19 years of body butter. and why i wouldn’t change a thing.

the real reason there's no water.

one of the biggest discoveries during my formulation journey was learning what happens when you put water into an oil-based product.

oil and water don't naturally stay mixed. you generally need an emulsifier to help them stay together.

and when you introduce water, you also create conditions that usually require a preservation system to help protect the product from microbial growth.

there's nothing inherently wrong with a properly formulated water-based product.

but it made me ask another question.

why was i adding water?

i wanted to create something concentrated, where every ingredient had a purpose. i wasn't trying to make the least expensive product i could. i was making something for myself and the people i cared about.

i wanted nourishing plant oils and butters, without adding water simply to create more volume. and i wondered what it would be like to care for skin consistently with something so rich.

that question became part of the foundation of hellomellow.

19 years later, after using these formulas on my own skin, in my bodywork practice, and hearing from so many customers about their experiences, i still love what we created.

why mellow was the way.

and then there were the aromas.

if you know me, you know i'm incredibly sensitive to smell. the wrong scent can give me an instant migraine.

so when i started creating aromatherapy blends, i had a very clear personal test. if a blend overwhelmed me, it wasn't staying.

and lucky for me, i had an endless supply of willing humans to experiment on.

i played with combinations of pure essential oils, looking for aromas that felt beautiful without being overpowering.

some worked.
some went straight into the trash.
try again.

what i learned, once again, was that mellow was the way.

i wanted aromas people could enjoy as part of their everyday care. something they could look forward to rather than feel overwhelmed by. and that is still how i approach our blends today.

everything we make is meant to support the experience of caring for yourself.

when something is good, it's good.

so why haven't i changed the butter after 19 years?

well, let me ask you something. would you change your grandma's family recipe?

don't you get so bummed when something you absolutely love suddenly disappears or changes?

i do.

and after 19 years of making body butter, hearing the stories, seeing the skin, and watching people fall in love with their favorite aromas, why would i want to reinvent something just for the sake of reinventing it?

that doesn't mean we haven't learned or grown. we absolutely have.

but there's a difference between learning something new and changing something that already works beautifully.

sometimes the best decision is to leave a good thing alone.

summer tested that belief.

for years, most of my butter went directly to people who came to see me for bodywork or bought from me personally. i had an online business, but it wasn't my main focus.

then i got married, had my daughter charlie, and found myself wearing a few too many hats. my baby girl and my new family became my priority.

i closed our first hellomellow shop and moved the business online.

years later, when we opened our new shop in eagle, idaho, the online world had changed dramatically.

and suddenly, we had a problem.

summer shipping.

our beautiful, water-free butter wasn't particularly fond of hot delivery trucks and changing temperatures. some orders arrived partially melted.

and while the formula was still the formula, the experience wasn't what i wanted for the person opening that package.

i had spent so much time making something special. the idea of someone opening their first hellomellow order and finding a melted butter made me crazy.

i tried different things. one year, i even made the butter harder.

and oh boy, was it hard.

it helped somewhat with the shipping problem, but i didn't love what it did to the experience of using the butter. that wasn't the answer.

i could have completely reformulated it. but i kept coming back to the same question.

why would i change something i love, and something my customers love, just to make it easier to ship?

so i listened to my gut. instead of changing the original, i decided to make something new.

and that's how the butter sticks were born.

i wanted something that could travel more easily in the summer. something portable. something you could keep in your purse, beach bag, gym bag, or travel bag. something you could use without getting butter all over your hands.

and something that would give people another way to enjoy the nourishing ingredients they already loved.

and the funniest thing happened.

yes, plenty of you missed your original butter tubs. believe me, i heard you.

but a whole bunch of you discovered a new favorite. a portable moisturizer you could swipe on whenever you wanted a little extra care.

no messy hands.
no oily finish.
just an easy way to take your butter with you.

and i loved that. because we hadn't replaced the original. we'd found another way to support you.

and now the original is home.

i cannot tell you how excited we were when the temperatures finally started dropping. we were counting the moments.

getting back into the kitchen.
cooking.
cooling.
mixing.
pouring.
and, of course, hand swirling every single tub.

there is something so satisfying about making our original body butter again.

and after 19 years, i still love it.

the texture.
the aromas.
the way it feels on my skin.
the care that goes into every batch.

and now we have something even better. our original tub butter for home, and its new best friend, the butter stick, for wherever life takes you.

two different ways to care for your skin. both made with the same intention.

19 years later, here's what i know.

i started this journey because i was curious. i wanted to understand what i was putting on my body and the bodies of people who trusted me.

and once i learned more, i knew i had to make a different choice.

that choice led me to create something i believed in. something i loved using. something i felt good about sharing. and something i've now spent 19 years making with my own hands and the hands of our wonderful little team.

there will always be new ingredients, new trends, and new promises.

i still love learning. i still love experimenting. but i also believe there's something wonderful about finding what works for you and staying with it.

what you put on your body deserves the same care and intention as what you put in your body.

that was true for me when i began. and it's still true today.

thank you for being part of these 19 years. and welcome home, original body butter.

take good care of yourself,
♡ tracy

the original is back.

our handmade 4 oz body butter is back in its original tub. rich, water-free nourishment for the areas of your skin that need a little extra care. and its new best friends, the butter sticks, are here to stay.

shop the original body butterexplore the butter sticks