SheaSmooth

Plant-based Fat

A special, luxurious variant of shea butter from a fully traceable source and fair production, which always maintains a consistently creamy texture and does not crystallize due to temperature fluctuations.

INCI
Butyrospermum parkii (Shea) Butter 

Natural cosmetics compliant
Cosmos, Natrue

Item number
VL008

Characteristics

The most luxurious shea butter available: Always soft, always creamy, and no more crystals!

Shea butter is one of the most popular plant-based fats in cosmetics and can enhance a multitude of formulations. It gently envelops the skin, preserves moisture, and gives it a soft, nourished feel. However, like other plant-based butters, it occasionally tends to crystallize. This can occur in the raw material itself or even in the finished product.

The crystallization behavior is due to the fatty acid composition of the fats. Butters contain long-chain, saturated (solid) and unsaturated (liquid) fatty acids. This mixture of solid and liquid fatty acids results in the typical butter texture. Due to temperature fluctuations, the solid components can detach from the liquid ones, agglomerate, and crystallize. While this does not impair the quality of the fat itself, it can lead to a deterioration in the aesthetics or sensory profile of a cosmetic product. The butter then exhibits a brittle, uneven texture and loses its pleasant, smooth-melting feel when applied to the skin.

SheaSmooth is a special shea butter that, after refining, undergoes a special process called "interesterification," in which the fatty acids are rearranged so that saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are better mixed. As a result, the product always remains supple, homogeneous, and can no longer crystallize. The texture is permanently spreadable and the heat stability of the butter is improved. The skin feel and application behavior of SheaSmooth are significantly creamier, smoother-melting, and more luxurious.

The high-quality, nourishing properties and the unsaponifiable fraction of the shea butter are preserved. SheaSmooth even contains a very high proportion of unsaponifiables at approx. 7% and is therefore extremely regenerating and skin-soothing. Cosmetic products such as sticks, balms, or creams gain a creamier, more appealing texture thanks to SheaSmooth and are no longer exposed to the risk of crystallization. Thus, consistent quality is ensured and faulty batches are almost impossible.

Furthermore, SheaSmooth comes from a sustainable, fully traceable production in West Africa. The local shea collectors are directly supported through a large Fairtrade project.

Features at a glance

• Performance shea butter
  
• luxurious, smooth-melting skin feel
  
• optimized crystallization behavior (does not crystallize)
• consistent, creamy texture
• improved heat stability
• from a fair, traceable trade project

Included in the following suggested recipes