Origin & Overview
I could say even up until a
decade ago only local folks in Nigeria actually made use of shea butter with
the serious hope of achieving therapeutic solutions. Those who made use of shea
butter in the urban centres then only did so out of economic reasons except for
a few ardent believers in so called native medicine. This is because shea
butter as you may wish to know is actually native to Africa, and Nigeria; the
economy is still developing, and cosmetologists and manufacturers had yet to
come to grasp with the full potentials of this natural plant product. And so, shea
butter remained very cheap and not highly valued then. But reasonably, shea
butter is still cheap in Nigeria today, but the awareness concerning the many
medicinal benefits of shea butter has recently soared.
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Raw Shea Butter |
Nature and History of Shea Butter
Botanically known as butyrospermum parkii, shea butter is now almost widely used both in the rural and urban city
centres. It naturally has a creamy or ivory white colour appearance with a mild
nutty aroma; it comes as a fatty substance that is expelled from the nut of the Karite tree. Thus shea butter is used mostly in its raw state to achieve a great
number of therapeutic as well as cosmetic purposes by a growing number of
people among the populace.
Traditionally shea butter has been used for centuries
in Africa especially for healing and cosmetic purposes even as far back as in
the days of Cleopatra, the beautiful and charismatic queen of Egypt, around (69-30
BC). It has been very useful as a balm for the treatment of anything pertaining
to bone injuries such as – fractures, sprains, dislocation as well as swellings,
stings and boils. Today in addition to all of these, people have also found
local uses for this soothing, non-abrasive native
balm. It is now used freely as body and hair cream especially by the ladies.
Healing Properties
Cosmetologists in recent years having
discovered the inherent advantages in shea butter have begun to incorporate it
in the manufacture of soaps, body creams, and the rest. Shea butter contains
oleic acid and stearic acid, some measure of saturated fats, polyunsaturated
fats as well as some monounsaturated fats. This product is today widely used in
so many other preparations including - lotions, moisturisers, cocoa butter
creams, essential oils, aromatherapy preparations, and massage oils, etc.
And so I will advise for you to get the raw shea butter which has all
its anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing, healing, and moisturising properties fully
intact. As an anti-ageing balm, shea butter has been used to improve skin appearance:
the skin radiates with a certain glow and sheen; the skin becomes supple and
wrinkles fade away gradually over a period of time while restoring skin
elasticity. Shea butter naturally is easily absorbed by the skin; it is also
gentle and pliable and nourishing to the skin. It also protects your skin from
the harmful damage that you can get from overexposure to the sun’s ultra-violet
rays especially in the tropics.
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Shea Butter Tree |
Advantages of Unrefined Shea Butter
Thus raw shea butter instead of
the refined product is best for you if you want to benefit fully from all of
its natural goodness. It is extracted either mechanically or manually without
any chemical inputs or processing. I tell you this because believe it or not, refined
shea butter has gone through chemical processes - usually with the colourless chemical
solvent called hexane. Through
the process which involves heating, scent removal and discolouration by a
bleaching process, a lot of the vital ingredients and potency are lost.
Raw shea butter contains trace
elements, enormous amounts of Vitamins A and E; it was, and is still being used
as a powerful moisturising preparation, and highly valued for its anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory properties.
By Morgan Nwanguma
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