How to store body butter at home and when you travel

Store body butter with the lid on, somewhere cool and out of direct sun, and keep the travel tin out of a hot car. Use clean fingers or a small scoop each time you take some. If it softens in the heat, move it somewhere cool and it firms up again, and the fridge speeds that up.

Butter reacts to temperature more than most things in your bathroom. The rest of this is how to work with that at home, in a bag and on a trip.

Where should you keep it at home?

A drawer or a closed cupboard in a cool room is ideal. Those are dark, they stay near room temperature and they are out of the steam.

Bathroom shelves are convenient and not great. A shelf right next to the shower gets warm and humid every time you run it, and a shelf under a window gets sun for part of the day. If the bathroom is the only place that works for your routine, pick the spot furthest from the shower and out of any sun, and keep the lid on.

Places to avoid:

• A windowsill or any spot in direct sun.
• On or beside a radiator or heater.
• Next to a hair dryer you use every day.
• A car, anywhere in it.

Shea and cocoa butter, which make up our base, are solid in a cool room and soften as they warm. That is what a butter is. A soft jar after a hot afternoon is not a defect. Storage is how you keep the texture you bought.

What do you do about the lid and your fingers?

Keep the lid on whenever you are not using it. It keeps dust and lint out, and it keeps the butter in its jar if the jar gets knocked.

Take product out with clean, dry fingers or a small clean scoop. Wet fingers carry water into the jar, and fingers fresh from a shower or a sink are wet. If you finish your shower and dry your hands first, you avoid that problem, and a small scoop makes it easy to keep fingers out of the jar entirely.

Put the product on your skin, not back in the jar. If you take more than you need, spread the extra on your arms instead of returning it.

What if it goes soft?

It will, now and then, in a hot week. The fix is simple. Take it somewhere cool, away from sun and heat, and give it time. A soft jar firms up as it cools, and the fridge is a quick way to help it along. Leave it in there until it feels firm, then take it out and store it somewhere cool.

Do not microwave it, and do not leave it on a heater to warm it up. You will get a mess and no better texture.

A soft jar is a change in texture. If it has firmed again and looks, feels and smells the way you expect, use it. If a soft jar has not settled and the butter does not feel right to you, reply to your order email within 30 days for the money-back guarantee.

How do you store it when you travel?

The travel tin is what it is for. Take a little in the tin and leave the jar at home. Two jars come with a free travel tin, and a tin is easier to slip into a bag than a full jar.

A few habits help:

• Keep the tin in a bag you carry with you, in an inside pocket or the middle of the bag, not on top where the sun hits it.
• Do not leave it in a parked car, on a dashboard or in a trunk. A car in the sun gets hot fast, and that is an easy way for butter to end up soft.
• Do not leave it in a beach bag in the sun or a gym bag in a locker room on a hot day.
• Close the lid firmly and keep the tin upright.
• At your destination, put it somewhere cool, like a drawer, rather than leaving it out on the sink.

On a hot trip, take the tin out of your bag when you get back to your room and leave it in the coolest spot there, not in the bag all day.

Refill the tin with a clean scoop and clean, dry fingers, and wipe the rim before you close it so the lid seals properly.

What should you do if the jar arrives soft?

Same rule: cool it, give it time and then judge it. We cannot promise a jar never softens in transit, and a hot van or porch can do it. If you are buying a butter from any brand, a checklist helps you decide what to ask the seller before you order, and our buying checklist for cologne body butter lists the questions.

Quick answers

Where is the best place to store body butter? A drawer or closed cupboard in a cool room, out of sun, with the lid on.

Can I leave the travel tin in my car? No. A parked car gets hot and butter softens in heat, so take the tin with you.

Can you put body butter in the fridge? Yes, if it has gone soft. It firms up as it cools. Take it out once it feels firm and store it somewhere cool.

Should I scoop it out or use my fingers? Either, as long as your fingers are clean and dry. A small scoop keeps water and lint out of the jar.

When you are choosing your next jar, all six scents are in one place, and the Discovery Set is the way to try them first.