Shea Butter Virgin (Natural Shea)

Virgin Shea Butter (Natural Shea)

CTFA Name: Shea Butter

INCI Name: Butryospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Ghana

Refined, bleached and deodorized: No

Packaging: Per pound- 55-pound boxes, 25-pound boxes, 1-gallon BPA-free buckets (5 pounds each), 1-pound biodegradable bags

Description: Yellow to tan solid when cold, translucent liquid when heated; characteristic shea butter aroma

Applications: Skincare, Soap Manufacturing, Food Preparation

Benefits: high levels of moisture in skincare and haircare; stable viscosity when used in whipped body butters; antioxidants and UV protection in lip and skincare; creamy lather and increased bar hardness when used in soap making

Suggest levels of usage:

5-20% in soap making- the higher the percentage, the higher the creaminess and the firmer the bar

5-20% for body butters and creams

20-50% for balms and salves

5-15% for face creams

20-70% for lip balms or lip scrubs

Shea butter, what more can be said about shea? You can use it to cook with, you can use it on your skin, you can use it on your pets, you can put it in your edibles, you can use it in your hair, it makes great soap….so many uses for shea butter.

We here at Shay and Company carry five versions of shea butter for you. We have virgin shea butter (natural), refined shea butter, organic refined shea butter, Nilotica shea butter, and organic virgin (natural) shea butter. All five versions have tremendous health and skincare benefits.

Virgin shea butters have a little more of a creamy-yellow to tan color (although not the dark yellow or brown of raw shea butter), and a beautiful nutty smell. We offer both conventional and certified organic virgin shea butters, so if you’re looking to create an organic whipped shea butter, or an organic soap bar, the organic virgin shea is the way to go! I love the smell of our virgin shea butters. Slightly nutty, a little earthy, and lovely when mixed with our organic natural cocoa butter, organic mango butter and a little essential oil blend. Both virgin shea butters have that excellent creamy feel of virgin shea butter.

Refined shea butter is a shea that has been refined/bleached/deodorized so that it always has a consistent white color and barely any smell. This one is generally the preferred shea butter for handcrafted soaps when you want to avoid any odor in your ingredients. You will select the Refined Shea Butter when you want to create a superior moisture product but you want to showcase your https://shayandcompany.com/product-category/fragrances/fragrances or essential oil blends over the natural smell of your raw ingredients.

Why does my virgin shea butter have multiple colors?

Virgin shea butter is also called “raw” shea butter. Virgin shea butter can be dark yellow to tan in color and can vary within each batch. Virgin shea butter has not been refined, meaning it has not been put through an additional filtration system to remove color inconsistencies and aroma. Virgin shea butter will have color threads throughout it and it will smell like raw shea butter. This is also what makes virgin shea butter so fantastic. It is a truly unaltered product. It is cleaned during the original harvest, then all the goodness of the shea is left alone.

This can mean that when it is originally packaged for shipping, parts of the outside that was closer to the box, can be lighter in color and then the inside of the block will be darker in color. This is simply because the product is a warm liquid when poured and will cool at different rates inside the box. When you receive the virgin shea butter from us, we do not do an additional heat or filter so it will have the same variances from the original cooling. These color variations do not make it “bad”. In our opinion this actually makes it a better shea butter if you want all the goodness of shea. Simply thoroughly heat your shea, at a low and slow temperature, and mix well. Once blended into your product all the color variations will not be noticeable.

Is our shea butter harvested by women?

One of the coolest things I have learned about shea butter over the years is that shea butter in Africa is considered a food item. Food items in Africa are controlled by women only, not men, so all profits made from the harvesting and sale of shea butter go to the women.

What are the benefits of shea butter?

Shea butter is very thick, even when it is heated it is a heavier weight butter. Shea butter products retain their texture and skin hydration very well as it is said that shea is about 60% fat. This makes shea butter an excellent ingredient for creating soap bars and for creating body moisturizers. Shea butter is naturally high in vitamins A, E and F (specifically linoleic acid). Shea butter has great skin penetration, making it an ideal ingredient to use in body butters and hair care products. Shea butter is ideal for those with sensitive skin and is often a recommended ingredient for individuals with skin issues. Shea butter is high in natural antioxidants, protecting the skin from environmental stress and aging.

Shea butter does offer a natural UV protection level of about 6. It is not an FDA regulated sunscreen, but it can be incorporated into skin care and face care products that are designed to help naturally protect again sun damage. You cannot claim this on your sun protection labels, but you can use it as a part of your marketing for your products.

Shea butter is rich in oleic, stearic, palmitic, and linolenic acids. This means that it is exceptional at hydrating damaged skin and helping skin to boost its natural collagen production. It also means that it helps to fight that natural imbalance of fatty acids in acne prone skin.

Consider using either refined white or organic natural shea butter in a lotion bar, body lotion, body butter, foot cream, acne face moisturizer, hair balm, hair relaxant, scalp treatment, cuticle butter, lip balm, diaper balm, sun protection cream and so much more.

How can I avoid the graininess of using shea in my skincare products?

Please note, when using shea butter if you heat it too hot during the melting phase, when it solidifies it can have a slightly granular texture. High heat and natural buttes are not friends. This is completely normal, although some people may not like the feel much. Once you apply the product to your skin it will soften, and those granules will disappear. To avoid this issue just ensure that the shea butter is never heated to over 110 degrees and quickly cool your product. You can either put the finished jars (without a lid) in the refrigerator or you can use fans to circulate the air and cool it more quickly.

I do suggest melting your shea butter last when making your products. Do it over low heat or in a double boiler to control the end temperature of the shea.

Why is shea butter so good for soap making?

Shea butter is widely used in both cold and hot process soap making. Incorporating shea into your soaps helps to create firmer bars with excellent lather. Shea gives your soap bars a softer feel on the skin and helps create luxurious bubbles. Shea butter can be used at 5-20% of your soap formulas. You can use either the refined or virgin shea butters; Nilotica shea has a very different texture and hardness so you would want to test your formula if you select that shea butter.

Always melt your shea butter last as it does not do well when overheated. Some formulas you can actually use hot lye water to melt the butters (lye hot process or hot process soap).

Can shea butter be used in hair care?

Yes! Anyone with textured and/or curly hair can attest to the excellent properties of shea butter hair care products. Many leave-in conditioners and moistures will made a large amount of shea butter. The same antioxidants that are good for skincare are also good for helping to soothe and repair damaged or dry hair. Shea butter also melts easily in the hands and can leave strands feeling hydrated and tamed without feeling heavy and greasy.

Is shea butter considered an allergen?

Shea butter is a nut, so it is classified as a nut allergen.

How should shea butter be stored?

Shea does not do well when it gets hot/melted, then cooled, then hot, then cooled so it is best to store in a more temperate regulated space. It does not need to be refrigerated and it does not need to be “cool”, just not melting and solidifying, then melting and solidifying. Warm shea is fine, melted shea can be more problematic when you start making products again.

Is this product food grade?

We are not a “food” certified facility, so we do not list or market products as “food” grade. However, the quality of product is of food standards. Not all our products are meant to be taken internally. You will have to do your own research as to if a specific ingredient is meant to be ingested as we are not a food or supplement company. Products do not come with nutrition labels.

Bulk Unrefined Virgin Shea Butter is sold in 1-pound biodegradable bags, 5-pound BPA-free buckets, 25-pound boxes, and 44-pound boxes. Please email us directly for orders over 15 44-pound boxes.

Short Term Storage: Air tight container. Dark location. Cool room temperature.

Long Term Storage: Removing air from storage container will delay oxidation and rancidity (may need to place in a smaller container). Refrigeration can extend shelf life.

Best Used By: See lot specific C of A for expiration date.