Shea butter is a wonderful body product that's a favorite for many! The butter is appreciated for its moisturizing effect and its "healing" effect on conditions like eczema and other skin problems. It's frequently used on adults, children, and babies alike. It can be used as is or mixed with other butters or oils. Additionally, it works on most body parts and doesn't clog pores.
But where does shea butter actually come from?
Shea butter is the fat from the nuts of the wild Shea tree/Karite Nut Tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) found in semi-arid savannas in western and central Africa where there is an abundance of local and traditional knowledge about how to produce and use shea butter. The tree on which the shea nuts grow can live up to 300 years. Almost all parts of the tree have some practical use. The inhabitants themselves call the shea tree the "tree of life". Flower clusters on the tree develop into fruit clusters, and the ripe fruits fall to the ground.Inside the outer shell is the fruit kernel (shea nut). Traditionally, it is the women who collect the fruit and do the time-consuming work of extracting the fat from the nuts. The process of making shea butter is lengthy. First, the outer fruit pulp must be removed, then the nuts are boiled, then crushed, then sun-dried, and finally they are roasted and ground before becoming butter.
That's why it's called woman's gold
Both Fushi's and Akamuti's shea butter come from Ghana in West Africa and are produced by women's cooperatives. Shea butter is a valuable source of income for these people, and the fair trade price allows them to build better amenities for their communities and finance renewable energy projects. In communities where women otherwise have very limited opportunities to earn their own income, this is extremely important both for their own dignity and their position in society. That's why shea butter is often called: "Woman's gold". And the shea butter we sell is wild-harvested, meaning the population uses harvesting and manufacturing techniques that have been used for many thousands of years.
What is the difference between refined and unrefined shea butter?
Processed shea butter is usually extracted with hexane or other solvents that are petroleum products.The extracted oil is boiled to drive off the toxic solvents and then it is refined.Refining can include filtering, deodorizing with hot steam, purification with acids and alkalis, bleaching with absorbent powder, and removal of wax residues with cold.The scent in particular is removed.Shea cream extracted in this way still contains unwanted solvent residues, and its healing effects are of course significantly reduced or perhaps not present at all.The end result is an odorless, white butter that may be aesthetically pleasing, but lacks the moisturizing, healing, and nourishing properties found in unrefined, organic shea butter.
