Shea Butter

[pookatrina]

I have a pot of Shea body butter & I'm not loving the smell, it works great though. I'm wanting to put something in it to make it smell nicer, any suggestions on what & how to do that? Should I use an oil? Can I get it to mix by hand? I could have tried a bunch of stuff myself, but I thought I'd check with the experts here first.

Thanks!

[Silver Strands]

I added 5 drops of french lavender and 30 drops of vanilla 5th to mine and it smells wonderful.
I scooped all of it out of the container and put it into a saucepan to heat it up
to the melting point.
Then I added the oils and let it cool awhile before pouring it back into the original container.

[MandaMom2Three]

Yeah, shea butter stinks doesn't it :p ?

[Anje]

I've got some mixed with conditioner (see the Fox's shea butter conditioning cream recipe) and coconut oil, which totally covers the smell. (It also seems a lot nicer on my hair, since putting shea in my hair is like applying a glue stick to it, and seems to give similar results.) I don't mind the smell, but if you do, next time you'll want to look at refined shea butter, which I understand just has a slight "oil" odor to it.

[pookatrina]

Heat! D'oh, that would be the best way to blend it. Thank you!

[Presto]

I put just a few drops of tangerine oil on the top of mine and smooshed it around with my finger. It whipped up very nicely with just the warmth of my finger, and remained firm after I quit mixing it. Covers the shea scent nicely, but I don't mind it. However DH thinks it smells like used cooking oil, when it is unscented.

[pookatrina]

I don't hate the shea smell, but I don't love it either. The problem is that I use it on my body from neck to toe 2x per day & on my hair ends after washes. That's way, way, way too much smell of something I don't love, kwim?

[K_Angel]

Where's a good place to buy inexpensive but good quality shea butter? And I was wondering what was better, refined or unrefined?

[~GypsyCurls~]

Some beauty supply shops have she butter, usually unrefined though. The refined usually smells better and is easier to use. I get mine at Whole Foods usually.

[Dolly]

The main thing to watch out for with the refined is that some companies use chemicals to refine the shea, and that often leaves traces of those chemicals behind. You will want to look for ones that are refined using natural methods, such as steam. I have used a lot of shea, both refined and unrefined. My favorite unrefined comes from www.agbangakarite.com, and my favorite refined comes from www.organic-creations.com.

[jera]

Neroli will give a nice light citrus scent. :)

[Heidi_234]

Whipped Shea Butter Recipe (http://www.aromaweb.com/recipes/whippedsheabutterrecipe.asp), maybe?