Why do You Use Shea Butter In Everything?...
Shea Butter is an incredible natural butter that helps heal, moisturize, condition, and actually rejuvenate the skin. It has been used in Africa for hundreds of years for all over body care and has natural daily UV protectant properties as well as dozens of other benefits. Knowing this we would be negligent NOT using it in our products. Learn More About Shea Butter Here
We use ultra refined Shea butter which has been processed to remove impurities and protect it from picking up contaminants. Refined Shea butter is generally better for cosmetic purposes as it is a more stable product and we know what properties it contains and what will be conveyed to our customers skin.
UnRefined Shea butter contains More nutrients and is generally better in most regards except that , from the moment it is derived from the nut to the moment you remove the last of it from the jar and put it on your skin. It is highly susceptible to contamination. If the butter does become contaminated it is highly likely to lower or even negate shea butter's natural healing benefits.
How can I find out if my Unrefined Shea Butter has been Contaminated?
Without scientific tests it is usually impossible to detect contamination and this is why some manufacturers "Guarantee" their Un-Refined Shea butter is Pure. They are guaranteeing you wont go to the expense of taking it to a lab and have it analyzed every week especially when the most you will get back if you can prove it is contaminated is a refund and an apology. Reputable dealers of unrefined Shea butter can show lab test reports at the time of their purchase, but most won't test before shipping and guarantee purity for the life of their product.
In an Ideal and sterile world we would all use unrefined shea butter; but in this one - We Will Not gamble with quality, This is why we will use refined shea butter in our products.
Like Shea Butter Unrefined Cocoa Butter has more nutrients than the refined Butter so this makes it better for promoting skin health, but Unlike Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter also contains a natural preservative that enables it to be safely stored contaminant free for up to 5 years. (also it smells wonderful)
Because of it's highly stable nature and is better for promoting skin health we use the Unrefined Cocoa Butter in our products.
Shea Butter unfortunately doesn't have the same preservative properties found in natural unrefined Cocoa Butter. which is why we choose to use refined Shea Butter... To Ensure Quality.
What preservatives do you use in your Lotions and Creams ?
Without ANY Preservative at all in our emulsified products like Lotions and Creams. It wouldn't be long before all manor of nasty critters would be swarming through them.
To ensure our Creams and Lotions show up at your doorstep as fresh and pure as the day they left production We use a variety of Mild & Safe industry standard cosmetic preservatives. Unlike their close competitors these Preservatives are NOT derivative of - or contain formaldehyde so our products are completely safe and can be legally exported to Europe.
Can't you use Natural Preservatives?
We do use natural preservatives when possible, Examples of this would be our use of very small quantities of Rosemary Extract to stabilize and preserve our lip Balms and Solid Perfumes, and Black Willow Bark Extract in our Body Mists. The problem is that Rosemary extract & Black Willow Bark extract becomes irritating to the skin when used in the massive quantities needed to preserve water and oil based products like Lotions and Creams, and would render our products unsafe for long term use completely rendering them unusable.
Is there Any other Alternative to the use of These Preservatives?
Believe us - we have looked at ALL Natural alternatives and there simply isn't ANY Safe & Effective Natural way of preserving certain products using Any other Ingredients at ANY Price.
We are aware that there are Certain Other companies out there that rely on the Natural and Organic Image to justify their incredibly high prices. These companies may use grain alcohols which are an incredibly cheap alternative, Will dehydrate the skin and rob it of it's natural oils, and are NOT a safe alternative to the use of a proper preservative in most products as grain alcohol does not prevent ALL common bacterial and fungus growth.
At the risk of being unpopular we would rather produce completely safe skin care products and not subject our customers to a vast variety of harmful bacteria just to retain an "Image".
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They can be, but only if you make them yourself and are immediately stored in a refrigerator. Treat these un-preserved lotions and creams like Dairy Products. You have to know when to discard them and adhere to the "use by" date. Usually they will start to break down and separate after a short period of time, this is a sign that the critters are winning the war on freshness.
