Green Shea?

[CBE]

I ordered some unrefined shea a while back, it came in... and it's GREEN!! OLIVE GREEN to be exact!! It's supposed to be natural, unrefined shea butter. I've seen a yellow, golden, mustardy shade of unrefined shea before... but never green!! LOL Does shea have different colors? Does it depend on the location where it comes from?

[BLSoaps]

I've never heard of shea ever being green, but I tend to avoid the unrefined stuff as most of it makes me gag scent wise. Hemp Butter is green. I'd ask, make sure they didn't mislabel.

MMS (www.thesage.com) has a picture of Hemp Butter on their site. Go compare shade of green!

[Jadryga]

I've heard of it being all sorts of shades actually, and green is one of them, but I don't know if that has any effect on how good it is.

[HelenW]

I have used unrefined shea that was a green tinge. Worked great. I will only use unrefined shea as that has all the healing properties and nutrients in it. I love the smell of unrefined shea. I think unrefined shea is like liver, you either love it or hate it. :laugh2:

[CBE]

I've contacted the supplier, and this was her reply to me:

"Thank you for requesting clarification on the shea. Shea nut butter is a slightly greenish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from fruit of the Shea tree by crushing and boiling. Depending on the harvest it can vary greatly from season to season and year to year. We therefore have minimal control over what is available. The green is actually considered more desirable (said to contain greater nutrients). We do have some of the unrefined that is lighter and creamier in color. The Refined shea is very creamy and not rough in texture at all compared to the unrefined. It is lightly refined and no chemicals are used. (It has also had some of the nutrients filtered out, but is still an excellent choice)."

So I guess maybe an option would be to educate my customers on natural unrefined shea eh? LOL

[BLSoaps]

I have used unrefined shea that was a green tinge. Worked great. I will only use unrefined shea as that has all the healing properties and nutrients in it. I love the smell of unrefined shea. I think unrefined shea is like liver, you either love it or hate it. :laugh2:

I'm one of those who just can't get past the smell. I had to use some unrefined in a special request lotion base, and ordered from Abanga Karite. First, just the smell out of the jar practically knocked me off my feet. But I worked through it, simply tried not to breathe too deeply. As it was slowly melting on the stove with the other oils, I went to work at my computer.

Nasty nasty smell starts moving through our apartment. We have Oriental neighbors below us, and my first thought was it was them cooking some scary smelling food (smelled kind of like nasty fish to me). So I went and closed our patio door, which usually takes care of the smell.

But the smell just kept getting worse! So I headed back to my bedroom to grab a candle, anything to try to mask the smell. Well, this takes me past our kitchen, and it dawns on me that the smell is not the neighbors, but me, and that unrefined shea.

I still went and grabbed that candle, opened the place back up, and set the fans going. Anything to disperse that scent. I've only worked with Unrefined Shea one time, but that was more than enough to completely steer me away from it, benefits or no... LOL!

[Hibiscus]

I've worked with unrefined shea for the past 4-5 years and have never had any that smelled like that. I've purchased it from at least 3-4 suppliers and the coloring varied. I've used beige, cream and lt green. And all of them had the natural shea fragrance but NEVER so strong it made me want to light candles and all that. Is it possible that you had an old batch? when oils go rancid they can get pretty funky and shea already has a sort of smoky scent.

If I ever purchase anything that smells like that, it's going back.

I also prefer the unrefined shea because it has all the goodies that has been removed from the refined.

[jaybyrd]

I'm one of those who just can't get past the smell. I had to use some unrefined in a special request lotion base, and ordered from Abanga Karite. First, just the smell out of the jar practically knocked me off my feet. But I worked through it, simply tried not to breathe too deeply. As it was slowly melting on the stove with the other oils, I went to work at my computer.

Nasty nasty smell starts moving through our apartment. We have Oriental neighbors below us, and my first thought was it was them cooking some scary smelling food (smelled kind of like nasty fish to me). So I went and closed our patio door, which usually takes care of the smell.

But the smell just kept getting worse! So I headed back to my bedroom to grab a candle, anything to try to mask the smell. Well, this takes me past our kitchen, and it dawns on me that the smell is not the neighbors, but me, and that unrefined shea.

quote]

ROTFL!!

:laugh2:

[CareBear]

I'm one of those who just can't get past the smell. I had to use some unrefined in a special request lotion base, and ordered from Abanga Karite. First, just the smell out of the jar practically knocked me off my feet. But I worked through it, simply tried not to breathe too deeply. As it was slowly melting on the stove with the other oils, I went to work at my computer.

Nasty smell starts moving through our apartment. We have Oriental neighbors below us, and my first thought was it was them cooking some scary smelling food (smelled kind of like fish to me). So I went and closed our patio door, which usually takes care of the smell.

But the smell just kept getting worse! So I headed back to my bedroom to grab a candle, anything to try to mask the smell. Well, this takes me past our kitchen, and it dawns on me that the smell is not the neighbors, but me, and that unrefined shea.

I still went and grabbed that candle, opened the place back up, and set the fans going. Anything to disperse that scent. I've only worked with Unrefined Shea one time, but that was more than enough to completely steer me away from it, benefits or no... LOL!

If it was that bad, and if it smelled of fish, it was rancid.

[maryann]

I don't like unrefined Shea either. Mine smelled like an ash-tray full of used cigarettes! That's the only thing I can compare it too. I tried it in butters and nothing could hide the scent. So I used the rest in CP.

So glad you found that green is normal :highfive:.

[Jadryga]

Hmmm... is it possible to have refined shea with all the goodies intact?

I love the idea of healing fractions and yadeeda, but I'm getting scared of the smelly stories. I had a small tin of pure shea butter from L'Occitane before... it smelt... like... well, not much, really. Not pleasant, but nothing like rotting fish either. I smelt some testers for the rest of their shea range though, and some just stank! Maybe it'd been out far too long.

[CBE]

I don't like unrefined Shea either. Mine smelled like an ash-tray full of used cigarettes! That's the only thing I can compare it too. I tried it in butters and nothing could hide the scent. So I used the rest in CP.

So glad you found that green is normal :highfive:.

I whipped it up two nights ago, and as I was whipping, the color got lighter, almost white, but not quite. I was able to dye it...lol... and scent it, but I had to use ALOT of FO. I actually used THREE different FO. First one didn't hide the scent. Added the second one... still had that hint of smoky smell. Added the third one, and it worked. LOL

Maryann... the Whipped Shea Soufflee I gave you to test was unrefined shea. But that one was from The Scent Works, and it wasn't green...lol... it was a mustard yellow color, and the smoky smell was there, but not like this green one I have...lol... The Coco Mango FO seemed to hide the smell VERY well, so I think I will try whipping up some more green shea... and adding the Coco Mango scent to see if it helps the smell on this one....I hate the idea of using soooooo much FO... first of all, FO is expensive. Second, you never know who will react to the high percentage of FO.... so... I guess I'm getting out my mixer again... lol

[CBE]

Hmmm... is it possible to have refined shea with all the goodies intact?

I love the idea of healing fractions and yadeeda, but I'm getting scared of the smelly stories. I had a small tin of pure shea butter from L'Occitane before... it smelt... like... well, not much, really. Not pleasant, but nothing like rotting fish either. I smelt some testers for the rest of their shea range though, and some just stank! Maybe it'd been out far too long.

The smell really isn't all that bad Jadryga.... I guess some people just don't care for it. I put some on the other day... straight... out the container...and after you put it on... the smell goes away after a few minutes. AND... I noticed how my skin was alot softer... I loved the way it made my skin feel.

The only unrefined shea that I've purchased that wasn't all that bad was from The Scent Works. This one I have now, the smoky smell IS kinda strong, but not turn your stomach, nasty strong. LOL If you decide to try unrefined shea, buy you a small amount first... and play around with it. You might like it!!

[Hibiscus]

It really doesn't smell like rotting fish..lol...that's what rancid oils smell like though. I would try OBN & Bamboula's shea. I haven't tried Bamboula's cream colored shea but I plan to. I do know that OBN fragrance isn't as strong as the others I have tried and it is a off white color. Very mild in fragrance as shea goes. I like their shea for B&B as well as soap...fabulous!

[maryann]

I really think its where it originates from (and if they were smoking when they were havesting it-lol).

Donna I would have never known that butter smells soooooooo good . Glad it lightened up for ya.

[coloresse]

I've had unrefined shea that was a greenish tint. But when you say olive green, do you mean literally as bright green as an olive? Hmmm... I've never seen it that bright. How does it smell? What did your supplier say?

[CBE]

I've had unrefined shea that was a greenish tint. But when you say olive green, do you mean literally as bright green as an olive? Hmmm... I've never seen it that bright. How does it smell? What did your supplier say?

It smells STRONG. Really strong. Yes, it is that bright of a green! LOL Supplier said it depends on the season and harvest of it. She said the green is actually more desirable because it has the most nutrients. It really does feel different on my skin when I tried it straight out of the container. In my opinion, this green shea moisturizes alot more better than all the shea's I've ever bought! It's just so hard to hide that smell. Even my strongest FO that I usually use for unrefined shea doesn't cover it. I'm just going to use it for CP. I ordered some more shea from Scent Works. I think it's the best shea I've ever tried.