*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...

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.   

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!

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.

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