Sanoun Journal · September 2026
How to Read a Shea Butter Label
I grew up in Mali, where unrefined shea butter was the standard. It was the shea butter I knew. When I put Raw Shea Butter on our jar, those words made sense to me.
I did not realize how differently shea butter could be presented elsewhere, or how loosely the words around it could be used. It took time and experience for me to understand that what felt clear to me was not necessarily clear to someone choosing a jar.
I had brought my own understanding to the label and assumed it would carry across. Now I see why it needs to be more explicit.
What the ingredient name tells you
On many cosmetic labels, shea butter appears as Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter. That is shea butter, even if the name is unfamiliar.
Both refined and unrefined shea can use that same ingredient name. Reading it tells you that the product contains shea butter. It does not tell you which version.
For shea butter on its own, look for an ingredient list containing only shea butter. If water, other oils, fragrance, or other ingredients are listed, they are part of the product you are choosing, too.
The ingredient list answers what is in the jar. To know whether the shea is unrefined, you need one more word.
The word to look for is unrefined
When you want unrefined shea butter, look for the word unrefined. A brand offering it should say so on the label or in the product description.
Unrefined means the butter has not gone through refining steps such as bleaching and deodorizing. If you would like to understand those differences more closely, I have written about them in The Truth About Shea Butter.
The other words can leave room for interpretation. Pure may tell you that nothing else has been added, but shea butter can be pure and still be refined. Natural does not tell you whether it has been refined. And raw, the word on our own jar, does not communicate the same precise meaning to everyone.
This is what I came to understand: I knew what was in our jar, but I needed to name it in a way that did not depend on someone sharing my background.
If you cannot find the word unrefined on the label or in the description, ask the brand. The ingredient name alone cannot answer that question.
Why our own label is changing
Our current jar says Raw Shea Butter. The new one will say Unrefined Shea Butter, explicitly on the front, where I now believe it belongs.
What once made sense to me no longer says enough. As my understanding has grown, the words on our jar need to grow with it.
The new label is still being designed, so the jar you have may still say raw. The butter itself is staying the same: single-origin, unrefined shea from Bougouni, Mali, made by the Toulou Nafama cooperative.
That connection is where Sanoun began, and it is still what I want to share with you. You can read more about the place shea holds in Malian family life in Food First: What Raw Shea Butter Really Is.
I want you to be able to read our jar and know what you are choosing. Putting unrefined on the front is a small change in words, but it comes from something I have had to learn.
Nina
Founder, Sanoun
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