Getting to know Shea Butter
No matter your background — from a professional formulator to an amateur DIY enthusiast — few natural ingredients are quite as infamous as Shea Butter.
Growing naturally across the African savanna, stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia, the shea tree amazingly provides the globe with one of the best beauty products on the planet – Shea Butter. This creamy, nourishing butter was even a beauty favorite for the likes of Queen Cleopatra, the Queen of Sheba, and Nefertiti. Thankfully, nowadays you don’t have to be royalty to enjoy all of Shea’s amazing benefits!
So what is Shea Butter?
Shea Butter is an ivory-colored fat extracted from the nut of the shea tree. These nuts are crushed to expose the kernel inside, which is then ground into a powder and boiled in water. During this process, the butter rises to the surface of the water and becomes the solid product we know and love.
The main components of Shea Butter are oleic acid, stearic acid, and linoleic acid, along with significant amounts of vitamins A, D, E. These fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins promote healthy skin by locking in moisture and helping to protect against environmental stressors that may prematurely age skin cells.
Crude Shea vs. Refined Shea
There are two types of Shea Butter found on the market – crude (raw/unrefined) and refined. Our new Organic Shea Butter is crude, which means is it in its natural state and packed full of all those good fatty acids and vitamins! On the other hand, refined Shea Butter goes through a process that uses high heat levels to help remove color and Shea’s natural nutty aroma. However, the high heat also removes many of the therapeutic qualities of crude Shea, meaning it is less beneficial to skin in this state.
By no means is one version of Shea Butter better than the other! It all comes down to personal preference. While crude Shea is loaded with skin-loving components, it is also less stable in formulations and more difficult to work with because of that. The smell can also be off-putting to some people. Refined Shea may be preferred because of its lack of odor and white color — both important considerations when creating both professional and DIY beauty products. However, refined Shea does lack many of the beautifying ingredients found in the raw, unrefined state.
How can you bring more Shea into your life?
Truly one of the best multi-purpose ingredients available, Shea Butter is a must-have for DIY enthusiasts. Creating beautiful lip balms, lotions, hair masks, face creams, and so much more are right at your fingertips with Shea. Don’t believe us? Give Shea a try with a few of these amazing DIYs and let us know what you think!
I’m pretty new to the essential oil world, but I can’t wait to use some. Sounds like lots of great benefits.
Not a fan of the smell or the way it separates when mixed with other oils or wax.
I use refined Shea butter over unrefined Shea butter in my whipped Body butter. Unrefined definitely had a distinct smell when I tried to used it one time! From that point on I chose refined for my own uses.
Please bring back the refined shea butter! i know the unrefined is better for skin but I have a hard time with the smell. I would love to see you carry both again.
I have been wanting to try Shea butter & this was helpful!
I never knew how Shea butter was derived. Great added information!
Awesome. Can’t wait to try some!
Will be making the bath melts ASAP.
The more you know !
I love using shea butter! I think making bath melts will be next on my diy list! Thank you!
Adding this to my list to try
Shea butter is seriously amazing!
I love shea butter and will use the crude to reap all the benefits.
i like essential oils its pure and effective
I like to you use Shea Butter in my body butter.
Just got mine and made a face cream. It’s fabulous. Thank you:)
I will try this and appreciate the [email protected]
Is Shea greasy feeling on your hands especially? I work in the medical field and I do not like lotions or creams that leave my hands sticky and greasy.
Hello Victoria! Yes, by itself, Shea does not absorb into the skin very quickly and may temporarily give a “greasy” feel. For a lotion that absorbs quickly, I recommend our hand creams. They include Shea as well as other ingredients that help moisturize your hands without leaving behind a slick or sticky feeling. You can find our unscented hand cream here: https://www.planttherapy.com/age-defying-hand-cream
I just realized I had shea butter sitting in my closet, so this weekend I’ll definitely be whipping something up!
Good to know the difference between crude and refined!
Interested in trying to DIY my body care products with Shea butter
Excited to try the sugar scrub receipe!
I’ve heard that Shea Butter is so good for your skin… A must try for me.
I’m a newbie to making homemade lotions, etc. Excited to try this out! Just ordered some.
I love how Shea butter feels on my skin!
I love this for my homemade body butters and lip balms! I actually don’t mind the smokey unrefined smell, though I know some people prefer to use refined for a cleaner scent profile.
Love plant therapy
does Shea Butter have a distinct scent?
Crude Shea Butter has a bit of a nutty aroma, while Refined Shea is more absent of scent 🙂
So glad I can buy bulk shea butter from PT – it’s so versatile & luxurious!!
Good too know about the crude and refined butters are not the same
Love Shea Butter!!
I will be adding Shea butter to my wish list!
Using the shea butter cure would make it naturally gluten free, I assume. I have to be very careful with person products, due to gluten. I think I will purchase some raw shea butter and try some home made products, thank you.
Thanks for the great information, going to try the lip blam for this winter.
I’ve worked with it in my recipes and really like it. Just remember to put it in last when your oils are away from the heat.
i really want to try this
Didn’t know Shae butter could be used!
Love the Organic Shea
My next thing to try….
I need to try this in a skin care DIY.
Organic shea is my favorite. Took a while to get used to working with it. Thanks
I love using unrefined Shea Butter to make all my DIY lotions and lip balms.
I want to try lip balm. It should be good.
Would shea butter be a good facial massage product? The reason I am asking is one of the comments stated it takes a bit to absorb into the skin. Thank you for the blog information.
Shea Butter does take a bit to absorb into the skin when used by itself, so this product may be a bit too thick to use alone as a facial massage product. However, you could melt a small amount of Shea down and add it to a carrier oil base. That will help with the absorption and still provide some of those awesome nutrients Shea has to offer 🙂
Awesome! Can’t wait to try some of these recipes!
Thank you Plant therapy for information and recipes ,cant wait to try it .
been using Shea butter for yrs now love it … Sure help my grand daughter eczema
I would love to try making the lotion bars! That sounds perfect!
Thanks for all your informative blogs.
Does this work for acne prone skin that also gets dry? can I just use it straight after washing my face as a moisturizer?
Hi Jennifer! Shea Butter has a comedogenic rating of 0-2, meaning that it could potentially clog pores but has a low likelihood. Shea Butter is pretty thick and can sit on the skin for quite some time before completely absorbing, which is another important factor to consider. I would recommend patch testing a small piece of skin by applying the Shea directly to that area and watching for any kind of reaction. Shea is known to have properties that may reduce inflammation, such as inflammation coming from skin blemishes. But since everyone’s skin is so unique it is difficult to determine exactly what will happen. For something more gentle, I would recommend trying a carrier oil, such as Jojoba or Grapeseed — personal favorites of mine (a fellow acne-prone lady here!). I hope this helps!
I want to try the lip balm because everything at the stores is not working for me.
I have to try a hair mask !
love it, I’ll use it to make my DIY mask
Shea is so creamy, I’d love to try plant therapy’s!
I love Shea butter. I use it when making my DIY salves to make them have a creamier texture then just using straight beeswax & a carrier oil. It also adds moisturizing benefits.
I thinks Shea butter needs to be on my list of this to try.
I love Shea butter!! This is great information!
Going to try the deep conditioning mask!
So what do you mean by not as stable? Do the products not lasts as long etc?
Great question! Crude Shea Butter is more likely to get a grainy type of texture if heated up too quickly, cooled too slowly, or if heated and cooled repeatedly; this is due to the fatty acids present in shea having various melting points. Refined Shea Butter may get some graininess as well, but because it has already gone through a high-heat refining process and much of the fatty acid content has been removed, there are less molecules that can separate and cool faster than the rest of the butter.