Shea Butter

Disclaimer: This webpage is for educational and informative purposes ONLY. Due to the fact of our high quality ingredients, lately we have been deluged with requests for sourcing, or purchase of individual ingredients from our lab

Shea butter is a vegetable fat that has been extracted from the nut of the African Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa).  Often Shea butter has been colored yellow with roots or palm oil (which is red), it is off-white/ivory when in it's raw state. Shea butter is an edible fat and quite similar in melt temperatures and consistency as cocoa butter or coconut oil. A native to the West African savanna region, the Shea tree is found in 21 countries across Africa.  There is evidence of Shea butter production dating back as far as the 14th century, and was being imported into Great Britain by the mid-1800's.

Shea butter has five principal fatty acids:  palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and archidic, with about 80% being steric and oleic, giving shea butter it's characteristic consistency, although depending on the area where the tree has been grown affects how hard or soft the final product is, depending on ambient temperature.  The above compounds have antioxidant  properties, similar to the catachins in green tea and extra virgin olive oil. At PVO, we utilize traditional extraction methods vs. the toxic chemical Hexane extraction method, which preserves more antioxidants (and no exposure to the demonstrated nerve damaging toxins in Hexane!)

Shea butter is used in a myriad of applications, from food preparation to a base for cosmetic and Skin Care products as well as medicinal ointments due to the anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, emollient and humectant (water attracting) properties.  Shea butter also has an UV SPF of 3–4..making it an ideal base for our SunProtect SPF30+.