Questions. Shea butter from eBay? Yellow shea butter?

@Wandering_Smoke,

You don't say what is your country of residence so I'm not sure ho to advise you.

In Australia, I have recently been obtaining my supplies of unrefined shea butter from a company call N-essentials at >www.n-essentials.com.au

@Pommie Sorry about that. I live in america.

I've had good experiences with sellers of herbs. Of course I read alot of reviews. Not just the bad ones. Thanks for the word of warning though. ...But, now that you mention it I suppose I should be even more cautious with something I use rectally.

Wandering_Smoke, is that NOW Solutions shea butter that you mention? they have a sale at the helath food store this week $7.50 for a 7 oz jar! the label says the color and texture will vary according to temperature. I stocked up with a half dozen jars the last time there was a sale. Where are you in the US?

now that I look at the jar it doesn't say raw unrefined, just 100 percent natural. is that important? everyone seems to say it is. I sent a question to the company and await a answer. here's the location http://www.nowfoods.com/Shea-Butter-7oz.htm.

Good supplier in us is http://www.atlsmellgood.com/SHEABUTTER.html

They have yellow and white. Read somewhere that yellow is a result of shell around nut but also read other explanations.

Those are very good prices. The raw one sounds like unrefined. Thanks for the link.

@euphemisticYeah it's Now Solutions. Same thing. That's what I've been using for a long time. Thanks for the link. Thanks to that site I found two places in town that sell it ^^

@DCDC
Awesome. That's what I was looking for.

Both of you were very helpful. Thank you 🙂

I got a reply from Now Foods about their 100 percent natural shea butter. Now Solutions shea butter is NOT raw and IS refined. I don't know if it's that big a deal. I like their product and will finish my half dozen jars.

The raw product from atlsmellgood.com is the best price by far and is raw. I assume raw means unrefined.

@euphemisticVery interesting. I like their product too. I originally started using it after reading older threads here (ultimate lube?). But I am trying to get away from processed..anything..as much as possible these days.
I'm guessing that unrefined just means they haven't added anything to it. They probably mix big batches to make it smooth and consistent. Raw, I'm guessing could vary in color, smell (for yellow), and consistency (chunky?) from batch to batch. That's fine with me. I make lube cubes in one of those "Arrow Plastic 00055 Ice Cube Trays" so I melt it and stir it till it's smooth anyways. I've been mixing shea with walnut oil, but maybe I'll try just shea butter next time.

I've ordered both bulk and a small batch containers from atlsmellgood. The bulk can have a little junk in it where the containers are filtered. Filtering is easy. The have a video on their site on how to filter their bulk product.
http://www.atlsmellgood.com/faq.html

DCDC, thanks for the info. I'm guessing that refined means the melting and straining process that is in that video but it could mean almost anything. I was surprised at all the "dirt" she strained out of the shea butter. if this is actually dirt, then it could have pathogens that remain in the melted butter. the low heat wouldn't kill them probably. I don't want to put that inside me.

On the other hand I use silicon lube so what do I know :-))

@DCDC
From that video I think I'll buy it in bulk and strain it myself. That was one nasty looking strainer she had lol. That and I know I'll heat it properly, and strain it through cloth.

@Wandering_Smoke

I've tried a different brand of very dark yellow in color shea butter many years ago. I found that it did not lubricate me as well as it was very thin oil in viscosity at body temperature, was very strong smelling, and stained materials much easier.

You may have a point that perhaps this dark yellow stuff is the raw unrefined shea butter, and the Now Foods/Solutions shea butter is refined shea butter. Since Now Foods/Solutions seems to have removed any mention of their product being unrefined on the label. I think the idea though is that it is not extracted or refined via chemicals, and they are getting most of the fats out of the shea nut which is what lubricates your anus and rectum very well. Much like is done with cocoa butter. If you are going to be buying unbranded shea butter off of ebay, which I don't recommend as you are taking a chance on what you are getting, look for something that is pale yellow to off white in color and they can verify that they don't use chemicals to extract or refine it. See the following link that explains how it is extracted traditionally:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shea_butter