Out Of Africa

I recently discovered the Out of Africa products upon my last visit to Fresh Market, when looking for Shea Butter. I’m so glad I grabbed this brand! I can’t say enough about how much I love ALL of their Shea Butter products. As soon as I tried a couple from the market I immediately went online and ordered almost every kind of product. My son has very sensitive dry skin and the raw Shea butter is awesome because it has no chemicals in it and it has helped tremendously. Every winter here in the mid Atlantic my hands crack and bleed, but this year the Hand Cream and whipped body cream have saved them. My hands look awesome. Also when you order they will send three samples of other products, the sample exfoliating soap bar has me sold. Love it and would recommend to everyone!!’

I absolutely love out of Africa products! I’ve tried nearly everyone and I’m totally crazy for their hand creams especially olive and their raw Shea butter. I really like their body oils too because they don’t absorb super quickly so I can massage me and my bfs skin for longer. Also, you really can’t beat the price compared to other Shea butter companies.

I LOVE everything about Out of Africa and their products! Where shall I start first? I have tried the shea butter tins, the shower gel, the lotions and the hand cream. All are amazing. As a beauty product junkie (Bath & Body Works, L’Occitane, VRAI (Fragonard), pure avocado oil, coconut oil, etc – you get the picture), I pride myself on how well I treat my skin. After all, we only have the skin we’re in and we must care for it, and care for it well!
When I was introduced to Out of Africa’s products, I found the shea butter to be wonderful. For it to be unrefined, it’s very easy to use. Simply rubbing your hands together melts the shea and makes the application simple and easy. Shea is absorbed into the skin quickly, and a little goes a long way. Its age-​fighting properties are great. I use it all over my body and in my hair.
I find the price point of Out of Africa products to be great, and more importantly than all of that, Out of Africa has a school in West Africa (Benin, I believe) and a percentage of the proceeds go to the school. Fantastic product AND socially responsible company. For those two reasons alone I will continue to support this company as long as it is in existence!
Also, I’ve given Out Of Africa products as gifts and the recipients loved them. One was a new Mom at the time and used it on her newborn.

The manufacturer provided me a tin of Out of Africa Shea raw shea butter to review.
I was instructed by the manufacturer how to apply the product. I used the product as instructed. The product packaging uses terms such as «absorbs easily», «no greasy residue» and in other packaging, «never sticky or greasy» however I found that these claims to be farthest from the truth.
I used the product on my face. I do not have oily skin. The Out of Africa raw shea butter left a sticky residue on my hands which I had to use soap to eliminate and left a greasy residue on my face which lasted all day. So much grease on the surface of my skin that my skin was shiny and I had an oily residue. The product did not make my skin look healthy, it made my skin look unwashed. Additionally the Shea Butter is very unpleasant to work with.
In addition I used several other Out of Africa Shea products, including a Geranium Shea Body Wash, This product did not wash off well and the scent is absolutely disgusting.
The washes and lotions are typical products whose ingredients, except the shea, you may buy from any number of other companies. There are manufacturers who make the bases of these products and companies can add just slap your label on it… Nothing Special.
I found the packaging to be of very poor quality. Almost every pump bottle broke and if it did not break, the pumps could not pump all the product out of the bottle leaving significant waste.
If you are looking for high quality skin care products for yourself, there are other and better Shea butter products on the market. If you want to give a cheap gift in a office grab bag, then Out of Africa Shea is a good choice.

Uh oh, Karate Lips (
), there might be a new Shea-​riff in town. At ¹⁄₃ the price and with a touted higher % shea butter than the only prior lip balm to sate my legendary lips, there may be a coup in the works.
The ingredient rosters are nearly identical (
), so I don’t know what accounts for the drastic price difference. What I can tell you off the bat is that Africa applies a mite greasier whereas Karate goes on creamier. It’s not enough to really tell the difference, unless you’re trying to win a blindfold test or if you have professional grade lips like mine.