There was a time when I made lotions with the oil and the water and the wee bit of boric acid. It was nice because even then I loved cold pressed and unrefined oils of the highest quality and this technique makes for a very light lotion consistency.
I don't know if you have ever had real cold pressed avocado oil. It is nothing like that clear stuff you find on the grocery shelf these days.
In shea butter, there must always be refining. How do you think it looks when it is first smashed and boiled..it is not really raw then, is it? There is a whole lot of hype about shea, that is for sure.
I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of the "raw" shea. It stinks and makes every nice smelling soft oil all wrong. On the other hand, the results with shea on the skin can be extraordinary and if you like raw and don't care about its odor, try it with just vanilla, it is fine..and yes, eventually shea butter's odor disappears..
I do enjoy a refined (with hot water) shea. The process of rinsing the material with hot water, allowing it to cool, draining that water and repeating OR they just do some weird thing at a chemical refinery to whiten it.
You can ask for the specs from your vendor. They have to tell you if it is chemically refined. Hexane and other alcohols are commonly used. They must be able to answer questions like, "how is this batch refined, when and where?"
If they say Indiana or Cleaveland, they will have a spec sheet of the materials involved.
Why? Why would I choose to use shea butter instead of a lotion ~ lotion with the steric acid , alcohols, refined palm dirivatives, or borric acid?
Did you notice all the acid references? No added emulsifiers means no complicated harmful particles on my face. I get enough heavy metals just breathing the air, thank you!
I decided that shea butter was a better option than the fussy lotion product I made long ago.
Plus, shea butter has a ton of healing benefits!
Its viscosity is one which offers protection naturally from the sun (spf 4) and its nutrient density is admirable to say the least, what with vitamin A,way up at the top.
I have learned to work with shea through the years in such a way as to mold and control its direction. My favorite pairing lately is shea butter with organic green tea oil.
Talk about a powerhouse of protection!
Maybe in the fall I'll combine shea butter with borrage oil and a smidgen of pumpkin seed oil and maybe I'll make it so beautiful smelling, that you will want it all day on your skin.
The other day I made some sandalwood neroli with shea butter. Do you know what I do at the end of a batch?
I put the cream in jars and leave a couple of tablespoons for me and then I add a couple of tablespoons of essential oil to the cream base, just for me. (do you see how greedy I am? I'm greedy for sandalwood:))) After I added the cream to the jars that I sold, I left a little more behind this time, to which I added one tablespoon highland lavender and four fat drops of vanilla co2 (Madagascar)
I haven't tried it yet but when I say powdery, highland lavender, soft, neroli there, calming, sandalwood as a anchor to finish anything you can go after with boundless grace..vanilla as always to sweeten the mind.
I only have two jars with these oils...I will post them in a few:)
have a wonderful day and send some good thoughts my way and I'll rebound them back to you and as they travel and pick up all the high energy mass, they just take a life of their own and we both have a study anchor of common friendship as we travel though space and time..
xo
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