Shea Butter Benefits and Uses for The Skin
What is Shea butter?
Shea butter is used in many skin and hair care products, but what exactly is it?
Shea butter is a vegetable fat derived from the nuts of the Shea nut tree of Western Africa. It is high in vitamin A which makes it great for the skin and hair.
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Six Benefits of Shea butter:
- Moisturizing
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidant
- May help prevent acne
- Boosts collagen production
- Helps promote cell regeneration
Moisturizing:
Shea butter has exceptional moisturizing properties that keep your skin supple and soft – soothing many skin and hair conditions. These benefits are tied to Shea’s fatty acid content, which includes linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids.
Anti-inflammatory:
The plant esters of Shea butter have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties. When applied to the skin, Shea butter triggers cytokines and other inflammatory cells to slow their production. This may help minimize irritation caused by environmental factors, such as dry weather, as well as inflammatory skin conditions, such as eczema.
Antioxidant:
Shea butter has significant levels of vitamins A and E, which means it promotes strong antioxidant activity. Antioxidants are important anti-aging agents. They protect your skin cells from free radicals that can lead to premature aging and dull-looking skin.
May help prevent acne:
Shea butter is rich in various kinds of fatty acids. This unique composition helps clear your skin of excess oil. The result is a restoration of the natural balance of oils in your skin – which may help stop acne before it starts.
Boosts collagen production:
Shea butter contains triterpenes. These naturally occurring chemical compounds are thought to deactivate collagen fiber destruction. This may minimize the appearance of fine lines and result in plumper skin.
Helps promote cell regeneration:
Shea butter’s moisturizing and antioxidant properties work together to help your skin generate healthy new cells. Your body is constantly making new skin cells. You get rid of anywhere between 30,000 to 40,000 old skin cells each day. Dead skin cells sit on the top and new skin cells form at the bottom of the upper layer of the skin. With the right moisture balance on the surface of the skin, there will be fewer dead skin cells in the way when the new skin cells form.
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Where our Shea butter comes from:
We use Shea butter in many of our products so finding the right company was important. When we found Baraka Shea Butter, we knew this was the right company for us.
Baraka Shea Butter is a small Canadian/Ghanaian family-owned business located on Vancouver Island. Founded by a husband-and-wife team, Wayne Dunn (Canadian/Irish) and Gifty Serbeh-Dunn (Ghanaian/Canadian). Together they have a passion for using business to create meaningful community impact and generate financial returns, while simultaneously respecting our planet and environment. Gifty was born and raised in Norther Ghana. She moved to Canada in the 1980s, but always felt a strong connection to her home community in Wa. When she would visit, she would bring care packages to the women. Upon leaving she asked the woman what she could bring next time, the woman told her they wanted to work and earn an income.
Gifty came up with the idea to help these women after seeing Shea butter grow in popularity in North America. Shea butter has been handcrafted by women in her home community for generations, and now they can earn an income by selling their Shea butter to the rest of the world. Every purchase from Baraka Shea Butter has a direct impact on the women, families, and communities in Northern Ghana.