Collection: Beurres biologiques

Fat is one of the most key ingredients in soap making. Saturated fats and butters in particular are a few of the best possible sources of skin benefits and structure - but which one is best? Well - that depends on your desired result!

One of the most popular and renowned ‘butters’ for use in soap making is coconut oil. Its ability to produce a firm bar of soap and plenty of foamy lather are its most notable benefits, however, coconut oil also packs a serious cleaning punch. Other top features on our list of butters for soap making include palm oil (which saponifies easily, adds firmness, and improves the longevity of lather), and shea butter (a skin-conditioning ingredient full of vitamins). 

Unrefined African shea butter has a unique scent only found in its non-deodorised form. According to our team, it’s best described as nutty, fruity, or smokey - and the fresher the butter, the stronger the scent. 

Our shea butter is 100% natural, meaning its strong smell can vary between batches. This is simply a ‘side-effect’ of its fresh, unrefined state. Whilst most people love it, some find it a tad overpowering. If the scent of your shea butter is a little too much, our advice is to change its container and leave it uncovered for a few days. When used within a recipe, fragrance and essential oils can soften or mask the smell of the butter if desired. 

Looking to stock up on organic butters for your next soap or cosmetics crafting session? Here’s our top list of things to seek in a supplier:

Does the supplier offer the type of butter your recipe calls for?

Different butters work best for different applications. Whether you’re looking for palm oil to harden up your soap or shea butter for a skin lotion, ensure your supplier has just what you’re looking for!

Is the butter high-quality?

Your final product is only as good as your ingredients. Make sure your supplier offers the best quality for your recipe!

How is the butter sourced? 

Ethical and organic sourcing are important to consider when shopping around! If you want to ensure your butter is good for the environment it's sourced from and the people harvesting it, be sure to go organic! 

What shipment costs are incurred?

Buying in bulk? Butters are a heavy item to ship. Avoid unexpected costs - ask your supplier about their delivery policies. 

Does the supplier have a strong reputation?

Whilst suppliers can shout from the rooftops about their brilliant products, customer reviews are a great way to discover the very best. 

Are you paying the right price?

Fancy packaging and marketing can add huge unnecessary costs to your otherwise simple butters. Ensure you’re paying a reasonable price for your order. 

Cosmetic butters, whether sourced from nuts, seeds, or fruits, come in two primary forms: refined and unrefined. Unrefined butters are minimally processed, preserving their natural colours, aromas, and beneficial properties. For example, unrefined cocoa butter retains a slightly chocolatey scent and can be anywhere from pale yellow to white in colour. 

Refined butters, on the other hand, undergo more rigorous processing to remove impurities and their natural scent. This results in a butter that's smoother, lighter in colour, and almost neutral in aroma. While refining might provide a consistent texture, it can sometimes strip away some of the butter's natural nutrients. So, when deciding between the two, consider whether you're aiming for a wholly natural product with a characteristic aroma or one with a more neutral scent and even texture.

Unrefined cocoa butter isn’t deodorised, meaning it retains its natural smell - which just so happens to be very reminiscent of high-quality chocolate! Of course, how noticeable this smell is once you’ve mixed your cocoa butter into your finished product varies. 

This chocolatey scent makes cocoa butter a brilliant standalone addition to everything from lotions and body butter to lip balms. With this being said, if you’d like to add to the scent or find it cloying and want to mask it slightly, essential or fragrance oils are a great option.

The Soil Association is a UK-based charity campaigning for ‘planet-friendly food and farming’.

Their work, amongst a long list of efforts, involves the certification of organic products - promoting strict EU standards within the farming industry. 

Products and ingredients certified as organic by the Soil Association were grown, produced, and harvested in line with regulations designed to protect and sustain the environment (including soils, ecosystems, animals, and people). 

In practicality, your ingredients’ organic certification most likely means that they were produced using fewer pesticides, no artificial fertilisers, and without genetic modification. 

The Soapery is proud to offer a wide range of products fully certified by the Soil Association. Keep an eye out for their seal on our site!

Most butters for soap making and cosmetics have very long shelf lives thanks to their low water content! With this being said, like all fats, they can ‘go off’, or, more accurately, go rancid.  

In essence, rancid fats have deteriorated, meaning they may look and smell different. Telltale signs include changes in colour (e.g. coconut oil can change from white or clear to a yellow or tan shade), a bitter or unusual smell, or changes in texture - although oftentimes grittiness can be a result of temperature changes rather than rancidity. 

Please note that colour variation on the arrival of your product isn’t necessarily a sign of it being ‘off’ either! For example, unrefined shea butter can be anything from pale white to yellow and still be okay to use!  

Mango and cocoa butter each have their own benefits. 

Whilst both work to nourish the skin, their varied textures and properties can produce different end products. For example, cocoa butter is firmer at room temperature than mango butter, meaning butters, soaps, and lotions made with it tend to be slightly harder. 

Still struggling to make a choice? Why not visit our product pages for full descriptions, or our blog for full cocoa and mango butter recipes!

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (also known as the RSPO) is a worldwide charity ‘working to transform the palm oil industry to make it sustainable’.

Their measures, standards, and accreditation are designed to push those involved in the palm oil farming and production processes towards sustainable environmental and social practices, helping ‘minimise the negative impact of palm oil production on the local environment, wildlife and communities’.

The Soapery’s palm oil is certified as sustainable by the RSPO.