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Natural unrefined shea butter vs refined
Hello everyone
HNYDoes anyone know the difference between the refined and natural shea butter? I’m wondering if it would be harder preserve the natural when compared to the refined. What are your thoughts. Thanks
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12 Replies
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Natural does contain the goodies and the badies… refined one is more or less purified, decolourised, deodorised, filtered, charcoal-stripped, solvent extracted, and/or distilled etc. It’s therefore colour- and odourless quite pure triglycerides which are more stable and serve less as bug food. Also, batch-to-batch variation is smaller. Nonetheless, it’s wise to add antioxidants to the product because those have been stripped as well.Natural virgin oils/butters have character and a lower impact on the environment whilst imparting a typical flavour and/or colour (this can be great or really terrible). They are richer in secondary constituents but these are more often claims than really perceivable, let alone ‘active’. Depending on the source, such an oil can but doesn’t have to be full of microbes, dust, dirt… and every time you get a new batch you’ll have to slightly tweak your formulation in order to get it as close as possible to the last batch. -
If it is for DIYing, you can use unrefined one if you like. The colour and Nutty smell is very strong. And use good preservative system.
Buy a little sample and see if you like it or not.
If you are looking for idea to start a commercial brand, stick with refined one, there’s also extra refined one which is nice and creamy.
If you are looking for idea to start a Green Natural brand, good luck. -
l was also curious about that. l have purchased all cold pressed organic butters to work with, but to be honest, most women like products that smell and look good.
To mask a scent of those butters and oils needs a lot of fragrance which can be expensive. Sometimes too much essential oils can cause damage as well.
I keep thinking that maybe refined butters and oils are overall better choice.
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Once you get your hands on good refined butters….there is NO turning back. I have tried them all… and the best, hands down are the Danish butters from ICSC.
If you live in the US…you can buy them small pack from MakeYourOwn.com
No bad odor, no smoky flavor, or dirt….just amazing stuff.
And you are spot on….the big cosmetic companies are not using the dirty stinky butters found on the home crafter sites.
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I just got both to try them….. The natural unrefined has a terrible scent. I definitely will be using the refined version
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l looked into ICSC , l could not find any prices there. Do they do only wholesale or?
Some people really want pure organic ,but complain about the scent. I honestly do not know what to do anymore. Personally, l can not tell the difference when l use both, my skin did not look magical after using unrefined.
l think vanilla or honey might be complimentary to the scent of shea.
l do see how rose, lavender and strawberry fragrance oils are quite popular, but l think a lot has to be used to mask the shea scent. 2,3,4% and even then shea scent is quite intense.
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aedina said:l looked into ICSC , l could not find any prices there. Do they do only wholesale or?
Some people really want pure organic ,but complain about the scent. I honestly do not know what to do anymore. Personally, l can not tell the difference when l use both, my skin did not look magical after using unrefined.
l think vanilla or honey might be complimentary to the scent of shea.
l do see how rose, lavender and strawberry fragrance oils are quite popular, but l think a lot has to be used to mask the shea scent. 2,3,4% and even then shea scent is quite intense.
Yes…ICSC … is essentially wholesale. But they are very good about sending samples via ULP. They are also VERY good about selling smaller amounts than their MOQ….not a few ounces/grams….but maybe as little as a kilo or two.
If you live in the US….just buy it at:
https://www.makeyourown.buzz/murumuru-butter/
They are a re-seller for ICSC.
I don’t use shea….Once you try some of the other butters…Shea becomes a distant memory. If you want lite and silky… Try their Murumuru. If you want something that gives a deep long moisturizing feeling….try Illipe. Want something like Shea, but not a greasy mess…try Kpangnan. Cupuacu…also something to look at for hand and body.
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Thank you for your insight.
I am from EU and l have just started formulating. l bought so so many cold-pressed organic butters, oils and extracts that l am really embarrassed about it…But it is good to learn from mistakes and this website does help a lot.
l originally wanted to combine synthetic ingredients with the best natural ingredients l could find.
Shea is very popular in hair care, so it was the first on my list to buy. There are many cosmetic ingredient suppliers that are not really transparent about their products.
It is a tricky business.
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aedina said:Thank you for your insight.
I am from EU and l have just started formulating. l bought so so many cold-pressed organic butters, oils and extracts that l am really embarrassed about it…But it is good to learn from mistakes and this website does help a lot.
l originally wanted to combine synthetic ingredients with the best natural ingredients l could find.
Hey… the fact that you kept trying after discovering less that ideal products says a lot. I went through the exact same thing, and it is all about moving past the hurdles in the search for quality.
I also formulate with the theme of using naturals where I can, and incorporating some key synthetics where prudent.
I have found ICSC to be very communicative…so just reach out to them…tell them where you live, and ask whom might be a re-seller of their product…or even ask for a sample….they have sent me many.
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Also like to mention. Some distributor say their shea butter is ultra refined but it’s not. lotioncrafter’s refined shea butter was much better than some ultra refined version. It was lighter, more creamy, whiter, and no odour
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TheSocksTooBig said:Also like to mention. Some distributor say their shea butter is ultra refined but it’s not. lotioncrafter’s refined shea butter was much better than some ultra refined version. It was lighter, more creamy, whiter, and no odour
There is no definition for refined and ultra refined. Just perception.
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I’m a homecrafter and used natural shea butter when I first started making products but I had to use alot of fragrance to mask the natural odor but I didn’t feel that was safe so I switched to refined shea butter (deodarized and no odor), which reduced the amount of fragrance I needed and so much better.
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