How is Shea Butter Made and What are its Benefits

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Reviewed by:  Kacie La

      Unlike other store-bought skincare, haircare, and personal care products, shea butter's moisturising, anti-aging, and antioxidant properties can be acquired without irritation, oiliness, and pore-clogging.

      This ingredient also has an interesting production process and plays a significant part in the communities where it is produced.

Want to know how communities of women turn a simple fruit into this amazing natural ingredient?

What is Shea Butter

      This is a naturally extracted vegetable fat made from the shea tree and contains a pool of vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids. It has an off-white or ivory colour and has a light, easy-to-spread consistency.

      This tree is native to West Africa, such as in the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and many more—the reason why most supply of this ingredient comes from this region.

How is Shea Butter Made?

      Producing this ingredient, especially the traditional method, is a long and tedious process, taking hours to yield just a single litre of butter.

      Despite its physical demands, this process has endured for a long time since it is considered a community tradition and a major economic driver in the many places where this prized ingredient is produced.

But how is the ingredient really made?

Tree cultivation and fruit gathering

      Shea trees grow slowly, taking between 20 to 50 years to bear enough fruits to be commercially harvested.

      But once it begins, its fruit-bearing stage can last up to 200 years. A bearing tree can produce 20 kilograms of fruit per year, eventually making around 1 to 5 kilograms of end product.

When shea trees start to bear fruit, locals will visit the trees to collect the fallen fruits.

Seed cleaning and conditioning

      From the gathered stock of shea fruits, the fruit pulp is separated from the nut. This can be done manually or through fermentation. The nut is water-boiled to prevent the shea seeds from germinating.

The nuts are then sun-dried and shelled. The shea nuts can also be sun-dried directly without boiling in water.

Seed shelling and kernel release

      The sun-dried shea nuts are cracked to extract the kernels, which are then processed by crushing or grinding, heating, churning, straining, and kneading. The kernels are also either sun-dried or roasted to eliminate any residual moisture.

Extraction

      There are two ways of processing the kernels into shea butter: the traditional way and the commercial method.

      Traditionally, the kernels undergo water extraction—boiling the shea kernels with water and collecting the released oils. Meanwhile, the commercial process involves a combination of two rounds of expeller pressing and then removing the remaining fat content through solvent extraction.

Either way, all the extracted fat goes through an oil refinery to ensure safe usage.

Refining

      The extracted oil undergoes another series of steps: pretreatment and bleaching, deodorisation and deacidification, and finally, fractionation.

Finally, two fractions are generated: the shea olein—used in cosmetics, skincare, and personal care products—and the shea stearin fraction commonly used in chocolate production.

What is Shea Butter Made of?

      Because of its skin-loving components, this natural ingredient is highly beneficial in cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and personal care products.

• Fatty acids (linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic) maintain the natural balance of the oils on your skin
• Vitamins A, E, and F are antioxidants that help fight free radicals and offer an additional layer of sun protection
• Triglycerides are an emollient that provides hydrating benefits and helps preserve skin moisture.
• Cetyl esters, which are also emollients

Benefits of Shea Butter

Applicable to all types of skin and hair

      This ingredient doesn'tcontain moisture-stripping irritants and doesn't make your skin oily. It is also non-comedogenic, so it won't clog pores when used. Because of these properties, it is an excellent skincare, haircare, and personal care ingredient suitable for all skin and hair types.

Moisturising

      It's common to see shea butter in moisturiser products as this ingredient has fatty acid content, including linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids, making it an excellent emollient. Using shea butter as amoisturiser for the skin, scalp, and hair strands can provide lasting hydration.

Using shea butter as a moisturiser in your hair care also helps soothe the scalp and strengthen hair strands.

Anti-aging

      Due to the antioxidants it contains, this ingredient can help refine your skin, reducing visible signs of aging, like wrinkles and fine lines.

      We've already established that this ingredient is suitable for all skin types, moisturising, and anti-aging. But aside from these, what is shea butter also good for?

Acne management

      The stearic acid it contains is an excellent cleanser that can eliminate dirt and excess oil from pores, thus preventing the development of acne. This ingredient also helps maintain the natural balance of oil in the skin or the scalp, which is a significant factor in maintaining acne-free skin and healthy scalp health.

Additional sun protection

      Its antioxidant components also provide a layer of protection against the sun, whether for the skin or hair.

Anti-inflammatory

      Its emollient properties can, likewise, provide a layer of protection against environmental irritants, including the weather.

Here are Simple Ways to Choose High-Quality Shea Butter

      Its high-quality variant has a distinct nutty smell, provides an instant soothing effect on your skin, and does not spoil quickly.

       Organic unrefined shea butter is considered the highest quality, providing maximum benefits. However, some people may not prefer its distinct earthy, nutty smell and instead, prefer an odourless counterpart, organic refined shea butter. Both types of shea butter have their advantages and disadvantages depending on how they’re used and for what purpose.

      You can apply it to your face before you sleep or combine it with other raw, natural ingredients to make your shea butter moisturiser face mask.

Similarly, you can use it as a leave-in hair conditioner or as an ingredient to your hair mask.

Add Shea Butter into Your Skincare And Haircare Routines!

      Make this natural ingredient a part of your skincare and haircare routines! Its many benefits are sure to get you asking, 'Where can I buy shea butter?'

      Get it from N-Essentials, your trusted supplier of natural ingredients for DIY formulations or bulk uses. We also have other raw, natural ingredients you can check out