Raw and unrefined..... Shea butter that is.

Have you noticed that the world is going "natural", "unrefined" and "organic"? Chances are you have come across at least a few of these products. My first major exposure to these crazes was in the produce section. I once worked as a "produce boy" and had to be able to explain the products to customers. Thankfully most people that were looking for organic food knew enough that the only questions I got was where to find it. I knew enough to know that it is a rip-off!
For those of you that have only been exposed to the mainstream fads surrounding "natural", "unrefined" and "organic" products you probably think that they are somehow "better" or are for those that are concerned with nature. If this is your idea of these products I would encourage you to do some digging, because that is not always the case. I was skeptical myself when I first came across raw Shea butter so I did some digging. I was convinced enough to buy some to try.
If you search "benefits of raw shea butter" you will get a lot of pages. I have read about Shea butter evening skin tone, reducing redness from sun burn, absorbing in skin quickly, accelerating healing of cuts, moisturizing the scalp and eliminating dandruff, anti-inflammatory properties and the lists goes on and on. While I don't know if all of these claims are true from personal experience I do know that Shea butter is popular among lotions and creams and can be spendy! If you are a girl you are probably familiar with this, or if you are around girls a lot. One claim that I could relate to was that refinement of Shea butter got rid of many of its useful qualities.
Having done organic chemistry I know that natural compounds are often very complex, take a long time to make and don't take much to destroy. Generally there are two levels of refinement. The first involves melting the Shea butter and filtering it through clay. This will remove most of the natural yellow color, which varies in every batch, making it more white and also removes much of the smell. That right there tells me there is a possibility some of the benefits are gone. The organic compounds that give the raw butter its color and smell probably provide some of its benefits as well. Further refining can be done to totally remove the smell and make the Shea butter white and odorless. This is done by filtering it with hexane, which is an organic solvent, and further removes organic compounds.
So I decided try the raw Shea butter for myself. The smell of it cannot be described adequately with words; you just have to smell it for yourself. My personal experience with it reminds me of vegetable oil and some kind of nut, perhaps peanuts, it is an earthy smell. So far I have used it on my skin by itself, and a little goes a LONG ways, and I have made a whipped body butter with it. I personally like it and look forward to what I can create with it. I would say that it is a good product worth trying if your getting into making your own personal care products.