I first learned about Shea butter when I had family living in Egypt.   They kept talking about how popular it is and all of the benefits of using it.  I did some research and found that Shea butter comes from the African Shea Tree.  It is a natural fat found in the nut of the tree and looks very similar to coconut.  Africans commonly use Shea butter for cooking, water proofing, candle making, hair dressing, and in medicinal ointments.

Because of the medicinal benefits many people have taken Shea butter and incorporated it into their products.  Commonly, you will find Shea butter body cream products are very popular in the cosmetics market.  Shea butter provides your skin and hair with natural moisturizers which help rejuvinate dry skin and brittle hair.  Shea butter also provides for a certain level of protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays which also help keeps your skin healthy by preventing against premature aging. 

The vitamins found in Shea butter are what help protect and heal your skin and hair.  Shea butter contains natural vitamins A and E which are extremely beneficial for your skin because they help to repair damages skin cells, especially if they have been damaged by the sun.  They also act like a skin cleanser and can help clean your pores to prevent blemishes like pimples and acne. 

If you are considering a Shea butter body cream you need to be aware of some important factors before you make a purchase.  Shea butter can be classified from grades A through E.  Grade E is the lowest grade and A is the highest.  This is important to understand because with each drop in grade there is a drop in the amount of beneficial elements.  Your best bet is to look for grade A or B Shea butter products as they are the least refined.  Refining Shea butter is what degrades the vitamins and other beneficial elements and heavily refined products are done with solvents which introduce chemicals and other contaminants to the product. 

If you are concerned with commercial Shea butter products then homemade products may be more appropriate.  Making homemade Shea butter body cream is not as hard as you think and having total control over the process allows you to ensure that you are keeping the highest amounts of beneficial ingredients possible.  To start you can purchase raw Shea butter on the internet or at your local health food store and you will find it is usually in stock.  You can also add other ingredients like scents and other natural oils to make the product unique and pleasing to use.  It will take some practice because getting the Shea butter to a smooth consistency requires melting the butter and mixing it to a perfect condition.  You would be wise to practice a few batches and tweaking to get a perfect technique.

There are other uses for Shea butter that could literally fill the pages of a small book, another reason it is so popular.  Other common uses for Shea butter include treatment of blemishes like scars, stretch marks, and burns.  While they don’t totally remove the damaged skin the vitamin A helps heal and rejuvenate causing the blemishes to fade over time.   People have also used Shea butter to help with sinus infections because it provides moisturizers to the dry and inflamed sinus cavities. 

Clearly Shea butter provides a good amount of benefits, especially to your skin and hair.  Regardless of whether you get Shea butter from a commercial product or make your own you can you need to ensure you are using a quality grade Shea butter.  Make sure you research and find the best product you can so that you don’t miss out or worse add additional contaminants to your body.