Alright, let me tell you about this thing I tried recently, someone called it ‘shea ili’. Sounds a bit fancy, maybe? Honestly, I first heard the name from my neighbor, Mrs. Gable, bless her heart. She mentioned it over the fence one day while talking about her dry garden hands. Said her cousin swore by ‘shea ili’. I’d never heard of the ‘ili’ part. Shea butter, sure, everyone knows that stuff.
So, I got curious. You know how it is. Sounded like one of those homemade remedies. My hands get pretty rough in the winter too, always messing with tools in the garage or doing dishes. So, I thought, why not give it a whirl? Couldn’t hurt, right?
Figuring Out What ‘Shea Ili’ Even Was
First step, I tried looking up ‘shea ili’. Found pretty much nothing solid. Lots about shea butter, obviously, but the ‘ili’ part? Zilch. Nada. It felt like chasing a ghost. Was it a brand? A place? Some secret ingredient? Who knows. Mrs. Gable wasn’t much help either, just shrugged and said “that’s what they call it.”
So, I decided to just wing it. I figured the ‘shea’ part was straightforward. Got myself a tub of raw, unrefined shea butter. Stuff’s hard as a rock at room temperature, by the way. First challenge right there.
For the ‘ili’ part, I had to guess. I thought maybe it’s some kind of oil? Or maybe a powder? I had some almond oil lying around, and some old vitamin E capsules. Seemed like a safe bet. People mix oils with shea butter all the time.
Getting My Hands Dirty (Literally)
Okay, the actual doing part. First, dealing with that block of shea butter. I tried warming a chunk between my hands. Took forever and made my palms super greasy. Not ideal.
Then I remembered something about a double boiler. Didn’t have a proper one, so I just put a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water. Put the shea chunk in the bowl. Success! It melted down nice and slow into a golden liquid. Smelled nutty, kinda earthy.
Next, the ‘ili’ experiment. I poured a bit of the melted shea into a small jar. Added a few drops of almond oil. Stirred it up. Let it cool on the counter.
- Attempt 1: Shea + Almond Oil. Result? Still kinda greasy when I tried it later. And it solidified weirdly, kinda grainy. Not great.
- Attempt 2: Shea + Poked a Vitamin E capsule and squeezed the goo in. Stirred. Cooled. Result? Felt okay, maybe slightly better, but still not amazing. The texture was off.
- Attempt 3: Went back to basics. Just the melted shea. But this time, as it started cooling but was still soft, I whipped it. Like, with a fork first, then a small electric whisk I use for milk foam. Big difference! It got lighter, creamier.
Then I thought, maybe ‘ili’ isn’t an ingredient but part of the process? Or maybe just a very specific, light oil. I tried one more time: melted shea, let it cool slightly, added just a tiny splash of jojoba oil I found in the back of the bathroom cabinet (felt lighter than almond oil), and then whipped the heck out of it as it cooled completely.
So, What Happened?
Well, that last attempt? That was the keeper. The whipped texture made it way easier to scoop and spread. It absorbed better than the plain shea or the greasy almond oil mix. Still shea butter, mind you, so it leaves a bit of a barrier, but it felt nicer.
I’ve been using this ‘shea ili’ concoction – my version, anyway – on my knuckles and elbows. It does a decent job. Is it some miracle cure? Nah. It’s basically just whipped shea butter with a touch of jojoba oil. Took some trial and error, made a bit of a mess melting and whipping stuff.
Honestly, the biggest thing wasn’t the final product. It was the process. Trying to figure out this vague term, experimenting, finding a method that worked. It’s satisfying making something yourself, even if it’s simple. But yeah, ‘shea ili’ itself? Probably just a fancy name someone made up for whipped shea butter, maybe with their own favorite oil mixed in. It’s not rocket science, just takes a bit of patience and willingness to clean up greasy bowls.
