As the mom of three kids of African descent, I have had to learn a lot about hair and skin care. If they don’t use cream or oil on their skin, it gets incredibly dry and turns a greyish colour. It also gets itchy and uncomfortable for them, so I make sure that I always have cream for them to use. Most of the creams we’ve tried have been full of fillers and stuff that I don’t want on my kids’ skin. They are also quite costly so I have taken to making my own.
When I first started looking at recipes to make my own shea butter cream, I was scared off by how complicated it sounded. Most of the recipes for whipped shea butter included steps for heating/melting and then cooling, while whipping in between. They called for the use of candy thermometers and I knew that there was no way I could add something time consuming and complicated into my already too busy schedule.
I have come up with a method that couldn’t be more simple and it works just as well as the complicated ones. I use two main recipes, one that uses coconut oil and the other without.
Whipped Shea Butter Recipe
Supplies needed:
- 4 oz. unrefined shea butter (use 100% natural)
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 6-10 drops vitamin E oil
- 10 or more drops of essential oils in the scent of your choice (lavender is nice)
Directions:
- Mash the raw shea butter with a fork.
- Add the olive oil and mash together.
- Add the drops of vitamin E and essential oils.
- Beat with an electric mixer on high for 5 full minutes.
- Store in a glass container with a lid.
Whipped Shea Butter with Coconut Oil Recipe
Supplies needed:
- 4 oz. unrefined shea butter (use 100% natural)
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 6-10 drops vitamin E oil
Directions:
- Mash the raw shea butter with a fork.
- Add the coconut oil and mash together.
- Add the vitamin E drops.
- Beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes on high.
- Store in a glass container with a lid.
For the coconut oil recipe, I don’t bother with a scent because between the coconut oil and shea butter, it is already scented. My kids like both recipes, but one of them prefers the scent of the one without coconut oil.
In the pictures below, you can see how the consistency of the shea butter changes as it is mashed and then whipped.
I feel much better about my kids using a product that is all natural, where I know what went into it. Making my own shea butter products also saves me money.