Handcrafted Unrefined Shea Butter Shea Butter is the oil from the nuts of wild Shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) scattered throughout the wooded savanna of West and Central Africa. Shea Butter has been used for centuries in Africa and is completely enmeshed within the history and culture of the West African savanna. Shea Butter is mentioned in almost all African historical documents, including a reference as early as Cleopatra's Egypt, which mentions caravans bearing clay jars of Shea Butter for cosmetic use. Funeral beds of kings were carved in the wood of old Shea Trees, and Shea Butter has always been a staple of African pharmacology. |  |
|
Indigenous Knowledge for Skin Care Shea Butter has been used for centuries in Africa as a decongestant, an anti-inflammatory for sprains and arthritis, healing salve, lotion for hair and skin care, and cooking oil. However, the protective and emollient properties of Shea Butter are most valued for skin care. In recent clinical trials, Shea Butter was found to help to protect skin against climate and UV aggressions, prevent wrinkle formation, soothe irritated and chapped skin, and moisturize the epidermis. Shea Butter also enhances cell regeneration and capillary circulation, which helps prevent and minimize stretch marks, inflammations, and scarring.
Handcrafted & unrefined Shea Butter contains the maximum amount of healing and moisturizing properties. Chemically extracted and refined Shea Butter is white and odorless and has reduced beneficial properties.
Only pure, unrefined Shea Butter has the true healing and moisturizing properties of Shea Butter. Most Shea Butter available to the general public outside West Africa is white and odorless: in other words, it has been "refined" to remove the natural scent and color of natural Shea Butter. In the process, the majority of the effective agents are also removed.
In addition, refined Shea Butter has usually been extracted from the shea kernels with hexane or other petroleum solvents. The extracted oil is boiled to drive off the toxic solvents, and then refined, bleached, and deodorized, which involves heating it to over 400¡F and the use of harsh chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide.
Shea Butter extracted in this manner still contains some undesirable solvent residues, and its healing values are significantly reduced. Antioxidants or preservatives such as BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) or BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) may be added as well. The end result is an odorless, white butter that may be aesthetically appealing, but lacks the true moisturizing, healing, and nutritive properties of true traditional Shea Butter.
In addition, refined Shea Butter is often hard and grainy, not smooth and creamy like pure, unrefined Shea Butter. All that can be said for refined Shea Butter is that it has an extended shelf life, a white, uniform color, no odor, and greatly reduced therapeutic benefits from the Shea Butter.
All of the oils and butters used in the shea butter products on this site are handcrafted and unrefined so they retain their natural healing and moisturizing properties. |
|
Try Shea Butter on these conditions: * Wrinkles
* Dry Skin
* Psoriasis
* Massage
* Hair care
* Stretch marks
* Burns
* Arthritis
* Chapped lips
* Sun damage
* Cracked and dry heels or elbows
* Small wounds and scrapes
* Diaper rash (prevention and relief)
* Insect bites & stings
* Muscle fatigue, aches & tension
* Pets (skin infections, dry skin & coats) |
|
How To Use Shea Butter For direct application to the skin, take a small amount in the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together to warm up the butter until it is smooth and liquid. Then apply to your skin. If you are concerned about an oily feeling, use only a small amount or apply the Shea Butter before going to bed. Shea Butter absorbs quickly into the skin, but there will be a few minutes that it feels oily. Shea Butter can also be applied to your hair. Some people apply it before washing to protect the hair from harsh shampoos. It can also be applied after washing as a conditioner. Apply it in the same manner as to the skin. |
|
| How Our Shea Butter is Made: Crafting Shea Butter in Togo |
|
 | Shea trees grow wild throughout the savannas of central and northern Togo. |
|
 | Shea leaves have a very distinctive shape and are very easily recognized. Shea trees never lose their leaves all at once, and so are a welcome source of shade during the dry season. |
|
 |
Shea fruits ripen on wild shea trees scattered throughout the savannas of central and northern Togo. When the fruits are ripe, they fall to the ground. |
|
 | Harvesting ripe shea fruits is back breaking labor perfomed by women, children and the elderly. Often, the collected fruits are carried on the head back to villages and towns, a distance of up to 15 kilometers (8 miles) or more. |
|
 | Shea nuts freshly gathered from under the shea trees. The fruit has usually dried up and fallen off before the nuts are gathered. |
|
 | The shells are removed from the dried shea nuts. Depending on the season, shea nuts are cracked by hand or steamed to extract the kernel. This laborious work is usually done by older women and children. After this, the shea kernels are spread to dry once more before they are washed and stored. |
|
 | Shea nuts are spread to dry in the sun after they have been steamed slightly to loosen the kernel from the shell. |
|
 | The shea kernels are washed clean of dust and debris with clean, potable water. |
|
 | The washed shea kernels are spread to dry in the sun once more before they are stored in our warehouses. |
|
 | The washed and dried shea kernels are carefully inspected before being placed in sacks to be stored in the warehouses. Any kernels showing signs of mold or other decay are removed. |
|
 | Shea kernels are carefully selected and measured for the day's production. |
|
 | The nuts are grilled in a process to remove water content before grinding the nuts into a paste. Seperating the water from the oil results in longer shelf life. |
|
 | Grinding the Shea nuts, a less labor intensive method than traditional method of hand-grinding the nuts to paste. |
|
 | The shea kernel powder is placed in a clean basin and mixed with clear, potable water. The shea mixture is whipped by hand until the color changes. The kneading process takes anywhere from one to three hours. |
|
 | The kneading process takes anywhere from one to three hours. In this picture, the mixture is just about ready for the next step. |
|
 | When white spots appear, warm water is added. This causes the shea fats to rise to the surface and separate from the non-oil partition. |
|
 | The shea fats are collected and heated slightly to remove any remaining moisture. The time from selecting the nuts until this step takes from 10 to 14 hours. |
|
 | The warm Shea oil is poured through a screen to seperate any remaining non-oil substance or particulate matter. Then, the clear oil is gravity filtered into clean basins to cool. |
|
 | After the shea oil has cooled down, it is stirred very carefully to initialize the crystallization process and form the Shea Butter. This part of the process is very critical and requires a lot of experience. The stirring process is crucial in making a creamy Shea Butter, as it helps the crystals align as the butter solidifies. |
|
 | The final step is to pour the partially crystallized butter into our containers, where it continues to crystallize. The containers are stored in cool storage rooms until they are shipped to distribution centers. |
|
 | The finished product. Pure Shea Butter is a solid at room temperature, and melts at body temperature. |
|
 | The unused parts of the Shea nut, called "Dechat," are spread on the ground to dry. This is added to our soaps as an exfoliant and used as fertilizer in fields, recycling every part of the nut. |
|
