Raw, unrefined shea butter

Shea butter is the fat pressed from the kernels of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), which grows across the Sudano-Sahelian belt and is not farmed — it is gathered. Ours is unrefined: not bleached, not deodorised, not chemically treated. It keeps the ivory colour, the smoky-nutty smell that fades within minutes on the skin, and the fraction that refining destroys first.

Unrefined: what that changes

Refining makes the butter white and odourless. It also strips out part of the unsaponifiables — a fraction that is unusually large in shea, on the order of 5 to 10 % of the material, against less than 1 % in most plant fats. That fraction is what gives shea butter its particular texture and the supple film it forms on the skin.

The other side is worth saying plainly: unrefined butter has a smell, a colour that shifts from one harvest to the next, and a consistency that changes with the temperature. Those are not manufacturing faults. That is what a butter looks like when nobody has corrected it.

On the skin

Rich in fatty acids — chiefly oleic and stearic — shea butter nourishes and softens the skin. Applied in a thin layer it forms a barrier that limits water loss from the skin’s surface. Hence its use wherever skin feels tight:

• Rough areas — elbows, knees, heels — which soften with use.
• Dry, uncomfortable skin, to which it brings immediate comfort.
• Winter, on the parts exposed to cold and wind, which dry out fast.
• After shaving or a day outdoors, to calm the sensation of heat.

On the hair

• Dry ends: a hazelnut-sized amount warmed between the palms, on lengths and ends only.
• Curly, coily or afro hair: it defines the curl, tames frizz and adds shine.
• As a pre-shampoo treatment: half an hour before washing, under a warm towel.

Watch the quantity: shea is heavy. Too much weighs the hair down and rinses out badly.

How to use it

It is hard at room temperature and melts at body heat. Take a pea-sized amount, melt it between your palms for ten seconds or so, then apply. Spread straight from the jar without warming, it stays grainy and feels greasy — the most common mistake.

It also works as a base. Whipped with a plant oil — two parts shea to one of oil — it gives a cream texture that is far easier to spread.

One ingredient

INCI: Butyrospermum Parkii Butter. Nothing else: no water, no preservative, no fragrance. Certified organic and inspected by Ecocert — see our certifications.

What we will not write

You will read almost everywhere that shea butter treats one skin condition or another. We will not write it, and the reason is simple: a cosmetic that promises to treat a disease is no longer a cosmetic under European law. It becomes a medicinal product by presentation, and falls under an entirely different authorisation regime. What we can state is more than enough: this is a nourishing, protective and remarkably versatile fat.

In the same spirit, we do not show vitamin figures. They vary with the origin of the kernels and the extraction process, and we would rather not put forward anything we cannot establish on our own batch. An analysis is under way; the values will appear here as soon as they are available.

Precautions

External use. Shea comes from a kernel: if you have a known tree-nut allergy, ask a healthcare professional before use. Test on the inner elbow 24 hours before the first application over a large area. Avoid the eye contour.