Using Refined Vs Unrefined Shea Butter

Shea Butter is creating quite a buzz with beauty product companies around the world. The amazing healing benefits are numerous and massive, and there is little to no risk of allergic reactions from unrefined Shea Butter. So it makes sense that is being added to the ingredients of products like lip balm, conditioners and shampoos, lotions, massage creams, and many other things.

However, the bad thing is that women will purchase these products thinking they are going to be getting the great benefits of Shea Butter when they’re probably not. The reason is that in most of these products, it has been refined. Through the refining process, the odor is removed from the Shea Butter and it is changed to a white color. Not only is the odor removed, but so are the healing properties. The Shea Butter is pumped full of chemicals to extend the shelf life, or to create an unnatural fragrance. Some of these chemicals are potentially dangerous and toxic.

In fact, the preservatives used are enough to cause skin allergies and contact dermatitis. It’s a shame, because Shea Butter that is natural and unrefined is so healthy and beneficial. Most women want to use it in all of their beauty products but can’t because most of them are using refined Shea Butter.

The unrefined version of this powerful ingredient is mad by women in Africa who gather the nuts from the Karite Nut tree. They collect the fruit that have fallen on the ground, and they carry it back home. This walk can be 10 miles sometimes. After the vitamin rich fruit has been consumed, the nut or the pit is dried, roasted, boiled, and dried again. This process to extract the Shea Butter is very long and tedious, and has to be done exactly right. The butter is then purchased from the women, and used in the original form, or added to other products. Unrefined Shea Butter can range from a greenish brown tint to a golden yellow, and has an earthy, nutty smell.

The best way to use Shea Butter is just like it comes from its original source-pure and unrefined. It can be applied to skin, lips, hair, babies, animals…you name it. You can use the Shea Butter just like it is for almost anything. It’s amazing for massages, shaving, preventing diaper rash, stretch marks, and dry skin. It’s also great to prevent signs of aging, to heal insect bites, sunburn, itchy skin, rashes, eczema, and to condition your hair.

The healing properties are amazing and that’s why it has been used for centuries as a ‘cure all.’ If you’ve been using products with refined Shea Butter, you’re getting pretty much no benefit at all. In fact, it might be doing more harm than good. Give your body the healing it needs.