Have I been hoodwinked?Is this real shea butter?

[Ms Lala]

Hey ladies,

I figured I'd come to the product experts for help with this.
I ordered shea butter online and each time I ordered the product
was different. I'm concerned that Batch 2 may not be pure shea butter. Here are the characteristics:

Batch1
-Ipse Brand
-container says it's organic and 100% pure shea butter
-light yellow color
-came in chunks
-melts easily when rubbed in my hand

Batch 2
-Ra Brand
-container says it's 100% natural & unrefined but never states it's organic or pure
-deep/golden yellow color
-smooth and kind of creamy
-feels more waxy and is harder to get out of the container

Have I been hoodwinked? I posted pics of the 2 below. The first pic is batch 1 the 2nd pic is batch 2

 

[Precious_P]

I bought shea butter from a women and she gave me a little tidbit of info. You can get shea butter in the chunks (where its hard but it melts after you rub it in your hand). Or you can get it where it is creamy. The difference is that if it is creamy it usually has been melted down and "filtered". she told me that some manufacterers have shea butter that needs to be cleaned so it is melted down and filtered to remove any debris. The result when it cools is that it's a little more creamy. I have purchased it both ways. Just make sure there are no other ingredients added.

 

[Ms Lala]

I bought shea butter from a women and she gave me a little tidbit of info. You can get shea butter in the chunks (where its hard but it melts after you rub it in your hand). Or you can get it where it is creamy. The difference is that if it is creamy it usually has been melted down and "filtered". she told me that some manufacterers have shea butter that needs to be cleaned so it is melted down and filtered to remove any debris. The result when it cools is that it's a little more creamy. I have purchased it both ways. Just make sure there are no other ingredients added.

Thanks for this info. I didn't know this. How can I be sure nothing else has been added?

 

[chebaby]

i use the ipse brand and i love it. it is so soft. i usually prefer the tan shea butter because i heard somewhere that the yellow kind has palm oil added to it.
anyway your second batch reminds me of the yellow shea butter you get from the bss that says african shea butter on the front. that kind is bright yello, waxy, hard, and gave my bf and mother a rash.

 

[Butterfly08]

The creamy and smooth batch is probably refined, although I'm surprised that it's harder to get out. I'm not much help about making sure nothing else has been added though. I prefer the creamy - it melts easier in my hands before I smooth it onto my hair and body.

 

[Ms Lala]

i use the ipse brand and i love it. it is so soft. i usually prefer the tan shea butter because i heard somewhere that the yellow kind has palm oil added to it.
anyway your second batch reminds me of the yellow shea butter you get from the bss that says african shea butter on the front. that kind is bright yello, waxy, hard, and gave my bf and mother a rash.

I like the ipse brand too. I ordered from the same site both times and expected to get the same brand.
That's horrible your bf and mother got a rash from shea butter ; it's supposed to be good for sensitive skin which is why I started using it.

 

[Precious_P]

So many people are selling shea butter now. Once you find a reliable source to purchase it from I would stick with it. I buy mine from coastalscents.com. It comes solid, like the chunks. I melt it and add my own essential oils to make whipped shea butter.

 

[Ms Lala]

So many people are selling shea butter now. Once you find a reliable source to purchase it from I would stick with it. I buy mine from coastalscents.com. It comes solid, like the chunks. I melt it and add my own essential oils to make whipped shea butter.

Yeah you're right. I bought it from the same place both times so I was expecting to get the IPSE brand again, I really liked it. Maybe I"ll check out coastalscents. Thanks.

 

[Ms Lala]

The creamy and smooth batch is probably refined, although I'm surprised that it's harder to get out. I'm not much help about making sure nothing else has been added though. I prefer the creamy - it melts easier in my hands before I smooth it onto my hair and body.

OT- your progress is amazing. your hair looks so good in your avi.

 

[chebaby]

I like the ipse brand too. I ordered from the same site both times and expected to get the same brand.
That's horrible your bf and mother got a rash from shea butter ; it's supposed to be good for sensitive skin which is why I started using it.

i know. when my bf said he had a rash the shea butter was the only new thing he started using. i was like there is no way shea butter gave you a rash. but then my mother said it broke her out too.erplexed
i use the ipse kind in my hair and on my face.
the kind that broke them out was the bss brand.

ETA: let me also say that i gave my mother another thing of shea butter that i had mixed with oils and it has not broke her out at all. so i think its only the hard bright yellow kind.

 

[Mz.MoMo5235]

umm, my shea comes in chunks and looks like your 1st pic. i think i would prefer it this way. i like it lol

 

[chebaby]

my fave shea butter is the tan unrefined kind from www.texasnaturalsupply.com

 

[Ms Lala]

my fave shea butter is the tan unrefined kind from www.texasnaturalsupply.com

I checked out this site it looks great. Thanks.

 

[stelladata]

hi
I am new, what does ipse stand for... and bss?
I used shea butter in the past briefly because I didnt have one steady source and I didnt wanna risk buying one that was already mixed with something else.

 

[Ms Lala]

hi
I am new, what does ipse stand for... and bss?
I used shea butter in the past briefly because I didnt have one steady source and I didnt wanna risk buying one that was already mixed with something else.

Ipse isn't abbreviated, that's the brand of shea butter I bought the first time. BSS stand for beauty supply store.

 

[Ms Lala]

Well I wrote the company and complained about the shea butter I received. The Ipse brand is what was pictured on the site. Here is the response I received (I left the company name out):

"X.... apologizes for alternate name brand received.
It seems our supplier ships different items for our SKU purchased.
At this time we have authorized an additional 5% for next order."

5%, what am I supposed to do w/that . When I wrote them I told them they need to specify that the buyer may not receive the brand pictured. I was hoping they would offer to exchange for the brand I want. I will not be ordering shea butter from them again.

 

[MisSweeTiera]

I'm glad you started this post because they recently started selling this brand of shea butter in my local asian, black beauty hair store. I was shocked to say the least and skeptical, but now I think I'll give it a go.

 

[Jas123]

i heard the one that's more yellow to golden and softer has been mixed w/palm oil and the light yellow that's hard is the pure, unrefined one and it may even have dirt on it.

 

[bella_boucles]

yellow 'shea butter' does not come from the shea nut. it comes from Kpangnan from the Pentadesma butyracea tree.
Check out this link here. http://www.agbangakarite.com/newsletters/february2005.htm
And this vid here. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/U9XzMd2AJu8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U9XzMd2AJu8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
It is marketed int he us as 'golden shea butter' or just 'unrefined shea butter' as well.
It is still a good butter but you have to be careful as some venders mix it with mineral oils and petroletums.


Unrefined shea butter has just a scent that is usually light and reminds me of an oil thad doesnt have a smell like almond oil or avocado oil. it is usually a beige color, no where near yellow, and can be very creamy and soft to chunkier and a little denser yer still on the heavy side.

I purchase unrefined shea butter from butters-n-bars.com. it is 7.99 per pound which is ALOT! Also the agbanga karite site in the above link sells yellow shea butter as well.

It's not that its bad, it's just that its not made from shea nuts and people aren't being told this. The vid I links tells more.

 

[Guitarhero]

Deep yellow shea butter has annatto added in for the color.