Shea butter is solid fatty oil made from the nuts of Karite Nut trees, also known as Mangifolia, that grow in the semi-arid savannah regions of West and Central Africa. Shea butter is sometimes called "women's gold," because extracting the butter from the nuts gives employment and income to hundreds of thousands of rural African village women. Shea butter is so non-toxic and beneficial that it is used in foods and cooking as well as soaps and beauty products.

It contains beneficial vegetable fats that promote cell regeneration and circulation, making it a wonderful healer and rejuvenator for troubled or aging skin. It also contains natural sun-protect ants.

Shea Butter is only found in the tropics of Africa.  It is extracted from the nuts of the Shea-Karite tree which begins to bear fruit after about 15 years; and can take up to 30 years to bear a quality crop of nuts with a high content of irremovable fatty acid.  It is this irremovable fatty acid that gives Shea Butter its unique healing properties and makes it far superior to cocoa butter and other vegetable butters.  Traditionally, Shea Butter was extracted by people who picked the nuts, cracked them, grilled them and pounded them. They were boiled in water for hours until the Shea Butter rose to the surface.  It was then scooped into gourds and left to cool and set.  Shea Butter is solid at room temperature although it quickly liquefies right around body temperature.  This Shea Butter is called unrefined Shea Butter or raw Shea Butter.  Since Shea Butter is an all natural product, it can vary widely in quality, appearance and smell depending on where it is produced from and how it is refined or extracted. 

Additionally, Shea Butter contains several natural anti-inflammatory agents and a minor sunscreen agent. Clinical studies have shown that this product transforms the skin in as little as 4-6 weeks, into a softer, smoother, and better looking skin. Those who routinely use Shea Butter report a number of other special benefits for skin ailments, including relief from blemishes, itching, sunburns, small skin wounds, eczema, skin allergies, and wrinkles. Because of an abundance of healing ingredients, and its superior moisturizing activity, Shea Butter is in a unique class, as a stand-alone personal care product.

Shea Butter has a natural smell, which is not unpleasant to most people.  The smell of raw or lightly refined West African Shea varies from nutty to similar to Crisco® or shortening.  Over time the smell of the Shea Butter will diminish. If an unrefined Shea Butter has almost no smell, it is probably getting old.  Shea Butter should not stink, not matter how old it is.  It is possible for Shea Butter to go rancid.  If it does, do not use it.  If you do not like the smell of natural, raw Shea Butter, you can purchase more highly refined Shea Butter that has been de-odorized and filtered through clay.  However, we do not recommend ever buying Shea Butter that has been refined using hexane or other solvents.

One of the great things about Shea Butter is its low melting point.  When you apply it to your skin, it literally liquefies.  However, one of the bad things about Shea Butter is its low melting point. It's quite possible it will melt in a hot room.  It may even be melted when it's delivered to you in the summer months.  If this happens, don't worry.  The Shea Butter is good.  Just take the lid off of the container and set it in the refrigerator until it gets hard again.  As it begins to cool, you might want to give it a stir to bring the olein (liquid parts) back into contact with the stearin (solid parts) so that the Shea Butter is uniform throughout.

The color of unrefined Shea Butter depends on the Shea nuts used.  Shea nuts will vary in color from almost white to yellow.  Therefore, refined Shea Butter will vary in color. You will not be able to determine the authenticity or quality of Shea Butter based strictly on its color.  There is even a naturally golden yellow colored Shea Butter.  Shea Butter should never be green, extremely hard or greasy though.  Most Shea Butter is a creamy color.  Shea Butter that is pure white is highly refined and may or may not have its healing properties intact depending on how it was refined.

Shea Butter can provide relief from everything from just dry skin to many minor dermatological diseases (if you have a serious skin condition, you should see a doctor).  It has been clinically shown to provide benefits.  Here are some of the benefits of Shea Butter for the skin:

Shea Butter nourishes the skin with Vitamins A, E and F.  Vitamins A and E help maintain the skin and keep it clear and healthy.  They are particularly helpful for sun damaged skin. They help prevent premature wrinkles and facial lines.  Vitamin F acts as a skin protector and rejuvenator. It soothes rough, dry or chapped skin and helps soften dry or damaged hair.  Shea Butter is high in unsaponifiables (a type of fat).  Shea Butter has between 7-12% unsaponifiables.  For comparison, avocado oil, a well known skin conditioner, has between 2-6%.  This high level of unsaponifiables is one of the properties that make Shea Butter so invaluable in treating the conditions listed above.   Also, Shea Butter easily penetrates the skin allowing the skin to breathe and not clogging pores.  Shea Butter has a high level of cinnamic acid, a natural sun screen.  So, it provides some degree of protection from the sun.  Shea Butter is also anti-inflammatory making it useful in treating rheumatism. 

Shea Butter provides moisture to dry or damaged hair from the roots to the very tips, repairing and protecting against weather damage, dryness and brittleness.  It also absorbs quickly and completely into the scalp to rehydrate without clogging pores.  It is particularly beneficial for processed and heat-treated hair.  It is an excellent treatment for dry scalp. It restores luster to damaged hair.

The benefits of Shea Butter have been well known for centuries.  Africans have used Shea Butter for many generations to protect and rejuvenate their hair and skin.  Shea Butter is not only for those of African descent though.  Everyone can take advantage of Shea Butter's benefits.  Today, Shea Butter is available in pure form and as an ingredient in many products to help with maintenance of the hair and skin and relief from many common ailments.