When it comes to nourishing skin and hair, you’ll be hard-pressed to find products that can outdo shea butter. More specifically, raw shea butter has many uses that people can take advantage of.
You’ve probably heard about shea butter before and you may have even purchased a container of it out of curiosity. It’s also possible that you forgot about it not long after making the purchase. That does tend to happen with impulse buys after all.
Now that you’re reading about shea butter again though, you’ve likely realized that it’s worth a try. So, can you still use that old jar you bought? That’s one of the many important questions related to raw shea butter we’ll be answering in this article.
Stick around and learn the essential details about this beauty product!
What Is Shea Butter?
We’re not going too deep on the basics of shea butter here, but we will provide a brief overview. Shea butter is the fat extracted from shea tree nuts.
Found inside shea butter is a heaping helping of antioxidants, fatty acids, and vitamins. These nutrients work together to give users softer, smoother, and generally healthier skin.
Shea butter also offers anti-inflammatory benefits. That’s why people have been using it to treat inflamed skin, acne, and even insect bites.
You can also use shea butter on your hair to prevent it from drying out. The aforementioned product can also help give you plumper lips and even moisturize your cuticles.
Different Types of Shea Butter
There are three types of shea butter. It’s important to know what those types are so you can set your expectations better. Let’s talk about the different types of shea butter below.
Raw Shea Butter
First off, you have completely raw shea butter. This type of product has not been processed or even filtered in any way. While all of the goodies you’re seeking are found in the completely raw variant, you may also find impurities in it.
Unrefined Shea Butter
Next up, you have unrefined shea butter. Unrefined shea butter is similar to the raw variant in terms of nutrient content. The main difference between the two is that the impurities have been filtered out of unrefined shea butter.
Refined Shea Butter
Unlike the previous two, refined shea butter is processed significantly. Processing tends to take some of the nutrients away from shea butter. Consider this when deciding whether to purchase this product or not.
How Long Can You Keep Using Shea Butter?
Shea butter naturally contains nutrients that enable it to last for a long time. The antioxidants and vitamins found in it act as preservatives that prevent it from spoiling.
So how long can you expect your jar of shea butter to remain usable? The manufacturers will usually indicate an expiration date of some kind on the container. More often than not, that expiration date is set about two years after the product in question was initially packaged.
Interestingly enough, there’s no real difference in terms of shelf life between the variants of shea butter. Raw, unrefined and refined shea butter can last two years after packaging.
Is There Any Way to Prolong the Shelf Life of Shea Butter?
One thing you should know about the shelf life of shea butter is that it’s not always the same thing. Shea butter can last for two years on average, but that can obviously change.
Your container of shea butter can easily go bad before the two-year mark. At the same time, your container of shea butter can also last longer than two years.
Luck can play a role in how long your container of shea butter ultimately lasts. However, there’s another key factor that can make a significant impact.
How Should You Store Shea Butter?
If you want to make your raw shea butter last as long as possible, you must be mindful of proper storage. Certain factors can affect how quickly the product you purchased will spoil.
First and foremost, you have to watch out for water. Water is going to speed up the process of spoiling significantly. When you use your shea butter, make sure that no water gets into the container.
You should also make it a point to store the shea butter in a dry place. Keep it as far away from moisture as possible to keep it usable for a long time.
Shea butter struggles against heat.
Heat can melt the shea butter and render it unusable. To prevent that, store the shea butter in a cool spot that sunlight and other sources of heat don’t reach. You can even store the shea inside your refrigerator as long as it stays far away from any liquids.
There’s no need to purchase any special container for your shea butter. The container it arrives in already works as a suitable vessel for storage. Just seal it tightly after every use to keep its contents adequately protected.
Another thing to note here is that the way you use shea butter can affect its shelf life. Wash your hand before you put it in the container. Washing will limit the spread of bacteria from your hand to the butter, thus preventing the onset of spoilage.
How Can You Tell if Your Shea Butter Has Expired?
Do you have a container of raw shea butter you haven’t used in a while? Before spreading it over your skin, take a moment to check if it’s still usable.
The best way to check if your shea butter is still usable is by smelling it. Shea has a smoky aroma. It’s not always overly pungent, but you should be able to detect it.
If that smoky aroma is replaced by something accurately described as rancid, that means the shea butter has spoiled. Using spoiled shea butter on your body is out of the question. However, you can use it to polish leather and wood items if you so desire.
Raw shea butter is a terrific beauty product that’s definitely worth a try. Store it properly and a single container could last you a very long time. Of course, given how beneficial shea butter is, you’ll likely use it all up before it gets a chance to spoil.