult and time-consuming to apply. However, they have the best moisturizing effect.
Body Cream
You can easily recognize cream products as they are slightly thinner than body butters, and their consistency has more of a whipped feel to it. They are thinner due to the fact that they contain water or water-based ingredients as well as carrier oils.
These ingredients make them quicker and easier to apply than body butters. They are easier to rub in, and they absorb quickly too. Usually, they will have extra ingredients added to them to boost their moisturizing abilities even further.
Body Lotion
Body lotions have the thinnest and lightest consistency of the three moisturizer types as they contain even more water than creams. For this reason, body lotions are the quickest and easiest to apply to your skin.
Thus, if you have a busy schedule, a body lotion is perfect for boosting your skin’s hydration in the least amount of time possible. It will be absorbed and wear off much more quickly than the thicker formulas so you may have to apply it more often.

Can You Use Body Butter on Your Face?
It would be great if you had just one butter, cream, or lotion that could just slather everywhere and be done with it. With that being said, many asks, “can you put body butter on your face?”
Body butter shouldn’t be used on the face due to the fact that the moisturization it provides is just too intense for your face. The skin on your face is much more sensitive than the skin on your body, and therefore, body butters are not designed for it.
Body butters and creams may even contain fragrances that, while making you smell really good, can irritate the facial area and give you a rash. Their consistency will also leave you wishing you hadn’t tried putting them on your face because they will go on far too heavily and leave your skin looking greasy.
So, instead of using body butter on your face, treat yourself to a cream or lotion that is specially formulated for the face. Yes, it will take a minute or two to reach for that second pot, but you won’t regret it.
Top Facial Care Tips
- Take your makeup off every night before bed
- Use sunscreen
- Know your skin type and buy products that compliment it
- Use a gentle cleanser with warm water (not hot water)
- Gently exfoliate once a week
- Apply a suitable moisturizer daily
Final Words
So, can you put body butter on your face? The clue’s in the name, folks! Body butter is specifically formulated for your body, and if you try to apply it to your face, then, at best, you will end up with a greasy looking face. At worst, a rash or puffiness to boot.
What about body lotion though? Again, no, you shouldn’t. Always use a product that is made specifically for your face to compliment the difference in the skin on your face and the body.
Keeping your face and body moisturized properly with the right products can help improve the appearance and feel of your skin, which will help keep you looking younger, healthier, and more radiant, for longer.