# Raw shea butter smell



## corrine025

Hi, I recently bought shea butter and its yellow and says unrefined 100% natural shea butter.  I have only used small pouches of shea from craft stores and it was white and no scent.  What should shea butter smell like?


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## Obsidian

Boy, thats a scent that is hard to describe. Its kinda earthy, maybe a bit nutty and sweet. Not floral or foodie at all, its quite unique. When I first smelled shea, I absolutely hated it but its grown on me and now I dislike the refined stuff.


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## greenmountainwife

I think it smells a little like rubber, like the powered latex gloves.


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## fuzz-juzz

Kind of nutty, oily... I like it though.


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## seven

i was very surprised too when i 1st bought unrefined shea. previously, i used only refined, which is white and odorless. at 1st i thought i had a bad product, but then i googled and found out that it is totally normal. i don't like the smell honestly (it's hard to describe by words, but it's quite strong out of the container), but it's gone anyway once it becomes soap, so i don't mind.


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## TVivian

I was surprised as well. Now I use both for different things. Refined for lotions.. Definitely!


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## Obsidian

I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.


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## Twiggy

I absolutely love smell of raw SB!!! But is hard to describe


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## TVivian

Obsidian said:


> I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.




Yup, I totally agree with that. I wish I liked the smell.


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## bluelilyboutique

I bought raw shea butter and i thought it smelled awful and i made a few whipped body butters and tried to mask the smell with EO but failed miserably. Some people said they liked it but the only reason i have not used refined was because of the properties in the raw and it is so much better for the skin. Personally i am not a fan.


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## Obsidian

I've found that sweet scents blend well with the scent of shea. You can also add in a bit of unrefined coco butter, I use three parts shea, one part coco butter. Gives a nice light coco butter scent with a hint of the shea coming through.


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## Lin

Smells nutty and smoky to me. I also think the scent grows on you, but I like smoky scents...  I don't scent my stuff and my fav whipped body butter recipe has very little shea butter in it overall, but thats what it smells like when its done. My unscented lotion bars also smell like shea, but in my lip balms the scent is covered.

I buy raw unfiltered shea and then filter and temper it when I receive it.


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## grayceworks

Adding a bit of apricot kernel or sweet almond oil and raw mango butter or coconut oil, and a few drops of a sweet EO or FO, like gardenia, tuberose, or honeysuckle, will make it smell WONDERFUL! I thought it was odd smelling when I first started using it, and I don't entirely like it by itself, but I made a body butter with those things and the mix of scents is great.


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## bluelilyboutique

grayceworks said:


> Adding a bit of apricot kernel or sweet almond oil and raw mango butter or coconut oil, and a few drops of a sweet EO or FO, like gardenia, tuberose, or honeysuckle, will make it smell WONDERFUL! I thought it was odd smelling when I first started using it, and I don't entirely like it by itself, but I made a body butter with those things and the mix of scents is great.




That's a great idea. I will try that next time


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## rainycityjen

To me it smells powdery. A little like a pink eraser or a pencil even. I just used some today! I didn't mind at all or find it very strong.


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## Lin

With my body butters I use organic virgin coconut oil that smells like coconuts, avocado oil which has a distinctive smell, raw mango butter, raw cocoa butter which of course has a distinctive smell, sweet almond, and it always still smells like shea lol. So Id saw its only the EOs making a difference in covering the shea scent.


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## grayceworks

Nope, doesn't cover it, but it does work with the shea scent very nicely, so that it's not so "nutty" or "smoky".


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## angelapferr

The first time I used unrefined shea butter, I thought it smelt horrible, and when I melted it, my friend said it smelt like a dead body. I left it in the shed for about 4 months, and with time, it doesn't smell so potent. After a couple months, I used it to make a batch of soap, and it smells wonderful and nothing like the weird scent it smelled like before.


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## Twiggy

Obsidian said:


> I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.



That’s true, the refined SB is striped from all goodness. Is going through harsh chemical process in very high temperatures, so all vitamins, delicate substances and so on are not making it through. All together with the natural smell and color. As I see it is nor shea butter any more


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## kazmi

Lin said:


> Smells nutty and smoky to me. I also think the scent grows on you, but I like smoky scents... I don't scent my stuff and my fav whipped body butter recipe has very little shea butter in it overall, but thats what it smells like when its done. My unscented lotion bars also smell like shea, but in my lip balms the scent is covered.
> 
> I buy raw unfiltered shea and then filter and temper it when I receive it.


 
Does the filtering and tempering improve the scent?


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## corrine025

Ok well I will try to make something with it and see how it works lol


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## Lin

kazmi said:


> Does the filtering and tempering improve the scent?


Nope, its not any kind of refining. The filtering is because its completely raw and comes with plant matter still in it. I prefer that over shea that I have no idea how many times its been handled and heated and may be damaged. Tempering is to ensure its a smooth product with no graininess. It being damaged or grainy isn't really an issue in soap, but it is for butters, balms, lotions. Shea is really fickle and can become permanently grainy if its been heated too high or too long or too many times etc. So while I started out with small amounts in plastic tubs, now I prefer getting the raw stuff so I don't have to worry about how many times its been melted down and re-sized. And my cocoa butter supplier sends the cocoa butter cut into chunks instead of melted down.


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## SudsyPM

When I got my first batch of unrefined shea butter I wasn't too in love with the scent but I didn't mind it. As I started ordering from different sources I found that different sources tend to smell differently. Could be the age I'm not sure.  I finally found a unrefined beige colored one with a mild nutty scent.


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## bluelilyboutique

I have been getting mine from a local guy who said it was fresh but it just seemed like an extremely strong odor, I'm getting adjusted to it now. I found a supplier of raw shea on etsy that was lower than his price so I will find out soon the different scents to the butter.


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