Have you ever noticed radiant the skin of our brothers and sisters in Africa is?? I haven't made my journey to the Motherland...yet, but I've seen pictures and I'm just truly amazed at their flawless beauty. I'm learning that what you use on your skin you should be able to use in your hair and there's one recent product from Africa that has just saturated the market - SHEA BUTTER.
I mean here in the past year or so, EVERYTHING from skin lotions to hair grease to wrapping lotion all has "--- with Shea Butter" included in its title. We must not be tricked though, all Shea is not good Shea. Shea comes in different colors (depending on who makes it and how), refined, raw, etc...
Shea Butter uses the extract of the Shea Karite tree. It is a natural conditioner, known for its amazing vitamin and nutrient properties that help repair and moisturize damaged or dry hair. (HOORAY for us TYPE 4 sistas!!) You hair will almost instantly feel softer and have more shine...GUARANTEED!
You can use it on dry hair as a moisturizer or on damp hair as a hot oil treatment. Just warm it up until it becomes all liquid and pour it over your scalp. Leave it in for about 20-30 mins. and wash it out. You will be surprised at how soft your hair feels. TRUST. I know.
Now, the thing about GOOD Shea Butter is it should start to melt once you rub your hands together and is light in color - beige/tan like. The heat from your body should instantly make the Shea soften. [This is a good tester when purchasing Shea Butter from vendors and such]
So, like I said before, shea comes in different colors, some is light and some have more of a dark gold hue to it, totally depends on what spices they put in it to scent it. I prefer the unscented Shea. There's nothing worse than me walking around with a smell I can't stand or get rid of on top of my head...so not cute. But beware, folks are known to capitalize on the 'Shea' brand, so get to know what you're purchasing before you purchase it, if you can (most vendors have samples).
Once you try it, you may get hooked!! Sooooo in the spirit of Ujamaa [Cooperative Economics], let's support our brothers and sisters selling GOOD Shea Butter at these Cleveland events!
1 comment:
REAL Raw Shea Butter is NEVER YELLOW OR GOLD. Here's some info I've left at other blogs. Please do not be fooled by imitations that may have dyes & chemicals (worts scenario) or be from another nut all together. Please help displace this myth that gold shea butter exsists.
WARNING: “Gold Shea Butter” is NOT UNREFINED SHEA BUTTER
So I’ve been doing lots of research as I’m trying to have healthier natural hair. I was very excited about Shea butter and I used the link you have shared multiple times linking to one of the Amazon sellers to purchase my Shea butter. Sadly this led me to “Gold Shea Butter” but the truth is that Shea butter is NOT gold so if a vendor is selling “Gold Shea Butter” it is either Kpangnan (a different butter) or it is dyed which could potentially effect the quality of the Shea. I discovered this by watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9XzMd2AJu8
Coupled with going to Naptural85′s preferred Shea butter source and reading this: http://www.shop.agbangakarite.com/product.sc?productId=23&categoryId=7
And then finishing with the wikipedia article which talks about the coloring of unrefined Shea butter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shea_butter
All this leads me to believe that many people (including this site) are being dooped by some Amazon sellers. I think what’s ultimately happening is similar to how people in America think a Yam and a Sweet Potato are the same (they aren’t) but with shady implications as I think Kpangnan is cheaper to obtain but is being marked with Shea Butter prices. I even think that the photo above may be of Kpangnan but has been continually labeled as Shea butter. I believe this is a more accurate depiction of Shea butter http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6s-KybNKEHo/UEyPEcs6mbI/AAAAAAAAAgk/ScHRqq0N2lM/s640/raw-shea-butter.jpg
Again this is just my own internet sleuthing I have done. Does anyone else have a different understanding or interpretation of my sources?
Post a Comment