Shea Butter & Sheanuts Supply & Export From Nigeria

What is Shea Butter?

Shea butter is a type of fat usually gotten from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria Paradoxa). It is usually yellow in colour when raw, with unrefined, refined, and ultra-refined shea butter being ivory or white in colour. Shea butter is a triglyceride (fat) derived mainly from stearic acid and oleic acid. Shea butter is used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. It is an edible product and africans use it in preparing food. Sometimes, the chocolate industry uses shea butter mixed with other oils as a substitute for cocoa butter, although it is easily noticable due to the change in taste.

Shea butter & Shea Oil is mainly used in the cosmetics industry for the production of skin and hair related products e.g lip gloss, skin moisturizer creams and hair conditioners for dry and brittle hair. soap makers also use it in small amounts like 5–7% of the oils, because it has higher amounts result in softer soaps that have less cleaning abilities. Some artisan soap makers use shea butter in amounts to 25% – with the European Union regulating the maximum use around 28%, but it is rarely the case in commercially produced soap due to its high cost against oils like palm oil or olive oil. Shea butter is very effective for people who suffer dry skin conditions.

Types of Shea Butter

1) Unrefined Shea Butter: This type of share butter is extracted naturally. It is raw and has no added additives. Unrefined shea butter has a soft feel nature and has different colors varying from pure ivory to a light yellow. This is the most effective shea butter when it comes to healing and moisturizing because it is unaltered and undiluted by manufacturers.

2) Refined Shea Butter: This type of shea butter has been processed causing it to lose its natural color, aroma and most of its other effective qualities. It is processed by bleaching and deodorizing, as well as heating it to very high temperatures. This processing causes the shea butter to lose many of its natural and effective ingredients.

3) Ultra-Refined Shea Butter: This type of shea butter has gone through at least two filtering systems that causes it to change its composition. It is mainly white in color and used for mass-produced cosmetics. The consistency varies depending on how the manufacturer wants to use it in a product. This type of shea butter loses its nutrients during the refinement process so it is considered the least healthy. The chemicals used in the refining process can also be unhealthy, such as hexane.