*Natural* Butters
What defines a butter?
Olive Butter, Cocoa Butter, Avocado, Cupuaçu, Shea, Kokum, Coffee Butter, Shorea Butter, Blueberry Butter... Four of these are not *real* butters. That is, not a natural butter. They are properly called faux butters. What they truly are we will get to in a minute. But do you recognize which four?
We could literally name dozens more on the market right now that are not genuine either! Which ones aren’t *real*? Which ones are natural and genuine? From Aloe Butter to Cupuaçu Butter there are many to choose from and more come on the market with regularity. Does this even matter? I made a mistake early on in my formulating by including *Avocado Butter* in a couple of our products. I bought it from a reputable company and assumed it was somehow squeezed from Avocados. Oil is, why not butter? But it is one of the faux butters listed above. And TBH, it was that experience that launched me into deep research about ingredients as I formulated products. I was mad that I was fooled and determined not to be again! (The Avocado Butter that I used was better than most in that it was Palm and Avocado Oil. But still…)
What are faux butters, and why are they used? Faux butters are oils (or sometimes, as in the case with Lavender Butter, essential oils) mixed into fats, most often soy shortening (Yeah, that stuff you used to have in your kitchen to grease pans with.). A lot of people have been duped! Since when is soy shortening butter? It is not.
So, why do companies use it? Sometimes because it has great label appeal. Or possibly, like yours truly did several years ago, because it’s touted to be a great moisturizer, and not fully comprehending what it really is. Blueberry Butter simply sounds moisturizing and nourishing (and yummy), right? Sorry, but that is one of the faux butters as well.
We use natural butters here at Spero. And we use a lot of them, and a lot of good oils, but we won’t pretend an ingredient is good for your skin just to sound good on the label. Look for Natural Butters and Super Oils in your products (especially leave-on products). If in doubt put its name into a search engine and check it out yourself. Your skin probably loves real butters, but soy shortening leaves a lot to be desired. The fact that most of it is GMO is only one of the concerns. There’s the estrogen factor, among others, that probably should be considered as well.
In the end, it boils down to you being knowledgeable about what you’re putting on your skin. After all, you are the steward of your skin. Your skin is our commitment, and thus we are committed to being completely transparent with our ingredients so you can make conscious, educated decisions about the productsyou use on your skin. Since your skin is your largest organ, and an estimated 60-75% of what you put on your skin can get into your bloodstream, it is not luxury, but good stewardship to take good care of it!
And for you coffee lovers out there, sorry, but Coffee Butter is a faux butter as well. Coffee Butter is Coffee Essential Oil mixed with a fat (Again, usually Soy Shortening.).
And last, almost, but definitely not least, Olive Butter would be the fourth faux butter on that list.
(We also mentioned Aloe Butter in passing, but again Aloe Butter is actually another faux butter.)