Has anyone tried shea butter? Please post your reviews! 8)

Anais

I love shea butter! It's great used pure (but remember a little goes a long way). I can't find the link right now, but this is a recipe someone on another long hair site made up:

1 part pure shea butter
1 part conditioner
1/2 part carrier oil (like jojoba, olive, etc)

This works very well. Pure shea butter works great on cracked heels, too, and other dry parts of your body.  :)

Hiya,

I've used shea butter to oil my hair, but I find it difficult to apply. It's impossible to oil wet, as the shea butter solidifies on my hands when I try to apply it to my cooler hair.

I've been meaning to mix some into my deep conditioner but haven't got around to it yet. I currently use my shea to grease my hair up the night before a wash (I have to have a towel on the pillow).

/Kate

wrote on Aug 16^th, 2004 at 6:33am:

I've been meaning to mix some into my deep conditioner but haven't got around to it yet.

Do try it! It's great!

How should I do it Leia? Should I melt the shea butter first and warm the conditioner, then stir them together? What proportions are appropriate?

/Kate

Hi Kate, I don't recommend warming your conditioner--just the shea. They should mix nicely if you do it real quick. Some people mix the shea and the conditioner at up to 1:1 ratio (and with other natural oils added, if you like). Less shea for oily hair, I'd think.

Thanks for everyone's comments.. I'm ordering ingredients to make lotion bars. The recipe is 4 parts shea butter, 4 parts beeswax, 2 parts jojoba oil, 1 part hemp oil, 1 part avocado oil, and a bit of vitamin E as a natural preservative. They should be suitable for lip and skin care. The ingredients really add up to be expensive, but these bars are supposed to last months. I bought my solid lotion tin last Christmas!!

Anais

Kate, I agree with Anais. You could warm up the shea a bit in the microwave, and try a 1:1 ratio. Even less shea butter really.. you don't need that much. You could even add a few drops of oil or EO.  :)

So I guess y'all like Shea? anybody else have any shea experiences?

Thanks Leia and Anais Satin. I'll try it for my next wash (probably tomorrow).

/Kate

Kate,

Did you try the Shea? Do you like the results?

Anais

I FINALLY remembered to do the shea butter thing, I used about 1 tbs, nuked it and mixed it with my normal amount of conditioner. It certainly wasn't a 1:1 ratio, more like 1:4.

My hair feels quite soft, and there is no frizz. However, my hair looks a tad greasy up on the crown - I'll probably want to wash it again tomorrow. Also, it feels like the shea butter weighed my hair down, it's not as curly as it usually is, more wavy. Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to recondition after washing with the shea/conditioner mixture?

/Kate

Probably not... I think the other thing.. is that your hair isn't long enough to get really really super dry yet. But Leia put it perfectly: "a little shea goes a long way" and that's probably the case. I hope your second try(ies) go well : ) let us know

Anais

Quote:

I think the other thing.. is that your hair isn't long enough to get really really super dry yet.

Bah. You're right, of course. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.  ::)

I have used the shea butter several times just to oil my hair (both wet and dry) but it really is too heavy for me. It weights my hair down too much. Nowadays I use it as an overnight deep conditioner, but I think I'll stick to almond oil for the time being. Hey! Maybe I'll mix *that* in my conditioner!

/Kate

Kate:

I'm sorry if my last post on this thread sounded offensive... I didn't mean to make a comment against your hair length... in fact I sooooo wish I could cut off half my hair to start healthy again!!! again Kate I apologize; because to me it sounded awful in retrospect.

love,
Anais

Of course it wasn't offensive! I've had short hair for many years and now that I've decided to grow it, I get annoyed that it's taking so long.

I usually express myself bluntly and with way too much sarcasm, especially in this sort of forum. But it takes a lot more than an honest comment to offend me. :-)

Hugs,
Kate

Aww, thanks Kate.. that meant a lot to me. I tend to be blunt and sarcastic on this board too, on the occasion.
Anyhoo, have a great day 8)

Anais

*two-cents worth*

I'm still really new to the whole oiling thing...  but shea butter has become my favorite.

I've got thick pouffy-wavy hair that tends to go way dry and crunchy on the ends while the scalp all the way at the top is oily.  So...

I use it as a leave-in rescue treatment on dry hair, which seems to control where it goes and keeps it off the scalp.  I braid my hair halfway leaving a 'tail' of about six inches.  Then I take a teensy bit and warm it in my palms before running it through the tail, working it with a wood comb and boar's bristle.  Then I leave the braid in overnight to let it soak in.

Presto!  Ends don't crunch, no grease on my scalp, frizz cut.  Might very well be too heavy for straighter/ less pouffy hair, though.  Anyway...

Most of the people that like shea butter, seem to have drier, coarser (or poofy) hair.  Of course, I believe, if it works for you - go for it!

So this is a silly question, but how on earth do you work with shea butter?  I've tried rubbing it between my hands to warm it up, and even microwaved it, but I never can get it to a consistensy that I could work into my hair evenly.  I would like to use it to make soaps and lotions also, but this basic problem has me stumped, so my tub of shea butter sits in the closet unused.   :(

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about the shea/conditioner leave in (equal amts shea and conditioner, 1/2 part oil--will mix together better if the shea is room temp before blending)  This is fabulous for my hair--my ends are dry and damaged from an old perm and this makes them so soft!  Just apply a small amt when your hair is wet and let it dry.  If you don't want to use conditioner, I'd add a bit of oil to the shea to make it softer and easier to use.

I use plain shea butter on my skin.  It works nicely for my hands, cuticles, lips and feet.  I mist my hands with rosewater, rub it in a bit and add a little shea to lock in the moisture.  It works very well!

My question may have been covered elsewhere but, at the moment, I sure can't find anything with the search thingy.  Here tis:  
The first jar of shea I purchased at my local health food store was perfect; all smoth and silky.  But the second and third jars I've purchased have been grainy, for lack of a better word.  I've tried melting it with simply rubbing my hands together.  A lot of it melts but I can still feel granules, almost like unmelted beeswax.  I just don't know what to do.  Would melting it help, like nuking it in the microwave?  
Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi Trisha!  
Go to www.mystifyyoursenses.com and they have shea butter already liquified for sale.  I bought it along with fractionated coconut oil,and some other oils.  I mix a few different oils with e/o's (my own recipe) and it works out fine.  Just an FYI :)

I use shea butter as a leave in rather than oil now as i find i can use lots of shea without my hair looking greesey. Plus when i was it out my hair feels so moisturised. I only apply oil to the tips of the hair to avoid that greasy look and seal in the shea's moisture.

I would say try it and see, i apply mine to dry hair as it gets to sticky on wet hair. Also you have to wait at least half an hour before it has all sunk in to your hair as before that it may feel a litlle stickey.

Just.thought.i.would.mention.that.shea.butter.
does.not.work.as.well.in.the.winter.than.in.the.
summer.as.it.needs.the.warmth.of.th.air.but.
oil.is.great.for.winter

I've had the same experience, Rainbow.  It gums up a little on me in the winter, but I love it in the summer.