7 Unexpected Ways to Use Butter Be Kind Products (From the Chemist Who Formulated Them)

When you build skincare with restraint, every product has to earn its place. I founded Butter Be Kind after twelve years of formulating in pharmaceutical and biotech labs, and one principle stayed with me from the first formulation to the last: a well-built product does more than its label tells you.

Most skincare brands operate on the opposite logic. More SKUs, more steps, more reasons to come back. The result is bathroom shelves full of single-use products and barriers that have been stripped, layered, and overwhelmed into reactivity.

This guide is for the people who want fewer products, used smarter. Below are seven ways I actually use Butter Be Kind formulas — most of which aren't printed on the packaging, but all of which I've used myself or recommended to customers with sensitive, reactive, or barrier-compromised skin.

1. Use Feeling Butter as a Makeup Remover

Feeling Butter was formulated as a barrier-repair moisturizer, but the same lipid structure that fortifies your skin also dissolves makeup — including waterproof formulas.

How to use it: Press a generous amount onto dry skin. Massage for thirty seconds. The makeup will lift and dissolve. Rinse with warm water or wipe with a damp cloth.

Unlike most cleansing balms, Feeling Butter leaves your barrier more intact than before you applied makeup — because it's replacing lipids while it's removing pigment.

Best for: Sensitive skin, dry skin, or anyone whose makeup remover leaves their skin feeling stripped.

2. Use What A Peeling on Keratosis Pilaris

Keratosis pilaris — those small bumps on the back of your arms, thighs, or chest — is caused by built-up keratin around the hair follicle. Most "KP scrubs" are too aggressive, which damages the surrounding skin and worsens the redness.

What A Peeling uses finely ground cranberry seed, ground to a specific micron range gentle enough for facial use. That same gentleness makes it ideal for KP, where the surrounding skin is already reactive.

How to use it: Apply to damp skin in circular motions twice a week. Focus on upper arms, thighs, and any KP-prone area. Rinse and moisturize immediately afterward (Feeling Butter works perfectly here).

Best for: Anyone whose KP gets worse with traditional body scrubs.

3. Use Oil Be There on Cuticles and Dry Hands

The three plant lipids in Oil Be There — squalane, jojoba, and rosehip — match the lipid structure of skin everywhere on the body, not just the face.

How to use it:

• For cuticles: One drop on each cuticle, massage in. Best done before bed.
• For dry hands: Two drops worked into clean hands, focus on knuckles and the backs of fingers.

You'll see softer cuticles and visibly more hydrated hands within three days of consistent use.

Best for: People with dry hands from frequent washing, dishes, or environmental exposure.

4. Use Feeling Butter as an Overnight Hand Treatment

The skin on your hands is structurally similar to facial skin but typically more environmentally damaged. The same ceramide and lipid complex in Feeling Butter that repairs facial barriers also repairs hand skin overnight.

How to use it: Apply a generous layer to clean hands before bed. Wear cotton gloves overnight. Remove gloves in the morning.

The cotton creates an occlusive environment that helps the lipids penetrate deeper, resulting in visibly softer, more elastic skin by morning.

Best for: Anyone whose hand cream stops working at the surface.

5. Use What A Peeling as a Lip Exfoliant

Lip skin is thinner and more sensitive than facial skin, which is why most lip scrubs are either too harsh or too sugary to be effective. What A Peeling's cranberry seed exfoliation is fine enough to be used safely on lips.

How to use it: Apply a small amount to dry lips. Use gentle circular motions for ten seconds. Wipe away with a damp cloth.

This creates the perfect base for lip balm application or any pigmented lip product, because the surface is smooth without being raw.

Best for: Anyone who applies lipstick, gloss, or lip balm and notices texture.

6. Use Oil Be There as a Cleansing Oil

Oil cleansing is one of the most useful techniques for sensitive skin — when the oil is right. Most cleansing oils on the market contain mineral oil, fragrance, or surfactants that defeat the purpose. Oil Be There contains three plant lipids and nothing else.

How to use it: Pump four to five drops onto dry skin. Massage for thirty seconds, focusing on areas with makeup, sunscreen, or sebum buildup. Add water gradually to emulsify the oil. Rinse thoroughly.

The result: clean skin with the barrier intact — not stripped. This is what oil cleansing was supposed to be before the category got watered down.

Best for: Sensitive skin, oily skin, anyone with makeup or sunscreen to remove, or anyone whose current cleanser leaves their face feeling tight.

7. Use Multiple Products Together for a 3-Minute Barrier Reset

When sensitive skin is actively flaring, the worst thing you can do is reach for actives. The best thing you can do is replace lipids and let your barrier rebuild.

How to do a 3-minute barrier reset:

1. Splash cool water on the face. No cleanser if your skin is irritated.
2. Apply Feeling Butter to damp skin. Press in, don't rub.
3. Apply three drops of Oil Be There over the top. Press evenly.
4. Rest your hands on your face for the last twenty seconds. Breathe.

This protocol is designed to do one thing: stop the inflammatory cycle and replace what your barrier is losing.

Shop the products mentioned

• Feeling Butter — moisturizer with ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids
• What A Peeling — gentle cranberry seed exfoliant
• Oil Be There — three-lipid facial oil

The Founder's Note

Every product I formulate at Butter Be Kind is built on one principle: skin doesn't need more — it needs better. When you understand lipid biology, surfactant chemistry, and how the barrier actually behaves under stress, you stop building for shelf appeal and start building for skin function.

The uses above aren't marketing inventions. They're how I use my own formulas, and how my community has reported using them back to me. If your routine has gotten longer and your skin has gotten worse, it might be time to ask whether you need a different product — or just fewer products, used more intentionally.

— Teja, founder and formulator, Butter Be Kind

Q&A

Can I use facial oil as a cleansing oil? Yes — if the oil contains only plant lipids and no synthetic additives. Oil Be There works as a cleansing oil because it contains three lipids (squalane, jojoba, rosehip) and nothing else.

Is cranberry seed gentle enough for sensitive skin? When ground to the correct micron range, yes. Cranberry seed in What A Peeling is finer than most physical exfoliants and gentler than most chemical ones, making it suitable for facial use on sensitive skin.

Will using one moisturizer for both face and hands cause breakouts? No, if the moisturizer is non-comedogenic and your hands and face don't have wildly different needs (acne, etc.). Feeling Butter is formulated to be non-comedogenic.

How often should I use What A Peeling? Two to three times per week, maximum. Daily exfoliation — even with gentle formulas — disrupts the barrier.