# Please help me with my chalky whipped shea butter????



## apl (Mar 27, 2009)

Hey everyone, I made some whipped shea butter. It was nice and fluffy (like cool whip) by look and feel: 






The next day, I opened the jar and the consistency wasn't soft and fluffy like the night before. More like chalk but, it was still nice on my skin. 






I guess I did something wrong because it's supposed to stay fluffy...can anyone help me?
This is what I did:
3.9 oz Shea Butter
1.3 oz Cocoa Butter
1 oz Fractionated Coconut Oil
1 oz Apricot Kernel Oil
0.9 oz Sweet Almond Oil
1/4 TSP Vitamin E
Melted the butters then added the oils stirred to incorporate. Placed in the freezer for 4 minutes and then on a ice bed; whipped for 15 minutes.

Since being on this site I have discovered cocoa butter is much harder but, I do need help with this recipe....any suggestions? 

Thanks!!!


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## carebear (Mar 27, 2009)

it's the cocoa butter hardening, as you suspect.  I'd drop it down a bit and add in some mango butter and try again.  or skip it altogether.

I make mine more dense than fluffy - saves a tremendous amount of aggravation.


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## apl (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks carebear! 

Another question though, when dropping the cocoa butter do I up the amount of the shea or leave it as is???


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## Tabitha (Mar 27, 2009)

Dropping the cocoa, you end up w/ 3.9oz shea & 2.9oz oils. That's approx 57% shea & 43% oil. You can do it at any ratio you prefer. I like a high % of butter, 66-75%.  The higher the butter content, the thicker the whip. Some people prefer more oil, some more shea, some equal parts. It's all about you!


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## apl (Mar 28, 2009)

Oh okay cool that makes sense...duh!...thanks again.


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## carolynp (Mar 29, 2009)

Do you use a preservative in your whipped shea? I use 1% liquipar optima in mine ,but  I also cut the shea with aloe vera gel and a little calendula flower extract so it is not all oils and butters.


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## apl (Mar 30, 2009)

I just use Vitamin E because my mixture is only oils. Since, I do want to make lotions where do you purchase the preservative...liquipar optima? and how do you like it Carol?


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## carolynp (Apr 1, 2009)

Hi , Well I purchase many items online and from many companys, I would have to say my favorites are" Brambleberry" "Majestic mountain Sage" and "Therapy Garden" any one of these will carry any kind of preservatve you need. they all have great customer service and I have asked them many questions ,many times. I love making lotions and I have found that Majestic Mountain sage's recipie section is all I need for formula's I can tweak to make my own. they have a recipie for everything and many of them ,be prepared to druell.! I hate that I have to use a preservative and every time I do I get all nerved up that i am going to make a mistake, most importantly get a really good digital scale that weighs in grams as well as oz's. I could just purchase a lotion base but I have found that none of them have quite the amount of oils and butters  in them that I can put into a lotion made from scratch. You whipped shea looks awesome,I am going to carry whipped aloe and whipped mango butters as well as my whipped shea.Anyway let me know if you check out those sites and what you think. Bye ,Carolyn


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## ltcartwright (Jul 17, 2010)

*chalky shea butter*

Hi, I'm very new to body care and to shea butter. I wanted to whip my shea butter and followed a tutorial. I melted the shea over double boiler then transferred it to my mixer. After whipping for hours (stopping so as not to overheat, plus mixing by hand), the shea didn't whip. I put it into the fridge for 5 mins after the first 15mins, no whipping. Finally through trial and error (placing into freezer for 9mins) it whipped almost instantly in my stand mixer. I was so happy, it was fluffy and gorgeous.  However, within minutes of packaging, the texture changed to a chalky consistency. It melts on skin contact, but it doesn't look good (want to give as try-outs to my family).

Did I over beat/mix it?
Was the cooling temperature too long? too short?

I would really like to keep the shea uncut (no other butters or oils added), any help is appreciated.  Thanks!


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## ltcartwright (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks to Mr. Soap, my shea butter has whipped with no chalkiness.  It was the heat.  I'll keep working on this mixture to get it perfected for my business.  Thanks again Mr. Soap!


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## carebear (Jul 21, 2010)

I don't preserve anhydrous products unless they are likely to get water in them (e.g., scrubs).

For a dense whipped butter I use 70% shea and 30% olive oil - very rich.  For a lighter one I add a touch of kokum and use a blend of oils including (among others) jojoba and fractionated coconut oil.

I don't use unrefined shea butter any more - although I love the smell & feel, I have no confidence in the quality control/sanitation of it.  If you DO use unrefined shea for direct application on skin (as opposed to soaping it), please get it from a top notch supplier.


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## Lindy (Jul 28, 2010)

You can also not melt the Shea, but melt the Cocoa Butter and Mango then add to the shea and whip from there.  If you add any liquid like Aloe Vera Extract then you will need a preaservative because you are now creating an environment for nasties.  Also keep in mind how the product is going to be used.  If people are introducing water to it, then you again may have a problem with things growing so it's better to be safe than sorry, especially if you are going to be selling the product.  You can up your soft oils a bit and add some corn starch to cut the "Greasy" feeling and still add some fluff into the recipe....


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