Shea Butter Soap Benefits

Author: Balaji Shankar, Jul 17, 2024

Benefits of Shea Butter Soap

In this article we will study the benefits of shea butter soap.

Executive Summary (Key Takeaways)

Anti-oxidant Anti-bacterial Anti-inflammatory Rich in Skin-friendly Vitamins A, E & F Natural Emollient (Moisturizing) Excellent for sensitive and dry skin Provides UV protection Promotes collagen production (anti aging) Soothing & wound healing Helps in managing acne, eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis Helps in managing stretch marks Leaves no residue on the skin

Shea Butter Soap

What is Shea Butter?

The shea butter tree [Vitellaria paradoxa], also known as the Karite tree, is indigenous to the wild and dry savannah belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east and grows onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands.

Shea butter, is the fat extracted from the seeds of the shea tree fruits. It is increasingly being used in cosmetics, especially in skin care.

How is shea butter made?

(you can skip this section if you are not keen on knowing how shea butter is made )

Like any other oil seed, Shea butter is crushed from dried karite seeds. But the making process is quite involved. This is a report by Godfred Jawsa and peers on how shea butter is produced in northern Ghana (home of the karite tree). [12]

Seed Collection

Drying seeds

Sorting and cleaning

Crushing

"The shade-dried kernel was crushed into smaller grits. In all rural locations, pounding of the nuts was done using a mortar and pestle. In the urban locations, the kernel was carried in large basins to an electric powered nut crusher that crushed the nuts into grits. "

Roasting

" A roaster stove (improved, specially constructed metal frying chamber on a fuel wood efficient stove) was used to fry kernel grits in the urban locations in Tamale, northern region, while an iron pot or large frying pan on three stone stoves was used in the rural processing sites and all sites in the upper west region. "

Milling/Grinding into paste

Kneading/Beating

"The milled shea paste was cooled and distributed into basins in several batches where water was continuously added with continuous stirring and beating by hand. Warm water was later added when the brown paste began to change into a whitish emulsion . Fuel wood and dry kernel residue provided heat. "

The whitish emulsion solidified and was later transferred into another basin, while the wastewater level was measured and poured away.

Heating:

"The resulting emulsion was heated in large aluminum pots to extract the oil. As the heating started, a long wooden stirrer was used to stir continuously until all of the emulsion turned into liquid oil. The stirring was discontinued, while the boiling continued for some time until all the water evaporated. Some solid impurities that floated to the top were continuously removed. "

Filtration and solidification/cooling:

"A cloth was used to sieve the boiled liquid oil into an empty pan; the cloth filtered out all impurities. The liquid oil was left overnight to cool and solidify into shea butter. "

Packaging

Types of Shea Butter

Shea butter can be 2 types

a) unrefined shea butter
b) refined shea butter

It is best to use unrefined shea butter because many of the benefits are lost due to refining or solvent extraction. Cold pressed, raw shea butter is the best form of shea butter to use.

What is Shea Butter Soap?

If shea butter is used as one of the ingredients in a soap, it is called shea butter soap. For maximum benefits, it is best to use handmade cold processed soaps that are super-fatted with shea butter.

What are the benefits of shea butter in soap?

There are many un-substantiated articles claiming several benefits of shea butter. So we decided to look for scientific research on shea butter, from the ground up.

As handmade soap makers, we know that any additive that is added after the trace state of a cold process soap will preserve much of its natural properties, and pass it onto the soap.

Research on shea butter benefits

1. Anti-oxidant

Research has proven that shea butter contains, flavanoids, natural steroids [1] and tocopherols. Tocopherols are phenolic antioxidants that stop lipids from turning rancid by eliminating free radicals and interacting with singlet oxygen.

In plain English, this means that shea butter possesses anti-oxidant properties.

2. Anti-bacterial

A 2019 research by N.M.Wada & others, published in the “International Journal of Biological, Physical and Chemical Studies” clearly established that shea butter has anti-bacterial properties. [2]

3. Anti-inflammatory

The skin encounters daily onslaught by external agents like pollution, heat, exposure to chemicals and so on. Inflammation takes place in response to these damages to the normal skin barrier. To counter this it is necessary to apply anti-inflammatory agents on the skin.

In a study by Nandini Verma & peers, [5], shea butter's anti inflammatory capabilities were established .

4 . Vitamins in shea butter

We all know that vitamins are life nourishing micro-nutrients that every living being needs. Shea butter has these vitamins

4a. vitamin A

The American Shea Butter Institute (ASBI) has reported that 100% pure natural shea butter is effective as an all-natural vitamin A cream, which has been shown to be a superb moisturizer, with exceptional healing properties

4b. vitamin E

The unsaponifiable matter in shea butter contains high levels of tocopherols (vitamin E) a nd polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties. Vitamin E is the vitamin most beneficial to the skin.

4c. Vitamin F

As the Cleveland clinic website says,

"Vitamin F is comprised of two types of essential fatty acids — alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA). These are omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which can be found in many plant-based food sources such as oils, nuts and seeds. Your body needs vitamin F to function properly, and studies have shown it may have many other benefits." [8]

Shea butter is very rich in both ALA and LA

5. moisturizing (emollient)

Aside from retaining moisture in the skin and prevent it from drying or cracking up, shea butter also acts as a natural emollient. Emollients provide an occlusive barrier for skin, retain moisture and protect it from irritants.

The emollient properties of shea butter have been studied by Kom Lun Hon and others in 2018 [9]

6. Excellent for sensitive and dry skin

The care of dry and sensitive skin is generally a challenge. However beneficial a product may be, it has to be accepted by the skin.

Sensitive skin is more prone to adverse reactions to cosmetic products. This may cause irritation, burning sensation, redness, itching and inflammation. People with dry/sensitive skin are very allergic to chemicals. Many chemical compounds like benzoic acid, cinnamic acid, nonionic emulsifiers, sodium laurel sulfate, bronopol, lactic acid, propylene glycol, urea, and sorbic acid, that are commonly used in cosmetics, are not accepted by sensitive skin.

This is where shea butter comes off as the champion.

In a study [3] invloving 35 female subjects aged between 18–60 years, shea butter, used as moisturizer was accepted by all of them. This proves that shea butter is excellent for sensitive and dry skins.

7. UV protection

Shea butter has UV protection properties and is beneficial for the skin barrier [7]. However, shea butter as a standalone cannot be a replacement for sunscreen lotions.

However, this problem is not relevant for us Indians. As a race, we are blessed with fantastic skin & tough hair. Most of our problems are due to over or under exposure to sunlight. For both of this, shea butter can be very beneficial in rejuvenating the skin.

8. collagen production (anti aging)

Because shea butter is anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, it aids in the production of collagens. It has been scientifically established that both oral and topical collagen can contribute to reducing or delaying skin aging [6]

9. soothing & healing

Shea butter is rich in Vitamins A and E and is non-irritating even to sensitive skin types. It is also an excellent moisturizer. So, like aloe vera gel, shea butter is very soothing on the skin and also helps in wound healing.

10. eczema,psoriasis & dermatitis

Because shea butter is full of polyphenols, it is a natural antifungal. Polyphenols have proven fungicidal properties [4].

This means that shea butter is an excellent topical applicator in the treatment and management of serious skin conditions like eczema,psoriasis & dermatitis.

11. stretch marks & scars

There are blanket claims that shea butter can remove stretch marks. This is not fully substantiated. However, there is some evidence [10] that shea butter  can help in the short-term repigmentation of hypopigmented stretch marks (meaning it can reduce blackening of stretch marks).

12. leaves no residue

Shea butter is not sticky like other skin care oils. Once absorbed it leaves no trace in the skin. This makes it a great practical moisturizer.

References

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9228747/
[2] https://www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/ijbpcs/article/view/400
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5933397/
[4] https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/2/138
[5] https://doi.org/10.1515/1553-3840.1574
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8824545/
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8949675/
[8] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23109-vitamin-f
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5908267/
[10] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jdv.13223
[11] https://sigmundsheabutter.com/how-is-shea-butter-made/
[12] https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/4/3592

Conclusion

Shea butter is certainly a great additive to natural handmade soap and it is certainly a very valuable ingredient in skincare

At Doodle Soapery we make the finest organic, cold process, handmade soaps. Our shea butter soap comes with farm fresh aloe vera and costs a very affordable Rs.120 for 100g