Raw shea butter smell

[corrine025]

Hi, I recently bought shea butter and its yellow and says unrefined 100% natural shea butter. I have only used small pouches of shea from craft stores and it was white and no scent. What should shea butter smell like?

 

[Obsidian]

Boy, thats a scent that is hard to describe. Its kinda earthy, maybe a bit nutty and sweet. Not floral or foodie at all, its quite unique. When I first smelled shea, I absolutely hated it but its grown on me and now I dislike the refined stuff.

 

[greenmountainwife]

I think it smells a little like rubber, like the powered latex gloves.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Kind of nutty, oily... I like it though.

 

[seven]

i was very surprised too when i 1st bought unrefined shea. previously, i used only refined, which is white and odorless. at 1st i thought i had a bad product, but then i googled and found out that it is totally normal. i don't like the smell honestly (it's hard to describe by words, but it's quite strong out of the container), but it's gone anyway once it becomes soap, so i don't mind.

 

[TVivian]

I was surprised as well. Now I use both for different things. Refined for lotions.. Definitely!

 

[Obsidian]

I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.

 

[Twiggy]

I absolutely love smell of raw SB!!! But is hard to describe

 

[TVivian]

I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.

Yup, I totally agree with that. I wish I liked the smell.

 

[bluelilyboutique]

I bought raw shea butter and i thought it smelled awful and i made a few whipped body butters and tried to mask the smell with EO but failed miserably. Some people said they liked it but the only reason i have not used refined was because of the properties in the raw and it is so much better for the skin. Personally i am not a fan.

 

[Obsidian]

I've found that sweet scents blend well with the scent of shea. You can also add in a bit of unrefined coco butter, I use three parts shea, one part coco butter. Gives a nice light coco butter scent with a hint of the shea coming through.

 

[Lin]

Smells nutty and smoky to me. I also think the scent grows on you, but I like smoky scents... I don't scent my stuff and my fav whipped body butter recipe has very little shea butter in it overall, but thats what it smells like when its done. My unscented lotion bars also smell like shea, but in my lip balms the scent is covered.

I buy raw unfiltered shea and then filter and temper it when I receive it.

 

[grayceworks]

Adding a bit of apricot kernel or sweet almond oil and raw mango butter or coconut oil, and a few drops of a sweet EO or FO, like gardenia, tuberose, or honeysuckle, will make it smell WONDERFUL! I thought it was odd smelling when I first started using it, and I don't entirely like it by itself, but I made a body butter with those things and the mix of scents is great.

 

[bluelilyboutique]

Adding a bit of apricot kernel or sweet almond oil and raw mango butter or coconut oil, and a few drops of a sweet EO or FO, like gardenia, tuberose, or honeysuckle, will make it smell WONDERFUL! I thought it was odd smelling when I first started using it, and I don't entirely like it by itself, but I made a body butter with those things and the mix of scents is great.

That's a great idea. I will try that next time

 

[rainycityjen]

To me it smells powdery. A little like a pink eraser or a pencil even. I just used some today! I didn't mind at all or find it very strong.

 

[Lin]

With my body butters I use organic virgin coconut oil that smells like coconuts, avocado oil which has a distinctive smell, raw mango butter, raw cocoa butter which of course has a distinctive smell, sweet almond, and it always still smells like shea lol. So Id saw its only the EOs making a difference in covering the shea scent.

 

[grayceworks]

Nope, doesn't cover it, but it does work with the shea scent very nicely, so that it's not so "nutty" or "smoky".

 

[angelapferr]

The first time I used unrefined shea butter, I thought it smelt horrible, and when I melted it, my friend said it smelt like a dead body. I left it in the shed for about 4 months, and with time, it doesn't smell so potent. After a couple months, I used it to make a batch of soap, and it smells wonderful and nothing like the weird scent it smelled like before.

 

[Twiggy]

I use only the unrefined in lotions/creams. I read that the refining processes removes some of the goodness that shea has in it and I'd rather they stay in it so my skin benefits.

That’s true, the refined SB is striped from all goodness. Is going through harsh chemical process in very high temperatures, so all vitamins, delicate substances and so on are not making it through. All together with the natural smell and color. As I see it is nor shea butter any more

 

[kazmi]

Smells nutty and smoky to me. I also think the scent grows on you, but I like smoky scents... I don't scent my stuff and my fav whipped body butter recipe has very little shea butter in it overall, but thats what it smells like when its done. My unscented lotion bars also smell like shea, but in my lip balms the scent is covered.

I buy raw unfiltered shea and then filter and temper it when I receive it.

Does the filtering and tempering improve the scent?