Shea Butter Benefits

Shea Butter is the oil from the nuts of wild Shea trees  scattered throughout the wooded savannas of West and Central Africa.  Shea Butter is mentioned in almost all African historical documents, including a reference as early as Cleopatras Egypt, which mentions caravans bearing clay jars of Shea Butter for cosmetic use. Shea butter is a natural product and, like cocoa butter, its texture and color will vary from batch to batch, tree to tree.  Pure shea butter is white or ivory in color and does not smell unpleasant.  Raw shea butter is extracted using water.  The first choice in natural skin care and fine body care products, this butter forms a breathable, water-resistant film and is the leading natural product for moisturizing; Shea Butter is a superior moisturizer.  While shea butter is used in lotions, shampoos, moisturizers, bubble baths, soap and other cosmetic products, but it is also use as a cooking oil in many parts of the world.

Unrefined shea butter contains an abundance of healing ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, proteins and a unique fatty acid profile, and is a superior active moisturizer.  This organic, fairly traded shea butter is unrefined which leaves all the beneficial properties intact.  Unrefined shea butter does not contain preservatives or chemicals.  In addition, refined Shea Butter is often hard and grainy, not smooth and creamy like pure, unrefined Shea Butter.  The first choice in natural skin care and fine body care products, this butter forms a breathable, water-resistant film and is the leading natural product for moisturizing; Shea Butter is a superior moisturizer.  While shea butter is used in lotions, shampoos, moisturizers, bubble baths, soap and other cosmetic products, but it is also use as a cooking oil in many parts of the world.

Shea butter has also been used for decades in cosmetics, and valued for its emollient properties and ability to treat irritated skin.  Shea butter can also be used as a hair conditioner, as a way to prevent sunburn pain, to soothe cracked, dry feet and hands, especially during those skin-drying winter months or for those of you who live in a dry climate.  Whipped Shea Butter can be made by those who know which combinations of oils and this butter can be whipped together to create that natural moisturizer your skin needs and yet not be too heavy/greasy.

According to noted soap maker/author Susan Miller Cavitch, in her 1995 book ‘The Natural Soap Book’, writes: Shea butter is gentle enough for babies and people with sensitive skin.  Since shea butter is non-toxic, soaps containing shea butter as a main ingredient are ideal for those with eczema, dermatitis and other skin conditions. The Shea butter soap has many skin benefiting vitamins including large amounts of vitamin A and vitamin E. Because Vitamin A helps in the rebuilding of damages skin cells you will find this wonderful product is great or reducing scarring, wrinkles and skin blemishes. Vitamin E is an antioxidant keeping the skin safe from harmful free radicals. In addition the skin readily absorbs Shea butter without leaving an excess oily coating.

Shea butter is one of the most valued skin care emollients in the world, with unsurpassed moisturizing and therapeutic properties. It’s extracted from the fruit of the karate tree, found in the savannah region of West Africa. Unrefined African shea butter is considered most beneficial because it contains a high percentage of unsaponifiables, which are components of substances that provide the most conditioning, moisturizing, and caring agents. Since it is edible, shea butter is sometimes used as cooking oil and as a substitute for cocoa butter. Historically and indigenously, African shea butter has been used in ceremonious rites. Ugandan soldiers applied shea butter to the skin because it was believed to stop bullets. African carvers use shea butter to condition wood and animal skins used to make drums. Shea butter is gaining popularity in the esthetic community, confirming what ancient peoples have known for centuries. It’s now among the most sought-after skin and hair care products in the world.

African shea butter contains:

• Vitamin A, a powerful antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory now famous for treating acne as well as wrinkles and dark spots from sun damage

• Vitamin E, known for its scar-reducing, antioxidant, and anti-aging properties (and also essential for Vitamin A absorption)

• Vitamin F, an anti-inflammatory Essential Fatty Acid

Properties and Uses of African Shea Butter

African shea butter provides a multitude of benefits when used on the skin. Besides adding and retaining moisture, shea butter -

• provides natural sun protection

• firms the skin and helps fill wrinkles and lighten the appearance of hyper pigmentation (skin discolorations such as dark spots and age spots)

• conditions and protects hair and scalp, fights dandruff, prevents hair breakage, and provides a petroleum-free shine to hair

• soothes the pain of rheumatism and arthritis

• is used in the treatment and prevention of skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and minor skin rashes

• heals the chafing, chapping, and cracking of extremely dry skin

• calms minor skin irritations such as burns and insect bites

• softens the appearance of scarring and stretch marks

African shea butter is considered the “King” of all skin care ingredients for its remarkable range of benefits.