Natural Heroes 701. Shea Butter (Organic and Unrefined)

What is Shea butter (Organic and Unrefined)?

Shea Butter is also called Shea butter or Karité butter. It is a wonderful moisturizing butter for skin and hair. The Latin name is Butyrospermum Parkii.

Shea Butter is made from the nuts of the Shea tree / Karité tree. This tree is also known as the Tree of Life, due to its many special properties.

Shea trees come from the African Savanna, and most Shea is still made in this region. It has also been used in Africa for years, for everything! For skin care, hair care, and as a home remedy. In the Netherlands, this Shea Butter is fortunately becoming more and more known.

Shea Butter consists, among other things, of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids with a high percentage of unsaponified triglycerides, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid, provitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin F and Allantoin.

At room temperature, the butter is quite hard, but in your hands, it melts into a wonderful butter and provides intense hydration to the skin. How is Shea Butter made?

Shea Butter is made from the nuts of the Shea tree. Producing Shea Butter is a whole process. First of all, you need a lot of patience. The tree only produces its first fruits after 20 years, and it takes 45 years to harvest a large quantity of fruits. However, the tree can grow for over 200 years.

To make Shea Butter, the husk of the nut is first cracked from the fruit. Here, the nuts are washed and dried. Once this is done, the nuts are cracked and roasted. Then the nuts are ground so finely that a dark-coloured paste is formed.

This paste is kneaded for hours (by hand) and purified with clean water. After this, the butter is gently heated until the fresh Shea Butter floats to the top. This layer is skimmed off and dried until it becomes the Shea Butter you find in the jar.

Benefits of Shea butter

Where to begin? Shea butter has so many benefits!

Especially for dry, sensitive, irritated, flaky, red, rough, and mature skin, but hair also benefits greatly from Shea butter. For example, Shea Butter is good for pregnancy stretch marks, wrinkles, scars, and chapped skin.

Shea Butter helps the skin retain moisture, stimulates good blood circulation, and is a natural antioxidant.

Protects the skin (barrier)
Shea Butter contains many fatty acids such as stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid. These fatty acids occur naturally in our skin. When you apply Shea Butter to the skin, it forms a protective layer, making it harder for moisture to escape from the skin.

Hydrates the skin
Shea Butter intensely hydrates the skin! The essential fatty acids and vitamins A, E, and F in Shea Butter ensure supple and hydrated skin.

Reduces fine lines
Shea Butter stimulates cell renewal, keeps the skin supple, and nourishes the skin. Vitamin A in Shea Butter stimulates cell division and collagen production, which improves skin elasticity and condition.

Healing and soothing
Shea Butter has a healing effect on dry, red skin and soothes itching. Among other things, Vitamin F provides a restorative effect for the skin, making this butter excellent for use on sunburnt skin (after sun exposure).

How do you use Shea Butter?

Use Shea Butter purely on the skin or incorporate it into your homemade care products.

It is a fantastic eye cream, lip balm, hand cream, body butter, pregnancy cream, scar cream, or hair mask.

Tips for using Shea Butter

• Shea Butter is a fairly hard substance. You can rub a little in your hand, and the Shea Butter will melt and become a buttery substance. You can then apply this to your face or body.

• If you have difficulty getting the Shea Butter out of the jar, you can heat it up by placing the jar on a heater or in a hot water bath.

• Do you want to make the Shea Butter softer and easier to spread? You can gently heat it in a bain-marie and add another carrier oil. Do not heat above 30 degrees, as it will lose some of its good properties.
  Shea Butter has a nutty, smoky scent. If you don't like this, you can add your favourite essential oils.

What is the difference with Shea Nilotica?

Shea Butter (Vitellaria Parodoxa) comes from West Africa and from a different type of tree than Shea Nilotica (Vitellaria Nilotica), which mainly grows in East Africa.

Shea Butter has a different scent because the nuts are boiled. This releases more aroma and is sometimes perceived as a smoky scent. The nuts for Shea Nilotica are cold-pressed, which releases less scent.

What is the difference with Shea Butter (refined)?

Refined means that the scent and colour have been removed from the product through a factory process. This may result in some vitamins being lost, but it retains its effectiveness. These products are often used for cosmetics or by customers who want to use a fragrance-free product.

 Side effects of Shea butter

For people with a nut allergy, it is advisable to be cautious when using Shea butter. Shea butter comes from the nuts of the Shea tree. Always test on a small area of skin first, wait 24 hours, and observe for any skin reaction.