Shea Butter is a vegetable fat extracted from the nut of the African Karite treee. It’s solid at warm temperatures and has an off-white or ivory color. Shea trees are native to West Africa, and most shea butter still comes from that region.
Shea butter has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for centuries. Its high concentration of vitamins and fatty acids — combined with its easy-to-spread consistency — make it a great product for smoothing, soothing, and conditioning your skin.
To make Shea Butter - you extract the rich butter from the Shea nuts. It is an art that requires hard work and patience. A tradition that has been passed down from generations to generations and mainly done by African women.
At Segems we collaborate with our African women, who are mostly widows, to produce our Shea butter. We work in Ghana and Mali mainly for the production of our Shea butter. We make sure that you receive Grade A quality Shea butter.
We provide a pictorial of the steps that our Segems African women undertake to bring you the best Grade A Shea butter raw unrefined.
First the Shell of the fruit is picked and gathered then cracked. The cracked nuts are washed and left to dry as you see in this photo. So that all the moisture is removed.
The nuts are pounded(the pounding of the nuts is a very hard labor intensive work and we feel that with success in the market here we may be able to help to lessen this burden by gettling a machine to help in this process of pounding the nuts and even in the process of shelling the nuts too) and then roasted down to a brown paste - similar to chocolate.
Water is added to the brown paste and stirred, then heated over fire. As it heats the fat rises to the top and separates from the top and put aside to solidify. Once solidified it is Shea Butter!
According to Healthline.com there are 22 Reasons to Add Shea Butter to Your Routine:
1. It’s safe for all skin types
2. It’s moisturizing
3. It won’t make your skin oily
4. It’s anti-inflammatory
5. It’s antioxidant
6. It’s antibacterial
7. It’s antifungal
8. It may help prevent acne
9. It helps boost collagen production
10. It helps promote cell regeneration
11. It may help reduce the appearance of stretch marks and scarring
12. It may help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
13. It offers added sun protection
14. It may help prevent hair breakage
15. It may help treat dandruff
16. It may help soothe conditions like eczema, dermatitis, and psoriasis
17. It may help soothe sunburn and other skin burns
18. It may help soothe insect bites
19. It can help promote wound healing
20. It may help relieve arthritis pain
21. It may help soothe muscle soreness
22. It may help relieve congestion
On skin
You can apply shea butter directly to your skin. Raw, unrefined shea butter is easy to spread.
You can use your fingers to scoop a teaspoon or so of shea butter from your jar, and then rub it onto your skin until it’s completely absorbed.
Shea butter is slippery and can keep makeup from adhering to your face, so you may prefer to apply it at night before bed.
On hair
Raw shea butter can also be applied directly to your hair.
If your hair is naturally curly or porous, consider using shea butter as a conditioner. Make sure your hair has absorbed most of the shea butter before rinsing and styling as usual. You can also use a small amount of shea butter as a leave-in conditioner.
If your hair is naturally straight, thin, or fine, consider using shea butter on the ends of your hair. Applying shea butter to your roots may cause an oily-looking buildup.
The bottom line
Shea butter is packed with essential nutrients that can enhance your natural complexion and help you glow from the inside out.