How to test shea butter

02/04/2008

Contents

Here are two fast tests to help you see the quality of the shea butter that you are getting. There are more involved tests that can be done, but these two will help you understand the quality of your shea butter fastest. The first thing to do is to do a "smell test". You will want to smell your shea butter for traces of rancidity. There is not a good way to tell you how to do this other than to test several different batches of shea butter this same say. You will quickly learn what "good" shea butter should smell like however. The second test is a "clean test". Take some of your shea butter, and spread it on a white cloth with a knife. You will then be able to quickly see the purity of your product. You can use a diaper, a white towel, or a sheet. Apply the shea butter to the cloth in the same way that you would butter a piece of bread. When you do, the dirt and impurities in the shea butter will stand out and be very easy to see. All unprocessed shea butter has some of these impurities; and that is ok. The only way to get rid of all of this is to process the shea butter to the point that it loses some of its effectiveness. Most people who want the pure unrefined shea butter would prefer to have a few impurities, and keep more or the original potency of the shea butter. You will need to test several different batches of shea butter to really know what this should look like. After doing this for awhile however, you will be able to tell the difference between different qualities of shea butter much better. Check out a huge selection of affordable African products, including shea butter and other African skin care products, by clicking on the links below! 

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