Which TBA Scent to Choose: A Simple Guide

Which TBA scent to choose usually comes down to two things: how you want it to feel going on, and how sensitive your skin is to fragrance. All four of our whipped shea butter scents share the exact same base formula. The only thing that changes between them is which essential oil goes in, or whether one goes in at all.

Vanilla

Vanilla leans warm rather than sweet, closer to what you'd smell cutting into a real vanilla bean than a candle-aisle fragrance. It pairs well with the shea butter's own nutty undertone instead of covering it up, which is part of why it can smell a little different jar to jar depending on how present that natural shea scent is underneath it. If you're new to the brand and not sure where to start, Vanilla is the safest first jar, and it's the one we'd suggest gifting if you're not sure what someone else prefers.

Lavender

Lavender is where we started, and it's still one of our most popular scents. It reads as calming and soft rather than sweet or sharp, which is part of why it works well as an evening or wind-down product for a lot of people, and it's the scent our earliest customers still ask for by name.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit brings a brighter, more citrus-forward scent to the same base formula, without leaning sharp or overly acidic the way some citrus scents can. It tends to suit people who want something that feels more energizing to apply, especially earlier in the day or before a workout. The essential oil itself is what carries that citrus note; nothing about the base formula changes to create it.

Unscented

Unscented skips the essential oil entirely, which means it's down to three ingredients instead of four. It's the version we point people toward first if they have sensitive skin, fragrance sensitivities, or just prefer the natural, understated smell of the shea butter itself. It's also the most neutral option if you're layering it under a separate perfume or fragranced product and don't want scents competing.

Choosing based on skin, not just scent

If fragrance sensitivity is a bigger factor for you than scent preference, start with Unscented regardless of which fragrance profile appeals to you, since it's the only version with three ingredients instead of four. For everyone else, this really is a preference call, not a performance one: the moisture, absorption, and ingredient list are identical across all four, so there's no scent that works "better" in a functional sense, only one that fits how you want the experience to feel. Whichever you pick, the formula underneath, and everything it does for your skin, stays exactly the same.

Which TBA scent should I choose?

All four share the same base formula, so the choice comes down to scent preference and skin sensitivity. Lavender is calming, Grapefruit is bright and citrusy, Vanilla is warm, and Unscented drops the essential oil entirely for sensitive skin or fragrance-free preference.