Shea Butter for Hair?

[Ethereal]

Hello all! I've done some browsing and a few searches on this, because I was surprised to see how many people use shea butter in their hair. And here I thought it was for skin only!

In my searches I found someone linking to this excellent site for shea butter: http://www.sheabuttermarket.com

My question is, would you recommend I get the "Just Shea" butter for body/scalp (looks like shea and nothing else), or "Shea Man" which is for body/scalp/hair, and has lavender, juniper, vetivert, and beeswax? Also, there is "Shea Lav" for the whole body, which includes the organic EOs of lavender, jojoba, and grape seed, plus beeswax. A lot of those ingredients are already used in hair/scalp recipes, but I've never heard of vetivert, nor do I know if it's okay/beneficial to put beeswax in one's hair.

I'd love to hear your advice!

[ladiosaRosa]

I use shea butter on my hair/scalp. I would only use 100%pure, unrefined shea butter for that purpose. For my body....maybe something with other ingredients/fragrance...but not for my hair.

[thetokenlady]

Ditto here, pure shea butter, and I mix it with a bit of jojoba and/or coconut just to make it softer (pure shea is quite hard). I use it on skin and hair both, and love it!

[Islandgrrl]

I use pure shea butter to make a mixture of my own that I really like. Like thetokenlady, I mix with a little jojoba or coconut oil and then add just a drop of lavender EO. Pure heaven.

I've also tried mixing shea & mango butters with a little coconut oil & a drop of grapefruit EO for another really awesome mixture.

[ladiosaRosa]

I use shea butter on my hair/scalp. I would only use 100%pure, unrefined shea butter for that purpose. For my body....maybe something with other ingredients/fragrance...but not for my hair.

I didn't mean to give the impression that I frown upon adding ingredients to shea butter I might use on my hair. I highly endorse adding my own EO (for a special fragrance) or other ingredient that might benefit my hair (sometimes a dab of conditioner as in Fox's Shea Butter recipe).

I meant that I would only buy 100% pure, unrefined shea butter to start out with; don't like the idea of buying a shea butter that has any other ingredients in it.

[girlcat36]

I wanted my hair to like shea butter, but it said no way! Really love it for my face, though.

[Ethereal]

Perfect, thanks everyone! I'll make my own mix with the EOs I have on hand.

[Isilme]

beeswax will be really hard to get out of your hair, so I would stick to pure shea. Be aware though that shea butter is very heavy and it's not for everyone's hair. Mine went greasy/sticky and started to tangle.

[Liluri]

I really recommend whipped shea butter, as was recommended to me, as it stops me from using too much in my hair at once and it also seems to mix better with other oils that way.

[ilovemycop]

when I bought my 100% pure shea butter,it was hard as a rock like everyones mentioned on here.If you don't want to add anything(even though you did state you were going to scent it with your own EO's)but make it softer,boil some water in a pot and stick your jar(?)of butter in it for a few minutes.When its still melted,shake it up and stick it in the fridge to have it harden back up.It takes that "grainy"out and makes it nice and smooth for your hair.

If I put too much shea butter on my ends,they tend to tangle up and get all sticky.I usually use butter in my heavy oilings to give it that extra punch.Comes out all nice and soft!

good luck with your shea!

[Ethereal]

Thank you for all the tips! I was thinking of using it for those heavy conditioning sessions, for sure. Does anyone know if it would behave in a mister bottle, or is it too hard? Sounds like it'd just firm up again in room temp water, from your descriptions.

[Liluri]

Thank you for all the tips! I was thinking of using it for those heavy conditioning sessions, for sure. Does anyone know if it would behave in a mister bottle, or is it too hard? Sounds like it'd just firm up again in room temp water, from your descriptions.

It would be too thick for a mister bottle. For conditioning I'd actually mix it with a conditioner or treatment to make the conditioner thicker.

[manderly]

I melted some into my last SMT mix because I ran out of honey. Worked beautifully.

[yzkaloha]

Yeah:whoohoo:, I just started using shea butter in my hair, and so far I like it. I was thinking of warming it and adding some other oil in it to make the consistency a little smoother so that it is easier to apply. I am glad I cam across this thread, because now I know for sure that it is possible.

I wash either with Conditioner only, or Herbs whenever I do a heavy Oiling. Is Shea too heavy to wash out with these two methods?

[Kae]

I use it on my hair... It's excellent for smoothing down flyaways and giving my fine hair a bit of weight. It's very easy to go overboard with shea butter, though, so only a very small amount is needed.

I also use it as a deep conditioner mixed with honey and jojoba oil. Works beautifully :happy:

[curls2grow]

I use whipped unrefined shea butter on my ends (when I can remember to do so) and it helps with moisture. I have to find a new online source when I run out because my prior one stopped doing doing whipped unrefined.

[Shell]

My shea butter is mixed with jojoba, and it works great and is easy to apply.

I also use a pomade called John Master's Organics; it is olive oil based and has many wonderful EOs in it, and it has beeswax. It's the best pomade I've ever used, and it washes out just fine.

[Anje]

when I bought my 100% pure shea butter,it was hard as a rock like everyones mentioned on here.If you don't want to add anything(even though you did state you were going to scent it with your own EO's)but make it softer,boil some water in a pot and stick your jar(?)of butter in it for a few minutes.When its still melted,shake it up and stick it in the fridge to have it harden back up.It takes that "grainy"out and makes it nice and smooth for your hair.
I just want to add that when you do this, it helps to heat it until the shea goes completely transparent, and maybe keep it warm for a little longer after that. Otherwise, you may not get the graininess out. It still hardens, but it turns into a stiff, smooth substance instead of a grainy brick, which is how it often arrives.

[Nightshade]

I get my shea from SheaTerra Organics, and had good luck with their refined, unrefined, and my favorite, their refined with frankencense and myrrh (smells heavenly).

I personally find Fox's Shea Butter Cream much more effective on my hair than the straight shea.

1 part shea butter
1 part cone-free conditioner
1/2 part your favorite carrier oil (I use cocconut oil).

To make it I take a glass bowl and set it in the sink, the fill up around the bowl with hot hot water. Add in the shea and mash with a spatula until it melts into oil. (Refilling the hot water in the sink as often as needed.) Add the cocconut oil (it has a lower melting temp than shea, so it should melt fast.

Take the bowl out of the sink, dry of the bottom, add the conditioner and hit with a hand mixer. At this point I stick the bowl in the freezer to speed it setting up. Take out after a minute or so, hit with the hand mixer again. Repeat until thickened and well blended. I find this really helps keep it from getting grainy :)

For use I just use a pea-sized amount on the wet ends after a shower. If my hair is really dry, I'll slather it up with a lot of it and then take a shower, then add a bit more afterwards.

[happylynngilmer]

Both my favorite leave-ins have shea butter as the main ingredient. My hair really likes it.

[yzkaloha]

I get my shea from SheaTerra Organics, and had good luck with their refined, unrefined, and my favorite, their refined with frankencense and myrrh (smells heavenly).

I personally find Fox's Shea Butter Cream much more effective on my hair than the straight shea.

1 part shea butter
1 part cone-free conditioner
1/2 part your favorite carrier oil (I use cocconut oil).

To make it I take a glass bowl and set it in the sink, the fill up around the bowl with hot hot water. Add in the shea and mash with a spatula until it melts into oil. (Refilling the hot water in the sink as often as needed.) Add the cocconut oil (it has a lower melting temp than shea, so it should melt fast.

Take the bowl out of the sink, dry of the bottom, add the conditioner and hit with a hand mixer. At this point I stick the bowl in the freezer to speed it setting up. Take out after a minute or so, hit with the hand mixer again. Repeat until thickened and well blended. I find this really helps keep it from getting grainy :)

For use I just use a pea-sized amount on the wet ends after a shower. If my hair is really dry, I'll slather it up with a lot of it and then take a shower, then add a bit more afterwards.

Thanks Nightshade for sharing. I am waiting on the delivery of my Shea Butter and as soon as I get it, I will try your method!!

[rymorg2]

I use an organic shea butter mix that I buy pre mixed that is made specifically for hair and scalp use. All it has in it is organic shea butter and organic oils of bergamot, lavendar, and calendula and vit. e. It is hard and I put just a fingernail full in my hands and rub them together to warm and melt it. My hair LUVS it.....between CWC with no cones and this, my hair is very very soft. :)

[Lillian]

I've been using unrefined shea butter a lot recently. I warm some in my hands and smooth it over my length, making sure to get the very ends. My hair seems to really like it, and it makes the length stay in buns very nicely, without little wispies poking out. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's quite sticky, so I tend to shed a few hairs when I'm applying it.

There's something nice about using a block of unrefined 'butter' to keep my hair healthy! :grinhappy:

[ilovemycop]

I just want to add that when you do this, it helps to heat it until the shea goes completely transparent, and maybe keep it warm for a little longer after that. Otherwise, you may not get the graininess out. It still hardens, but it turns into a stiff, smooth substance instead of a grainy brick, which is how it often arrives.

thanks I did forget to mention that :flower:

[Nightshade]

Thanks Nightshade for sharing. I am waiting on the delivery of my Shea Butter and as soon as I get it, I will try your method!!

Be sure to let us know how it works out! :happy:

[ilovemycop]

I'm sorry but I have a quick hijack here...Nightshade,I tried that recipe you posted today and my end results were good but it wasn't a "thick and creamy"substance that I expected.My conditioner looked like it was seperating from the oil.After I put it on the bottle where I plan to store it,I shook it up and it went back to normal.But,the longer it sits,the weirder it looks.I know I'm not being technical and more detailed on my descriptions but its really hard to describe...I used jojoba as a carrier oil(i know its more of a wax but coconut oil is too heavy for me on a leave in)and I added a drop of White Grapefruit EO.My cone free condish was Burts Bees Sugar Beet and Grapefruit btw.

If this is normal or you have any suggestions on what I did wrong(oh,I followed the hand mixing/freezing part down to a T)please help! TIA

[kwaniesiam]

I love shea butter for...everywhere lol. That tip about melting it all down to remove the grainyness is awesome, I'll have to try that because the only thing I don't like about it is how hard it is to work with, especially in the winter!

[Nightshade]

I'm sure it has to do with the jojoba being liquid at a much lower temp than cocconut. Perhaps scale back on the oil or keep it chilled until you need it? Another idea is to cut back on the amount of oil overall.

You could always give cocconut a whirl, it may be too heavy on it's own, but tempered with the other stuff maybe it'll work better?

There's others on LHC that use jojoba in their shea mix, hopefully one of them will come along with better advice.

[ilovemycop]

ah ok.I'll just stick it in the fridge untill I use it.The next time I'll make the mixture,I'll try a lower amount of coconut oil.I don't want to waste what I made last night,since its a whole lot.thanks!