I love making whipped body butters and up until recently I have only worked with Shea butter because I was most familiar with it. Now I’m working with additional butters such as Mango, Cocoa and Kokum butters. I choose to start off with these three because as I researched and studied, I found them to be commonly used in other diy’s and wanted to try them out. Below are a few benefits of each.
Shea Butter
Comes from the karité tree is produced by a nut inside of a small almond like shaped fruit. It can be found in West to East African regions in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. It is a soft butter that melts on contact with a melting point of about 90 degrees.
Benefits:
-Loaded with vitamin A,E, F and fatty acids
-Helps to retain moisture in skin and hair to help fight dandruff and breakage
-It’s original form or unrefined Shea butter is smokey in scent and greyish or pale yellow in color
-Helps to improve eczema, stretch marks blemishes, dry and itchy skin
-Anti-inflammatory reducing redness and swelling
Mango Butter
Is derived from fruit kernel of a mango tree (also known as the pit). The biggest producers of mango butter are China, India and USA. Similar to Shea butter, softer. White or pale yellow in color and has a melting point around 86 degrees. Creamy in texture with a light sweet scent and does not smell like mangoes! ☺️
Benefits:
-Contains salicylic acid which exfoliates and softens the keratin in the skin
-Reduces the appearance and helps with scars, acne, eczema and psoriasis
-Protects from UV rays and rebuilds the skin barrier
-Smooth and hydrates skin and hair
-Rich in vitamin A, E and lots of vitamin C
-Anti-inflammatory reducing redness and swelling
-Helps fight aging skin
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa beans are commonly found in South and Central America as well as the Caribbean. They are made from the pods of cocoa and is a vegetable fat that is hard in texture and can be used in products like soap or lip balms to harden. Generally a main ingredient in chocolate because of its scent. Has a high melting point between 86-90 degrees.
Benefits:
-Rich in fatty acids and antioxidants that include vitamin C and E
-Fights inflammation and helps with eczema, rashes, dry skin, psoriasis and dermatitis
-Helps reduce hair loss and the onset of male pattern baldness
-Reduces signs of aging
Kokum Butter
Made from a fruit kernel called Kokum tree which are found in India, also known as Garcinia Indica. It’s rich in fatty acids and very hard and crumbly and best to blend with oils. It is light gray or yellowish in color and has a high melting point around 90-104 degrees. Due to its texture, it’s great for adding stiffness to products.
Benefits:
-Helps to slow down the aging process by regenerating and preventing the degenerating of skin cells.
-Protects and softens the skin and hair
-Dehydrates the skin by absorbing quickly and moisturizing.
-Great source of vitamin E
-High in omega 3 and omega 6 for healthy skin
Additional info:
All butters can come refined, unrefined and ultra refined. When refining, it can alter the properties of the butter causing it to loose some of it nutrients. For example, refined Shea butter has Borututu root added to include nutrients lost in the refining process and is dark yellow in color and is known to have healing properties in Africa. Refinement can also make it more pliable and have little to no scent.
Cocoa butter and Cacao butter are one in the same, however they are processed differently. All unrefined butters listed are edible and can be used in cooking. Although it uncommon to have a break out, if you have a nut allergy, using refined butters are best since they have more proteins that have been removed. Lastly, most butters are good for use up to 2 years if stored properly (Shea and Mango butter can become grainy due to the environmental change in temperatures, but are still usable).
These are just a few of the many fabulous butters out there! I personally love these four butters because they can be great substitutes for one or the other due to their similar properties and benefits for the skin. I also find they work best in locking in moisture when the body or hair has been wet and towel dried just before.
Have you tried any different butters lately? If so which are your favorites?