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whipped shea butter

How to Whip Shea Butter: Melt & Whip or Cold-Whip?

Melting Shea Butter Before Whipping is Not Always a Good Idea

 

If you are like me, once you learn one way of doing something, you stick to it. Whipping shea butter is no different: I learned to first melt it all the way, then add other ingredients (carrier oils, vitamin E, essential oils), place it in the fridge to partially solidify, then whip it to perfection. Here is one of my videos following this method:

 

The problem after a few years of doing it this way has been time and space: if you have a small batch of about 1-2 lbs of product, following this method of melting, cooling, whipping takes a couple of hours and results in a beautiful creation.

However, when you start melting 5-10 pounds of shea butter, plus other ingredients, it starts to get overwhelming: your double boiler system takes a long time to slowly melt the butter, removing it from the heat without spilling anything is nerve wracking, and finding room in your fridge is the next challenge (by the way, make sure you cover your container of melted shea when you place it in the fridge or it will pick up some of the smells from other items stored). And that’s when I realized that, besides needing a dedicated room with a stove and fridge for my whipped skin care concoctions, I should probably consider not melting the shea butter and just whipping it like you whip – guess what? – edible butter. Or cream cheese.

How do you melt & whip shea butter correctly?

 

After making my debut shea video, I noticed that the method above gave it a nice airy texture at first, but after a few days the whipped shea butter would harden up as much as the regular, un-whipped shea. Fast forward to a gazillion experiments later, I have come up with the right sequence that gives a whipped butter that stays whipped. Here is how you melt and whip shea to perfection. If you do this right, the air bubbles you introduce in the body butter while whipping will stay, resulting in a stable fluffy structure. Unless of course your body butter melts to a liquid due to hot weather, then the whipped effect will be gone – welcome to the world of truly natural skin care.

  1. Slowly melt the shea butter in a double boiler (bain-marie in French or bagno maria in Italian) and melt it at slow heat. A burned butter is never a good idea, so slow and steady is the way to go
  2. Turn off the heat and remove the butter from the burner. At this stage you can add carrier oils and vitamin E, but it’s still too hot to add essential oils
  3. Let it cool off to room temperature either by setting aside, or by placing your container in a bowl with ice to speed up the process
  4. Stir it occasionally while you are waiting for it to cool off close to room temperature, or about 75 F (23 C)
  5. Add the essential oils if applicable
  6. WHIP IT! That’s right, you whip it while it’s still liquid. I am not sure on the science behind it, but if you skip this step, it won’t turn out as nice
  7. Put it in the fridge until it’s completely solid
  8. Take it out of the fridge and let it soften enough to be able to WHIP IT AGAIN
  9. And you’re done!
  10. Now you can scoop the shea in your final containers, or you can pour the whipped butter in a zip lock bag, cut a corner at the end of it, then squeeze into your jars

While you get a wonderful end-product, the downside is that this process takes hours depending on the size of your batch.

How to save time: cold-whipped shea butter

 

I don’t want to keep a secret until the end of this article, so I will tell you that cold-whipped shea butter looks exactly the same as melt-and-whip shea. I tried it, here’s the evidence:

Go ahead and zoom in – they have the same exact texture. Here’s how the cold-whipped shea butter above was made:

  1. Cut the shea butter in small chunks
  2. Put the chunks of shea in a bowl or stand mixer like a KitchenAid
  3. Start whipping it on high, scrape down the butter that sticks to the sides, and keep whipping until it looks homogenous
  4. Slowly add carrier oils and essential oils as needed and keep whipping until it’s the right consistency
  5. And you’re done!
  6. Now you can scoop the shea in your final containers, or you can pour the whipped butter in a zip lock bag, cut a corner at the end of it, then squeeze into your jar

This, unlike the melt-and-whip method, takes about 1 hour (depending on the size of your batch).

Whipped Shea Butter using the Cold Whip method

And below is the whipped shea made by patiently melting shea butter. Compare the two and tell me they don’t look like identical twins.

Whipped Shea Butter using the Melt & Whip method

The cold-whipping method only applies to soft butters

 

shea butter
Buy Unrefined Shea Butter Here

Cold whipping can only be done with soft butters like Shea and Mango butter. I use Unrefined Shea Butter or 100% Pure Mango Butter which you can find here.

Depending on the season, these butters may vary slightly in hardness, but both shea and mango butter can be cut in pieces, put in a bowl and whipped without any melting. However, there are some hard butters like Cocoa and Kokum, as well as waxes that when present in any amount in your skin care recipe, require the melting step.

We’re done with today’s tutorial! I hope you learned something new, I’d love to hear from you in the comments: what’s your to-go method of making a body butter? What questions do you have? Also if you would like more information and recipes for DIY skin care and beauty products I have an ebook which you can download for free here

Thanks again for stopping by!

292 responses to “How to Whip Shea Butter: Melt & Whip or Cold-Whip?

    1. You can just whip the shea butter by itself and it will whip and grow in volume, which makes it easier to use on your skin. But if you want to mix it with some carrier oils, here’s a sample recipe:

      6 oz shea butter, 3.8 oz carrier oil (jojoba is a great start, it’s good for most skin types), and about 60 drops of an essential oil of your choice.

    1. It depends on the batch size, but you want your butter to grow in volume and have little air bubbles in it. The problem is that if you whip it too long, it will get hard again so don’t over do it.

      To give you an idea, if I have about 8oz of final product (butters plus oils total weight), and I follow the cold method, I may whip it for about 5-8 minutes. But again, watch the consistency and see when it starts to increase in volume and show some air in it, you’re done. If you zoom into the photos I put in this blog, you can see little air bubbles. I hope this helps 🙂

  1. Lovely! Thanks for experimenting then sharing. I tend to get stuck in a rut, afraid experimenting will ruin everything.

    1. I know what you mean! I’ve had to learn over the years to experiment with small quantities and to write everything down so I don’t forget and make the same mistakes later.

  2. Thank you so much! I’ve been doing the melt method and wanted to try something that takes less time.
    This is a great resource.

    I was also wondering if you have a guide to ratios if I wanted to make different recipes

    1. I don’t have a guide, but should probably work on one soon. As a general rule, for a simple whipped body butter that has no beeswax but just butters and oils, I like to use 40% oils (including essential oils) and 60% soft butters (mango and shea). If I use a hard butter that is harder to whip like cocoa and kokum, I do 50/50 oils/butters. If you want to try one of these, start small with maybe 8 ounces of product, so it’s big enough to whip it but not too much in case you don’t like the consistency.

    1. Question: The recipe I use, calls for: 1 cup of Shea, 1/2 cup of Mango, and 1/4 cup of Almond oil. So total product weight of 1.75 cups.

      So if I want to use essential oils, with a 2% dilution, is it based off of the total weight or just the 1/4 cup of almond oil? Cause when folks say add a carrier oil, it seems like their only talking about an added oil and not the whole product as oil. Hopefully, im making sense….thank you!

    1. These days I like to do 40% oil to 60% soft butters (shea or mango). When I use a hard butter like cocoa or kokum, 50%/50% should work on a whipped body butter.

      1. So, if I’m using 5 pounds of shea butter, which is 60 oz., that means I should use 24oz. of carrier oil? How many of the 24 oz. of oil should be vitamin e oil?

        1. Hi Tami,
          When you have a large batch it is more accurate to first work out your percentages, then convert them into weight. My favorite ratio at the moment is this: 70% shea butter, 27% carrier oil, 1% vitamin E, 2% essential oils. If you want to use 5 LBs of shea, that is 5 LB x16 OZ = 80 ounces of butter (not 60 if you use all of it). You then need 33 oz of carrier oils, 1.1 oz vitamin E oil and 2.2 oz essential oils. You’ll end up with about 116 ounces of product, once you whip it it will increase in volume by maybe 10-15% so take that into consideration when you get your jars ready to fill. Does this help?

          1. I didn’t mention beeswax because I didn’t add it to this specific recipe. Otherwise I love beeswax, but I prefer to use it in lip balms or salves, not in body butters (just a personal preference). Let me know if you have any more specific questions about using beeswax.

      1. Unless you want to add beeswax or cocoa butter, they are very hard and it’s best to have everything melted when you incorporate them. Otherwise why bother, right?

  3. This is great!!! 😊👏🏾👌🏾Thank you Isabelle for giving us the details on making body butter with the consistency of your sold products. I was always wondering why mine never came out quite right and would harden up like yours did in the beginning. 😩🤦🏾‍♂️😂 I bought your whipped Shea butter with rose and neroli and was amazed at how light and fluffy it was and STAYED. I like to make my butter with Shea and Cocoa so I’ll have to stick to the melting method, but I’ve gotten better at making it over time. Thanks again!! 🙏🏾

    p.s. I wonder if I cold whip the Shea and melt the Cocoa separately and combine them later, will the consistency still be the same. I’ll try and see…

    1. Hello Ike! First off, you’re welcome, and thank you for buying our products.

      I love the lavender neroli scent too, it’s so fresh and uplifting. Someone just wrote to us saying that they melt cocoa separately and add them in to the unmelted ingredients and it works, so there, your question is answered! I’m sure your next creation will be amazing, I’d love to see a photo of your final result when you have it. Write to us or comment again any time!

  4. I’ve always wondered WHY so many recipes require melting shea butter when no wax is present? I have tried your cold whipped mango butter and it was glorious, so this sounds perfect to me. Thank you Isabella!

  5. Hello Isabella. I have made the melted body butter a long time ago and it was great! I cannot remember how long this will keep and if I have to refrigerate it to keep it from melting. I live in AZ. Thank you.

    1. Wow, so many of you from Arizona, we should start a local DIY skin care club there 🙂

      You only refrigerate your body butter if your home temperature gets hotted than 80F, and shelf life of pure shea butter without any other ingredients is 2 years (but it’s nice to buy some fresh shea more often in my opinion!), however depending on what other oils or ingredients you added, it may go bad earlier. The smell of a body butter gone bad is acid and rancid, usually the color stays the same and there won’t be any mold or anything visible unless you have added water, aloe or hydrosol. I hope this helps!

  6. My body butter always got hard again after a few days. Which method (melted or cold whip) would keep my butter soft and fluffy?

    1. Either methods if you follow them will give you a whipped butter that stays whipped, but if you don’t add any beeswax or cocoa butter to your body butter, try the cold method whipping in this blog. It will turn out just like the two jars you see pictured. It is still a bit solid, a butter is a butter, but with the correct whipping sequence it will stay lighter and less dense than the original shea block.

  7. Hi i was wondering if you made your whipped shea butter and it melted due to heat can you re whip it??? I live in Arizona very hot

    1. Yes you can re whip for sure! Sometimes if it melts all the way then re solidifies too slowly, it will turn grainy. Grainy does not affect the quality of the butter, but if you want to avoid that and the shea melted to a liquid, put it in the refrigerator to re solidify, then you can take it out and whip it.

      1. Thank you for sharing this. I love your recipe! Do you have any suggestions for the butter to be less oily feeling during application?

        1. Yes, you can add a little arrowroot powder or tapioca starch in your body butter recipe. I will need to write a detailed blog about it, but you can safely add 1 teaspoon of powder to every 4 oz of product, add it in the melted butter and stir until uniformly dispersed. If you need more specific directions feel free to email us at [email protected].

  8. Hi, thanks for sharing. I am now able to understand the missing link that makes mine to turn out differently from your.

  9. Dear Isabella, thank you for this! I order your butters all the way from Singapore and love them but they do melt a fair bit in our tropical climate. Just wondering what’s the reason for adding carrier oils? Depending on the type of oil, do they make the butters less greasy? Are the butters any less effective when they harden?

    1. Hello Jacqueline, thank you for writing, and how exciting, we make it all the way to Singapore! 🙂
      To answer your questions, some people like to add oils to shea or mango butter for different reasons: could be they like different oils and butters and love to create a more interesting body butter (adding essential oils is fun as it gives the scent you like), or they want to have a cocktail of vitamins and antioxidants that are not available in just one ingredient. Adding oils does not make the final product less greasy, and butters are not less or more effective if hard or liquid, cosmetic butters are very resilient and have a long shelf life. I hope this helps, thank you so much for choosing our butters and for leaving a comment, I’m here if you have any other questions!

  10. Can I use my regular kitchen equipment or must I buy separate things to use just for this? Can almond, vanilla, etc., extract be used for scent?

    I just bought some of your butter and an essential oils book and I can’t wait to get started. Right now I have the Shea butter and sweet almond oil (from a different company). I’m going to make some from that with no essentials and see how it smells. I have a few NOW brand oils but they say not for topical use. Can you suggest a few brands that are ok to use on your skin and or in food? The book I bought has some intriguing food recipes and hundreds of topical ones…

    Hope that wasn’t too many questions.

    1. It’s never too many questions! Here you go:

      – yes, you can use your regular kitchen equipment. You are mixing oils and butters, nothing different than cooking. However, when you use essential oils, they can leave a very strong scent that is harder to clean, just keep that in mind.

      – no, do not use vanilla, almond and other extracts in your skin care recipes, they will not leave any scent and since they are all water or alcohol based, they will separate from the other oils and butters (I wasted a lot of products trying to use them)

      – when you see “not for topical use” on an essential oil bottle, they are telling you to not apply the essential oil straight directly on your skin. This is because some MLM companies promote using essential oils for internal use and for straight use over the skin, and this is a practice that we do NOT NOT NOT recommend as it is not safe. For more info on that, just google “dangers of ingesting essential oils” and you will find a lot of info about the subject from many different sources. I know you just asked about the topical use disclaimers, but applying essential oils directly to your skin lets them penetrate your blood stream just like ingesting them would. Adding 1-2% essential oils to a body product is the safe standard in cosmetics to use EOs in body products.

      – the only other way to use essential oils is to diffuse them for aromatherapy purposes.

      Write back again any time!

      1. i use my regular cooking equipment to make my butters, however, i am mindful to only use Pyrex (measuring cups) and stainless steel bowl and mixing utensils as they are not likely to absorb scents. Having said that, I wipe everything with alcohol before making my butters and after running everything through the dishwasher, just to be on the safe side….but i’m probably overdoing it, lol

  11. Whoops! I got mixed up about the NOW oils. I’ve been reading too many things. Starting to hit overload. I would still like some recs on oils if you can.

    I’m really enjoying your blog.

    1. I completely understand overload on the subject! That’s why I keep trying to keep it down to the basics and not get lost in a million ingredients. Using the essential oils you find at your local grocery store is totally fine, the NOW brand is very popular, so is Aura Cacia. The most common essential oils, and safest to use on skin, are lavender, chamomile and frankincense. You can also smell the many blends they started offering and pick your favorite. I do not recommend the following essential oils for body butters unless you use very little, because they can irritate your skin: peppermint, spearmint, clove, cinnamon.

  12. Hi. I am super interested in the shea butter for use on my 1 year old who suffers from mild eczema. I dont have much free time to whip my own. Could i use the shea butter block and apply it directly to her skin or would it be too stiff? Or could i buy a butter? The peppermint one sounds better (not a fan of floral scent). But would it be too strong of a scent for a child that young. Really tryin to transition her to nothing but shea butter on her skin

    1. Hi Ashley, yes, you can absolutely use shea butter straight on skin, you just break off a pea size, melt it between your palms, then apply. I have spoken to countless new parents that use pure unrefined shea to relieve eczema and, according to their feedback, it works wonders. You can start with the small 8oz size we offer and see if it works for you. The pre-whipped peppermint is a great body lotion, but I personally would not use it on an infant because the least ingredients you use on their developing little bodies, the better.

  13. Hi,
    I love your products! I make my own whipped body butter using your Shea Butter. I use coconut oil (I saw everyone on YouTube doing it 😩😭😭).
    So I don’t need coconut oil at all is that correct?

    1. LOL, YouTube is a wonderful thing but you can get lost in it! Coconut oil is not needed in whipped body butter, it’s just a choice. I personally do not find coconut oil moisturizing for my skin, and many customers don’t use it other than for cooking, but then again everyone has their own taste. The recipe I used for this blog always comes out great, I hope you get a chance to try it. 🙂

      1. Hello from Turkey Isabella!

        I was just scrolling down and saw this comment. I made a new recipe with 55% Shea and coconut and other 45% is avocado, sea buckthorn, apricot kern and rosehip but it is not moisturizing! Could it be because of the coconut oil?

        + I was wondering if the cold method keeps its consistency even in the summer?

        This blog is really useful btw! thank you

        1. Hello my Turkey friend! If your wonderful concoction doesn’t moisturize you, I suggest you apply it after a bath or shower, or somehow add a little more moisture to your skin. Some people like to spray their legs or face with a toner – witch hazel, hydrosol, or simply fresh water – before they apply a body butter that does not contain water. If there is some moisture on your skin, these butters will absorb very well. See, you (all of us really) are used to lotions and cream that contain at least 70% water/aloe or similar liquid, plus about 10% in ingredients that aren’t useful for your skin but are only useful to keep the lotions together such as emulsifiers and preservatives. So when you start using a product that contains 100% pure butters, oils and botanicals, it feels different. Trust me, the moment you follow this simple trick, you will feel the difference on your skin. I hope this helps 🙂

          1. I find it really kind and admirable that you answer all the questions asked with so many details. Thank you for that kind of an attitude and the answer ofcourse! 🙂 kind wishes

  14. Hey there!
    I’m about to make my own boy butter for healing psoriasis using bits and pieces of several recipes, and following my own gut instinct lol wish me luck!
    One of the ingredients I’ve added to my recipe is aloe vera gel.
    Will have beeswax, honey, crushed sea salt, shea butter, avocado oil, olive oil, and many different essential oils for psoriasis. Any advice? Should I leave out the aloe vera gel? Will this ruin my butter?
    Can I freeze this stuff?
    I’ve cleaned several empty cream jars and containers and think I am ready to do this (tomorrow?)
    Any advice?

    1. Hi Jennifer, I would leave out the aloe vera and the honey, both will not work with butters unless you also add: 1. an emulsifier to hold everything together, 2. a preservative to avoid mold and yeast to form. I would use: shea butter, avocado oil, olive oil, beeswax (not much or the body butter will be too hard) and essential oils that are delicate and indicated for irritated skin, otherwise just leave the essential oils out. You can always use aloe vera as a stand alone skin softener, and honey I don’t really recommend it – I know it sounds amazing to use it, but it’s hard to work with and shea butter alone can do wonders on your skin. Let me know how it goes!

  15. Hello, I’m mixing up shea butter cold method using your 6oz shea recipe listed above- and after 10 minutes it’s still liquid- I see bubbles but it’s not as fluffy looking as your jars. Please help? (My recipe 6 oz unrefined shea, 3.8oz Clear Jojoba Oil, and approx 40 drops of essential oils. Thank you in advance for your help!

    1. If it’s still liquid even if it’s cold (and not melted over heat) you need to add a bit more shea butter. I have done it with the recipe exactly as described in the blog and it wasn’t liquid so I am not sure what else it would be.

    1. Preservatives are only needed if you add water or aloe vera or another water-based ingredient to the shea butter, otherwise you can use an antioxidant to help preserve the shelf life of shea or any oil and butter. A good antioxidant I recommend is vitamin E.

  16. I have enjoyed your site. I am new to shea butter and have some grainy product, now i wont throw it out. I have some unrefind raw product being shipped and i will try to cold whip some. Why do you use carrier oils? Im nit getting the idea for the use of it. I dont care for strong aromas but if it is needed to stabilize it i will add it.

    1. Hi Francis, I use carrier oils (they are not scented like essential oils, carrier oils examples are: apricot, jojoba, almond) because shea butter alone is a bit hard and when you add a liquid oil and whip them together, you get a final body butter that it’s easier to apply on your skin. Another reason is if you want to add a more expensive oil like rosehip or argan oil to your shea to make a face lotion that has a little extra vitamins and antioxidants in addition to the shea.

      1. I received my raw unrefined shea butter and made my whip today. Mine is definetly yellow and I think I may have used too much carrier oil. I also added a teaspoon of vitamen I had on hand. The use of a handheld electric mixer created some mess. On the other hand I used the residue on the spot. It
        yielded a full 16 oz jar. The color may be different but it works great. Next time I will try a blend with mango butter and shea butter with maybe a little less carrir oil. Thank you very much for your help. No more steriods and sleepless nights from eczema.

  17. Thanks for the helpful article as well as all the tips in the comments! I was wondering how much beeswax you add to your body butter recipe as well as the reason for adding it?

    1. Hi Katrina, the amount of beeswax added depends on the overall recipe, and if you want a balm you need more beeswax than for a lotion. The reason for beeswax is that it creates a barrier to the elements and keeps your skin somewhat shielded from wind and cold, and helps your skin retain moisture so it doesn’t dry fast.

  18. I love reading your recipe about the large amount. The best information I’ve found. Thank you for your kind remarks.

    1. Also, if adding the 5 pound of Shea Butter 16 x 5 = 80 oz. 3 divided into 80 would be 26 2/3 oz. of each of the butters. Mango, Shea, and Cocoa butter using 33 oz. carrier oils 1.1 oz. Vitamin E and 2.2 oz. EO. Would that be all right to use? Thank you. I love this. I’ve just found your site and have read and reread the comments. I’ve made Whipped Body Butter before using Shea, Coconut, Jojoba, Grape seed, and Avocado Oils. Thank you for the lovely comments.

  19. Hi lovey post, im also making body butters in large scale too but i use the cold (no melt) method. Im having a slight problem now though. After a few days the body butter starts to get a little grainy in texture. Its hot where i live so i always try to put in cool places. Do you have any tips? What should i do to prevent this?

  20. I make homemade body butters for clients. The finished product looks very smooth and buttercream like but after a few days starts to feel a little grainy. I dont use the double boiler method to melt the butters. Shea butter is soft enough so i just use a hand mixer with the other oils directly to get final product. I keep the butter in cool place but where I live has hot weather, what should I do? I dont want to keep them in the fridge, they will lose their fluffy texture. My typical recipe is 1 cup of butter to 1/2 cup of oil/oils.

    1. The whipped butter needs to be at a temperature no hotter than 75-80F or some parts will start melting and will then re-solidify and get grainy. I believe that once they are whipped they can be stored in the fridge without loosing the fluffiness. Why don’t you try putting just 1 jar of your whipped butters in the fridge overnight and see how it looks in the morning?

  21. Hi Isabella – Great information. I stumbled on your blog because I bought some shea that separated into the hard waxy shea butter and the oil. When I melt a bit in my hands to use, I wind up with bits on my skin. This cold whip method sounds great. Sorry if you already answered this but I wasn’t clear on the answer. Will cold whipping resolve the graininess issue – or must I melt it first?

    1. Ah, I just answered your other comment. For this specific question – I understand how your shea butter looked, with a white separation in different areas. This is the “fatter” part of the butter floating toward the surface in random spots. I am not sure how much shea butter you have, but if I were you I would melt it all slowly over a double boiler, then pour it into your final containers, and put it in the fridge for a few hours to fully “cure”. After that you can store it at room temperature and it won’t revert to grainy (unless it melted again because of hot temp).

    1. Hi Jolie, the cold whip does not necessarily correct the graininess, if you start whipping with a grainy butter, some graininess will stay. The trick to avoid graininess is to melt the butter completely, then place it in the fridge for fast cooling. Melting of a butter followed by slow cooling causes graininess.

  22. Hi great blog with good info. I love mango butter and my skin loves it more. I am wondering if i could do mango butter and shea butter with argon and avocado? What percentages do you recommend ? Tia

    1. Hi Tia, yes you can use all those oils and butters together. I recommend keeping the butters at 60% and the oils at 40% for a firm body butter, so something like this: 3 ounce shea, 3 ounce mango, 2 ounce argan, 2 ounce avocado. Melt everything, put in the fridge until mostly solid, remove from the fridge and whip until fluffy. You can add a few drops of essential oils of your choice it the whipping step.

  23. Hi!
    How do you keep your whipped butters soft? Ive melted down, but when it cools it hardens. Is it actually supposed to stay soft?

  24. I made a lotion base with these ingredients:
    1/2 c coconut oil (solid)
    1/4 c Jojoba oil
    1 T Vitamin E oil
    1/4 c beeswax pellets
    1/2 c rosewater

    it turned out way too greasy. I was wondering if I could cold whip shea butter and mix them together and end up with either a body butter or hand lotion that is hopefully not greasy? Just trying to salvage my ingredients.

    1. To be completely honest, other than adding some arrowroot powder or similar ingredient to cut the greasy feeling, you just need to use a lot less lotion than you are used to, because all your ingredients are oils and butters therefore they will be greasy. A pea size amount goes a long way, just take your time massaging it on your skin and it will absorb. Also, as a note, if you add rosewater to the other oils and butters without a preservative, you want to use up your preparation in a couple of weeks or it will start to grow mold.

  25. I melt my shea butter and coconut oil together – will this new process work? I love your product and love making my own butters….

    1. Hello
      I prepared my body butter with Shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil and jojoba oil. At first it was nice and whipped butter but after a month I could see the separation of butter on top and oil on the bottom. Why is that so?

      1. What’s the temperature in your house? If it gets too hot (over 80F), the butter will start melting and separating slightly from the rest. This doesn’t affect the efficacy of the product, but if you want to avoid ingredient separation without resorting to synthetic additives, make sure you store it in a cool place away from direct heat. For a quick fix on your body butter, you could use a small utensil and stir it up until the ingredients are holding together again.

  26. Wouldn’t melt/whipping, in effect shelf life, due to the denaturing? If so, how long do you think?
    Cheers

    1. Melting slowly over a double boiler does not strip the butters from any properties, neither does whipping. However, just like any fat (butters and oils you use for cooking), high temperatures can burn the butter, so we discourage from using the microwave to melt your cosmetic butters because it can heat up the butter too quickly and unevenly.

  27. Hi what is a double boiler as I would like to make my own Shea butter with lavender oils , do I need to have beeswax in it as beeswax has quite a lot of ingredients in it.
    Thank you I await your response

    1. Hey Isabella, good job with great information. Was wondering if I can combine, shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil, palm kernel oil, avocado oil and honey together as my body butter.

      1. Hi Dee, honey is water soluble so if you mix it to butters or oils, it will not dissolve but will stay separated like water would. To blend it in with other butters and oils you need to use an emulsifier. Normally, all emulsifiers are partly or wholly synthetic-based, so if you don’t feel good about trying a “regular” emulsifier, you can try to use lecithin as a natural emulsifier. I will have to write a blog and instructions soon on this, but if you google “how to use lecithin as an emulsifier”, I’m sure you will find an easy recipe to get familiar with it.

  28. Hello! I was wondering and researching about cacao butter. I was thinking ot whipping it but processing it in a food processor might save time and more nutrients. Would you also consider making a demo about the differences between melted and whipped cacao butter & raw food processed cacao butter? + how they remain in same conditions after awhile?

    1. A food processor will not work to whip this butter, the only method I recommend is what you see in our blogs and video tutorials.

  29. Finally which is the best melting and whipping , or cold whipping (without melting).
    Which best makes the butter to be more fluffy and supports in transportation. Please guide

  30. How long does the whipped butter stay soft and fluffy?.. I tried my hands on the recipe and it hardened after 2 days.

    1. It hardens to final consistency in about 2 days. However, when you whip it, even if it gets a bit harder than when it’s just whipped, it is easier to apply and absorb on the skin.

      1. Hello pls my body butters change consistency and color(creamy yellow} after few days and I dnt know why

        Also what is the best packaging container for body butter esp for sale

        1. I have had success with glass containers with airtight lids, the darker glass will stop sunlight from affecting your precious ingredients. And give a longer shelf life. ( or so I hear). You are wanting to sell these , as I did,and customers want all glass, (no bpa) containers. But to buy those in bulk , they were a bit pricey for me. But if you can afford them, they make a very attractive finished product . Blue was my favorite, but they come in a dark amber as well. Another plus is you can sterilize them. If you want your finished product to show, then just be sure to keep your product in an dark container.

    1. Probably about 10-15 LBs of butter. It depends on how much it grows in volume once you whip it, and how much other oils (if any) get added to your formula.

  31. Hi Mam you are really doing a great job. I’m in Ghana and want to enter into Shea butter business. I’m using Shae butter, coconut oil, vitamin E and Lavender Essential oil.
    I wanted to do cold method but my Shea butter is grainy. What do I do?

  32. My butter started to harden whilst whipping. Am I supposed to whip longer? How can I make Shea butter stay whipped longer? Also, how come my vanilla scent did not stick? I’ve added about 100 drops of vanilla oil.

    1. It is normal for butter to start hardening while you whip it, just stop whipping when it resembles whipped cream cheese. Shea butter will stay whipped unless it melts or partially melts. To ensure it stays whipped, store it at room temperature of 75-80F or below. Vanilla “Essential Oil” is usually diluted in another oil like jojoba, so the scent won’t be very strong, that’s just the nature of the delicate oil. If you want a very strong scent, you can consider a vanilla fragrance instead of a natural essential oil. You will need significantly less, but it will have a stronger scent.

  33. Hello. I recently received my shea butter and want to make a whipped body butter. I want to use shea butter, jojoba oil, and rosehip oil in my mix.( I saw other videos mention these oils are good for very dry skin and psoriasis).I am trying to make about enough to fill a 16oz jar. How much of each ingredient would you recommend so it wont be super greasy and it will stay soft and not harden after a couple of days. Love your videos, very informative.
    Thank you.

    1. Look for Germaben II Peservative. We don’t sell it but you can find it on Amazon or other on-line stores. Many homemakers use that to preserve their emulsions and other products that have oils and water.

  34. I just received my shea butter and want to try to whip it with some oils. I want use jojoba oil and rosehip oil. I want to make enough to fill a 16oz jar. Do you know what measurements of the shea butter and oils I should use in order for it to not be too oily. I have very dry skin and some psoriasis patches so I don’t want to put to much of something and have my skin flare up. Thank you

    1. You can measure 60% shea butter, 30% jojoba and 10% rosehip. That’s a great ratio that will whip easily. If you find it too greasy, you can add 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder, just add it in gradually and whip until it’s incorporated.

  35. I bought a pound jar of 100% unrefined shea butter in Ghana a couple of weeks ago. AS I get home and opened it, I was so disappointed that it smells like bacon grease. What can I do t o make it smell like something I want to put on my skin?

    1. You could let it air out for a couple of hours and also put it in a different container. Was it fresh shea butter for sure? The problem we found when we started with our company was to procure fresh shea butter made from fresh nuts. When a butter or oil oxidates over time, it will smell rancid and pretty much unusable.

  36. Isabella,

    Hello! Thank you for the informative blog. As I continue to grow my beard, I’m wanting to make my own conditioner using Shea butter adding essential oils. I want to keep my product in my bathroom preferably. With that said, would a whipped or non- whipped product be beneficial with temperature changes inside the bathroom(hot showers, humidity, etc. etc.)?

    1. Hello Wendell,

      I keep jars of whipped butters in my bathroom and the humidity does not affect them, only direct sun or heat over 90F will melt them and the whipped effect will be gone. If the butters aren’t whipped and they partially melt, they may get grainy when they solidify back at room temperature. Slow re-solidifying of a melted butter is responsible for those little grains, but they will still melt on skin contact so they are nothing to be concerned with. I’m sure you’ll make an awesome beard conditioner, yay for beards!!

      1. When using the cold processing method detailed here I can not make a smooth texture butter. The specific formula I use is 75% mango butter, 25% argan oil. Works perfectly when melted and processed with heat.

        As my batches vary upwards of 20kg it can be a huge amount of work melting everything down and processing the butter.

        If you have any advice on how to cold process without grainy texture that would be a huge help!

        1. As long as you start with a butter that is not grainy, the cold whip method works great. If your batters starts off grainy, you will need to melt it to melt down the grains (graininess is just butter or wax that has solidified at a different speed than the rest of the formula, so only by melting it you can “reset” your formula).

  37. Hello, I want to know if I can remelt my body butter so as to add vanilla fragrance oil. After whipping my body butter i realized it still had the shea butter smell. I added coconut oil and almond oil during whipping though and i used the unmelted method.
    Please help!!!

    1. You can add the essential oils and give it a few whips to incorporate it using the unmelted method. Please get used to the shea butter having a nutty scent, I promise it will partly evaporate and will be less strong since you have added coconut oil and almond oil to dilute it. Unrefined shea butter is just too good for your skin to avoid it 🙂

  38. During your melt whip method how long are you whipping it for both at the room temperature stage and how long at the refrigerated stage?

    1. I normally whip for 3-5 minutes with small batches like the ones in these blogs, but I don’t look at the clock, I just see when it has increased in volume and is light and fluffy, then I stop. If you go on too long, you can overwhip it and the butter will harden up again.

  39. I cant seem to keep my shea butter airy? I use the double boiler method, and right after i cover the container up and pop the mixture in the freezer/fridge. after it forms a little skin on top i whip it for about 5-10 min. it turned out nice and airy at first, but then the next day it sort of hardened. how can i prevent this? is the container i stored it in? small plastic container. or should i store it in glass jars?

    1. All these whipped body butters get a little harder after they are completely set, which happens after about 24 hours. You can try to use some more oil in ratio to your butter, that will help keep it less dense.

  40. I need to fill 8oz jars, how much Shea butter should I use for each jar . I am
    Also using coconut oil and grape seed oil and essential oils. What’s the best recipe?

    1. Try the recipe from the article below, instead of almond oil and apricot oil put grape seed oil. This recipe fills a 5 or 6 ounce jar (it depends on how much you manage to whip it), to fill an 8oz jar you will need a bit more of each ingredient. My best advice is to try the recipe with the dosage we provide, and see how much it fills your current jars, then you can plan your next batch from there.

      https://bettersheabutter.com/lavender-body-mousse/

  41. I’ve been making whipped butter for a while, first time was nice and smooth, second time was fluffy…but gritty. I slowly melted my shea and mango butter, then I popped it in the freezer for 10 min, as i started to whip it just became gritty. Any way to fix this? Or an explanation as to why this happened

    1. The only explanation is that it’s a different season with weather temperatures and humidity levels that are different, and sometimes they affect the butters even if you are melting and making your butters indoors. You can try to leave your formula in the freezer 5 extra minutes, then whip it.

    1. Either one works, a hand mixer is a bit easier if you don’t make a big batch, otherwise a stand mixer will be more efficient.

  42. Do we need to use a carrier oil or can be done with just shea butter and an essential oil? (Lavender etc.)
    Is it important to use an oil? Whats the difference?

    Thanks!

    1. The only purpose of a carrier oil is to make the butter easier to whip, but you can absolutely add the essential oils to just the butter, make sure you whip it well in order to disperse the EO into your butter.

  43. My butter whipped up after melting but is now hard and not fluffy. I want fluffy, and have made fluffy whipped shea that’s doesn’t harden only once successfully. Should i soften and whip again? It’s shea, argon, EO, and a spoonful of coconut oil. When whipping this batch, I never got peaks, and the result was runny. I’m thinking of adding more shea before whipping again. I’m working with a small batch.
    Any help is appreciated! Thanks

    1. Without knowing your exact recipes ratios it’s a but hard to tell what went wrong, but why don’t you try and re-whip what you have now? I would take it out of your jar, but it in a bowl that’s big enough to let you whip it easily, soften up your body butter with a fork, then go at it with a manual electric blender, it should whip. I am not sure that you want “peaks” like those you have when you make whipped cream, this butter is a but more dense and won’t be as fluffy, but it whips for sure, you just need to tweak what you are doing. Let me know if this helps!

  44. Thanks for the info, I usually do the melt and whip process and its great, it does take around 2.5-3 hours to set in the fridge (as you say a long time)… have you ever tried quickening this process in the freezer? I’m delivering a workshop on this soon and wondered how else to make it quicker without spoiling it! Guess I could try but wondered if you had. Thanks.

    1. You can use the freezer, but only until your formula is half solid, then you should be able to whip it. If it gets too hard in the freezer, then you will have to wait for it to soften enough to whip.
      Another trick that works great for me is to create an ice bath and put the bowl with your melted butters there, and start whipping with a hand held mixer until you have reached the right consistency, it’s a pretty quick process.

  45. Hello – I liked the recipe and would like to try it. I live in a warmer temperate in Southern Asia. Do I have to adjust the quantity of any ingredient to keep the whipped butter intact and to prevent it from softening too much.

    1. We are in Austin TX and summers here get really hot, sometimes over 100F. As long as you keep it stored at a temperature under 80F, the whipped butter will be just fine. Otherwise you can keep it stored in the fridge.

  46. I just started using a stand mixer and the results was light yellow, runny Shea butter! I never had this issue with my hand mixer. It always came out creamy and white. No idea where the yellow tint came from since I’m using Ivory Shea butter. I tried putting it in the freezer for 30 minutes and then mixing it on 5 or 6 on my stand mixer. I want the white, fluffy consistency but having trouble with my stand mixer.

    1. That sounds odd, are you sure you used the same ingredients from the same suppliers and the same quantities you are used to when you use a hand mixer? From my experience, the stand mixer can’t be the culprit.

  47. My butter whips great but hours later, next day it is like a dried out firm mousse. It clumps up with a ton of air pockets when I take a little out to use and appears very dry.
    It feels great and absorbs quickly but I want a creamy texture. Any idea why it looks like dry mousse?

    1. Honestly, it sounds like your whipped butter looks perfect! It always gets more solid after it settles, and the tiny air bubbles are what tells you that you have whipped it well and introduces air in it to make it lighter and easier to apply on skin.

  48. Hi! Thanks for the great recipe. I tried the cold method a few days back, and noticed that it becomes harder over the days. It’s so soft and amazing the first day, but gets increasingly harder. I have stored it in an airtight mason jar. Any pointers to keep it soft and whippy 😂

    1. Maybe add some more of the oil in your formula. The butter is temperature sensitive so it will be harder in winter and softer during the summer months.

  49. When combining a hard butter (cocoa or kokum) with unrefined shea, is it possible for the end product to stay soft and whipped or is hardening inevitable?

    1. Butters tend to get back to their harder consistency. Whipping alone helps introduce “air bubbles” to make is a little softer, but adding at least 20% oils to your formula (and 80% butters) is the minimum I have found to work in softening the body butter. My preferred ratio of oils/butters in a whipped formula is 40% oil and 60% butters.

    1. There are so many oils available, it’s hard to suggest the best overall. I think safe oils that do not normally cause any irritation are: lavender, tea tree, frankincense, chamomile.

  50. If I leave the Shea butter in the fridge overnight after melting it
    Do I melt it again the next day to whip it , or do I just whip it as is?

    1. Do not melt it again, but you may want to wait until it’s a bit soft and closer to room temperature so it’s easier to whip.

      1. So are you saying you have to whip it again once you take it out of the fridge if using the melting technique or it just needs to be soft enough to whisk before transporting it to your container?

        1. For the melting technique, you need to whip it again when you take it our of the fridge. A few minutes of whipping will be enough.

  51. Hello,
    are you able to recommend any sources for reasonably prices jars of containers to store homeade whipped shea butter? I am having trouble finding some. Thank you!!

  52. Hi. I love how informative this article is. Thank you! Might I be able to use this whipped Shea butter for hair and scalp moisturizing treatments?

    1. Yes Kristina, these products can be used as scalp moisturizers and can be used to tame frizzy or dry hair. Make sure you use a little at a time by first melting it in your hands, then apply. A little goes a long way, it’s always easy to add more but it’s difficult to remove too much butter unless you wash it off.

  53. I really dont know which method to try, should I just whip both butters directly, that is mango and Shea butter without melting. I don’t know if it will harden after a while, which do u think is better, melted or unmelted butters

    1. Yes, you need to melt the butter all the way down, then cool it off rapidly either in the fridge, freezer or over an ice bath. Grains form because molecules in the butter tend to cool off faster than the rest, so they separate and become solid grains. You need to get all the “fat molecules” to cool quickly and at the same speed, here’s an article with some more information:

      https://bettersheabutter.com/grainy-shea-butter-heres-fix/

  54. Hi! I have SUPER sensitive skin. Can this whipping technique be done without adding any other oils -with just the Shea alone ?
    Thank you!!

    1. Yes for sure! Soften up the shea butter with a spoon or other utensil, then whip. When a butter is whipped, it’s easier to apply.

  55. I live in the high desert and we have extreme seasons. 115 F in the summer and can get as low as 30 F in the winter. Ive heard most shea butter recipes will melt at 85 F. is there a way to prevent it from melting in the summer without making it rock hard in the winter?

    1. The only solution is to store it at room temperature. If you want to order shea butter in the summer and it arrives liquified, put it in the fridge until it’s completely solid again.

  56. I followed your instructions for the cold whipping. After sitting over night my mixture became really hard. Anyway to prevent this?

    1. No, with cocoa butter you need to use the melt and whip method only, cocoa is too hard to whip unless you melt it first.

  57. Can’t wait to try this! Two questions:
    1. Is either mixture “grainier” than the other, or do they both end up nicely whipped and creamy? Does it still need to warm in the hand before you can apply it to skin?
    2. What is the maximum ratio of carrier oil to shea butter that I can use before it fails to properly whip?

    1. The cold whip could be more grainy than the melt & whip if the butters you start with are grainy, but there’s nothing really wrong with it because it will all melt on skin contact. I have not tested the ratio in the way you are asking, but my guess is 50/50 butters and oils will still whip, not sure if more oil that that will work on a whipped formula.

  58. Hi, what sorta temperature range would you recommend I melt my raw cocoa and shea at for the slow melt and stir method?

    1. If over a double boiler, just use the lowest heat setting, I am not sure what the temperature gets to that way. Normally you can heat them up to 110F and they will be fine.

  59. Please can i add fragrance to the sheabutter whiles whipping. Just to give it a fine scent.

  60. How do you keep it from getting back hard? Opened up jar the next day and it was no longer soft and fluffy,

  61. How do you keep you whipped shea from completely melting when shipping orders? Do you freeze it after whipped and put in jar?

  62. What does it mean to wait until you “see a trace” when you’re going to whip for the first time?

    1. That’s when the melted butter is thick enough to leave a trail or trace if you stir it with a utensil. Imagine stirring honey, if you stir with a spoon, you can see a trail behind the spoon for a few seconds. Hope this helps!

    1. Argan oil is fine, it acts like any other carrier oil and when you mix it with a butter, you can get a nice whipped effect. My guess is that you have either not whipped the body butter long enough, or you put too much arrowroot.

  63. I make whipped body butters and they come out soft and fluffy like whip cream, but after a day or two they go a bit hard.. I tried more oil and still goes a bit hard and greasy.

    1. It will always harden up more after 24-48 hours. Not much we can do about that unless we also add water (which will force you to add preservatives and emulsifiers). To cut the greasy feeling, you can add 1 teaspoon of arrowroot powder for every 3 ounces of body butter.

      1. Hi, I whipped my mango and Shea butter cold and it turned out really nice. However when I shipped it out to a friend who lives in another area, the body butter melted and became gooey.i suspect it must be the hot temperature during transit. Any idea how to avoid that? Many thanks!

        1. PacTemp Creative Ice packs. My daughter ordered some chocolates for my Hubby’s 60th birthday, and that’s what they packed them with to keep the chocolates from losing any of their texture. I don’t know where to purchase them from but an internet search should get you to where you need to to find them. Good luck. .

      1. I do like cold whipped better, but the melted method lets you really blend in all ingredients more uniformly. If you only have shea butter, do cold whip, if you add oils and other ingredients, follow the melted method.

      1. Yes, whipping methods do not affect how long it stays whipped. As long as it is stored away from direct heat and below 80F, nothing will melt.

  64. Hi, I have seven 4oz jars which makes 28oz in all. I know that the mixture doubles in size, but how much butter and oil do I need to fill up these jars? I want to make it 60% butter and 40% oil.

  65. Does the cold whipped method harden the same as the melted whipped does? I’m trying to make something that won’t harden.

    1. A butter will always harden back unless you have added too much oil and/or other liquid ingredient. If you want to share your formula, I can better help you.

        1. Maybe it’s the temperature in your house. Try to keep it stored in a cool place away from direct sun or heat.

  66. Hi, I am a little confused. Your post says that melt and whip method will stay whipped. Then you gave a cold whip method and said it’s the same result. When asked if the cold whip would harden, however, you said that all butters will harden. Staying whipped implies soft. Which is it?

    1. None of these stay as soft as when you just whipped them, the butter settles and gets a little harder. But they stay whipped, similar to the whipped butter (edible) that you find in grocery stores. There are tiny air bubbles in a whipped product, as opposed to being compact and more solid.

  67. hi, i make body butters with 60% butter and 40% oils but i combine cocoa, mango and shea butter, i would want to add beeswax and arrowroot powder so i can ship but am not sure on how to include them into my formula. And also i want to know what exactly the arrowroot does to the body butter thank you

    1. Try 50% butters, 10% beeswax and 40% oils. I add arrowroot powder in the whipping step, I eye ball it and add about 1 tablespoon for every 8 ounces of total product. This powder makes the body butter a bit less greasy overall, that’s the only benefit.

  68. thank you for your recipe and insights! do you find the shea butter gets grainy after a while and if so, how can I avoid it?

      1. thnaks for the fix! I’d love to download your free ebook but it wont download. Is there another way to access this ebook? thanks for your help!

  69. I make whipped Shea butter with a blend of different essential oils. I noticed that after some days my oils settles down leaving the Shea butter above. What can I do to rectify this?

  70. Hi…. Please I have issues formulating my butters

    The first time I formulated it, it took like 28hours before the butters went back to its whipped state. I don’t have access to a fridge

    I tried it again yesterday after my tutor said using of cetyl alcohol and ewax will ensures it goes back to the solid state after I’ve melted it

    So I melted my butters and e wax, whipped it and added my carrier oils, let it cool then added my essential oil and antioxidant and fragrance oil and whipped again but it never went back to its solid state

    This morning I went to meet someone I know that has a fridge and I put it inside, I took it down like an hour later and it was really solid, 4 hours later, its back to its liquid state

    I really don’t know what to do and I plan to start selling soon

    Please helpppp😥😥😥😥

    1. Hi there, if your formula has cetyl alcohol and ewax, it follows a different technique than what this blog covers. When you have those ingredients, you need to be skilled at making an emulsion, which has a water phase and an oil phase. Do you know the difference between a butters-only formula and a 2-phase formula?

    1. No, you can use it by itself. Adding different oils adds their nutrients and makes it a bit softer consistency.

  71. Please I get an order that I mix Shea Butter ND essentials oil to glow the skin please what essentials oil should I use

  72. I will like to make some whipped share butter. The share butter I have is pure, unrefined. Will whipping it, means it becomes refined?

    1. No, refining is a chemical and physical system done in labs. Whipping it will just make it increase in volume and a bit easier to apply on your skin.

  73. Thank you for this post.. I was making a body scrub and got confused after I’d melted for when I should whip!

  74. Hi. I am based in Morocco. The weather here is usually warm or hot. Shea butter is very soft. i tried many ways to weap it but i couldn’t… ANy tip to share with me please?
    Thank u

    1. I would not do this, if you want fresh batches just make everything form scratch. Whipped butters harden up and “folding in” essential oils or other ingredients is not very efficient.

  75. Hello, please do I need to refrigerate cold-whimpped Shea butter after packaging to solidify it? If yes, how long?

    Secondly, after whipping can I use a filling machine to package? note it’s only Shea butter without essential oils will be added.

    1. There is no need to refrigerate shea butter. And I would not use a filling machine if it’s just whipped shea, I would fill jars by hand.

    1. I generally prefer the melt method because it lets all the butters, oils and other ingredients really mix together. If you sell your products, you definitely want to use this method. However, even if the cold whip method doesn’t make a perfect-looking product, its effectiveness on your skin will be just the same and it’s a faster way to whip up your body butter.

  76. How do I get my melted whipped Shea to stay whipped? After I’ve whipped it and placed it in a cute jar, by the end of the day, it’s hard as a rock, just like the original Shea brick.
    This also happens when I do a mix of Shea and cocoa butter.
    How do I avoid this?

    1. You need to add some oil to your formula, a good ratio of butters/oils to get a nice whipped body butter is 60% butters and 40% oils. However, even when you do that, the body butter will always get a little harder once it’s fully settled. Products that are 100% natural don’t look quite like the ones you find on the shelves at Target, but your skin will love them 🙂

  77. I have been reading on other blogs to add a preservative. Is this really necessary?

    I always just use the shea butter straight from the package. I’m wanting to change it up a bit.

    Thanks 😊-new to this whipped body butter game.

    1. Preservative is only needed if you add water to your formula. Water + butters will form mold, so a preservative is essential. In this recipe I only have butters and oils, so no preservative is needed.

  78. Hey there, that’s a great tip, I always do the warm and mix method, but I didn’t know to whip it before it goes in the fridge or cools down.
    How long would you say you have to whip it.
    Like you’re not trying to make it solid so maybe 2 to 5 minutes then stick it in the fridge?

  79. Will the shea butter be grainy in cold method? Someone here said melted method the Shea butter gets grainy when cool off.

    1. If you use the cold method and the shea butter you whip is not grainy, your final product will not be grainy. For the melted method, if you make sure your product is cooled quickly in the fridge or freezer, it will not be grainy.

      What causes graininess is slow cooling OR a change in temperature where your final product melts a bit due to warm weather, then is re-solidifies slowly.

      That said, grainy or sandy body butter or shea butter is still 100% usable and perfect for your skin. The grains are concentrated fat particles of the butter, they will still melt on skin contact and will “feed” your skin with all the nutrients in the product.

  80. Whenever I make my shea massage butter (mixed with cacao butter and liquid oils), and put it in the fridge once it’s melted and mixed, I’ve never had issues with it getting grainy. Sitting in my car in the summer on the other hand, will change the consistency to grainy if I’m not careful.

  81. Also, in the double boiler method, your top pot should NOT be touching the water, it should just be getting hot from steam. In the video your pot is resting in the water – it looks like the bowl is too small for the pot.

  82. At what temp does Shea butter melt? I’m thinking of melting all of my harder butters (coco butter, shea, mango, etc.) in a sous vide – but want to make sure I don’t use too high of a temp.

    Also, if I use your “cool” method with the shea, can I add melted butters to it as I whip – just as I would carrier oils?

    Thanks for any and all help! Much appreciated!

    1. In my opinion, you can use the no-melt method only if the shea butter you have is not grainy to begin with. Graininess in butters is not bad, it can happen with slight melting and cooling caused by temperature fluctuations.

    1. No, you need a formula that has aloe vera and other ingredients that will hold it together (at least emulsifiers and a preservative to prevent molding).

  83. hi i’m looking into selling butters like these and im in a tropical country, do you have any tips/recommendations in how to make it more stable?

    1. Adding some beeswax to a recipe will keep it from melting easily. But since we cannot get around how hot it gets, especially in the summer, you can get into the habit of telling customers that because of the lack of synthetic ingredients in your formula, melting is normal. Advise them to put the body butter in the fridge for a couple of hours until it’s returned to normal consistency, then they can store it at room temp and use it normally.

  84. Hi, I made whipped Shea butter with 2lbs of Shea butter, 3 drops of vitamin e oil and about 2 tbsp of jojoba oil. After a couple of the whipped Shea butter of being soft it went back to being hard. Can I remelt it and how do I fix this?

    1. You can remelt it for sure. However, only 2 tbsp jojoba to 2 lbs of butter will get your final formula to the same consistency as shea butter. My favorite ration of butters to oil is 60-70% butter and 40-30% oil. So with 2 lbs of shea, you should add about 16 ounces of a carrier oil.

  85. Our Shea came grainy so we melted and let it set back up. Combined that with our base oil mix and whipped. Normaly I yield 7 tins, this batch did 3 and came out like cream. What causes this & how do you fix? Can you whip it to long and/or fast? Same mix in different mixer produced another low yield but the whipped texture was there

    1. Hey Corey, my two guesses are: 1. you whipped it when some of it was still warm. The butter and oils mix needs to be either room temp or cold from the fridge. Or 2. You over-whipped it. In both scenarios, the air bubbles you are trying to create while whipping to increase the volume, will “fall apart” or not get created at all despite the whipping action. You could try and slowly melt everything again, put it in the freezer until the top and most of the sides are solid, then mix it up and whip it. It should work.

  86. I fell in love with a body butter that I purchased that has an ingredient list of Shea, Cocoa Butter, Avocado Oil and a few diff essential oils. I’m assuming it’s accurate.

    It was not hard and not too soft. You could stir with a popsicle stick. You could turn over the open container and it would stay put.

    I can’t buy it. I’m rolling up my sleeves to try to make my own. I’ve read through everything so you don’t repeat yourself (🙏🏻).

    A) I’m planning on using your Shea and Cocoa butter. I have a pound of each.

    B) I’ll use avocado oil.

    C) I have 12, 8 oz containers.

    D) I’m planning on melting the butters and Avocado, putting it in the fridge or freezer until it gets to 75 F using thermometer.

    E) You say 60/30 for soft butters or 50/50 for hard butters.

    F) I live in Los Angeles.

    Questions:

    1. If I’m mixing soft and hard butters together what would you recommend for a ratio if using both hard (cocoa) and soft (shea)?

    2. Do you recommend using something like tapioca/arrowroot?

    3. If yes, how much?

    4. If yes, to confirm, you recommend mixing the the powder in with the uncooled oil? Or?

    5. Understanding you don’t know what it smells like, I’ll be using a few different essential oils. To __start__, what is a recommended ratio to begin with for total fragrance (butter % + carrier % + fragrance %)?

    Any guidance is appreciated. I tried to give enough info and be pointed and non-repetitive with the questions. Hope this is acceptable.

    1. Hi Tracy, thank you for making it easy for me to answer your question!! I am giving you ratios from the top of my head based on everything I’ve experimented with in the last 9 years. Please let me know how it all turns out.
      1. Use 50% total for butters, with 20% cocoa and 30% shea
      2. Use 48% avocado oil
      3. Use 2% essential oils
      It’s best if you measure everything in Grams so the essential oils are easy to measure, using drops instead of a weight measurement is not as accurate and I avoid that by measuring in grams when possible.
      4. You can add about a 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder for every 5oz of product, add it to the butters whipping steps by first stirring it in, then using an electric mixer. I have never tried tapioca, but it may work just as well.
      Let me know if I missed answering anything.

  87. I use a professional Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer. I have to keep stopping it and mixing it up from the bottom as zinc oxide sinks. Do you know of any other standing mixer that will mix completely from the bottom of the bowl? Thank you!

    1. I don’t know of another mixer, I have used a kitchen aide stand mixer for years, but you could try and add the zinc a bit at a time, then whip, then repeat until you’ve used the whole amount in your recipe.

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