Shea Butter

The Shea tree grows wild in West Africa and the butter is made from the Shea nuts.

The fairly traded Shea butter in our products is produced by a women’s co-operative in northern Ghana.

Protective and healing properties and is great for dry, sore skin
Anti-ageing emollient rich in phytosterols to stimulates cell growth
Has excellent moisturising and nourishing properties
Rich in vitamins A & E and essential fatty acids
Naturally occurring antioxidants help fight free radicals to keep skin healthy and avoid premature ageing

Also known as: Butyrospermum parkii butter

Consistency

Shea butter is an off- white or ivory-colored fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. Shea butter is a triglyceride derived mainly from stearic acid and oleic acid. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion.

The traditional method of preparing unrefined shea butter consists of the following steps:

Traditional preparation of shea butter, MaliSeparating/cracking: The outer pulp of the fruit is removed. When dry, the nut, which is the source of shea butter, must be separated from the outer shell. This is a social activity, traditionally done by Women Elders and young girls who sit on the ground and break the shells with small rocks.
Crushing: To make the shea nuts into butter, they must be crushed. Traditionally, this is done with mortars and pestles. It requires lifting the pestles and grinding the nuts into the mortars to crush the nuts so they can be roasted.
Roasting: The crushed nuts are then roasted in huge pots over open, wood fires. The pots must be stirred constantly with wooden paddles so the butter does not burn. The butter is heavy and stirring it is hot, smoky work, done under the sun. This is where the slight smoky smell of traditional shea butter originates.
Grinding: The roasted shea nuts are ground into a smoother paste, water is gradually added and the paste is mixed well by hand.
Separating the oils: The paste is kneaded by hand in large basins and water is gradually added to help separate out the butter oils. As they float to the top, the butter oils, which are in a curd state, are removed and excess water squeezed out. The butter oil curds are then melted in large open pots over slow fires. A period of slow boiling will remove any remaining water, by evaporation.
Collecting and shaping: The shea butter, which is creamy or golden yellow at this point, is ladled from the top of the pots and put in cool places to harden. Then it is formed into balls.

Industrially, a mechanical sheller such as the Universal Nut Sheller may be used. The refined butter may be extracted with chemicals such as hexane, or by clay filtering.

Composition:

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that melts at body temperature.

Proponents of its use for skin care maintain that it absorbs rapidly into the skin, acts as a "refatting" agent, and has good water-binding properties.

The history of shea as a precious commodity can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, where shea butter was and continues to be used to protect the hair and skin against the fierce sun and the hot dry winds of African deserts and savannah.