One ingredient often used in beauty products today is shea butter. But there’s a lot to know about this interesting beauty treatment product. Shea butter has skin healing properties, and it has long been treasured for its ability to treat dry, damaged and fine hair, according to TargetWoman.com.
Origin
The AgbangaKaite.com website tells us that shea butter is extracted from the fruits of the wild shea tree that grows all over East Africa. The local women in Togo harvest and extract the shea oil for use in products all over the world. TargetWoman.com describes the extraction process as harvesting the shea nuts, then cracking, grilling and then pounding them. The resulting pulp is then boiled for hours to extract the thick shea butter. Pure shea butter is solid at room temperature, but quickly melts when applied to the skin or hair.
Shea Butter & Hair
According to the Treasured Locks website, shea butter is an extremely effective treatment for dry skin all over the body, including the scalp. It helps to protect the skin from cold in the winter and helps relieve eczema, psoriasis and other skin ailments. Shea butter is also an excellent hair conditioner and helps relieve dry, itchy scalp when massaged in. There are quite a few readily available products containing shea butter such as lotions, African Black Soap, shampoos, creams, lip balm, etc. But many people swear by using pure shea butter and massaging it into the hair and scalp.
