Shea Butter: Leveraging Nature’s Golden Gift

Next time you're in the bathroom after a hot water shower, reaching for that jar of shea butter to rub on your elbows or face, think for a second. That creamy stuff you use without much thought didn't magically appear. It's the end of a long journey that starts with women in West Africa. Shea butter is used in moisturisers, shampoos, soaps, lotions, diaper creams, hair dyes, shaving creams, lip balms, foot creams and numerous beauty products. It is used by millions of people worldwide and is valued for long-lasting hydration and smoothness it provides. The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) grows naturally in the shea belt — a wide band across West Africa.