This is going to sound silly, but what kind of shea butter do you apply to your hair? Do you apply the lotion for your skin or is it a different type?

The shea butter I use is solid at room temperature, and is 100% pure.  I've managed to rip off part of the brand name, but it sounds the same as NR.   I usually apply it to wet hair, so I use a bit more, and usually mix it with an oil to apply to my length. 

Mixed with the oil makes a great body lotion for me also.  I put it on my legs that get dry so quickly.

Refined and unrefined sheas are the way to go. Mixed together, they are even yummier!

Refined shea is going to look rather white, almost pure white.

Unrefined is going to have some color left in it (ranging from play-doh yellow, to post-it yellow, to light post-it yellow).

Be wary of anything that says, "contains shea butter" or "made with shea butter".

Happy shea-ing

Anais

Just bought some shea!  I picked it up at a local natural and organic shop.  The brand is NOW.  I don't know if anyone else has heard of it but I buy NOW jojoba oil too and the quality seems good.  So although it doesn't say if it's refined or unrefined it's white so I'm guessing it refined.  I've noticed that on skin it can feel a little gritty almost.  Is that normal for Shea?  But oh is it fabulous for hair!  It took that nasty crunch right out of my dry ends!

Okay thanks.  I think I'll scoop a bit into a smaller container and experiment with reheating and freezing it.  By the way, I love your "hair lair!"  Do you know if the horn combs are animal - cruelty free?

I use NOW also.  I love the smell.  I divide my hair in half and use about a half-pea size on both sides.  It will be gritty when you scoop it out, but if you let it sit on your fingers a little while, it will warm up to room temperature and will be smooth and soft. 

On this page, there is some tips on heating shea -
the page is long, so I'll put the snippet here:

Shea Butter has often been heated 3 to 5 times in the manufacturing process.  Each time the shea butter is heated it increases the chances of shea butter forming fat granules or crystals.  When you use shea butter make sure that you add as little heat as possible.  Make sure that the shea butter was not heated up by your supplier and has already arrived to you with crystals.  It is best to heat the oils you are adding to the shea butter and then add the shea butter in small pieces off the heat.  Whipping the shea butter with a hand held mixture, using as little heat as possible and cooling the shea butter as quickly as possible all help deter the problem.  But there are no guarantees. 

http://www.essentialwholesale.com/ingredients.html

Cynde