Shea Butter Smells (and colours)

Some shea butter is yellow because unrefined shea butter has a natural colour range, from ivory through cream to pale yellow, and it changes from batch to batch. Baraka shea butter is handmade by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Ghana. It is unrefined, strained and filtered only.

Why is some shea butter yellow?

Pale yellow is one of the natural colours of unrefined shea butter. It sits at the far end of a range that runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow, and where a batch lands on that range varies. A yellow tub is not unusual, and it is not a fault.

Baraka shea butter is made by hand by women's producer groups at the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre in Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana. Nothing is done to the butter to even out its colour. It is strained and filtered, and that is all. There is no refining, no bleaching and no deodorising. So one batch may come out creamier and the next a little more yellow, and both are simply shea butter as it came.

There is a second kind of yellow to watch for. Be wary of anyone who promises that all of their shea butter is the same pleasant yellow every time. Unrefined shea butter does not behave that way. A uniform yellow only happens if colouring is added, and Baraka Shea Butter will never contain any.

If you came here wondering about yellow shea butter for hair, the colour makes no difference to how the butter is used. Shea butter is traditionally used on dry skin, lips, hands, feet and hair, and a pale yellow batch and an ivory batch are used in the same way. It is solid at room temperature and melts on contact with skin, whatever its shade.

Why is shea butter ivory or white?

Ivory is the other end of the same natural range. A batch of unrefined shea butter can come out ivory or creamy white, and that is just as normal as pale yellow.

Baraka butter is not bleached, so when you see ivory in a Baraka tub it is the colour the butter had when it was made. Bleaching is a refining step, and Baraka's shea butter has no refining, bleaching or deodorising in it. Colour varies between batches, so the tub you buy next time may look a little different from the last one. That is what you should expect from a handmade, unrefined butter.

Smell varies too, and it is worth knowing what is normal.

• A mild nutty smell. Shea butter has a natural, nutty sort of smell, stronger in some batches than others. It is normal and not a fault. I'm told it has to do with the mineral content of the soil where the shea grows and with the climate during the growing season, such as when the rains come and how much rain falls.
• A smoky smell. Some shea butter smells of smoke, because traditional shea butter is made over open fires. In general that means the butter is very fresh, and the smoky smell usually fades fairly quickly after it is made.
• A rancid smell. This is the one you do not want, and it is covered in the next section.

Does colour indicate shea butter quality?

No. Colour on its own does not tell you whether shea butter is good. Ivory, cream and pale yellow are all within the natural range of unrefined shea butter, so a lighter or a more yellow batch is not better or worse for that reason alone.

What matters is how the butter was made and whether it has been looked after. These are the things worth checking instead.

• How it was made. Baraka shea butter is handmade and unrefined, strained and filtered only. It is not bleached or deodorised, and no colouring is added. A butter that is the same bright yellow in every batch should make you ask why.
• Water content. Poorly made shea butter can go rancid fairly quickly, because if the water content is not brought down to the right level the butter goes bad rapidly. Well made shea butter keeps 2+ years when stored properly, away from heat and direct sun.
• Smell. A mild nutty note or a fading smoky note is normal. A sharp, off smell is the sign that something has gone wrong, whatever colour the butter is.
• Testing. Baraka shea butter is tested periodically by the Ghana Standards Authority in ISO-accredited laboratories.
• Who makes it. Wayne Dunn has worked directly with the Konjeihi Women's Enterprise Centre for over 15 years. The women there make the butter by hand, and Baraka buys it under Community Certified Fair Trade.

So when you open a tub, treat colour as a sign of which batch you have. It says very little about quality. Look at the maker, the testing and the smell, and store the butter somewhere cool and out of direct sun so it stays in good condition.

To see the butter itself, Baraka Shea Butter is the unrefined, handmade butter described above, with its natural ivory-to-pale-yellow colour.

Quick answers

Why is some shea butter yellow?

Unrefined shea butter varies naturally in colour from ivory through cream to pale yellow, and the shade changes from batch to batch. Baraka's shea butter is strained and filtered only, so it keeps whatever natural colour the batch has. A bright yellow that is the same every time usually means colour has been added.

Why is shea butter ivory or white?

Ivory is part of shea butter's natural colour range, which runs from ivory through cream to pale yellow. The shade varies between batches. Baraka's shea butter is unrefined, with no bleaching, so the colour you see is the batch's own.

Does colour indicate shea butter quality?

No. Colour in unrefined shea butter varies naturally from batch to batch, so a paler or deeper shade says little about quality. Smell is the better check: a mild nutty smell is normal, and a smoky note usually means the butter is fresh, while a rancid smell is the one to avoid.