She Sells Shea Nuts by the Sea Shore

Every now and then I get a question about my ingredients that I don't have an answer to, especially the shea butter. One woman asked about the way it's processed, since she was concerned about the shea's purity. Another woman asked about fair trade in Africa.

I was happy to find that my supplier has the answers I need. They partner with a woman who started Naasakle Limited, the only company located in Accra, Ghana that produces shea butter by traditional methods, "improving the lives of the women who grow, harvest, trade, process and market African shea nuts and shea butter."  Here are a few more facts from my shea butter supplier:

• Shea nuts that have fallen from the tree are hand collected
• The nuts are cracked and boiled to release the fat
• The fat solidifies and becomes crude (or unrefined) shea butter

What I find fascinating is that as I craft my hard lotion bars to ship out, I'm holding the very shea butter from a shea nut that another woman 7500 miles away gathered and processed near the shores of Ghana.