Grainy Butters Explained
Have you ever noticed that your favourite natural skincare balm or cleansing butter feels slightly grainy? Yup - here's looking at you Carrot & Mango Cleansing Butter.
You're not alone! This graininess is more common in natural skincare products, especially those rich in luxurious, nourishing ingredients like mango butter, shea butter, and cocoa butter. But don't worry—graininess doesn't mean your product is defective or spoiled. Here's why it happens and what you can do about it.
Why Do Natural Butters Become Grainy?
Natural butters such as mango butter, shea butter, and cocoa butter are packed full of fatty acids. These fatty acids have different melting points. When your butter-based product experiences changes in temperature—perhaps being warmed in transit or cooled in your bathroom cabinet—the fatty acids can melt and then recrystallise at different rates. This process is completely natural and results in the tiny grain-like texture you sometimes feel.
When making our products at The Rose Tree, we use a controlled cooling process to ensure our cleansing butters have a consistently lovely, creamy texture. However, during transit—especially in warmer weather or summer months—the balms can melt and reset, causing this grainy feel. Which can be annoying.
Is Graininess Bad for Your Skin?
Not at all! A grainy texture doesn't affect the quality, effectiveness, or safety of your skincare product. Once you apply the balm or cleansing butter to your skin, these grains melt easily, delivering all the nourishing, moisturising benefits your skin loves.
While we could use artificial additives to prevent graininess, this is something we choose not to do, as we prefer our products to remain completely natural and free from synthetic ingredients.
How Can You Smooth Out Grainy Butters?
We understand that tiny grains in love lovely buttery Balm is not ideal but often there's an easy fix:
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Warm the Product in Your Hands: Gently warm your cleansing butter between your fingers or palms before applying it to your face. The heat from your skin helps melt the grains quickly, creating a smooth and creamy texture again.
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Gently Melt and Reset: You can gently warm your jar of cleansing butter in a bain-marie (a pan of water) until it melts completely (ensure the lid is tightly sealed to prevent water entry). Then, cool the jar rapidly by placing it in the freezer for around 30 minutes. Once brought back to room temperature, the butter should have its original soft, creamy texture.
Our Carrot & Mango Cleansing Butter
At The Rose Tree, we use all natural ingredients, carefully blended to nourish and soothe your skin. Our best-selling Carrot & Mango Cleansing Butter is rich in mango butter, known for its soothing, antioxidant-rich properties. Occasional graininess can occur due to temperature changes, but as we've explained, it's entirely normal and harmless.
So next time you notice your favourite cleansing butter feeling a little grainy, remember—it's simply a natural part of using genuinely natural skincare. Warm, apply, and enjoy the beautiful, glowing skin that follows! But also feel free to reach out if your Cleansing Butter is being a little diva like - we will do everything we can to address the situation.
Olga xx
