# Whipped Shea..............Again



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Is whipped shea supposed to be greasy? Do you use it like hand cream or body lotion? Or is it supposed to absorb right into the skin?

I made it, only softened the shea, used vanilla-scented FCO as the soft oil and a little bit of Vit E oil + 2 tsp corn starch. I can see where it would be good as a massage cream. But to leave on............yuck. I had a hard time getting it off, even with Dawn.

Also, it's gritty. I used the unrefined shea from CF. Should I have gotten refined?

Is that how it's supposed to be? Can I fix it? :sigh


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Since you don't have water or other liquid diluting it, it's going to be heavier/greasier than lotion or a typical cream. I use unrefined (never found an unrefined I liked) and it has never been gritty (different story in my lip balms though).

For me, it soaks in nicely. BUT.....for one dd it never seems to soak in. I never would have believed that but it honestly will not soak into her skin, yet is fine for my other 5 dd's and myself and all my customers who come back for more. So go figure.


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## Huminbird (Jul 22, 2008)

Was the shea butter gritty before you even did anything to it? Did it melt in then when you added just a tiny bit to your hands?

Not all shea butter is created equal. I used to whip and sell but started to get grainy unrefined shea butter from the exact same company and so stopped selling it. Now I bought some from Shea Radiance (love it!) and it is so smooth and creamy and just soaks right in and customers love it strait. I just bottle it in little jam and jelly jars and sell it without doing anything to it at all.

Like Klane said, everyone's skin is different. Have someone else try it and see what they think.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Yes, Becky, it was grainy right out of the box. I got it from Columbus Foods. The graininess melted into my hands. But my hands were very greasy.


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## Huminbird (Jul 22, 2008)

If you start with a bad shea butter, in my experience it is best to just soap with it and look for a higher quality for your raw shea butter uses. It works great in soap still so it wasn't a total loss.

I would do a shea butter coop because there was so much interest but to get the cheaper shipping I have to have a business address to get the shea butter sent to. Don't have that at this time.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

MF-Alpines said:


> Yes, Becky, it was grainy right out of the box. I got it from Columbus Foods. The graininess melted into my hands. But my hands were very greasy.


I got mine from Columbus also. It is gritty but melts after being on your skin for a few seconds. It isn't my thing of choice for hands but I like it on my face when it is very dry.

I have only used Shea from Columbus and would be interested in trying another out...


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## Huminbird (Jul 22, 2008)

If someone with a business address wants to try a coop for the shea radiance shea butter its about $425 for 100lbs after shipping, and I live all the way across the US from them so someone closer could get a better price than that even.

Every shipment is different so I don't know if their quality will always be this good but I am totally in love with their shea butter and since I started selling it just bottled, its made up about 1/4 of my sales. I can fill 20 bottles in 20 minutes, much faster than I can do soaps


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

Is shipping to a business address that doesn't belong to you an option? I would seriously consider shipping to my feed store (getting the owner's permission of course).


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## Jenny M (Nov 21, 2009)

Yes, every just about every single batch of shea you get will be different no matter where you get it. But it has always been very inconsistent from Columbus. I buy refined from Oils By Nature (they are out of it for now, tho). It is always silky smooth but is harder/softer from one batch to the next. I use the refined because it will soak into your skin so much easier than the unrefined & my customers prefer it. I also use sweet almond oil to soften it because several massage therapists recommended it since your skin will absorb it easily. 

I used to do the whipped but could not keep up with production since it was so time consuming to make & just messy to package, etc. I need to be able to make 50 jars in a morning & get on to something else. Today I sold 28 jars to one customer & have several more orders waiting. The plain cream is a real good seller for me.

Jenny


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

It's better today, not as greasy. I had 30% FCO. Do you think that made it so greasy?


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

I don't think so as FCO is light and soaks in quickly.


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

Jenny M said:


> Yes, every just about every single batch of shea you get will be different no matter where you get it. But it has always been very inconsistent from Columbus. I buy refined from Oils By Nature (they are out of it for now, tho). It is always silky smooth but is harder/softer from one batch to the next. I use the refined because it will soak into your skin so much easier than the unrefined & my customers prefer it. I also use sweet almond oil to soften it because several massage therapists recommended it since your skin will absorb it easily.
> 
> I used to do the whipped but could not keep up with production since it was so time consuming to make & just messy to package, etc. I need to be able to make 50 jars in a morning & get on to something else. Today I sold 28 jars to one customer & have several more orders waiting. The plain cream is a real good seller for me.
> 
> Jenny


So you just melt, mix and pour? No whipping? I'd like to add shea (or something similar) to my lineup this summer so I'm trying to figure out how I want to do this. I sure do like things simple without a lot of fuss but I also want something that will sell!

Does anybody else package up any other type of butter? Why Shea? I've only messed with Shea and cocoa butter. I haven't experimented with anything else so I'm just wondering if I'm missing out on something. Plus it has been soooo dry here that I have been having some major dry skin problems. In some instances it seems like the shea butter dries out my skin even more. I had a lip balm with Shea in it that I had to quit using because it made my lips even more chapped than before I put it on. I sure am enjoying my experimental time of year!


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## Jenny M (Nov 21, 2009)

Yes, just shea, SAO, a little Vit E oil & fragrance. You have to mess with the proportions with every new batch of shea but 1 tablespoon of SAO to every 8 oz of shea is a good starting point. I order it 50 lbs at a time to keep the recipe uniform for that run at least. 

I might try another butter sometime since shea is kind of finicky to work with. There is such a fine line on the melting. I probably should try to get a specific temp. Too hot & the refined gets grainy or too cool & it sets up too hard. I just try to melt it down to a thick liquid & never all the way to clear. I accidentally did that yesterday & didn't stir it & cool it down before pouring. Today it feels a little grainy but then melts into my skin really nice & smooth. 

I do love the whipped shea but just thought I put this out there as an option. Also, when I get more of that refined in I'll send a sample to anyone who wants it. The last batch I got was very smooth, creamy & off white color - looks & feels almost like an unrefined but no smell. Wonder what the next will be like, tho...

Jenny


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