(Written by Jason's Wife)
I love this product and for me it is so much better than cocoa butter.
Why I Use This Product:
In the last couple of years I have started making some of my own beauty and health products. It started because I have had chronic migraines (24 hours a day, seven days a week for weeks or months at a time) and every migraine medication made me worse and my headache specialist ran out of things to try. We literally tried all the medications, diet, lifestyle, surgeries, botox, massage, alternative therapies like accupuncture, chiropractic, myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, even hospitalization and nothing worked. He suggested that I try eliminating anything and everything artificial from my diet, and anything else that I came into contact with (dish soap, laundry detergent, things used on skin, toothpaste, etc). I really enjoy finding recipes and ideas on the internet and custom making my own body butter, lip balm, facial serums, etc. They are so much nicer and more effective than anything I could buy and also much, much cheaper than most natural or organic products that have ingredients that are less effective for me or even have a bad smell or a bad "feel" to them. Making my own allows me to get these products instantly without having to leave my house, especially when I have a migraine, save a ton of money and to know exactly what I am putting on, and therefore into, my body. I was amazed to learn how many products do not have a full list of ingredients on the label and just how fast products absorb into your bloodstream after contacting your skin. Making my products has been great and although I enjoy chocolate and the smell of it, I began to wonder if cocoa butter could affect my migraines in a negative way. Not wanting to chance it, I decided to look for alternatives, One of the best subs I found was mango butter and it's also really great for eczema, which is a bonus, as I also suffer from pretty bad eczema on a regular basis.
The Product:
This is the only mango butter I have used, mainly because there aren't a lot of sellers carrying it on Amazon and I love being able to get fast, free shipping with my Prime subscription and being able to benefit from the reviews that others use. Obviously I can't compare this mango butter to other products, but besides the great reviews and the fact that it is pure and unrefined without having a smell to it (so it doesn't affect the scent of your final product) and it comes in chunks in a large sturdy plastic jar. After using my first jar up in one day, I ordered two more. I even used the empty jar to store some shea butter I had recently bought that came in a bag that you had to cut open and could not be resealed. When I was first purchasing products, I followed the advice of another reviewer and ordered a particular brand of cocoa butter because it was solid cocoa butter all the way to the top of the jar so you got more product for your money. It seemed like good advice until I realized that unlike coconut oil or shea butter, it was incredibly hard to get the cocoa butter out of the jar. First I set it on the patio in the sun on a hot day, but it didn't get even a tiny bit softer, even after several hours. Then I tried using a butter knife to scrape pieces off of the top, but not only did I have to use quite a bit of force, but the pieces were so small that they weren't even as big as a grain of rice, so that was no good. Third I put it in the microwave, which started sparking because a small piece of the original seal was still attached to it and apparently had some metal in it (which was not obvious). After that, I boiled some water in a pot and put the jar into the water, holding it up with a pair of tongs. I made sure to keep the threads of the jar above the water so that they wouldn't warp. After quite a bit of time, the cocoa butter still hadn't even softened on the outside, but the jar was getting quite pliable and was about to warp, so I removed it from the hot water. After all of that, the only thing I could think of would be to use some sort of tools, like a flat head screwdriver and a hammer to break it up and possibly destroy the container in the process. With my husband working a great deal of overtime and my having two bad shoulders, I gave up, ordered a different brand that came in chunks, and gave the first cocoa butter away. I don't know if I just got a bad batch, but I have sworn off getting full tubs of hard butters. I find it is a lot easier to get a bit less product in order to just pull out pieces quickly without having to go through a bunch of steps to just get the product out of the container. I like getting full tubs of soft things, like shea or avocado butter, but when it comes to hard butters, like cocoa and mango, I think it is best to buy one that comes in easy to use chunks. If you would rather take out your aggressions on something to save a little money, then you'll be happier with a different brand, but for me, it's just not worth it.
Plant Guru Mango Butter
