subject: Treat Dry Skin Naturally With Shea Butter [print this page] Shea butter also goes by the name karite butter. It is light yellowish in terms of color and is an all natural fat that is derived from the shea tree fruit by way of crushing and then boiling the fruit. The shea tree takes a very long time before it bears fruit. In general, it takes approximately fifteen years to obtain its prized fruit. The tree is also oftentimes called Mangifolia tree or Karite Nut tree. It thrives along the wild savannah belt of Western Africa from Sudan to Senegal and all throughout the Ethiopian highlands.
The shea tree, with its already many names, is referred to also as the tree of life by the African people who make the precious butter using only their bare hands. The fruit is not the only part of the tree that is used, other parts of which are also used for various medicinal purposes like the bark, for instance, which is utilized for creating medicines against various illnesses and also the nuts shell, which is utilized to ward off insects. The extraction of the butter involves a very lengthy process. The shea tree has an extensive life span, normally lasting for up to 300 years or more.
Benefits and Uses of Shea Butter
Shea butter is normally used as an emollient and moisturizer. In some regions of West Africa, it is also utilized as a typical cooking oil. Shea butter offers natural UV protection from the suns rays and it is also widely known to possess anti-inflammatory compounds and is very effective at fading superficial scars, evening skin tone, reducing the appearance of stretch marks, dark spots or blemishes, healing burns, moisturizes overly dry skin via deeply penetrating the skin, as well as helps bring back the elasticity of the skin, restores sheen to chemically treated and dry hair, and can also help treat certain skin problems like psoriasis and eczema, to name a few. Remember that it is always best to check with your family doctor or a dermatologist regarding persistent or serious skin problems and/or if you happen to have latex or nut allergies.
These days, majority of body soaps, hair conditioners and skin creams contain shea butter due to its effective moisturizing qualities and high fatty acid concentration. Shea butter basically has two distinct kinds. One is the unrefined shea butter that has a sort of yellowish hue and a slightly fatty and nutty aroma. This is actually the kind of butter which has all the properties and benefits that are mentioned earlier. The other kind is the refined shea butter, which is somewhat white in terms of color and has no aroma to it. Most of the vitamins, minerals as well as moisturizing compounds that the butter originally contains are extracted during the whole refining process. Hence, it is better to make use of the unrefined variant in order to get the most of its benefits. You can directly apply unrefined shea butter onto your skin since it has already been proven to not clog the pores.
