Process of shea butter making
We want to share with you a step-by-step guide on how Africana Skincare’s shea butter is made.
It is very important for us that when you hold one of our products in your hands, you know WHO made it, HOW it was made, WHERE it was made and WHAT the product is made of (its ingredients). This is because transparency is very important to us.
We obtain our shea butter and African black soap from a women’s cooperative in the North of Ghana. One of the reasons we choose this cooperative, and not any other, is because it is owned and managed by the shea nut pickers and shea butter producers themselves. One of their aims is to empower women to reduce gender inequality by providing a source of livelihood to the local Ghanaian women.
Without further ado, lets have a look at all the steps of shea butter making:
Handpicking the nuts from the shea tree
Shea Tree
Wash the shea nuts in clean water
Sieve and dry the shea nuts on a clean floor
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- Sieving the shea nuts
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- Shea nuts being left to dry
Crush the shea nuts using a special machine
Roast the crushed shea nuts on fire
Mill the roasted kernels into a fine paste
Kneade paste to aerate the fat when the paste cools down completely (can be done by hand or using a special machine).
In the process of kneading, water is added ir order to separate the fat from the paste
The fat is boiled to complete de separation
The boiled oil is filtered and allowed to cool down and solidify for some days
As the shea butter begins to solidify, it needs to be stirred into a smooth texture. The final step is to package it into an air-tight container away from water and sunlight, and its finally ready for sale!
Visit our Youtube channel to see the step-by-step shea butter making process: