Soft and Smooth African Shea Butter, 32oz

They say you can't do anything, that it's genetic, but my mom has them and I got stretch marks growing in adolescence... yet I don't have ANY from pregnancy! AND I'm 36 years old, not young and elastic like some mommas! Here's what I did:-Buy raw African Shea butter-Get some oil of your choice, I use a mix of coconut, avocado, and olive (all from the grocery store)OPTIONAL:-Get some essential oil of your preference (check that it's safe for pregos and for topical application first, I use lavender)-Round up some of your cheap but good-smelling random lotions that you'd like to get rid of (I always have like 5 nearly-empty lotions)PROCESS:*Put a pot on the stove and warm some water, then put a jar in the water, filled about 1/2 way with chunks of the Shea butter (it comes soap or hard cheese like consistency). When that was melted set it aside and let it cool a bit, till it was just starting to re-harden. This takes quite some time, so I'd do it in a day off that you're running errands or housework or whatever. Alternately I hear some people use the fridge, and some people skip this step but I find it results in a weird, gritty texture at the end*Next put the lid on and shake the crap out of the Shea butter! It will re-emulsify it so it's not partly hard and partly liquid but all thick liquid*Look how much you have. Calculate approximately 1/3 of the volume, and add that much oil. This way you have 1/4 oil and 1/3 butter. It's fine to use a little more or less.*Add the essential oil. Read the manufacturers instructions on how much to add based on the volume of your lotion. Some are natural antibacterials, like tea tree. But again, make sure that you either check with your OB or do your research to make sure whatever you use is safe.*Add the random lotion, about the same volume as the oil. The bonus to this is it has preservatives, and your other ingredients are things that could welcome bacterial growth after a month or so, particularly if you're putting your hand into the container. You end up with 50% shea butter this way, which is far better than most expensive stuff!*shake the crap out of it again! I actually do this every hour or so till it's cooled.In the end, sometimes the mixture separates depending on what you put in it, the temp of your home, etc. Sometimes it gets a little gritty, which is just the Shea butter hardening in little lumps that can be rubbed into your skin. Sometimes shaking more will help, but it doesn't really matter either way. If you hate the texture then any kind of blender or milk-frother can emulsify the lumps out, or you can store it in a sunny window and just shake to re-mix before use.It's worked fantastic for me, I haven't been itchy or gotten a single mark and I started using it around 16 or 20 weeks. Also don't forget to drink TONS of water and gain only the recommended amount of weight, and stay otherwise healthy! Your skin's health is generally an easy indicator of YOUR health!

This is amazing! I absolutely LOVE this product!! It is exactly as described. It sort of reminds me of coconut oil, just slightly, because it isn't nearly as soft until you warm it up between your hands and it just melts...Like butter!! Ha. It is amazing, chemical free, I am very happy I made this purchase. It does have a slight off putting scent, which is just shea butter in general. If you add some lavender or patchouli or really any essential oil scent that you personally enjoy, you can't even notice the smell. I put it everywhere. I can already notice a huge difference in my skin and I have only had this for about a day... I can tell it's going to be a favorite. I was really nervous to order this product because of all the reviewers saying their product came shattered or destroyed in some way... Altho the tub does have a very large crack running through it, it is not completely split, and the product was not damaged, thankfully. I would feel better about ordering from this company if they would bubble wrap their product or perhaps even use a sturdier type of plastic (which would probably cause them to raise the price...:(()) I would surely recommend this to friends and family, and I will also surely order again.

The first time I bought shea butter I bought it from a hobby products store and it was white, kinda' oily and grainy (which wasn't a problem... it had just melted and then cooled very slowly - most solid butters / oils behave that way. Once melted then cooled quickly it was smooth again) and it was very similar to coconut oil (the biggest difference that I observed between the two is that shea melts at a higher temperature).This shea butter isn't like that. The two that I bought are the same color as pictured: kind of the color of a creamy honey mustard. Between this and the grape seed oil I used in my products, my body butters are almost the color of margarine (I also use coconut and cocoa butter in them - the coconut oil lightens the color somewhat)As for the texture... this is VERY different from coconut oil. It is far denser and I find that I really don't need to use as much of this as I would have the other "prettier" product to achieve the same results. I'd say that it probably takes slightly longer to melt than it's hobby store cousin, but not much (still not as long as bees wax or cocoa butter)Because it looks so natural, my first reaction when I saw it was, "Oh, I hope there's no 'inclusions' in it... no fibers or leaves or something!"My fears have been put to rest after using the first entire container... it was pure and free of any chunks or anything dirty or undesirable. It was perfect... clean, no noticeable smell, no chunks, no yuck. Good stuff.My advice is this: if you're making products for yourself or for people who actually WANT a natural product, this is great stuff and a wonderful bargain (I'm going to order again soon)HOWEVER, if you are selling products to people who expect that every product should be white or pink or some "fluffy" color like that, I think you have 3 choices... * buy this and use only a little so your product stays white; * DON'T buy this and pay more for the bleached out stuff, or * buy it, use it, and tell your customers the truth: natural shea butter is yellow - not white. The stores are full of processed products that are bleached out and "beautified" if that's what they want. But if they want the benefits of natural products, they have to take the natural color right along with it. (The last option was obviously the one I chose)TL;DR version: Clean, great product and a super bargain. The packaging is adequate - certainly nothing fancy - but my products arrived in tact and I'm fine with not paying more for a fancy package.*** Oh, hey... I try to write reviews that actually HELP people, so if you found this review helpful, please give it a 'thumbs up' so I know that I'm on the right track. Thank you!

Me gusto por su consistencia que aunque realices tus cremas agregando otros aceites queda cremosa, lo que no me gusto fue el olor porque pones aceites esenciales y se pierde el olor de los demás aceites, la uso para estrías en el embarazo, para labiales, crema para pies. Para todo, por eso me gusta.

Los envases llegaron con producto escurriendo, sin embargo no fue mucho lo que se perdió del producto. Me encantó la manteca de karité, hace poco me brotó psoriasis en el rostro, y me he estado aplicando en ésa zona la manteca de karité y me ha mejorado, no se me ha quitado pero tiene mejor aspecto y ya no me da comezón, ni está reseco.

La etiqueta es muy diferente a la que muestra el envase en la foto a la del producto que recibí, sin embargo, el producto es bueno. Tiene una buena textura, y es muy buen humectante. Es verdad que tiene un cierto aroma fuerte, pero es un producto sin refinar, por lo que es de esperarse. El producto es excelente y si se le agrega algún aceite esencial el olor dismunuye.

Es un gran producto ya que tiene diversos usos, incluso sirve como acondicionador de cabello y lo deja muy manejable con muy poca cantidad aplicada.Su olor no es desagradable y el precio es muy competitivo considerando que son dos unidades.

Te deja la piel super suave y la humecta muchísimo, me encanta pero el olor es muy fuerte y nada agradable, lo bueno es que el olor se va quitando a lo largo del día así que no es muy molesto. Lo recomiendo solo porque enserio me deja la piel muy bonita