by Kurlybella of K is for KinkyShea butter is all the rage amongst a lot of naturals because of its diversity and effectiveness on natural hair. Whether your hair is fine, coarse, kinky or curly, you may find that shea butter is a staple that you need in your hair routine.
I, personally, do not like to use shea butter on my natural hair alone and try to avoid it at all costs. Because it acts like a fat, it coats my hair leaving it hard and waxy. To combat this, I always mix my shea butter with other ingredients to make the butter softer and easier to use without all of the stickiness and in the end, I’m left with a fabulous sweet vanilla shea hair custard.
To get this custard for yourself, you will need:
4 oz unrefined organic shea butter
5 drops of vanilla essential oil (avoid extract since it’s high in alcohol and can dry out the hair undiluted)
2 tablespoons of sweet almond oil
2 tablespoons of jojoba oil
2 tablespoons castor oil (you can sub coconut or extra virgin olive oil if you’d like)
To keep the shea butter from being gritty, melt it down in a double boiler (not sure how to do that? a quick google search will help). After it’s fully melted, add all of your oils to the mixture as well as the vanilla and sir well, but gently, with a wooden spoon. After cooling, add your vanilla shea hair butter to a blender and beat on low until the consistency starts to become softer like a custard. Be sure to store your mixture in a plastic container at room temperature or cooler.
You can use this custard on both your hair and body. Have fun!
How do you make your own shea butter hair concoctions? Have any interesting recipes you want to share?
Tried this and got nothing but an oil mixture. Maybe I shouldn't have melted the unrefined shea. Kind of disappointed because I paid almost $40 also on these ingredients!
There is no such thing as a Vanilla Essential Oil. However, where it is derived from and what it is called thereafter is "Absolute". Even then, it's not an essential oil and i would trust putting it in my hair as its typically perfumed and used for aromatherapy on the skin. However, the mix is good without the Vanilla. I use EVOO and EV Coconut Oil instead of Castor Oil and i dont melt down the shea butter. I simply break down the shea butter with a hand held blender first so that its nice and fluffy, then i put in the remaining ingredients and blend again. It turns out to be very fluffy.
I made it….. But it came out as a kind of thick oil…… Not so much a custard. I'm pretty disappointed seeing as though I spent almost $40 on these items. Make instead of misleading people by telling them this is a custard…… You should just call it an oil. Thanks a lot!!!!!!!
I can't wait to try this! I do love shea butter but agree it can be unmanageable by itself. Where is a good place to purchase essential oils?
DO you really need a blender? I don't own one.
So far I have two mixtures that I use. As a moisturizer, sealer, and/or additional deep conditioner: shea and coconut oil. I also mix shea , eco gel, and a bit of castor oil as a curly pudding. I'm definitely gonna try this though simply for the smell. 🙂
This sounds yummy! Going to have to give it a try.
Glad you asked, I like to mix my shea also. I mixed a batch last night. The mix consisted of the following. The shea was pretty soft already so I did not have to melt it.
2 T of shea
2 T of aloe vera gelly (can use FOTE aloe vera gel)
1/2 t of walnut oil (good for dry skin, hair)
1/2 t of vegetable glycerin
Great for body and hair!
I'll have to try this. I've been forcing my hair to like shea butter, and I really just need to face the facts that it isn't working out. LOL!
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I don't like the greasy coating either, I use mine in deep conditioning.
I mix shea butter, olive oil, honey, and aussie moist for deep conditioning.
hair is soft, shiny, easy to detangle and my curls are more define.