Tuesday, February 24, 2009

African shea butter good for eczema...who would have thunk it !

African shea butter has taken the world by storm. And we also know it has many uses. Eczema has been shown to respond well to it.

The condition known as eczema usually occurs in persons with a family history of allergies. When people with eczema are exposed to a trigger factor, inflammation-producing cells travel to the skin and release chemicals that make the skin dry and flakey and may cause itching and redness. Common trigger factors are allergens, environment changes, infections, and psychological stress. In some cases it occurs early in childhood and goes away with age. But for others it comes much later in life and just want to stick around.

Since eczema dries out the skin, the most direct way to treat eczema is to help the skin regain its moisture retention capacity. When a moisturizer is applied, it hydrates the cells, but the cells quickly lose the moisture. If substances that work synergistically together to restore the skin cells' elasticity are applied to the skin, then as the healing progresses, the cells continue to admit moisture as before, but after the healing are better able to keep it from escaping.


African shea butter is a wonderful agent for revitalizing our skin cells so that they regain their moisture retention capacity. Unrefined african shea butter not only contains a high moisturizing fraction, but also contains an extraordinarily high healing fraction. To enhance the african shea butter's ability to reverse the effects of eczema it is sometimes best to use the african shea butter after gettng out of the shower.


The secret to this is african shea butters on-saponifiable fatty acids. Especially oleic and stearic acid are major components of a african shea butter formulation, which makes it very useful for various skin problems. They hydrate the skin and help prevent wrinkles and other signs of aging. African shea butter effectively combats various skin problems by restoring the lipid balance in the skin and hence rejuvenates the epidermal cells.

African shea butter comes in many forms. One can use it in soap form in the shower or tub. Then afterwards use african shea butter in lotion or cream form to moisturize your body.Making african shea butter part of your morning regimene along with other healthy acitivites can reduce your chances of a flareup.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Just a few uses of African Shea Butter

That good ole african shea butter nut has uses almost too many to name. But hey, we'll give it a shot. Chances are you've been using cocoa butter for some of these uses.

Karite butter or Shea butter, as it is popularly called in the West, is manufactured in Africa. The color or this formulation can range from anywhere between cream to ivory white. Traditionally doctors in Africa used it for treatment of all kinds of skin and scalp ailments and allergies. If you are looking to get into the soap manufacturing or skin care products manufacturing you cannot but be aware of what african shea butter is.

In the time past, various uses to which shea butter was out included treatment of skin eczema and other problems like blemishes and discoloration, sprains and muscle cramps, arthritis and various inflammations and also as a sunscreen.

Non-saponifiable fatty acids, especially oleic and stearic acid are major components of a african shea butter formulation, which makes it very useful for various skin problems. They hydrate the skin and help prevent wrinkles and other signs of aging. Shea butter effectively combats various skin problems by restoring the lipid balance in the skin and hence rejuvenates the epidermal cells.

The non-saponifiable fatty acids also make shea butter an excellent component for soap manufacturing. Soft and gentle on your skin and body, shea butter is becoming an important component of a whole range of beauty products like shampoos, creams, soaps and various cleansers and cleansing agents for your skin.

Shea butter is also an effective antidote for stretch marks. Stretch marks are a bane for a lot of people, especially women. When you gain a substantial amount of weight, during pregnancy for example, your epidermal cells are unable to stretch beyond a point and get ruptured resulting in stretch marks. Stretch marks most often occur in places like thighs, buttocks, stomach etc. There are a wide range of cosmetics and creams in the markets these days that claim to be effective in getting rid of stretch marks but african shea butter is one of the few things that are really effective.

Hey let me stop right there. My fingers are burning from the typing. I know some are saying but wait there is more ! I know. Maybe next time !

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What's is African Shea Butter ?

So what is the big deal about african shea butter ? Well first thing you need to know is the origins of it.

Shea butter is obtained from Shea tree, which grows widely in Savannah region of Africa. The fruit of the tree, which is small and almond like was traditionally picked from the trees by the locals and ground and pounded and then heated for hours in water to get a film of shea butter.

This is obviously the crude and unrefined form of shea butter. It was used for various purposes like cooking and moisturizing, etc. African shea butter that was produced like this had no fix texture or color, as it would depend on the way it was manufactured and on how refined it was. In today’s world, shea butter has found many more uses and applications.

African shea butter is most popularly known for its moisturizing properties. It is also helpful for the treatment of swellings and inflammations. Various ailments like arthritis, stiff muscles, skin eczema, sunburn etc, can be treated by Shea butter. It is also effective against early signs of aging, stretch marks, and blemishes. Shea butter is also an effective, natural sun-blocking agent although there is no standard SPF, the most common being 6. The good thing about african shea butter is that it gets absorbed into the skin without leaving a greasy film on your face.

Welcome to African Shea Butter

Welcome to african sheabutter. Here we'll speak on and highlight sheabutter and it's other uses.