What is Shea Butter?

Shea butter is a solid fatty oil extracted from the nuts of shea (Karite) tree also known as Vitellaria paradoxa or V. nilotica. The tree grows naturally in the wild across sub-saharan savannah belt stretching across West and Eastern Africa covering about 20 countries. The tree has enormous socio-cultural and economic importance to peoples living in its geographic catchment area. Its leaves, stems, roots bark are used in various traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases and injuries including stomach ache, headaches, fever, jaundice among others. The butter extracted from the fruit is used locally as food and as a cosmetic product for the skin and hair

Benefits of Shea Butter

It’s safe for all skin types. Shea butter is technically a tree nut product. But unlike most tree nut products, it’s very low in the proteins that can trigger allergies. In fact, there’s no medical literature documenting an allergy to topical shea butter.

Healing Qualities

Shea butter has great healing properties. It is often used as a base in medicinal ointments due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Due the presence of several fatty acids and plant sterols such oleic, palmitic,stearic and linoleic acids shea butter is known to possess some healing properties.

Raw, unrefined shea butter is effective in curing skin rashes, skin peeling after tanning, scars, stretch marks, frost bites, burns, athletes foot, insect bites and stings, arthritis, and muscle fatigue. Also due to its high content of vitamin A, it is effective in promoting healing and disinfection, and soothes skin allergies like poison ivy and insect bites. Shea butter contains Vitamin F which has the ability to act as a rejuvenator for soothing and healing rough and chapped skin.

Sunscreening Function

Shea butter is a good sun screening agent. Sun-screening agents act by absorbing or reflecting some of the ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and prevents it from reaching the skin. This helps to protect the skin from sunburn, preventing erythema and also reducing further risk of skin cancer induced by the sun’s rays. Photocarcinogenesis is mainly caused by UVB radiation between the ranges of 290 and 320nm. İt interacts with the DNA directly thereby forming cyclobutane pyrimidine. Cinnamate esters of triterpene alcohol are the main constituent of Shea butter’s unsaponifiable fraction, these esters have been reported to have strong ability to absorb UV radiation . This therefore makes the addition of Shea butter’s unsaponifiable components into sunscreens increase the absorption of UVB radiation by providing synergistic sun-protection. During the cold season and summer when the weather is extreme, shea butter is considered as the best skin care during the period because it provides the extra moisture, nutrients and protection needed by the skin.

Anti-aging Properties

Shea butter has been considered one of the best anti-ageing and moisturising agents for the skin. İt is reported that Shea butter has UV anti-erythemic activity. This property of shea butter helps to soften the skin and stimulates cell regeneration hence reduce the aging process. Shea butter also prevents photo-aging and has also been known to boost collagen production. The major structural proteins that makes the skin tough and provides plumpness and α-amyrin and lupeol are collagen and elastin. These triterpenes are found in the unsaponifiable fraction of Shea butter. The inactivation of proteases such as metalloprotease and serine protease are reported to be affected by these triterpenes.

Emollient and skin moisturizer

Shea butter contains vitamins A and E, this makes it a good moisturizer for hair. Also shea butter has semi-solid characteristics and buttery consistency, this make it a good emollient and moisturizer for the scalp and skin as well. İt is easily absorbed into the skin and has good water-binding properties hence it is useful for skin care. Shea butter has the ability to repair dry inflamed skin caused by dermatitis and can be used as a night time moisturizer for hands and feet . It is superior to mineral oil at preventing Trans-Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL). In an experiment he washed the hands of participants in ethanol, the results indicated that the skin totally recovered from TEWL within two hours when treated with Shea butter. In another study by (Belibi ve ark., 2009) showed that shea butter can work as an emollient for eczema. Shea butter is also widely used for curly hair treatments due to its emollient qualities. Shea butter can restore moisture lost in hair due to a number of chemical treatments like straighteners, perms, curlers. These treatments causes the loss of natural moisture from the hair.

Hair protection and softener

Shea butter has been used widely for hair treatment. It serves as a good source of protection for the hair against the harmful free radicals in the air and water and harsh weather conditions. Shea butter when applied to the hair and absorbed, it coats the hair shaft and hence protects it from a heat. This protective activity is particularly beneficial for hair that have been processed or colored hair. When Shea butter is applied to the hair before swimming it protects the hair against salt and chlorine. For damaged and brittle hair shea butter has a softening and revitalizing ability. Shea butter has a non-greasy texture hence can control and spread the excess oil in the scalp.

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