Blessed Body Brand: Whipped Shea Butter

Ivory Shea butter

Yellow Shea butter

Today, I reached a major milestone and achieved a great accomplishment: I made not one, but two soft, fluffy, whipped SHEA BUTTERS!!! You see, I've been attempting to make whipped Shea butter for over a year! They were all unsuccessful attempts: too hard once cooled, grainy when cooled, too oily, not enough oil, any possible thing that could be wrong was wrong, and I'd use those butters until they were gone (no matter how oily I was LOL). That was a very expensive, very trying process! I decided to share what I've learned during my expensive and arduous process of learning to make whipped Shea butter.

Things you need to make whipped Shea butter:

• hand held mixer or stand mixer
• Shea butter (I'm not even going to touch on the great Shea debate! Use whichever butter you like.)
• oils of your choice
• pot of hot water or double boiler
• silicone spatula
• PATIENCE

The general rule for a successful whipped butter is 60-75% hard oil or butter and 40-25% liquid oils. You will need to add all of the oils and butter to a glass or metal bowl or the top pot of a double boiler. Put the pot of water on the stove and let it come to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the stove off, add the pot/bowl of oils to the top of the pot of water. Stir as needed to encourage a faster melting process. Once the Shea butter is nearly melted (only a few small clumps left) remove from heat and stir until Shea is completely melted. Once melted, place mixture into the freezer. Allow to cool. DO NOT LET IT FREEZE!!

Once the butter mixture is cooled has gelled around the edges and in the center remove from the freezer and prepare to whip! Scrape the sides of the bowl to loosen the cooled Shea so that you don't end up with bits of Shea butter that are not whipped. (It doesn't affect the consistency or quality of the rest of the batch. It's more for aesthetics.) Get your stand mixer or handheld mixer and beat on high for 5 minutes. Turn the bowl and rotate the mixer in one direction only, ONE DIRECTION! I tend to go counter clockwise with the bowl and clockwise with the mixer (It'll make sense when you're doing it). After 5 minutes, check the consistency. If it is light and fluffy KUDOS!! Add essential oils and whip it again on high for 5 minute intervals until it is the consistency and volume that you'd like use a silicone spatula to slowly fold in the essential oils. You want to try and keep the air in the butter and keep the consistency creamy during this process. If it is as hard as a brick products begins to settle and does not have a creamy consistency, have no fear! At this point, add more of the lightest oil with the longest shelf life in your recipe to the butter batter and mix until incorporated. Repeat as necessary to achieve a soft, light whipped butter. Be careful not to "overmix" the batter. Scoop, pour, or pipe into jars and enjoy!

I used this recipe for the Ivory Shea pictured above.

Whipped Shea Butter for Hair
5 oz Ivory Shea butter
0.42 oz Hemp Oil
3 oz Sunflower oil
5 drops Peppermint essential oil
10 drops Lavender essential oil
10 drops Orange essential oil

My Naturally Curly Hair Journey

My hair now

My hair is naturally curly and wavy. I made the decision to start getting relaxers in the 5th grade, approximately the year 2001. I begged my mom to let me relax my hair so I could "fit in" and play like the other kids. It's a little hard to run and play with a press and curl in Alabama heat and humidity. My mom finally agreed and my hair shrank from a thick, curly, soft mass to a thin, soft, greasy mess! I continued to relax my hair for about 3 years. Around the summer before eighth grade, I made the decision to stop getting my hair relaxed. This was around 2004.

I didn't know how to go natural and nobody else was doing it at the time. I was a pioneer and I didn't even know it! I did a lot of braid outs before I knew they had a name, but I straightened my hair almost everyday! I didn't even know that heat damage was a thing. My original transition did not include a big chop. I just trimmed my ends and gradually grew my relaxed hair out. By the time I figured out what heat damage was, my hair was a dry thinning mess!!

Freshman Big Chop

My freshman year of college, I big chopped. I went from collar bone/shoulder length hair to about an inch and a half of hair! At first I was in shock, but it grew on me. I fell in love with my short hair. My hair grew fast and got thicker. It has never been quite as thick as it was in child hood due to several determining factors: stress, nutrition, proper care, etc.

During my junior year of college, I gave birth to my handsome baby boy, and for the first time, my hair was as thick, long, and luscious. I had probably reached bra strap length or longer! I was excited, but with a newborn, my hair care regimen was pitiful to say the least. A few months after my son was born, I found out his father was cheating on me while I was pregnant. I was beyond devastated. So, I decided that I needed to transform myself. Big chop number two came about.

Post-partum big chop

I cut about six inches off (to this day I don't know why I cut my hair and kept that relationship)!!! My hair continued to grow, but my stress levels were extremely high. Between having a small child, undergrad, and a long distance relationship, I struggled to manage everything going on in my life.

Then in August of 2013, after leaving my son's father/fiancee, I colored my hair. It was a huge decision because I used a permanent color. I knew that moisturizing was my new best friend, but I was still under tremendous stress. The color caused my hair to become thin and brittle. There is a very visible difference between my virgin hair and my color treated ends! I've had to trim and clip fairy knots and tangles from wearing my hair out too often, from not properly securing it at night before bed, and from several bouts of improper moisturization.

My hair now

Pictured to the left is my hair now. I am working very hard now to remember to properly moisturize my hair, twist or braid before bed, eat healthy, drink water, exercise, and take my multivitamin supplement. I started taking It Works! Hair, Skin, and Nails supplements mid-September, and I truly can say that those supplements are the best that I've ever used! They taste great and they have 5,000 units of Biotin! For more details on the Hair, Skin, and Nails supplements, visit http://shantawilkerson.sharewraps.com or the Beautiful Outside website. My journey has been long and filled with ups and downs, but I am very happy with my hair today! I love the me I see when I look into the mirror, and that's what it's all about!