Shea Butter (Refined)

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Product Details What is Shea Butter? Shea butter is extracted from the kernels of the shea tree's fruit that grows wild in the sub-Saharan areas. The superbly moisturizing properti es of the nut have protected the skin and hair of the people from the burning sun. Now, it forms a vital source of empowerment for the women of the areas, as they collect the kernels, process them traditionally, and export them across the globe. A butter is an oil that is solid at room temperature. Most body butter on the market is technically not since they contain water. True butters are anhydrous. Containing no water, this also means they don’t need emulsifiers (which you would otherwise use to make oil and water mix). There are two types of shea butter - refined and unrefined. Refined vs Unrefined Shea Butter Unrefined shea is a kind of golden olive color and has a strong fragrance. It smells kind of nutty, earthy and almost smokey, which limits the kinds of essential oils that you can blend with it. Refining it removes the color and scent. Refined Shea Butter is white and fragrance free. It is an excellent moisturizer but has fewer skin regenerating benefits than unrefined Shea Butter. However, its blank fragrance and appearance makes it easier to add to more products and has a longer shelf life. How do You Pronounce Shea Butter? Let’s get this out of the way first because one of the main things that stop people from really sinking into the lusciousness that is shea is that they are worried about saying the name wrong. The English word Shea - that rhymes with “Tea,” derives from the common name of the tree - shísu ߛ߭ߌ߭ߛߎ (lit. "shea tree"), which derives from the Bambara tongue spoken in Mali. However, the second pronunciation of rhyming with “Day” can also be found in dictionaries. Both versions are correct, but the first version is consistently cited as first, making it the more accepted use. Where does Shea Butter Come From? Shea grows prolifically across the dry savannah belt of West Africa from Sudan in the East to Senegal in the west. It flourishes in the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands. Growing naturally in 21 countries across the African continent, no one has been successful in cultivating it. It brings crucial money to Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Guinea. Trees flower in late December, and early January, then come to full fruition around April. The fruits- that spoil quickly - fall to the ground and are snaffled promptly by insects and wildlife. Very few people have ever tasted the dry-sweetness of the fruit since they deteriorate almost as soon as they are formed. Extraction Method of Unrefined Shea The area's women collect fallen husks and take them home to dry. The kernels are boiled to remove all remaining husks and to sterilize the nuts, then turned onto the concrete ground to dry in the sun. At all points, the women must be vigilant about the weather since the rains come fast, with minimal warning. Getting them wet at this stage can spoil the butter, so they can be taken in and outside for three or four days as they dodge the rain. After two more washings, the kernels are ready to be roasted on an open fire. Roasting releases the oils that make the vital butter. Then, they are pounded and crushed to release their oils. However, the oil is now full of particulates and is a dark cocoa brown color. Now comes incredibly physical work. The butter is placed into water to knead it. They mix, and the oil starts to solidify and rises to the top to be separated from the fluid. The pulverised shea creates a white bloom on the surface of the water. As the oil solidifies and rises, it is transferred to another pot to be kneaded more until the beautifully thick and creamy butter eventually starts to form. From there, the butter is packaged and exported worldwide, just as it has been since the dawn of history. There may be evidence that Egyptian queen Nefertiti kept her skin smooth and beautiful with shea. Refinement Technique for Shea Butter Refined shea is extracted using a high heat, n-hexane chemical process that removes impurities, color and fragrance. In hexane extraction, the ground seed is mixed with hexane which allows the seed’s fatty constituents to dissolve in the hexane. The resulting liquid is then separated from the seed residue and treated to remove the hexane and leave behind crude Shea Butter. The crude Shea Butter is then degummed; neutralized, centrifuged and then washed in hot water to remove any free fatty acids. It is then bleached and filtered to remove pigments and trace metals. Clearly, because heat has been used, this can no longer be called Raw Shea Butter. Why is Shea Butter So Good for Skin and Hair? Shea butter extract contains oleic acid (40–60%), stearic acid (20–50%), linoleic acid (3–11%), palmitic acid (2–9%), linolenic acid ( Show more