It might seem obvious that quality is a top priority when it comes to choosing an ingredient to go into your body, or onto your skin. But in selecting ingredients from nature, it’s not always clear how to determine the best source. Is an organic tomato from the farmers’ market nutritionally superior to one grown in your garden? It’s almost impossible to know. As with any natural ingredients there are always inherent variations that occur between different harvests and batches—but there’s even more to consider. There can be significant differences in the end product that you receive, depending on geographic areas, methods of processing, handling, and storing, and even within different plant species—organic or not—that can produce drastically different end results.
This week, we’re considering the sourcing of one particular ingredient—shea butter—and how we might go about finding the best possible quality end product for our body and skin. NAA President Rachael Pontillo and NAA Director of Membership Tisha Palmer recently attended the Indie Beauty Expo in NYC met Naa-Sakle Akuete, CEO & Founder of Eu’Genia Shea, a mother-daughter skincare company that focuses on Fair Trade shea butter from Ghana. We spoke to Naa-Sakle about the importance of quality sourcing of shea butter—one of the most common and widely produced and sold ingredients in the natural products industry—and her take on why shea butter from Ghana is a top quality ingredient to look for in our skincare routines.
Nutritional Aesthetics Alliance:
What are the special/unique characteristics or benefits of shea butter?
Naa-Sakle Akuete:
We at Eu’Genia consider shea butter to be nature’s wonderbalm because of its moisturizing and healing properties. Shea butter is an humectant, an occlusive, and an emollient. Doctors note that humectants, occlusives, and emollients comprise the key ingredients of a good moisturizer. Humectant ingredients attract and retain moisture, occlusive ingredients create a barrier to prevent water loss, and emollients smooth skin by filling in the cracks between cells. With regards to its healing properties, good shea butter’s unsaponifiable fraction is generally about 7-12% (some say as high as 17%) vs 1% or less for other seed oils.
NAA:
What are the skin benefits of shea butter?
Naa-Sakle Akuete:
Shea butter is rich in Vitamins A, E, F, and K, which are key components for a range of health benefits, including fighting dry skin and acne, and skin cell regeneration.
NAA:
What should we look for when purchasing or sourcing shea butter?
Naa-Sakle Akuete:
If your goal is to harness the moisturizing AND healing benefits of shea butter, be on the lookout for UNREFINED shea butter. In order to refine shea butter, manufacturers strip out many of the natural benefits inherent in the product. Additionally, it’s important for the manufacturer to provide as much transparency as possible to 1) ensure that your unrefined shea butter is free of impurities and 2) that the members of the supply chain are being treated fairly.
NAA:
How can NAA members and readers incorporate more of this healing ingredient in their personal care routines?
Naa-Sakle Akuete:
Shea butter is great for pretty much every part of the daily beauty routine. Use to prep your face before applying makeup, give your cuticles some much needed attention, or lock in straight hair longer by applying post blow dry. For more ideas, check out our blog.
The idea of sourcing superior shea butter reminds us of the fact that we can be more informed and responsible shoppers for many of the ingredients in our daily lives. Now we want to hear from you: what other ingredients have you found it important to select with care in the interest of your skin and body? Where do you find your superior sources?