New member here in need of help! I've been lurking on this page for a couple of weeks and have decided to jump into the Shea Growth Regimen late. I had hope for my first post to be a bit more formal but I have a semi-urgent newbie question and decided to approach the Shea Gurus! So I have been in the process for a day trying to make my first shea mix. My plan was to mix the following:
- ~5 oz Shea Nilotica (this exact
brand, which I decided to get due to my fine hair)
-~ 8 tablespoons (4 oz) grapeseed oil
-~2 tablespoons (1oz) safflower oil
-~4 tablespoons (2oz) virgin coconut oil
My process has not been as smooth as imagined. I ended up melting down the Shea Nilotica with the grapeseed oil gently over a homemade double broiler (now looking back probably could've skipped this step) . I sat it in the fridge overnight and began mixing using a handheld immersion blender. I noticed that it started melting very quickly into a thick oily liquid (rather than a light airy mixture). I know that melt/freeze/blend method tends to yield a creamier mixture but right now my shea mix has absolutely no cream attributes about it, simply a thick/oily/slightly runny mixture, like a DIY deep conditioner. It did expand a bit due to the aeration from my blending (blended for about 12 mins). Popped it back in the fridge for about another hour and attempted blending again, same consistency and longer blending only made it runnier. Thinking there was too much oil, I tried adding more shea and more VCO, only resulting in a slightly more viscous mixture. I'm now doing my hair and currently trying to figure out what to do next before I get to the sealing step. Would anyone recommend getting more shea to add? Maybe re-freeze and try reblending again? Do I need to blend even longer? Is it all a wash?
HELP! Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and/or respond.