# Raw shea butter



## stubby123 (Jul 2, 2015)

I have made some body butter with refined shea butter.  After reading some info, I thought I would try Raw shea butter.  Will this raw shea still whip up nice and white or will it have a yellow tinge.   I know when I make butter cream frosting from butter which is yellow, it does turn whitish.  Any advise for me?


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## Trix (Jul 2, 2015)

Hi stubby, from memory raw Shea butter, can become lighter when whipped, but also depends on which oils your going to whip,it with....but yes it would go lighter, but not necessarily White....


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## KristaY (Jul 2, 2015)

I've used it in soap but not other products so I can't say if it will whip the same or become lighter on it's own. But be prepared to have to put it through a fine sieve. The raw stuff will have bits of debris in it that can be plant material, bug parts, etc. A bit off-putting to see that stuff when you squirt out a bit of lotion or scoop body butter!


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## galaxyMLP (Jul 2, 2015)

I make a whipped body butter with raw Shea. It makes it lighter but not stark white. Still looks pretty though in my opinion. Watch out for the natural fragrance raw she has. Sometimes it's very strong!


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## Obsidian (Jul 2, 2015)

I recently made body butter with raw shea and was surprised that it was pure white. I only used shea, coconut and a tiny bit of avocado.


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## galaxyMLP (Jul 2, 2015)

Ah, I use yellow beeswax too so that could be leaving the color.


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## stubby123 (Jul 6, 2015)

Thank you all for your replies.  I will give it a try this week.  I use Coco Butter, Mango Butter, Shea butter and avocado oil.  Very nice.


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## jenneelk (Jul 6, 2015)

I have raw Shea and the smell is blech. It's a darker beige/yellow so maybe mine is truely raw due to those things. 
It would likely lighten if whipped but not sure how white without a lighter item in there like some refined also. 

My similar color cocoa butter with refined shea gets pretty light.


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## cmzaha (Jul 6, 2015)

jenneelk said:


> I have raw Shea and the smell is blech. It's a darker beige/yellow so maybe mine is truely raw due to those things.
> It would likely lighten if whipped but not sure how white without a lighter item in there like some refined also.
> 
> My similar color cocoa butter with refined shea gets pretty light.


Scent in raw shea can vary immensely. It can have a light to strong scent, light beige to yellow color. I am sure some of the yellow color is apparently dyed to enhance the color with peppers, since I have found many an orange pepper pod in my raw shea which is yellow


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## misera (Jul 20, 2015)

stubby123 said:


> I have made some body butter with refined shea butter.  After reading some info, I thought I would try Raw shea butter.  Will this raw shea still whip up nice and white or will it have a yellow tinge.   I know when I make butter cream frosting from butter which is yellow, it does turn whitish.  Any advise for me?



The raw shea butter I buy is ivory colored. When you temper it you can get rid of all the little dirt/bugs in it. It usually falls to the bottom. I just discard the bottom of the pot instead of trying to filter it since the dirt particles are pretty tiny. Mine just smells like nuts.


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## FerrisWheel (Aug 12, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> Scent in raw shea can vary immensely. It can have a light to strong scent, light beige to yellow color. I am sure some of the yellow color is apparently dyed to enhance the color with peppers, since I have found many an orange pepper pod in my raw shea which is yellow



This is pretty concerning.

What if you are allergic to peppers?

Is this actually a genuine thing to happen?


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## cmzaha (Aug 12, 2015)

I only run into the peppers with the yellow shea. Yes it happens quite often with shea straight out of Ghana. Don't forget people can also be allergic to shea due to the latex properties in it. I cannot use shea on my lips.


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## amd (Aug 12, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> I only run into the peppers with the yellow shea. Yes it happens quite often with shea straight out of Ghana. Don't forget people can also be allergic to shea due to the latex properties in it. I cannot use shea on my lips.



Oh! Good to know! I just had a lady request a scent (she's willing to buy a full lb batch) and when I asked her about allergies she mentioned latex. Guess I'll be reformulating to not include Shea in that batch! Better safe than sorry.


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## FerrisWheel (Aug 13, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> I only run into the peppers with the yellow shea. Yes it happens quite often with shea straight out of Ghana. Don't forget people can also be allergic to shea due to the latex properties in it. I cannot use shea on my lips.



But where is this mentioned anywhere?

Raw Shea plus Orange Pepper does nopt equal RAW SHEA!

Worrying to be honest.


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## shunt2011 (Aug 13, 2015)

I too use natural shea and it whips up nicely and is a bit off white.


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## cmzaha (Aug 13, 2015)

FerrisWheel said:


> But where is this mentioned anywhere?
> 
> Raw Shea plus Orange Pepper does nopt equal RAW SHEA!
> 
> Worrying to be honest.


Actually yes it does, but do not buy the yellow shea and do not buy shea that comes straight in from Ghana. Trust me you can find all sorts of goodies in raw shea... . Buy refined shea that has had most of the good properties refined out and you will not get anything extra in your shea. Ghana tribes are not quite under our control as to how they process their shea


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## FerrisWheel (Aug 13, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> Actually yes it does, but do not buy the yellow shea and do not buy shea that comes straight in from Ghana. Trust me you can find all sorts of goodies in raw shea... . Buy refined shea that has had most of the good properties refined out and you will not get anything extra in your shea. Ghana tribes are not quite under our control as to how they process their shea



Please elaborate on goodies?:Kitten Love:


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## shunt2011 (Aug 13, 2015)

It's been stated what other things can be found in shea on the previous page....bug parts, dirt, etc.....that's why you temper your shea to remove the impurities.  They settle to the bottom.   I just strain it through cheesecloth once tempered. However, I prefer unrefined shea over refined.


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## Dharlee (Oct 29, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> It's been stated what other things can be found in shea on the previous page....bug parts, dirt, etc.....that's why you temper your shea to remove the impurities.  They settle to the bottom.   I just strain it through cheesecloth once tempered. However, I prefer unrefined shea over refined.



I would love to know what is the difference between unrefined and refined butters? Are they the same differences across the board? In other words with cocoa butter, shea, etc.?


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## shunt2011 (Oct 29, 2015)

Dharlee said:


> I would love to know what is the difference between unrefined and refined butters? Are they the same differences across the board? In other words with cocoa butter, shea, etc.?


 
I've use refined Cocoa so can't speak on that one.  However, refined shea is generally bleach and cleaned.  It doesn't have the strong nutty smell that unrefined has.  

I've just recently purchased some refined for some body butters.  Unrefined can be a bit strong so it's mostly a personal preference.


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## Susie (Oct 29, 2015)

Unrefined (AKA raw) shea butter is a dark yellow to brown butter with a nutty to smoky scent.  

Refined is a white to light yellow butter with almost no scent. 

What you use is up to you.  I would use either in balms or soaps, although in balms you need to temper it.


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## HappyHomeSoapCo (Oct 29, 2015)

I've been buying raw shea for over a year (maybe not long enough!) and I've never seen any weird stuff everyone is describing. Is tempering just melting & filtering? I use raw shea in my soap & body butters and I've never seen any particles or debris.


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## Dharlee (Oct 29, 2015)

I wondered the same thing- if tempering is just melting and filtering?


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## Arimara (Oct 29, 2015)

I've been using shea butter since my late teens and I have only come across a few batches where there was debris in it that said, I normally don't buy the said product, even if it's in a pinch, from one particular supplier. I'm generally able to be lax about where I get my shea butter from since I'm able to get a pretty good quality for cheap.

I have no idea what tempering is


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## cmzaha (Oct 29, 2015)

HappyHomeSoapCo said:


> I've been buying raw shea for over a year (maybe not long enough!) and I've never seen any weird stuff everyone is describing. Is tempering just melting & filtering? I use raw shea in my soap & body butters and I've never seen any particles or debris.


If you are not purchasing the full block of around 25 lbs your shea may have already been melted down in order to break down the size. What I purchase comes directly from Ghana in 25-30 lb block. It can have bugs, twigs, peppers, leaves, shells etc


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## HappyHomeSoapCo (Oct 29, 2015)

I used to buy it in 8lb tubs so i can believe that. My last purchase was two 25lb blocks. I didn't see anything weird but now i know to watch out for it!!


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## cmzaha (Oct 29, 2015)

I have also had crickets in my palm shortening from Smart & Final...


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## kchaystack (Oct 29, 2015)

Tempering is a process of melting and then slowly cooling so that a certain crystalline structure forms. For shea and cocoa butter, this prevents the grainy texture that sometimes melted and cooled butters can get.  

Not really needed if you are making soap with it, but can be if you make body creams and such. 

It is also used in chocolate to get the high shine melt resistant coating on some chocolate covered candles and fruits.


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## Arimara (Oct 29, 2015)

kchaystack said:


> Tempering is a process of melting and then slowly cooling so that a certain crystalline structure forms. For shea and cocoa butter, this prevents the grainy texture that sometimes melted and cooled butters can get.
> 
> Not really needed if you are making soap with it, but can be if you make body creams and such.
> 
> It is also used in chocolate to get the high shine melt resistant coating on some chocolate covered candles and fruits.



Oh... Cool beans. Thanks.:mrgreen:


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## allane (Oct 31, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> Actually yes it does, but do not buy the yellow shea and do not buy shea that comes straight in from Ghana. Trust me you can find all sorts of goodies in raw shea... . Buy refined shea that has had most of the good properties refined out and you will not get anything extra in your shea. Ghana tribes are not quite under our control as to how they process their shea



I just read this and I feel it is unfortunate that a few bad batches (or maybe a lot) of shea butter from Ghana has given the country such a bad rap from cmzaha. Ghana has numerous shea butter producers. There are very credible companies processing shea butter there. 

You have to do your homework well if you are importing products from a country and find the best source to order from. Yes, as you might have guessed, I am from Ghana and have thoroughly enjoyed this forum until now. Yes you can find some sort of goodies in some shea but that is when people decide to buy from low-cost producers who cut corners. By the way I dont produce shea butter but I am just bleeding for my country.

Allane


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## cmzaha (Oct 31, 2015)

allane said:


> I just read this and I feel it is unfortunate that a few bad batches (or maybe a lot) of shea butter from Ghana has given the country such a bad rap from cmzaha. Ghana has numerous shea butter producers. There are very credible companies processing shea butter there.
> 
> You have to do your homework well if you are importing products from a country and find the best source to order from. Yes, as you might have guessed, I am from Ghana and have thoroughly enjoyed this forum until now. Yes you can find some sort of goodies in some shea but that is when people decide to buy from low-cost producers who cut corners. By the way I dont produce shea butter but I am just bleeding for my country.
> 
> Allane


Just to clarify I never said it was bad. I love my shea that comes straight from Ghana and will use none other. As I mentioned another post I have had crickets in Palm Shortening from Smart & Final. I simply mentioned it is not strained and cleaned perfectly. How you go the idea I was saying it is bad I have no clue. I also love Kpangnan butter,when I can get it. I NEVER said anything bad about your country or butters. I also did not mention my Supplier is from Ghana so do not accuse me of bad mouthing your Country. This was your translation of what I said


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