T O P I C R E V I E W |
Yin | I just got myself some unrefined organic shea butter, ivory colored (there is also a yellow variety, apparently not from the same nut). It's solid but melts in at your body temperature. I'm using it on my face right now, just straight butter, no essential oils or additives. I read some recipes on whipped shea butter which sound nice, but even whipped, it solidifies when it's cold enough. Anybody using shea butter? Do you have any true and tried recipes for it? Thanks! |
Stawr | That's awesome I bought some at whole foods a few weeks ago, and made shaving cream with it yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4cZm3tppvk I put it in the fridge went for a run. After running, I took it out of the fridge. Whipped with up with a mixer. It felt so GOOD! Especially since it was still cold from the fridge and all whipped! Since I got back from running I wanted it to stay cold and whipped. But now that you mention that, it probably wasn't a good idea to put it in the fridge after whipping it. I hope my product is still whipped and fluffy. Other wise I just gotta whip it again put it back in the container and place it in the shower where it belongs. I tried just shaving with coconut oil alone, but it was kind of a pain in the butt since I use coconut oil for other things and remembering to bring in the shower from the kitchen...If I didn't feel like getting out of the shower to get it, I would just end up using regular shaving cream. I liked the idea of using coconut oil, especially when I see stuff like this on my news feed. The coconut oil works and feels great for my legs. However, when it came to the bikini area I felt like just the coconut oil wasn't cutting it. So that's how I began searching youtube, and the man recommends using shea with the coconut. Can't wait to try it out! |
Ellynlvx | quote: Originally posted by Yin: I just got myself some unrefined organic shea butter, ivory colored (there is also a yellow variety, apparently not from the same nut). It's solid but melts in at your body temperature. I'm using it on my face right now, just straight butter, no essential oils or additives. I read some recipes on whipped shea butter which sound nice, but even whipped, it solidifies when it's cold enough. Anybody using shea butter? Do you have any true and tried recipes for it? Thanks!
Oh, yeah, I use it for lots of things. I buy things like that by the gallon. Dina Falconi wrote a really good book with about a zillion recipes. |
Yin | Thanks for the input! Any face creams with shea butter that you make? I use it around my eyes right now but it's too heavy for my whole face. At the same time, I don't want to get into the whole double boiler, emulsifiers, more oils etc. business. So, I guess, what I'm asking is: Do you have a simple face cream recipe with shea butter? Or is that even possible?
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Ellynlvx | Normally it's an additive in a Cream mixture. Most of those involve Oil and Water, so... You could use the Salve recipe, but that is too heavy for most folks. Double boiler is the easy part. You just put a large pyrex measuring cup in a potful of water. That's to melt the Shea, Cocoa butter, Beeswax, whathaveyous. One thing Shea Butter is really good for is those of us who prefer to feel the Earth beneath our feet. That book has a plethora and a veritable wealth of information. |
Yin | Thanks, Ellyn. The only way I can get this book is by buying it. Maybe I'll make that investment at some point. In the meantime, I think I found a good face cream recipe: |
Ellynlvx | Yeah, like I said you can use the Salve recipe, but it's too heavy for most folks. There are so many recipes in that book, if you found one that opened, you'd almost have to land on five recipes, per two page scan. |
Stawr | Whipped Shea butter feels so amazing!! I also want to make a tinted lip balm with Shea butter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwW5m3972M I love her DIY and organizing videos. I'm shy of some of the things like coco butter. Might see what happens with out that. So many of these DIY's have coconut oil in them. I wonder if I can buy it in a super bulky size. haha |
Randall | Is it edible? It makes me hungry. |
Stawr | Since I used almond extract instead of almond oil mine smells like dessert and makes me hungry. |
PlutoSurvivor | it's best just pure and natural, you can get it at the african import stores. comes in huge gourds from africa packed tightly. you could probably just whip it up on your own. it goes rancid if not kept cool. when appling, be careful it doesn't get in your eyes.it's so expensive when you buy it at the health food stores or the cosmetic stores. you pay for the fancy labels. it's always diluted so it doesn't irritate the eyes. it may smell pretty, but your best value is pure and natural. you can use it on your entire body and it keeps your skin supple and soft. (it especially keeps your elbows, knees and feet soft like a baby's skin) |
Stawr | I try to avoid shopping online. (I'm just weird, and resistant to change I guess) but I also like to save money. haha I'll keep that in mind. |
Violets | I use it in salves, my pomade, and chapstick... The shea butter and beeswax that I add to whatever I'm making causes it to be just slightly more solid than something like Neosporin, so my stuff stays inside containers nicely, but still does the job. Sounds like you will have some cool things to experiment with! |
Stawr | I made lip balms a few weeks ago and gave one to my mom for her birthday as well. Made a sunscreen with some as well. What is a salves Violets? |
Randall | |
Stawr | I used some to make deodorant. I followed a recipe that said to just use coconut oil to keep the powders together(baking soda and corn starch.) That did not work, part of my deodorant melted. When I made it, I did not even need to use a double boiler to melt my coconut oil. I should of known! haha So this time I used a mixture of Shea butter, coco butter, bees wax, coconut oil. Then adding the powders, it was scary how fast it dried and was a dreadful mess to clean up after words. Next time I think I'll do a mixture of Shea and coconut oil. Cause it didn't melt too too bad with only coconut oil it was really just the top part of it. |
Ellynlvx | Yeah, Coconut Oil varies with temperature. The others are basically stable. You just play with the beeswax amount to get the right density. I've never made deodorant, though. |
Stawr | It's pretty fun the make! The least fun part is cleaning out left over deodorant if you are recycling. |
Ellynlvx | Might be able to do it in a pot of heated water? Think that's the way you do Bayberries. The waxies rise to the top. |
Stawr | I've been using a double boiler. It when I take it out and mix in the powders I must be weary of it solidifying fast. |
Ellynlvx | No, I meant when you clean out the containers to reuse. I thought you might melt it out. |
Stawr | Oh!!! That's a great idea! I will for sure try that next time. Cleaning out all the old deodorant by hand is way to hard. |
Violets | quote: Originally posted by Stawr: I made lip balms a few weeks ago and gave one to my mom for her birthday as well. Made a sunscreen with some as well. What is a salves Violets?
A salve is like an ointment, or a cream or something like that, usually for scrapes or minor cuts, etc. I use the one I make for my son when he gets a diaper rash or gets a scrape while running around or something. I also use it for chapped lips, dry skin, etc. Eh...here's the first definition I found: "an ointment used to promote healing of the skin or as protection." I use a lot of calendula oil in the salves/ointments I make, because that stuff really does basically do all of the healing on its own. Then I add a few other things (different oils for filler, like Jojoba and Olive oils, but I infuse the oil mix first with whatever helpful herbs I have around the garden). Mostly I add oregano, lemon balm, and this year I added lavender to the mix, because my friend gave me a bunch of it. |
Stawr | Cool, thanks for the info! |