The History of Shea Butter.

As this write up was being put together, I was able to appreciate Shea butter more. I hope this piece does that and much more to you. Come right in, shall we?

The history of shea butter dates back to when the Scottish explorer Mungo Park introduced shea butter to Europe in the 1700s. Native only to the savannahs of Sudan, shea trees did not tend to grow well in domestic plantations; instead they grew best in rain forests and jungles, often reaching thirty to forty-five feet high. Astoundingly and until very recently, shea trees did not reach full maturity and production capacity until they were about fifty years old, and they could successfully produce fruit for another fifty years after that.

The shea tree is considered sacred in many African tribal cultures, and some tribes only allow women to touch the trees or fruit — men are strictly forbidden. Shea butter had frequently been used as a heating oil, lamp oil, and soap-making oil, and is also a staple ingredient in African cuisine, where it’s used as a cooking fat.

According to history, in the 1940s, German scientists realized that people who used shea butter as a moisturizer had fewer occurrences of skin diseases and more healthy appearing skin, leading to clinical trials on a large scale. Shea butter was clinically proven to be an excellent moisturizer, and has retained major popularity in the western world ever since.

Ancient cultures, including ancient Egypt, under Cleopatra’s rule, mention shea butter as a valuable commodity, where it was carried in large clay jars for cosmetic use. Not long after, the healing properties of Shea Butter were discovered and optimized for use throughout the West African wooded savannah.

Global trade of shea butter dates not only back to Cleopatra’s Egypt, but was a very popular item of trade in the Middle Ages throughout West Africa and into the coastal regions. Shea butter was also traded heavily as an oil in European markets. As trade of Shea Butter spread throughout different regions of Africa in particular, its various uses began to diversify into things like soap and nasal decongestant. Shea Butter remains a popular substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate, though it still functions primarily as a skin care product as it has since the days of Cleopatra.

Knowing about the history of shea butter, Shea butter was often used to protect skin and hair from the unrelenting sun, and was used to treat arthritis and joint pain in traditional tribal medicine. It continues to be used as a salve on infants’ umbilical wounds, and has been shown to reduce the risk of infection and subsequently reduce infant mortality.

Shea butter has also been used as an insect repellant, preventing dangerous conditions caused by flies and mosquitos. Pregnant women have long used shea butter to moisturize their bellies, preventing overstretched skin and the stretch marks which often appear.

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Teasnature © 2025 All rights reserved.