Smell,Texture and Shelf Life of Shea Butter

Those who love to buy Shea butter wonders about the smell, texture and wants to know how long the Shea butter will last. Anything  from nature will always start aging as time goes by.Shea butter is no different from that.The shelf life of unrefined  organic Shea butter will be maximum of 1- 2 years. The healing properties of the Shea butter will start diminishing as the years go by,though it retains its moisturizing properties.The refined Shea butter will last  little bit more because of preservatives. Refrigeration of Shea Butter will not increase the shelf life.Therefore Shea butter can be stored at normal temperatures.Please don't stock up Shea butter as it will go rancid eventually.

What is the smell of pure unrefined Shea butter?It has a latex smell combined with nutty flavor to it.The smell will be stronger if it is fresh. Once if you apply it on the hair/skin the smell will fade away.If there is no smell then it is not unrefined Shea butter. If it stinks, please don't use it as it is a sign that Shea butter has gone bad.

Then comes the texture of the unrefined Shea butter.Fresh unrefined Shea butter is very soft. It spreads easily. As it ages it becomes thick but it still is soft.By touching the Shea butter  we can easily find out whether it is fresh or aged. The unrefined Shea better has low melting point 86-95 degree Fahrenheit .It can be easily melted under the hot sun or by any other means of heat. If it melts,you can store in  the refrigerator to return to the solid state.It can never  return to  the original texture once it is heated. Only the texture is altered not the properties of unrefined Shea butter.Some processed Shea butter will have gummy texture.