Here is more info on each of the butters that we use in our body butters.

Cocoa Butter

This an unrefined, food grade cocoa butter, obtained by pressing crushed seeds of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao. Cocoa butter is a well-known, valued ingredient in chocolate. In cosmetics, it is valued for its melting point, which is close to body temperature, its greasing and lubricating properties and emollient virtues. A compound of the oil phase, it provides skin conditioning and thickening attributes. Widely used in suppositories, skin-care products, bath oils, night creams, suntan preparations, and lip make-up.

Shea Butter

This butter is from the kernels of the Shea nut tree, Butyrospermum parkii, native to Western Africa and is derived totally from renewable natural resources. Traditionally it has been used in Africa as a medical balm for rheumatism, muscle aches, burns, and light wounds. Its unique fatty acid composition makes it a suitable emollient for many-skin-care applications, such as baby-care products, massage creams, make-up, and similar products. One unique characteristic of Shea butter is its content of unsaponiables (up to 8%) which imparts soothing properties and provides extra sun protection.

Kokum Butter

Kokum butter is obtained from the fruit kernel of Garcinia indica, which grows in the savanna areas in parts of the Indian subcontinent. It has very high content of stearic-oleic-stearic triglycerides. It is the most stable and hardest exotic butter with a melting point of 38-40 C. It has good white color even without refining. Kokum butter has been used as an astringent, local application to ulceration and fissures of lips, hands, and sole. Suitable for applications in skin and hair products, acne products, and skin tonics.

Mango Butter

Mango butter is obtained from de-shelled fruit kernels of the mango tree, Mangifera indica native to sub-continental India and the tropics. It has emollient properties, high oxidative ability, wound healing, and regenerative activity due to its high unsaponiable. It is a soft solid with and a very slight sweet scent, and an excellent replacement of paraffin-based emollient. It has a protective effect against UV radiation. Beneficial ingredient in skin care products, lotions, massage creams, and hair products.

Illipe Butter

Illipe butter is the fat obtained from the nuts of Shorea stenoptera, a wild crop in the jungle of South East Asia. It is pale yellow solid fat after extraction, which turns quickly into green color. It has recently been introduced as a cosmetic raw material and is used in various skin-care preparations such as nourishing night creams, sun products, hair masks, and lip balms. It is the exotic butter that comes closest to matching cocoa butter in triglyceride composition. Illipe butter is recommended to heal sores and mouth ulcers. It reinforces the skin lipidic barrier and helps maintain skin moisturization.

Sal Butter

Sal butter is obtained from the kernels of the Sal tree, Shorea robusta, a tree growing wild in the jungle of forests of North, East, and Central India. Sal is used locally for cooking and soap production. It is comparable to cocoa butter in physical properties and is used in some similar applications. Like mango butter, it combines good emolliency properties with superior oxidative stability. It is solid at room temperature with a melting point of 34�-38�C. Used in skin and hair products, stick products, hair pomades, and dry-skin lotions.

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