The Shea Soap Company: About Shea Butter - The Perfect Skincare Product

The Perfect Skincare Product - Shea Butter
Shea Butter Tree The Shea Soap Company

About Shea Butter

Would you like a pure vegetable extract that acts against skin ageing? Shea Butter has a restructuring effect on the epidermis. It is well tolerated by your skin and has no known allergic properties.

Would you like an all-natural oil that nourishes, rejuvenates, conditions and moisturises skin? Clinical studies have shown that Shea Butter has the ability to promote cellular growth and to heal small wounds, cracks, crevices and skin ulcers.

Shea Butter can even be used on very sensitive skin areas such as
the mucous membranes and around the eyes.
For this reason also, it can be used by babies and senior citizens.

Would you like a Sun and Summer all natural, pure vegetable extract to bring life back to your hair after swimming and restore moisture and suppleness to your skin after days in the sun?

Would you like a Cold and Winter all natural, pure vegetable extract to protect all your exposed skin from the effects of wind, snow and rain?

Would you like an effective treatment for those painful cracks that sometimes occur in the dried out skin on your hands or heels?

Would you like a sports treatment with 100% pure Shea Butter that relieves muscle tension and stress? A product that can be used before an event to accelerate warm-up and after to drain toxins for faster recovery?

Would you men especially like an all-natural, pure vegetable extract to smooth and soften after shaving for healthy and younger feeling skin?

IMAGINE

Imagine a 100% all-natural skin care product that not only moisturises dry skin, but has traditionally also been used…

for anti-skin ageing,
for skin discolorations,
for treatment of dried and damaged hair,
for scars, wrinkles and stretch marks,
as a relaxer for stiff muscles,
as an aid for pain from swelling and arthritis,
as a sunscreen!

Imagine a 100% all natural skin care product - pure vegetable oil - free from animal ingredients, chemical additives or artificial colours or preservatives!

Imagine a 100% all natural skin care product with history extending back to the days of Cleopatra's Egypt!

Imagine a 100% all natural skin care product from sun-dried kernels of the West African Shea Butter or Karite tree - roasted then cold-processed to extract precious butter while keeping intact all its skin care benefits!

HOW TO USE SHEA BUTTER

Use sparingly…Use often!

Take small amounts into your hands and rub gently, let your body heat melt the butter to a smooth liquid then…

For your face…

Massage melted butter gently into your skin for 10 minutes, concentrating on the lower part of the nose and corners of the lips.

Apply protective film to your lips before going out into the cold, wind or rain. Apply any time your lips become cracked or irritated because of dryness.

Apply small amounts to your nose irritated by cold or allergies.
For your eyes…

Pat melted butter very, very gently onto your eyelids and around your eyes for 10 minutes. Because of the gentle, non-allergenic properties of Shea Butter, use it here with confidence.
For your body…

Apply to your entire body to leave skin soft and silky smooth.

Melt a spoonful into your hot bath to leave your body soft and moisturised.

Rub gently onto your arms and thighs for a warm and tingly feeling in your muscles.

Rub gently into your skin after waxing or shaving to prevent irritation.
For your hair…

The day before shampooing, massage a generous amount of butter into the points, and then wrap your hair in a hot towel.

Apply to your hair before swimming.

Apply small amounts to your hair after long summer days in the sun.
For men…

Massage small amounts into your face after shaving to eliminate irritation and give you smooth skin.

Once each week, massage a generous amount into your skin from head to foot, paying special attention to elbows, knees, toes, heels and nails.
For babies…

Rub gently all over baby to prevent irritation to delicate skin.
For Senior Citizens…

Due to the gentle and non-allergenic nature of pure Shea Butter, you can use it with complete safety and confidence regardless of your age.

Apply generous amounts gently to your sore muscles and painful joints. Do not massage in, place butter on your skin and allow it to be absorbed slowly into affected areas.

Rub gently into dry skin anywhere on your body.
For sportswomen and men…

Massage generous amounts into your muscles before events to accelerate warm-ups.

Apply generous amounts after exercising to help drain toxins for faster recovery.
For bruises, cuts and scrapes anywhere on your body…

Apply generous amounts to affected areas to ease localised pain and to aid healing. Do not massage in, place butter on your skin and allow it to be absorbed slowly into affected areas.

Use sparingly…Use often!

YOUR 100% PURE SHEA BUTTER

Your 100% Pure Shea Butter is pure vegetable oil. It contains no extenders such as cocoa butter or beeswax, or petrochemicals such as petroleum jelly. It contains no animal ingredients such as lanolin or tallow. Kernels of fruit are roasted then crushed (cold-processed) and your Shea Butter is produced without using solvent extracts.

Your Shea Butter is an all-natural product that contains no artificial colours or chemical preservatives. Because of a very low water content it is very stable and has a minimum shelf life of more than three years.

Your Shea Butter is refined with a mechanical process - mesh filters and layers of fuller's earth. No chemicals are used.

We ask only that you store your precious Shea Butter in a dark, cool (less than 25° C) place to ensure its wonderful properties last and last for you!

HISTORY

Our earliest mention of Shea Butter is from the time of Cleopatra, when there are historical references to caravans bearing clay jars of Shea Butter to be used as cosmetics. Ibn Batouta, a historian and ambassador from the Sultan of Morocco to the Court of Mali, in 1348 noted uses of Shea Butter he observed in West Africa.

Mongo Park, one of the first European travellers to West Africa, described in 1797 the Karite tree and uses of butter extracted from it. Its botanical name, Butyrospermum Parkii, derives from his description of the characteristics of this tree.

He described the tree in detail, fruit from it, methods of extraction, uses of butter and industries grown up around its production. He also notes its use as edible butter, that the flavour is richer than that made from cow's milk and that it can keep for a whole year 'without salt'.

Funeral furniture of West African kings include carved representations of Karite trees. Through the ages Shea Butter has been an important part of African pharmacology. For centuries it has been applied to aid healing of the umbilical cord after birth and after circumcision.

In West Africa Shea Butter has also been used for cooking and for lamp fuel.

By 1940 researchers in France noted that occurrences of skin diseases among populations using Shea Butter were low, and that its use seemed to contribute to smooth and supple skin.

Since then, Shea Butter has been used extensively in the cosmetics industry, where its moisturising properties make it an important ingredient in both skincare and haircare preparations.

Shea Butter is also used sometimes in the chocolate industry as a substitute for cocoa butter and in the production of vegetable margarine.

There is widespread and growing interest in cosmetics and health care products that are vegetable based - free from animal and petrochemical ingredients - and contain no artificial colours or preservatives.

People concerned about their bodies are seeking pure, natural, unprocessed preparations. Pure Shea Butter - 100% pure, cold-processed Shea Butter - must be your choice!

WOMEN'S GOLD

(Adapted from an article by Ernest Harsch.
See: www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol15no4/154shea.htm
Africa Recovery, United Nations.)

In West Africa Shea Butter is referred to as 'Women's Gold' because of its wonderful skincare properties. These have been known to women of this part of the world for centuries.

Now, however, this description is gaining new meaning - that of a source of income and economic freedom for women classified as some of the poorest in the world.

Many developing-country exports such as coffee, cocoa and cotton benefit governments, middlemen and large corporations - mostly men and most clearly not classified as 'poor'.

Harvesting and processing of Shea Butter, however, is an activity of rural women, estimated at between 300,00 and 400,000 in Burkina alone.

In 1997, officials of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), became directly involved in support for women's groups as part of long-term efforts by the government of Burkina Faso to help the poor and improve economic conditions in rural areas.

Through these efforts a number of projects have been run to enable women to produce for sale Shea Butter from raw kernels, thus bringing them higher income from the same tonne of nuts harvested.

These projects have included…

Training women in production processes and maintaining quality levels needed to sell to world markets.
Encouraging them to form local associations or groups to help them pool resources.
Providing support for them in financing purchase of presses and other processing equipment.
Developing the skills needed to compete in world markets.
Introducing them to cosmetics firms throughout the world interested in the wonderful properties of Shea Butter as a vital cosmetic ingredient.
Supporting an understanding of the importance of environmental sustainability and good husbandry for this tree that grows best in the wild.
Training them to train other women in this entire range of skills.

Present shea kernel output for Burkina is about 850,000 tonnes, but only around 50,000 tonnes are being harvested. Thus the potential for much greater levels of income for women of this developing country is great.

Shea Butter is indeed 'Women's Gold'.

TECHNICAL STUFF

The Shea Butter - Karite - Tree grows naturally in the West African Savannah between Senegal and Nigeria - Mali and Burkina Faso. This stout tree can grow up to 20 metres high with its trunk up to 1 metre diameter. It produces first fruit in about 25 years and reaches full production between 40 and 50 years of age.

The fruits are berries of 3 to 6 centimetres, and they grow as 3 kernels surrounded by edible, sweet pulp within a thin, green rind. Each tree produces 15 to 20 kilograms of fresh fruit in season that yield 3 to 4 kilograms of kernels. Four kilograms of kernels produce 1 kilogram of Shea Butter.

Mature fruit fall to the ground. It is illegal to pick unripened fruit.

Fruits are harvested by local women. In some locations, only women are allowed to harvest and extract the butter. Because Shea Butter has sometimes acquired mystical properties, trees are often protected by those who live there - destruction of trees is forbidden. The harvest is thus sometimes irregular.

Pulp is removed after fermentation and kernels are dried in the sun. They are roasted and crushed, then ground to a smooth paste. Cold water is added to the paste and mixed well. Butter coagulates and rises to the surface of the mixture where it is collected.

Refining consists of passing butter through a series of mesh filters to remove dirt then through layers of fuller's earth to remove remaining impurities. The final step is a vacuuming process to remove traces of odour.

Shea Butter - Butyrospermum Parkii - is a fatty acid triglyceride. It is non-toxic and edible quality. It is non-irritating to skin. It is readily biodegradable.

Its melting point is between 29° C and 34° C. This means it melts to a smooth oil at your body temperature.

Fatty acid triglycerides, which make up from 83% to 89% of Shea Butter, consist mainly of Oleic (40% +) and Stearic (35% +) acids with smaller proportions of Palmitic (3% +), Linoleic (3% +) and Miristic (0.5%) acids.

Shea Butter contains between 11% and 17% unsaponifiable components. These include triterpenes (70% +) - alpha-amyrin, lupeol, butyrospermol, parkeol, cinnamic esters; phytosterols (5% +) - campesterol, stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol, alpha-spinasterol, delta-7-avenasterol; phenols (0.1%) - tocopherol (Vitamin E); karitene; and vitamins A and F.

Oleic and Stearic acid components make up for lipid deficiency in epidermal cells. Thus Shea Butter is useful for moisturising skin and helping it retain elasticity. This is helpful for anybody with especially dry skin, and particularly invalids and elderly people.

Clinical studies have shown that Shea Butter has the ability to promote cellular growth and to heal small wounds, cracks, crevices and skin ulcers by increasing local capillary circulation, which increases tissue re-oxygenation and elimination of metabolic waste products. This makes it beneficial in the fight against skin ageing and an active ingredient against scars and stretch marks. It is excellent treatment for sore, cracked nipples of nursing mothers.

Increased local capillary circulation helps relieves muscle tension. This accelerates warm-up before sport activities and assists to drain toxins after exercise. This property of Shea Butter makes it useful for painful swelling and arthritis.

The Lupeol component is a disinfectant.

The Parkeol component is a cicatrisant.

The Tocopherol component is an anti-oxidant.

The Alpha-spinasterol and delta-7-avenasterol components support cell stimulation and skin regeneration.

Cinnamic esters filter out UV rays (275 nm). This makes Shea Butter useful as sunscreen.

These properties combined in one natural product make Shea Butter the darling of the cosmetics industry. It is used as an ingredient - typically from 4% to 20% of total - in…

shampoos,
hair care preparations,
baby hair products,
anti-wrinkle creams,
anti-skin ageing creams,
body massage products,
anti-stretch mark creams,
emollient creams,
lip balms,
lipstick,
make-ups,
softening hand creams,
sunscreen preparations,
after sun products,
sensitive skin formulations,
shaving and depilatory products,
bath oils,
first aid creams,
anti-acne preparations,
rubs, liniments and ointments,
athletes' and sports creams,
body butter.

IMAGINE

Here is a quotation from a cosmetic industry communication on the concentration of butter to use when developing a product: If 'you want the product to perform better due to Shea Butter in the formulation, use 10% and more.'

Now imagine what a skincare product made from
100% pure Shea Butter
will do for you!

Copyright (C) 2009 Mary Rice-Johnston and The Shea Soap Company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication, including images and/or text may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Providing links to this site without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.