About Shea Butter

Benefits of Shea Butter

Unrefined shea butter comes from the nuts of wild shea trees scattered among the fields and forests of the wooded savanna in Africa. Shea butter contains an abundance of healing ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, proteins and a unique fatty acid profile, and is a superior active moisturizer. Unlike petroleum based moisturizers, shea butter actually restores the skin’s natural elasticity. Shea butter actually enables your skin to absorb moisture from the air, and as a result, it becomes softer and stays moisturized for longer. In addition, shea butter has natural sunscreen properties and anti-inflammatory agents. Because of its amazing properties, shea butter is an excellent ingredient for soaps, lotions and creams. It is most effective when applied to the skin in its pure state. Regular users of pure, unrefined shea butter notice softer, smoother, healthier skin. Shea butter has also been shown to help with skin conditions and ailments such as extreme dryness, eczema, dermatitis, skin allergies, fungal infections, blemishes, wrinkles, stretch marks, scars, scrapes, and more.

Fair Trade Shea Butter

Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between marketers in North America and producers in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other parts of the world. A fair trade partnership works to provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work.

Unrefined shea butter is a valuable natural resource for West African and could be an important tool in empowering local communities. However, most shea butter on the market in the United States and Europe is not fairly traded. The women who gather shea nuts and hand craft this remarkable oil receive only a tiny fraction of the final price. It is estimated to take 20 to 30 hours of labor to produce one kilogram of handcrafted shea butter, which is traded at $1 or less in today’s market. A woman making shea butter in West Africa will receive only a fraction of this price. Therefore, a person working for 30 hours, almost a week’s worth of work, will not receive even a dollar for her efforts. Even if she received the whole dollar, this does not even begin to reach living wage standards. Through our supplier’s direct involvement of the entire process from gathering the wild shea nuts and crafting the butter, to distribution locally and abroad – their members (local workers) receive fair and steady incomes. In addition, a percentage of your purchases of shea butter will go directly back to the community in the form of community enhancement projects, AIDS and malaria outreach, and educational scholarships. We believe in “building African self-empowerment the moral way” and truly appreciate your involvement in reaching their goals. Visit the Fair Trade Federation and fairtradesheabutter.org for more information on the importance of supporting fair trade.