Shea Butter (Organic & Unrefined)

What is Shea butter (Organic and Unrefined)?

Shea Butter is also called Shea butter or Shea butter. It is a delicious moisturizing butter for skin and hair. Its Latin name is Butyrospermum Parkii.

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

Shea trees come from the African Savannah, most Shea is still made here in the region. It has also been used in Africa for years, for everything! For skin care, hair care, home, garden and kitchen remedy. Fortunately, this Shea Butter is also becoming more and more famous in the Netherlands.

Shea Butter consists of, among other things, 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 delicious butter and on the skin it provides intense hydration. 

How is Shea Butter made?

Shea Butter is made from the nuts of the Shea tree. It is quite a process to produce Shea Butter. First of all, you have to have a lot of patience. The tree only produces the first fruits after 20 years and only after 45 years do you harvest a large amount of fruit. However, the tree can grow for more than 200 years. 

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

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

Benefits of Shea Butter

Where do we start? Shea butter has a lot of benefits! 

Especially for dry, sensitive, irritated, flaky, red, rough and mature skin, but also the hairs benefit greatly from Shea butter.  Shea Butter is great for stretch marks and stretch marks, wrinkles, scars and cracks.

Shea Butter ensures that the skin can retain moisture well, stimulates good blood circulation and is a natural antioxidant.

Protects the skin (barrier)
Shea Butter is high in fatty acids such as stearic, oleic, linoleic, and palmitic. These fatty acids occur naturally in our skin. When you apply Shea Butter to the skin, it creates a protective layer that makes 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. The vitamin A in Shea Butter stimulates cell division and collagen production, improving elasticity and skin condition.

Healing and soothing
Shea Butter has a healing effect on dry, red skin and soothes itching. Vitamin F, among other things, provides a restorative effect on the skin and this butter is therefore good to use on sunburned skin (after sunbathing). 

How to use Shea Butter?

Use Shea Butter pure 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 your hand a little, the Shea Butter will melt and get a buttery substance. You can apply these to your face or body. 

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

• Do you want to make the Shea Butter softer and more spreadable? Then you can heat it slightly in a bain-marie and add another carrier oil. Do not heat above 30 degrees because then it will lose some of its good properties. 

• Shea Butter has a nutty, smoky scent. If you don't like these, you can add your favorite 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 the Shea Nilotica (Vitellaria Nilotica) which is mainly found in East Africa.

The Shea Butter has a different smell, because the nuts are cooked. This releases more aroma and is sometimes experienced as a smoky smell. The notes for the Shea Nilotica are cold-pressed, which releases less odor.

What is the difference with Shea Butter (refined)?

Refined means that the smell and color have been removed from the product by means of a factory process. As a result, it is possible that certain vitamins are lost, but it has retained its effect. These products are often used for cosmetics or by customers who want to use an odorless product.

Side Effects of Shea Butter

For people with a nut allergy, it is advisable to be careful when using Shea butter. Shea butter comes from the nuts of the Shea butter. Always test on a small spot on the skin first, wait 24 hours and see if a skin reaction occurs