Shea butter is a highly valued and broadly used natural emollient in the personal care industry, known for its natural moisturizing and barrier-protecting properties. It is widely recognized and preferred by consumers for its benefits to the skin and its positive impact on the environment and communities in West Africa.
But here’s the challenge: as versatile and appreciated as shea butter is, its solid form isn’t always easy - or even possible - to work with in certain product formats and production processes. That’s where liquid shea butter comes in.
At AAK, we’ve developed our Liquid Shea Butter Solutions to overcome the most common formulating challenges. With liquid shea, you get all the skin-loving, sustainability-driven benefits of traditional shea butter in a format that’s easier to use, more versatile, and ideally suited for innovative formulations.
Our portfolio includes three innovative products:
Shea butter is usually left out of oil-continuous or lighter, fluid formulations—even when its moisturizing power is desired—because solid butters don’t fit the texture or clarity requirements. A liquid shea butter or shea oil bridges that gap, letting you keep all the natural emollient benefits without compromising on texture or appearance.
Better -still, solid and liquid shea butter share the same INCI. By combining them in different ratios, you can achieve very different product textures while still keeping ingredient lists short - tapping into the growing minimalism trend. (Check out our Elegant Elderberry Conditioning Lip Gloss or La vie en Rose Creamy Matte Lipstick for inspiration!)
2. Streamline Production & Improve Efficiency
Working with solid butters can be a headache, involving manual handling, heavy mixing loads, long melting times, and high energy use. If equipment isn’t designed to handle solids, it can even limit what’s possible in production.
Liquid shea butter makes life easier. It can be pumped directly into the vessel and processed at much lower temperatures—reducing time, energy use, and equipment stress. That means a smoother process for your team and a lighter footprint for the planet.
Two different formulations with same INCI.
3. Say Goodbye to Crystallization Worries
Liquid shea butters differ from traditional refined shea butters in one crucial way: they do not crystallize. This eliminates several issues formulators often face when working with solid natural emollients.
The first risk is bloom formation or grainy texture, which can occur in two ways:
The second risk involves undesired changes in viscosity and particle size, which may ultimately lead to product instability. In emulsions containing refined shea butter, the slow transition into the stable crystal form creates a high risk of viscosity and particle size drift over time, often dependent on storage temperature. This can result in a product with a completely different consistency than intended when it reaches the consumer, and in some cases, it can even cause packaging incompatibilities. If, for example, the product gets too thick for the selected dispensing system.
AAK’s Liquid Shea Solutions give you all the benefits of shea, with none of the barriers. Whether you’re aiming to create lighter textures, speed up production, or improve formulation stability, a liquid shea butter or shea oil is the tool that helps you do it—while still supporting sustainability and consumer trust.
Ready to explore what our liquid shea butter solutions can do for you? Join us on Wednesday, November 5th, at 3 PM (CET) for our 30-minute webinar, where we’ll share how to harness new opportunities and eliminate challenges using liquid shea butter. Register now to secure your place.