Shea butter is known especially for its cosmetic properties as a moisturizer and emollient. It is also a known anti-inflammatory agent. Shea butter is marketed as being effective at treating the following conditions: fading scars, eczema, burns, rashes, acne, severely dry skin, blemishes, dark spots, skin discolorations, chapped lips, stretch marks, wrinkles, and in lessening the irritation of psoriasis. Shea butter provides natural ultraviolet sun protection, although the level of protection is extremely variable, ranging from none at all to approximately SPF 6. Shea butter absorbs rapidly into the skin without leaving a greasy feeling.
Shea butter is comparatively richer than other emollients but scarcity of supply results in an erratic market price. Shea butter or Shea nut butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from fruit of the shea tree by crushing and boiling.
Shea butter is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer and an emollient. Shea butter is also edible. It is used as cooking oil in West Africa, as well as sometimes being used in the chocolate industry as a substitute for cocoa
butter. The shea or karite tree, formerly Butyrospermum paradoxum, is now called Vitellaria paradoxa. It produces its first fruit (which resemble large plums) when it is about 20 years old and reaches its full production when the tree is about 45 years old. It produces nuts for up to 200 years after reaching maturity.The shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry savannah belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zaire and Guinea.
Shea butter can be found in many high end moisturizing skin products. Shea butter is known for its skin softening effect. It is also used in hair conditioners to add and maintain moisture in dry brittle hair, in addition to revitalizing and preventing breakage.
Shea butter is used in some indigenous ceremonies. Followers of the Holy Spirit Movement rebel group of Uganda smeared their bodies with shea butter in the belief that it would stop bullets. Handcrafted shea butter is used in Togo, West Africa for ceremonies among the Fulani ethnic group. Many carvers of djembe shells and other African drum shells use shea butter to condition the wood. Shea butter is also used to condition the goat or cow skin heads of these drums.
In Europe and North America, companies such as Yves Rocher, L'OREAL or Le Petit Marseillais use shea butter to sell hair products, soap or lipstick.
Place of Origin:
Sekaf Shea Butter