Making Whipped Shea Butter isn't always as easy as 1,2,3. To understand how to formulate your own recipes, you need to decide how your are going to be using the Whipped Shea Butter. You will also need to have a basic understanding of how certain carrier oils work.
Whipped Shea Butters, are mainly heavy body cremes that you can use to moisturize your skin or hair. Since, most Whipped Shea Butters, do not contain water, there is no need for a preservative. If you add water, extracts or any juices such as Aloe Vera Juice, you need to use a synthetic preservative in your mix.
Now, on to choosing the oils for our mix! You may be thinking, why add any oil at all? Can't you just whip the shea butter alone? You can use shea butter alone but, keep in mind that most authentic shea butters, don't provide much shine and don't have much glide. I relate it to the feeling of beeswax, without the waxy coating. Adding carrier oils help make applying the shea butter easier and also gives added benefits to the hair and/or skin.
Coconut oil- This oil helps provide, shine and moisture. For a lot of people coconut oil alone just sits on the top of their hair and gives their hair a greasy feeling. Remember- Since this oil melts very easily, the more you add to your mixture the softer your end mixture will be.
Sweet Almond Oil- This oil provides shine and is very light. It does not moisturize, as it doesn't penetrate the hair very much. Great oil for skin and hair.(Benefits of Sweet Almond Oil)
Olive Oil- This oil to me, is very heavy. I personally do not like it in butters for my skin and use it in small amounts in butter for my hair. This oil adds a large amount of shine and is also known to penetrate the hair shaft. Bear in mind that this oil can leave the hair or skin feeling greasy or weighed down so use sparingly.
Castor Oil- This oil is a humectant, it aids in adding moisture to the hair shaft. This oil is best used in hair butters as it can be a bit sticky and hard to smooth onto the skin. Be careful, if you live in a dry climate, since this oil takes moisture from the air and adds it to your hair, if there is no moisture in the air...well you may end up with dry hair.
Avocado Oil- This is a light oil, that can penetrate the hair shaft. It adds shine to the hair and skin. This oils has a lot of benefits to the hair and skin. (Benefits of Avocado Oil)
Other oils you can pick from are Safflower, Sunflower, Babassu, Apricot Kernel, Emu and many other oils!
Here are 2 basic Whipped Shea Butter Recipes you can try and also tweak to your liking!
Whipped Shea Butter for Your Hair: (makes approx. 8oz.)
6 oz.- Shea Butter
1 Tablespoon- Sweet Almond Oil
2 Tablespoons- Coconut Oil
1/2 Tablespoon- Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoon- Sunflower Oil
Whip this mixture together and enjoy!
Whipped Shea Butter for Your Skin: (makes approx. 8 oz.)
6 oz.- Shea Butter
2 Tablespoons- Coconut Oil
1 Tablespoon- Apricot Kernel Oil
1 Tablespoon- Jojoba Oil
Whip together and enjoy!!
What do you mix with your shea butter?
Tweet
