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About
African Shea Butter
African Shea butter has been used for centuries for its unsurpassed ability to
protect and regenerate the skin. It comes from the nut of the Karite (ka-ree-tay)
tree, which grows throughout West Africa. Karite can grow up to 20 meters high,
and its trunk can reach up to 1 meter in diameter. It produces its first fruit
when it is about 25 years old, and reaches full production at the age of 40-50,
and can live up to 300 years. The fruits of the Karite tree resemble large plums,
approximately 3-6 cm. The Karite nut is edible and contains 1-3 seeds surrounded
by a thin brittle hull. The creamy substance, known as shea butter, is produced
from these seeds.
What
are the Traditional Uses of African Shea?
The name Karite means the Tree of Life, due to the multitude of important uses
that shea butter provides. In Africa, it is used in daily cooking, and also taken
therapeutically for colds and flus In the Yoruba tradition, shea butter is the
ceremonial food for the orishas: Obatala, Olokun, and Orumila. Shea butter is
used on newborns and infants daily to protect their sensitive skin from irritants.
It is also used extensively by the elderly to treat afflictions of the joints
and to maintain the suppleness of their skin. Many people use it regularly on
their feet to heal cracks made by the dry Sahara dust.
The fruits of the Karite tree are traditionally harvested by village women. The
process of making shea butter starts with the separation of the kernels from
the hulls by pounding them. They are then kept at a low simmer by adding small
amounts of water and continuous stirring. The karite is pored into calabashes,
stirred, and the impurities skimmed off. This process may be repeated several
times until the karite is a creamy white color.
African shea oil is obtained by cold pressing the nuts and then skimming off
the liquid fraction, or olein. Although more refined, it provides similar therapeutic
benefits to African shea butter while remaining liquid at room temperature.
What
are the Benefits of African Shea?
The therapeutic properties of African Shea butter are numerous. Extremely high
in Vitamins A, E and F, shea butter provides skin with all the essential elements
it needs for good balance, elasticity and tone. Recently advocated as a cosmetic
ingredient, shea butter continues to pique the interest of cosmetic chemists
the world over. French dermatologists used shea butter on 35 people from different
age, sex and racial backgrounds for a period of ten days to 5 months. These subjects
had all types of skin disorders ranging from dry and wrinkled skin to serious
burns and rashes. There was substantial healing in all of the cases, and in some
cases the healing was almost miraculous. These clinical trials have all been
well documented by the French Ministry of Health.
Shea
butter is used therapeutically for the following
skin conditions:
1. Dry Skin - it helps prevent ashy skin, chapping, chafing, rashes, psoriasis,
eczema, dermatitis, skin cracks, and tough or rough skin (especially feet and
elbows).
2. Wrinkles - It helps aging soft skin tissue to firm up. Rejuvenates skin cells
and cleans pores. Can be used on all skin types.
3. Skin Irritations - Minor skin irritations including: allergies, insect bites,
frost bites, sun burns, burns, and small skin wounds all respond positively to
shea butter treatment.
4. Dry Hair and Scalp - Apply to hair and scalp to add moisture to dry, brittle
hair; to prevent weak hair from breaking, fading or thinning out; to prevent
dandruff; and revitalize split ends. Shea butter will protect hair from the damaging
rays of the sun, hair dryers, perms and dyes. Unlike petroleum based products,
it will not clog pores and block hair shafts. Use it as a conditioning sheen
to maintain hair's natural shine and improve manageability. Try it before swimming
to protect hair against chlorine and sea salt.
5. Arthritis and Rheumatism - Shea butter is deeply penetrating and heating to
soothe painful joints and aching muscles.
6. Sun protection - Shea butter can be used as a sun screen to prevent the UV
rays from penetrating the skin.
7. Sensitive Skin - For infants or people with highly sensitive skin, shea butter
is a natural alternative. The chemical composition of shea butter is close to
vernix, the substance found on newborns at birth.
8. Stretch Marks - Shea butter is excellent for the prevention and treatment
of stretch marks and other kinds of scar tissue. It is also good for the healing
of the sore and cracked nipples of nursing mothers.
9. Aging - Shea butter is wonderful for elderly and invalids for use to prevent
bed sores and to ensure continued suppleness and moisture of their skin.
10. Massage - African shea oil is the ultimate in skin nourishment has the best "slide" and
consistency for massage therapy.
What
is in African Shea?
Shea butter and oil have a high concentration of nonsaponifiable fatty acids
which promote cellular growth, helping to restore damaged skin. Other components
of shea butter and oil include: Keratin, necessary of maintaining elasticity
of skin; Triterpenic Alcohols with Cinnamon Esters, which provide protection
from UV rays; Allantoin; Resinous Esters, which provide healing and disinfecting
properties, Cinnamic Acid, which most directly correlates with clinical effectiveness
in healing; high levels of Stearic and Oleic fatty acids, known for their moisturizing
qualities, as well as other natural compounds with high therapeutic value.
All
Shea Butters are not Equally Effective.
Only high quality, unrefined shea butter can offer the healing benefits mentioned
above. Once shea butter is aged or loses its natural integrity through high heat
refinement, many of these wonderful benefits are lost. Although moisturizing,
shea butter that has been over processed, bleached and deodorized, is ineffective
in healing many of the skin conditions listed. That is why Inesscents? uses only
cold pressed, unrefined shea butter.
What
sets African Shea apart from other Natural
Oils?
The components of most seed oils can be divided into two important categories.
The first is called the saponifiabe fraction which contain most of the moisturizing
properties. The second category is called the nonsaponifiable fraction, which
contain most of the healing properties. What sets shea butter and oil apart from
other seed and nut oils and butters is its exceptionally large nonsaponifiable
fraction; containing important nutrients, vitamins and other valuable phytonutrients
required for healing. While having an excellent moisturizing fraction, in most
other seed oils and butters the healing fraction is very small, often 1% or less.
Shea butter, depending on the source and processing methods, has a nonsaponifiable
fraction of 5% up to as much as 17%. Because shea butter has such a high percentage
of nonsaponifiables, in addition to its moisturizing qualities, regular use of
this natural cream can effectively treat many of the skin problems listed above.
It is out of these unique healing properties that the Karite tree came to be
known as the Tree of Life.
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