Since going natural, I’ve become a “mixtress” of sorts. I enjoy experimenting with different hair potions, spritzes, treatments and concoctions. 🙂
If you’re natural, you’ve at least have heard about whipped Shea butter.
Shea butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from the nut of the African shea/Karite tree by crushing, boiling and stirring. Source:Wikipedia
By nature, shea butter has a dull, waxy texture that can make it difficult to work into hair. It does however, melt with body heat, if rubbed between the palms. It works great as a SEALANT (on top of a water based moisturizer) and has numerous other benefits including relieving stretch marks, minor scars, chapped hands and lips, weak thin hair, sunburn, wrinkles, psoriasis and eczema. It also works great when mixed with other products for a deep conditioner (I’ll address this in another post).
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| Raw,unrefined shea butter |
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| Raw unrefined Mango Butter |
Mango Butter is derived from the seed of the mango fruit and is much softer than Shea butter.
Mango Butter has emollient properties (meaning it softens the skin) and provides protection against the sun. It is said to prevent drying of the skin and formation of wrinkles. Mango Butter also reduces degeneration of skin cells and restores elasticity.
Cocoa butter is a natural edible vegetable fat, which comes from
the cocoa bean and is most similar to Shea butter in texture. It is the most stable fat know and has natural antioxidant qualities.
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| 100 % Pure Cocoa Butter
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Adding oils and whiping the butters give them a smoother consistency, making them easier to apply.
For this recipe, I used 75% Shea butter, 15% Mango butter and 10% Cocoa butter (sorry I didn’t measure) and melted it using the double boiler method (place a metal/glass bowl over a pot of hot water and allow to melt). Do not microwave or apply direct heat because this will destroy the properties of the butters.
Once the butters are all melted, I added about a tablespoon of extra virgin coconut oil and 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), Grapeseed and Jojoba oils. I also add a few drops of Vitamin E oil, which is not only good for your skin but it acts as a natural preservative. Feel free to add the oils you like. Sometimes, I add Castor oil instead of or in addition to the other oils.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly and place in the freezer for about 4 mins (until the butter starts to harden around the edges).
Remove the butter from the freezer and whip, whip, whip using a mixer.The longer you whip the more air gets incorporated and the fluffier it becomes. Eventually it will start looking more like frosting than a hair butter. Next add in a few squirts (or as many as you like) of pure aloe vera gel. I use the Fruit of the Earth brand from Walmart.
Lastly, add your choice of essentials oils. I added a few drops of rosemary, tea tree, peppermint, lemon and orange oils. These have benefits such as stimulating growth, acting as preservative and antiseptic, preventing dry scalp as well as helping to cover up the natural “nutty” scent of the Shea butter. Whip again to incorporate the oils.
TIP: I like to add a 1/2 and 1 teaspoon of pure cornstarch to my whip. This helps reduce the “oiliness” and adds a silkiness to the butter.
Pour your whipped butter into clean, dry jars and store in a cool dry place. As I said, this is a great sealant and adds a nice shine to your already moisturized hair, it is NOT a moisturizer because it does not contain water. It also works great on elbows, knees and feet or as an all-over sealant on wet/damp skin.
This style was achieved using homemade flax seed gel (yes I make gel too :). Since it’s water based, I used my whipped butter to seal and add shine.
Try it out if you have the time. Hope this was helpful. Until next time……
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You’re welcome. Thanks for your support Renisha
I’ve never made my own Shea butter mainly bcuz I don’t have all the ingredients! But that’s on my to do list this year, thank you for sharing.
St.croix fan:-)
Thanks Subrina. You can omit the cocoa butter and it will be fine. Some ppl make their with just shea butter, but I like to “mix” stuff! lol. Remember a little bit goes a long way 🙂
Damn that is some serious bling on your hair, I am definitely gonna try this, only I don’t have cocoa butter but all the rest is a go. Good job
Thanks Janel. This is actually an old post from back in September…you must have missed it 🙂 There are variations in the colour of Shea Butter (between light yellow and ivory). If it’s BRIGHT yellow then it might be African Butter but that would work too 🙂
If you can’t find jojoba oil, you can use Castor oil, olive oil and coconut oil. Also, you can add a little honey, it will help woth the softness of the hair and it will help preserve the mixture 🙂
mmmm, I think this blog has been my favourite since you started sharing. Now, I know I can use the shea butter that I bought for hair as well as skin. My butter looks more like yellow though and not ivory. When I get some time I have to try out the flax seed gel and the mix of the three butters. I believe I told you that I saw mango butter in G’da. I have some other items to locate still, like jojoba. By the way your hair looks lovely, did you style it after you trimmed?
Thank you and you’re welcome Coilybella. Let me know how it works for you.
Also, thanks for supporting my blog. I joined yours 🙂
Wow!!!!
Love the hair and thanks for sharing your recipe with us and the cornstarch tip. I shall be using it to make my next shea butter cream
Yep! I investigate the ingredients in products alot and saw that many popular and prominent companies use corn starch or some form of sugar beets (made into a powder) to reduce the oiliness of their products.
Rice powder is another great alternative (gonna try that next 😉
Thanks for commenting Quitabee 🙂
Cornstarch to reduce oiliness…hmmm…very interesting.