Renew Your Skin With Shea Butter
One handy product to have in every home is shea butter. Called “African Gold” or Butyrospermum Parkii in Latin. Shea Butter is a cream coloured fatty substance made from nuts of karate nut trees, they grow in savannah regions of West and Central Africa. They grow only in the wild and can take up to twenty to fifty years before it matures.
To get the buttery substance, the karate tree nuts are picked, cracked, grilled then pounded. They are boiled for hours in water to extract the shea butter and later scooped out and left to dry.
There are two major classes of Shea butter to consider. Unrefined and Refined. It unrefined sometimes also called raw is shea butter in it's completely natural state it holds the most beneficial qualities. Unrefined shea butter contains vitamins A and E that are very beneficial for moisturizing the skin.
Why is shea butter in high demand in Western countries? Long before it became popular, we in Africa have been using it for centuries for health and beauty needs. What they clamour for, we have always known, it has been used to heal burns, sores, scars, dermatitis, psoriasis, dandruff and stretch marks.
It may also diminish wrinkles by moisturizing the skin, promoting skin renewal and increasing circulation. Shea butter contains cinnamic acid, a substance that helps protect the skin from harmful UV rays caused by too much exposure to sun. It protects the skin from environmental and free radical damage and has both antimicrobal and anti inflammatory properties.
The “wonder” cream can also be used as an all- natural hair conditioner; it restores hair luster and eliminates scalp irritation caused by chemical processing. It restores the skin elasticity, and evens out skin tones. Can be used as a make- up remover or as treatment for sunburns and diaper cream for babies.
A substance known as Stigmasterol (anti- stiffness factor) is found in shea butter.
Stigmasterol is an unsaturated plant sterol found in pure unrefined shea butter which has the ability to relax tired joints,relieve swelling and muscle tension.
When shea butter is chemically processed, it goes through a refining bleaching, deodorization and degumming process, which destroys the shea butter, it leaves it stripped of it's vitamins, minerals and many other natural healing properties. The chemical- “Hexane” is mostly used to dissolve shea butter. It is used as additives to soap, shampoos, anti-aging creams, cosmetics, lotions and massage oils. When shea butter is used for the manufacturing of natural shea butter soap, plants extracts from exotic fruits and floral essence are added to create a sensual experience.
Nowadays, there are many online distributors of the shea butter. But it can be bought in the herbal sections of most local market in Africa, the unrefined 100 percent shea butter is still superior since it retains all it's natural vitamins.