Shea butter was one of the first ingredients I fell in love with. First argan oil, second—shea butter. I kicked things off with a wee tub I found at the St. Lawrence Market, and followed that up with a bulk buy through a shop in Toronto’s Kensington Market. After I finished that lot, I was surprised by how different my first bucket of unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) from New Directions was in comparison. Now I’ve figured I might as well go and try all the types of unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) I can get my hands on, and see how they stack up.
My [sv slug="shea-butter"] collection.
Unrefined raw [sv slug="shea-butter"] from Ghana, sold by New Directions Aromatics.
Shea Butter 100% Natural—Ghana (New Directions Aromatics)
This natural unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) comes in a bin of chalky, crumbly chunks. They’re greyish beige colour, and smell quite smokey. When pressed to the skin it’s thick and doesn’t melt to liquid on skin, but softens enough to be massaged in.
Raw, un[sv slug="refined-shea-butter"] from Burkina Faso sold by New Directions Aromatics.
Shea Butter 100% Natural—Burkina Faso (New Directions Aromatics)
Even though all these buckets of unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) sat in the sun in their boxes for the same amount of time, this was the only unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) that melted—it was totally liquid when I initially opened it. Once it re-solidified, it was marbled white and beige. This one has a lighter scent than the Ghana raw unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada), with only hints of smokiness and some nuttiness as well, with some sort of dusty notes. When handled it is very smooth and gets closer to a liquid state as you massage it into your skin.
Virgin Organic [sv slug="shea-butter"] from Ghana, sold by Saffire Blue.
Shea Butter Virgin Organic—Ghana (Saffire Blue)
This unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) is from Saffire Blue, and it comes melted and poured into the container. It’s beige and smooth, and relatively smooth. It spreads across the skin smoothly, though it only melts enough to be absorbed and does not come close to liquifying, similar to the raw Ghana unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) from New Directions Aromatics. This one has a light dusty/smokey/nutty smell—much lighter than the one from New Directions.
Refined [sv slug="shea-butter"] from Ghana, sold by Saffire Blue.
Shea Butter Refined–Ghana (New Directions Aromatics)
This refined shea butter (USA / Canada) comes in white chunks. It smells of mostly nothing, with hints of a sort of generic fat smell. It’s thick and doesn’t melt to a liquid, but just softens as massaged into the skin.
Refined [sv slug="shea-butter"] from Saffire Blue. The label says it’s from the Netherlands, but I have a hard time believing that.
Shea Butter, White Refined—Netherlands (Saffire Blue)
As with the other unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) from Saffire Blue, this one comes melted and poured into the container. It’s white and smells of mostly nothing (just a hint of a sort of refined oily scent). Firm, yet malleable. It liquifies when handled, allowing it to be spread across the skin in a thinner layer.
It looks like there are all Ivory Shea butters, how do they compare to yellow shea butters? Have you tried the Mountain Rose Herbs Shea? NOW brand refined shea was my first shea butter and I hated it. It is very gritty as if it has sand in it. Mountain Rose Herbs and the Shea Earth Faire has in bulk are almost identical.
Also between NDA and Saffire Blue do you notice you like the Essential oils and or quality in general of one over the other?
I haven’t had a chance to try a yellow shea butter yet as neither Saffire Blue or NDA sell them, so I can’t really say. I also haven’t tried anything from Mountain Rose Herbs since cross border shipping is a bear 🙁
As for essential oils between SB and NDA I haven’t noticed a difference in quality—I like them both, and tend to buy from wherever is cheaper 🙂
A good comparative summary! 😀 To me, the shea butter from Burkina Faso sounds the most useful and appealing for skincare applications. Would you agree? Do you remember if it was similar in price to the others, or more expensive?
It’s crazy to think that each shea butter is pure, and yet the Burkina Faso shea behaves so differently to the others in terms of melting and absorption!
Shea butter Natural Burkina costs almost 3x more than the Shea butter Natural from Ghana…
I find that each batch slightly differs from each other. I’ve had nice nutty Ghana Shea from NDA and the next batch was more gray and grittier.
I use Burkina Faso Shea for problematic areas… Like eczema or dermatitis mixed with ucuuba and black cumin seed.
Shea from Ghana is what I whip up with some mango, soy and olive butters and some Camellia oil for everyday all over body use.
Never tried Saffire Blue Shea. I love the NDA butters for their quality and awesome pricing!
It sounds like you’re a big shea fan, Annie 🙂 I love the idea of blending it with ucuuba!
The Burkina Faso stuff is close to 2x the price of the Ghana stuff, and even more if you want the organic version. I do love them both, but because of the price I do tend to use the Ghana shea more, especially for making soap. I have to admit I haven’t played much with the other shea’s yet beyond making these obsevations—I’ve been too busy playing with other things 😛
Do you tempter your Shea butter when you made lip balm and such?
I don’t, but it is on my list of things to play with 🙂
Almost every west African country has Shea butter with slightly different properties. I have tried the yellow Shea butter from Ghana and it has an intense smokey smell compared to the Shea butter from Nigeria and Sierra Leone. My problem isn’t really how it melts and feels but how to mask the smokey unrefined smell. Not all fragrance oils can completely mask the smokey smell.
I’ve spent the last few years working on scent blends that work with the smokey instead of trying to cover it–I’ve had luck with peppermint, tea tree, and cardamom EOs to name a few, but it is definitely a hard scent to incorporate into things!
Hi Marie,
In comparison,which of the listed shea butter is the best—–Nigeria,Ghana,Burki na faso.
I have used Nigerias shear which is better than Ghana.
My problem with both is the smokey scent,how can it be tonned down.
Thanks
I think I preferred Burkina Faso for straight use, but I’ve never found Nigerian shea here in Canada. If you want less of a smokey scent I’d recommend purchasing refined shea butter 🙂
Hi! FIRST OF ALL, I LOVE YOU AND YOUR BLOG <3
Second, uhm, is there a difference between 'raw' and 'natural/unrefined' shea butter? I bought 100% Natural Shea Butter (Ghana) from NDA.. I plan to whip it with argan, rosehip, and essential oils to make a face cream ^_^ Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Momo! Thanks for reading 🙂 From my research, terms like “raw” and “unrefined” aren’t regulated in the shea butter world, so they can mean different things. I’ve had some readers buy shea butter that still had chunks of shell and stuff in it, which we obviously don’t want haha. The stuff you got from NDA is my staple shea, and it’s quite nice—no chunks! As for developing your own recipes, check out this blog 🙂
Hello! I am enjoying reading your blog! I had a quick question. I am wanting to buy shea butter. I am a little confused. Which one is your staple? There are five types from ghana on NDA. (Crude, organic crude, refined, organic refined, and ultra refined) Thanks so much!
Have a lovely day.
Leah
Hi Leah! I don’t really have a staple. I use the cheapest crude stuff NDA sells for soap, and then play with all the other ones based on what I’m making (refined often ends up in cosmetics or lip products to avoid the scent of the crude stuff). I usually don’t buy organic, but that’s a price thing.
Thanks so much!
where in kensington market? what is the name of the store? can you give me the name of the store? i am looking forward to buy, but i sure would like to get from a reputable store.
It’s been years, I don’t really remember. Tribal something? Honestly, though, know that I know more about shea butter, I’m pretty sure the stuff I got from them was rancid or near rancid when I bought it. Check out New Directions instead; if you’re in Toronto you can pick up from their Mississauga warehouse and skip paying for shipping!
I ADORE shea butter. My skin sips it slowly but once it’s fully absorbed I feel soft, supple, and radiant. It’s a little difficult to use straight, because it’s so sticky and even somewhat firm in cooler temperatures, but melting it down at a 3:1 ratio with a lighter, liquid oil makes it an absolute dream to apply and helps reduce the time it takes to sink in, depending on the oil.
My question is, what would be the best way to approach a *lotion* formulation that “goes hard” on the shea? I don’t want it to be sticky, so what do you think is the max percentage it could reasonably occupy?
Check out this recipe 🙂
Have you heard of cupuacu shea butter? Which types helps stop balding and grows hair?