We’ve been in search for body lotions and butters that offer protection during these cold winter months. It’s been tough to find body lotions that don’t dissipate after a few hours, leaving our legs dry as dust. Bleh! We don’t like winter.

Fortunately, we found Nubian Heritage Body Lotion during our last Sprouts shopping trip, and this stuff is divine. The secret ingredient that built this brand? Shea butter.

Shea butter is a fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. It has anti-inflammatory and healing properties and is a luxurious moisturizer for the skin.

We selected two of the Nubian lotions to try: Indian Hemp & Haitian Vetiver with Neem oil, and Coconut & Papaya, which uses Coconut oil.

Neem oil comes from the seed of a tropical neem tree, also known as Indian lilac. Used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine to treat conditions ranging from ulcers to fungal infections, it also is rich in fatty acids that help support healthy skin, making it a popular in skin care products.

We found both lotions to be very thick, much like a body butter. In fact, it was hard to get the lotion out of the bottle, so we stored it upside down and unscrewed the cap to dispense. Much easier. But we love the thick texture and the way it protects our skin. No more scales on the legs!

The Indian Hemp was by far our favorite. It had a clean, fresh scent to it. The Coconut & Papaya smelled much sweeter, which was fine in the bottle, but almost overbearing once we applied it to our skin. (My two Italian Greyhounds avoided me the night I used the Coconut & Papaya lotion. It was overpowering and their sensitive noses couldn’t take it.)

We love the story behind the company, which started as a street vendor business in Harlem. That was in 1992. With a lot of passion about their products and their culture, co-founders Richelieu Dennis, Nyema Tubman and Mary Dennis built a brand and product line that is now available in Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, Wegmans, Sprouts, Pharmaca and independent health food stores. They believe in the power of commerce to change the world and ethically source the shea butter used in their products. For more information on this incredible company, click here.