Appearance of Shea Butter
At A Spirit of Joy we use the freshest, highest quality materials available. This dynamic may result in variance of color between small batches, although we only utilize shea butter that ranges from off-white to pale yellow. The color of your product may slightly vary depending on the shea nut it was harvested from, but it is never a indication of old or rancid product!
Unrefined Shea Butter, unlike refined shea butter that gets bleached and stripped of its characteristics, does not have a consistent color. Any of the following colors and shades can found in unrefined shea butter: off-white, ivory, pale yellow, pale gray and pale green.
To qualify as unrefined, shea butter must not have passed through any filtering systems using chemicals or other methods that would remove or reduce the natural nourishing components or change its natural properties in any way. Unrefined shea butter is passed through a cheesecloth filter to remove naturally occurring shea nut sediment. As with all nuts, there is a skin between the nut and the shell which can, and does, get into the shea butter as it is being pressed out. You may even see trace amounts of sediment that escaped the cheesecloth in our shea butter products. It is of no danger or concern.
SHELF LIFE
Our products are preservative free! They are anhydrous (do not contain water), therefore they do not require synthetic preservatives. They do NOT contain petroleum based chemicals (Mineral Oil, Petrolatum, Paraffin), chemical emulsifiers (DEA, MEA, TEA), chemical preservatives (Parabens, Urea), Propylene Glycol, artificial colors, stabilizers, or synthetic fragrances.
- We manufacture all of our own products in small batches to ensure freshness, consistency and perfection.
- Because we have chosen not to include harmful chemical preservatives in our products, they have a shelf life of approximately 9 months after opening.
- Avoid putting water into jar.
- Exposure to heat may alter the appearance of the products. It does not alter the safety or functionality!
Each time you place your warm fingers into the jar, you melt some of the butter and over a period of time this may change the whipped consistency of the butter. Additionally, our fingers can be a host to bacteria and other contaminants. To have your preservative free whipped moisturizers last as long as possible, we highly recommend using an applicator. See our Bamboo Applicators
WARM WEATHER SHIPPING
If shipped during warm weather, the product may melt. If melting at any time occurs, simply place the butter in a cool place and it will harden up. The melting will not affect the quality of the butter as a great moisturizer, but the whipped consistency may change.
Whipping adds tiny air bubbles that increase the size, lighten the density and changes the texture, making the butter light and fluffy. If the product melts, the air bubbles are collapsed, and the volume will appear decreased. So although the jar was filled with whipped cocoa butter, if the whipped butter melts, there may be less volume in the container.
Commercial companies add synthetic stabilizers to creams which helps them stay creamy even with temperature changes. We do not use synthetic stabilizers.
FAIR TRADE
Fair trade standards help to maintain the highest wages and appropriate working conditions so that workers may live with dignity and invest in their families, communities and the environment.
Our high quality, Unrefined Organic Shea Butter originates in Ghana, West Africa. Karite trees bear shea fruit, which is processed into shea butter by a Ghanaian Cooperative Women’s Group, which ensure fair trade adherence.
Our high quality, Raw Organic Cocoa Butter is extracted from the cacao bean of the cacao tree and originates in various parts of West Africa and South America. It is fair trade certified by Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit third party certified of fair trade products in the United States.