Super shea butter

Shea a large plum, butter is the plant fat derived from shea nuts, which are the seeds of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa). The fruits of the tree look like and inside them is the nut.

Even though it’s called a butter, shea is, in fact, a fatty oil that is solid at room temperature. Its use as a beauty product dates back thousands of years. Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra, was said to use shea butter to keep her skin soft and youthful.

The shea tree resembles an oak, and there are over 500 million shea trees worldwide. In Africa, where they grow wild in the arid landscape, it’s rubbed onto stretch marks and used as a moisturising agent. Shea is also applied to umbilical cords to stop infection, because it has antibacterial properties. In African tribal medicine shea butter is reportedly mixed with boa constrictor oil to help with keloids or raised scar tissue. And it also helps with nasal congestion and ulcers — shea really is a superfood for the skin.

But it is far more than a culinary additive and natural beauty product. It has a myriad of